English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 30/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.december30.22.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in
Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of
Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
02/19-23/:”When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to
Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the
land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’Then
Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father
Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went
away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called
Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled,
‘He will be called a Nazorean.’
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on December 29-30/2022/
God Bless Mohamad Chatah’s Soul/Elias Bejjani/December 27/13
Ronnie Chatah, son of Mohammad Chatah, answering 12 questions about his father’s
assassination
Another stupid decision by Lebanon's censors/Elie Abouaoun/December 29/2022
Spanish PM emphasises support for Unifil during Lebanon visit after death of
Irish soldier
Berri denies obstructing Aoun, says ex-president led Lebanon to 'hell'
New clash looms as Mikati prepares to call for new cabinet session'
Geagea says Christian rift not behind presidential crisis
Bassil to propose agreement on president, PM, reforms
Report: Bassil, Jumblat discussed nominating Pierre Daher for president
Ibrahim to launch presidential talks after holidays
Aoun says Salameh main culprit in crisis, slams Berri’s 'obstruction'
Lebanese Sunni Scholar Dr. Hassan Moraib: Lebanon Is On The Verge Of Civil War;
We Are Ready To Fight 'Like Everybody Else,' Do Not Fear Hizbullah Or The
Christians/MEMRI/December 29/2022
Why a federal state is the answer for Lebanon/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab
News/December 30, 2022
Smugglers blamed as Lebanon bans cancer drug
Hizbullah Officials: The U.S. Is A Plague That Afflicts Lebanon, Spreads Chaos
There And Is Responsible For All The Injustice In The Region
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on December 29-30/2022/
Al-Azhar’s greeting to Copts provokes anger/Gobran Mohamed/Arab
News/December 29, 2022
Former Jordanian MP Tarek Khoury On Hizbullah TV: The Jews Killed Christ, Drove
Nails Into His Arms And Legs; The Enmity Between Judaism And Christianity Is
Eternal; Were Jesus Alive Today, He Would Lead The Intifada
Israel swears in Netanyahu as PM of hard-line government
Amir Ohana elected Israel's first openly gay parliament speaker
Israel's ex-intelligence minister Eli Cohen nominated as foreign minister
As Netanyahu returns to office, troubles lie ahead
Israeli Minister Sees Possible Attack on Iran ‘in Two or Three Years’
Iran Replaces Central Bank Governor amid Currency Crash
Second Russian Defense Sector Bigwig Dies in Two Days
Fallen colossus: USSR's terror, triumphs began 100 years ago
Putin is threatening ‘nuclear blackmail’ in Ukraine – but the world must not
give in, historian says/Kim Sengupta/The Independent/December 29, 2022
Russia fires missiles at Ukraine's major cities
Kremlin says it is concerned about Karabakh blockade after Armenian criticism
Ukraine hit by new Russian missile barrage
Syria's Kurds launch offensive against IS militants
Brazilian football legend Pele dead at 82
Titles For The
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on December 29-30/2022/
Republicans Step Up Attacks on FBI as It Investigates Trump/Adam Goldman
and Alan Feuer/The New York Times/December 29, 2022
Christians Weren’t Always Welcome Mats for Jihad/Raymond Ibrahim/December
29/2022
The Taliban is Engineering Afghan Society/Hussam Itani/Asharq Al-Awsat/December,
29/2022
The Twitter Files/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 29/2022
Iran’s nuclear prize for supporting Russia’s war/
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 30, 2022
Erdogan's failed rapprochement towards Syria/Fadel Manasfa/The Arab
Weekly/December 29/2022
on December 29-30/2022/
God Bless Mohamad Chatah’s Soul
Elias Bejjani/Published on December 27/13, The Day Mohamad Chatah was
assassinated
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/11050/elias-bejjanigod-bless-mohamad-chatahs-soul/
Once again the Iranian-Syrian Evil Of Axis
Criminals brutally assassinate a patriotic, peaceful and intellectual Lebanese
dignitary. Today, in occupied and oppressed Lebanon, the former Lebanese
minister Mohamad Chatah was murdered in a massive car bomb blast that killed
also and seriously injured tens of innocent citizens in Lebanon’s capital,
Beirut.
Mohamad Chatah, the courageous outspoken 62 years old moderate academic and
noble political figure strongly believed in a free and sovereign Lebanon,
dialogue, the language of reason, and in the right to different views and
political stances.
Sadly, this morning, Chatah joined all the other patriotic and heroic Lebanese
martyrs who with faith and devotion fell while struggling to reclaim Lebanon’s
confiscated independence, sovereignty and freedoms.
There is no doubt that the Assad dictatorship intelligence and the terrorist
Hezbollah Iranian militia are behind this horrible crime, as they were with
evilness and shame accountable for all other similar crimes that occurred since
1960 and targeted Lebanese patriotic leaders, clergymen, officials and
politicians.
It is worth mentioning that Chatah’s assassination took place three weeks before
the long-delayed opening of a trial of five Hezbollah suspects indicted for the
2005 bombing that killed former Lebanese PM Rafik al-Hariri with 21 other
individuals.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), trial is due to start next month in
Hague. The suspects are all prominent Hezbollah military members. Meanwhile this
terrorist Iranian organization has strongly refused to cooperate with the court,
alleging it is politically motivated.
In my capacity as a Canadian – Lebanese Human Rights Activist and political
commentator, I strongly and with the harshest terms condemn this barbaric and
terrorist crime and call on the free world countries to help the Lebanese people
and its patriotic and peaceful leaders by all available means and resources to
reclaim Lebanon’s independence that is confiscated by Hezbollah, the
Iranian-Syrian Axis of Evil military proxy
Deepest sympathies are extended to the families and friends of those killed in
today, and all wish for a speedy recovery to all the injured.
May the souls of all those innocent victims that were killed today rest in
peace.
رامي شطح، ابن الشهيد محمد شطح، يجيب على 12 سؤال، في ذكرى اغتيال والده
Ronnie Chatah, son of Mohammad Chatah, answering 12 questions about his father’s
assassination
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/114492/ronnie-chatah-son-of-mohammad-chatah-answering-12-questions-about-his-fathers-assassination-%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%85%d9%8a-%d8%b4%d8%b7%d8%ad%d8%8c-%d8%a7%d8%a8%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b4%d9%87%d9%8a/
Another stupid decision by Lebanon's censors
Elie Abouaoun/December 29/2022
Another stupid decision by #Lebanon's censors: banning a Christmas Carol because
of the word "Israel". Same old scriptures are read in all Churches. We don't
need moral police in Lebanon. We know what to watch/not to watch. A random
officer cannot decide for us.
Spanish PM emphasises support for Unifil
during Lebanon visit after death of Irish soldier
Jamie Prentis/The National/December 29/2022
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has emphasised his support for the UN
peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon after an Irish soldier was killed in
the country this month. Mr Sanchez made the comments after holding talks with
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miktati during a visit to Beirut. Spain
is one of the largest contributors to the peacekeeping mission, with 664 troops
from the country stationed in Lebanon. Unifil commander Maj Gen Aroldo Lazaro is
Spanish. Mr Sanchez repeated his country's "willingness to support the work of
Unifil" in southern Lebanon. His visit to Beirut comes two weeks after Irish
peacekeeper Pvt Sean Rooney, 24, was killed when his convoy came under fire.
Investigations into the killing are under way and a suspect has reportedly been
handed over to the army. The shooting happened in the village of Al Aqbiya,
where Iran-backed Hezbollah is highly influential. The group denies involvement
in the attack. Mr Mikati told Mr Sanchez that the Lebanese authorities would not
hesitate to bring the perpetrators to justice. Mr Sanchez also visited Spanish
soldiers at the Miguel de Cervantes base in Marjayoun, southern Lebanon. “Your
participation in this United Nations mission in Lebanon is a tangible expression
of our country's contribution to world peace,” he told the soldiers. “Your daily
effort is aimed at providing well-being to the entire Lebanese society. "With
your work you contribute to saving lives, to improve the present and future of
the Lebanese and, above all, to give a horizon of an expectation of peace to the
new generations of Lebanese.” French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu is
expected in Lebanon on Friday to show his support for the country's
peacekeepers. About 11,000 UN peacekeepers are stationed in Lebanon, where the
interim force has overseen a ceasefire with Israel. More than 300 Unifil troops
have been killed since 1978.
Berri denies obstructing Aoun, says ex-president led
Lebanon to 'hell'
Naharnet December 29/2022
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday hit back at remarks by former
president Michel Aoun. “You did not need anyone to obstruct you, seeing as you
promised us hell and fully fulfilled your promise,” Berri said in a statement.
“Seventy-four laws were issued without being implemented… topped by the
electricity law,” the Speaker added.“You deprived us of seeing the stars at
night and you made us see them at noon!” Berri went on to say, using a Lebanese
slang expression denoting that someone has caused great harm to others. In an
interview aired overnight on OTV, Aoun said that Berri was one of the main
“obstructors” during his presidential term. “All that I know is that Speaker
Berri was against my election as president and he obstructed 18 files that I was
working on,” Aoun said.
New clash looms as Mikati prepares to call for new cabinet
session
Naharnet/December 29/2022
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is inclined to call for a new caretaker
cabinet session, despite “all the pledges he has made, especially to Maronite
Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi,” a media report said on Thursday.
“In agreement with Speaker Nabih Berri, Mikati intends to call for a cabinet
session in the beginning of 2023 and its agenda will include preparing a draft
law for extending the terms of security and military chiefs ahead of sending it
to parliament for a vote,” informed sources told al-Akhbar newspaper.“The fate
of the session hinges on the stances of the political forces that took part in
the December 5 session, but the mere intention to call for a session reflects a
desire to challenge the Free Patriotic Movement and will definitely lead to a
clash bigger than the one that marred the last session,” al-Akhbar added.
Geagea says Christian rift not behind presidential crisis
Naharnet/December 29/2022
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has noted that “disputes and divisions
within the Christian community are not behind the presidential election
crisis.”“The notion that if Christians agree the presidential issue would be
resolved is a wrong notion, because we have a candidate and we’re voting for him
in every electoral session. Meanwhile there is a Christian group that is allied
with Hezbollah and does not want to vote for our candidate,” Geagea said in an
interview with al-Massira magazine to be published Friday. This group “is to
blame for obstruction, not the Christian disputes,” the LF leader added. As for
Speaker Nabih Berri’s call for dialogue, Geagea said: “They are inviting us to
an official dialogue meeting. What does that mean? Simply it is an attempt to
preoccupy the public opinion with the aim of refraining from tackling the
presidential election issue.”
Bassil to propose agreement on president, PM, reforms
Naharnet/December 29/2022
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has informed Progressive Socialist
Party leader Walid Jumblat that he intends to propose a presidential initiative
after the holidays, ad-Diyar newspaper reported on Thursday. The initiative will
be based on “a comprehensive package with prior agreements on the president, the
premier and reforms,” the daily said. Bassil also reiterated to Jumblat his
rejection of the election of Army chief General Joseph Aoun or Marada Movement
chief Suleiman Franjieh, wondering if Christians “no longer comprise a figure
who would reassure Hezbollah other than Suleiman Franjieh.”
The FPM chief also hinted to Jumblat that he was sending “positive signals”
through common friends to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea about the need for
“rapprochement and dialogue.”
Report: Bassil, Jumblat discussed nominating Pierre Daher for president
Naharnet/December 29/2022
The latest meeting between Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil and
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat was “different than all the
previous meetings and was not negative at all, contrary to all leaks,” ad-Diyar
newspaper reported on Thursday.
The meeting witnessed “a common approach toward the presidential file” based on
the two men’s calls for “agreeing on a unifying figure that can talk to all
political parties and that would be acceptable to everyone,” the daily added.
“Jumblat and Bassil might have found these characteristic in LBCI TV chairman
Pierre Daher, agreeing to back his presidential nomination armed with the
support of (Maronite) Patriarch (Beshara) al-Rahi for this choice,” ad-Diyar
said. It also noted that MP Wael Abu Faour of the PSP put Speaker Nabih Berri in
the picture of this atmosphere, which was “also relayed to Haret Hreik.”
Ibrahim to launch presidential talks after holidays
Naharnet/December 29/2022
General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim will hold meetings over the
presidential crisis after the holidays, a media report said on Thursday. “He
will not be carrying any initiative but will rather try to bridge differences
and reach a common vision,” ad-Diyar newspaper reported, adding that his
contacts “will involve all parties without exception in light of his good ties
with everyone.”Ibrahim has put Speaker Nabih Berri in the picture of what he
intends to do, the daily added. “Ibrahim’s move stems from his keenness on
speeding up the election of a president in order to halt the bleeding in the
country and prevent collapse in all institutions,” ad-Diyar said.
Aoun says Salameh main culprit in crisis, slams Berri’s
'obstruction'
Naharnet/December 29/2022
Ex-president Michel Aoun has charged that Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh is
“the main culprit responsible for the situation that the country has reached,”
as he noted that Speaker Nabih Berri was one of the main “obstructors” during
his presidential term. “All that I know is that Speaker Berri was against my
election as president and he obstructed 18 files that I was working on,” Aoun
said in an interview on OTV. Separately, Aoun noted that his son-in-law, Free
Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, is “facing a major attack and a
character assassination.”“But thank God, he is strong and able to endure,” the
ex-president added, while denying accusations that Bassil had been the “shadow
president” during his tenure. “This is certainly incorrect,” Aoun told OTV. As
for the unprecedented tensions between the FPM and Hezbollah, the ex-president
said “the reconciliation meeting with Hezbollah should be with Jebran” Bassil,
revealing for the first time ever that it was Bassil who had forged the 2006 Mar
Mikhail Agreement with Hezbollah. “Today he wants to amend and improve it and I
support him in that,” Aoun added. As for the October 17 uprising that erupted
during his tenure, the ex-president said: “There is a new international policy
based on undermining economies to subjugate nations, and it was clear that the
October 17 movement was directed against me, seeing as it continued after the
government’s resignation and was directly targeted against the
president.”Commenting on the issue of the catastrophic Beirut port explosion,
Aoun said: “It drew my attention that, after the port blast, statements were
made by (then-Israeli PM Benjamin) Netanyahu and (then-U.S. President Donald)
Trump speaking of a certain strike but they quickly backpedaled.”
Lebanese Sunni Scholar Dr. Hassan Moraib:
Lebanon Is On The Verge Of Civil War; We Are Ready To Fight 'Like Everybody
Else,' Do Not Fear Hizbullah Or The Christians
MEMRI/December 29/2022
Source: The Internet - "Spot Shot Online (Lebanon)"
Lebanese Sunni scholar Dr. Hassan Moraib, the General Inspector of the Islamic
Waqf in Lebanon, said in a video that was published by Spot Shot Online
(Lebanon) on December 19, 2022 that if they are backed into a "corner" or
"suffocated" by another group, the Sunnis in Lebanon will take up arms and "take
to the streets" in order to defend themselves and their honor. He said that the
Sunnis carry personal firearms, and that they do not fear Hizbullah. Dr. Moraib
also said that he believes that Lebanon is on the verge of civil war, and that
the Sunnis will participate in the war "like everybody else" if anybody tries to
harm them. In addition, he also pointed out that the Sunnis had been the ones
who "taught Hizbullah how to shoot." He added: "When things get serious, we know
how to fight." Dr. Hassan Moraib: "The late Rafic Hariri's plan for us Sunnis
was based on the pen. He focused on educating people rather than arming them.
The day Saad Hariri was forced to arm the people, he just fled the country. He
did not want to mess with blood. We [Sunnis] say: 'We have no weapons except for
the weapons of the state.' But let me tell you, our people in the Tariq Al-Jadida
neighborhood and the other Sunni areas all carry their personal firearms. If we
reach a point where we are pushed to a corner and feel under siege, and if any
group of people suffocates us, and another group tells us we cannot go into
their areas, then our people will take to the streets on their own volition. But
do we have such a plan? No, we don't.
"When push comes to shove, our people are known to defend themselves, their
area, their dignity, their honor, and their religion, and they fear no one. They
do not fear the [Christian] Soldiers of God group, and they do not fear
Hizbullah. Everybody should know this. We fear no one but Allah.
"If the state does not want to fulfill its duties, it should tell us, and we
will do what we have to do. We will not be the weakest link in Lebanon. "There
are personal firearms in each and every home in Lebanon. If it comes down to me,
my area, my dignity, and my existence, I will pick up a weapon and take to the
street. "Unless a decision is made by the army, the internal security forces,
and the intelligence agencies to crack down on the bullies, and prevent the
militant manifestations in the streets...Considering the security chaos and
economic collapse we are witnessing, we are on the verge of civil war in
Lebanon."
Interviewer: "Will the Sunnis take part in this civil war?" Moraib: "Just like
everybody else. If someone tries to harm them, they will respond. They think
that we are on our knees, but we are not. "We are the ones who taught Hizbullah
how to shoot. Hizbullah knows this. We taught them how to carry a gun. Imad
Mughniyeh was a soldier in the Fatah movement. Nobody should look down on us.
When things get serious, we know how to fight."
Why a federal state is the answer for Lebanon
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/December 30, 2022
During the “Baghdad II” conference in Jordan, French President Emmanuel Macron
reiterated in a press interview his objective of finding a solution to Lebanon’s
many problems, or more precisely, to the catastrophic situation. There is no
doubt that the French president has maintained his focus and agenda for Lebanon.
Yet, is he capable of bringing a solution? And would this solution be in favor
of the Lebanese people or risk enforcing Hezbollah’s international recognition
and control over the lives of Lebanese citizens?
It comes down to the question of what the real problem facing the country is. Is
the real problem finding a consensus to elect a new president? Or is the real
problem Hezbollah’s status and the obsolescence of the current political system?
Does Lebanon need yet another quick, useless fix that keeps eroding the core of
its state or does it need to move ahead in this chaos toward a new status? It is
simply about choosing between what is pressing and what is important. And the
pragmatic way is to focus on the superficial and achieve a political and
diplomatic win regardless of the long-term consequences.
I totally understand that the vacuum in the presidency is a source of fear among
the Christians of Lebanon. Indeed, in a fragile state, there is always fear in a
centralized state of a change being enforced that would make them lose even
more. Yet, in reality, and looking at past years, a bad president harms more
than no president at all. As a Sunni, I have seen the post of the prime minister
be totally humiliated and emptied of is substance. And so, this time, it might
be a smarter move for Lebanese Christians to push beyond this fear and aim for a
real solution to the country’s many troubles. They are not alone in this
mission.
In his latest statements, Macron called for the removal of the political
leadership who have blocked reforms. He also mentioned the possibility of a
regional conference for Lebanon. One might ask who could attend this conference
if the political leadership is removed? I totally abide by his view that Lebanon
needs a complete overhaul of its politicians. The latest parliamentary elections
have proven that the current political system corrupts all, and absolutely.
Therefore, this is the first change that needs to be made.
Everyone knows the situation on the ground will not change without a military
explosion. Indeed, there is nothing that can change the status of Hezbollah and
its stranglehold on the entire population except violence. It is something no
one is capable of or willing to do at this stage and so little change can be
expected, no matter the names of those who come to power. The decrepitude of the
country will continue as long as this occupation holds.
And so, what is there to do? We must accept that the real problem and the real
solution for Lebanon is the need for constitutional change. This is why, and no
matter how illogical and futile it seems today, there is a need to look into
building a new political system. One that would answer the question, what if the
Lebanese were free to choose today? What if there was indeed a single army and
no foreign armed militias, what should be done to guarantee prosperity? And who
knows, this might be the spark that leads to real change.
When deciding on another global conference for Lebanon, the focus should not be
about providing the needed “tick the box” to unlock international aid. It should
be about bringing real change. Indeed, when the time comes and just as for the
maritime agreement with Israel, the deadlock will vanish and a president with a
prime minister will provide the “lipstick” needed to unlock IMF support the
country needs. It will be squandered without a doubt. Therefore, when calling
for a conference, Macron should focus on supporting the emergence of a new
constitutional Lebanon. I strongly believe that a federal state is by far the
best solution for the country’s ills.
Despite the heavy criticism that is targeted at the French president, mostly by
the French media, I would not denigrate his consistent and never-ending focus on
Lebanon. I do not see vanity as many describe it, I see a true will to support
and keep the Lebanese in the mind of global and world leaders. This is something
Lebanon indeed needs. Yet, what I worry about is the president being dragged
into an equation put forward by the Iranian regime and Hezbollah. And that when
looking to solve it, this plays directly to their advantage. Unfortunately, in
some of his actions, especially when reaching out to regional leaders, this has
been the case. Symbolically, Macron had planned to spend Christmas Eve in
Lebanon and visit the UN peacekeeping mission in the south of the country. Yet,
the cold-blooded killing of a young Irish UN peacekeeper altered his plans. A
Hezbollah supporter has since been detained for this murder. It is unlikely this
action was taken without the knowledge of the group. It is a reminder that no
one moves freely on the roads of Lebanon without the approval of Hezbollah. Not
even a French president. It is the message sent by Iran and Hezbollah to Macron
that the same applies for any political roadmap.
• Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the
editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.
Smugglers blamed as Lebanon bans cancer drug
Najia Houssari/Arab News/December 28, 2022
BEIRUT: A drug used to treat cancer patients has been banned from sale in
Lebanon following a World Health Organization alert on a contaminated batch of
the product, which officials believe was smuggled into the country. The WHO on
Tuesday cited adverse effects in pediatric patients receiving the drug, and said
that its product alert referred to a batch of substandard Methothrex (methotrexate),
which had been identified in Yemen and Lebanon.
The drug, an immunosuppressant used to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases, is
on the WHO model list of essential medicines.
“It is important to detect and remove this contaminated product from circulation
to prevent harm to patients,” the WHO alert said.
The statement also called for “increased surveillance and diligence within the
supply chains of countries and regions likely to be affected by this
product.”Lebanon’s health ministry on Wednesday issued an order banning the drug
and took steps to stop its circulation in the country. However, the ministry
said that the drug was not registered in Lebanon and had been brought into the
country by illegal means.
Lebanon’s failing economy and currency crisis are fueling a market for smuggled
drugs and medicines, which authorities fear is a growing threat to public
health. The health ministry warned patients against buying drugs from unknown
sources, and said that people should consult a list of registered medicines
published on its website in order to ensure their safety and avoid the risk of
using contaminated products. Joe Salloum, head of the Lebanese Pharmacists
Syndicate, said the latest batch of contaminated drugs were most likely smuggled
into the country. He described smuggling operations as “the deliberate killing
of patients.”Salloum said that smuggled drugs that are not registered with the
health ministry are now circulating widely in the country.“These drugs do not
meet international standards and those allowing this to happen are deliberately
killing patients. This is why we must speed up securing safe medicines for
patients, and draw up a plan to directly support the patient to be able to buy
the right medicines,” he said. Bilal Abdullah, head of the parliamentary health
committee, told Arab News: “The borders and ports lack controls. Dozens of
medicines that enter are either expired or contaminated, and they are detected
only when patients with serious side-effects are rushed to hospital.” Referring
to the product banned by Lebanese health authorities, Abdullah said: “There is a
chain that begins with the smuggler, the distributor and the pharmacist who
prescribes the drug as an alternative to a drug that contains the same medicinal
substance.”
He said that organized crime gangs are involved in smuggling medicines. “These
people have nothing to do with religions, politics or sects. All they care about
is taking advantage of crises to accumulate illegal profits.”Abdullah called for
security and oversight agencies at all borders and ports to tighten procedures
as a first step to countering the problem. Fellow health committee member Fadi
Alama told Arab News that the market for pharmaceuticals in Lebanon is difficult
to control despite measures taken by the health ministry.
“The problem must be addressed as soon as possible, and the health ministry has
a good monitoring system that can be used to withdraw these drugs from the
market,” he said.
Hizbullah Officials: The U.S. Is A Plague That
Afflicts Lebanon, Spreads Chaos There And Is Responsible For All The Injustice
In The Region
MEMRI/December 29, 2022
Lebanon | Special Dispatch No. 10399
Hizbullah has recently renewed its anti-American rhetoric that blames the U.S.
for all of Lebanon's problems.[1] One reason for the escalation was remarks made
by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf in
which she called Hizbullah a "plague."[2] These remarks drew furious responses
from Hizbullah officials, chief of them the organization's secretary-general,
Hassan Nasrallah, who stated that America, rather than Hizbullah, is the plague
and curse afflicting Lebanon, "whose effects are felt even today and are evident
in the economic situation, the living conditions and the economic collapse" in
the country.
The second trigger for the escalation in Hizbullah's rhetoric was a November 9,
2022 report in the pro-Hizbullah Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar that the U.S. had
refused to grant Lebanon a sanctions waiver to import free fuel from Iran.[3]
Iran made an offer in September to provide Lebanon with 600,000 tons of fuel,
free of charge, to operate its power stations.[4] In light of America's alleged
refusal to allow this, Hizbullah held it responsible for Lebanon's severe energy
crisis.
This report presents some of Hizbullah's recent statements attacking the U.S. in
this context.
Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah: America Is The Plague That
Afflicted Our Country; Hizbullah Is The One That Removed This Plague
Responding to Barbara Leaf, who referred to Hizbullah as a plague, Nasrallah
stated, in a November 11 speech on the occasion of Martyrs Day, that the U.S.
itself is the plague that afflicted Lebanon and is responsible for its current
economic crisis. He said: "Let me address the remarks made several days ago by
the official in charge of Lebanon and the region in the U.S. state
department,[Barbara Leaf]. She outlined [several] tragic and severe scenarios
for Lebanon's future… Describing scenarios that could lead to the elimination of
Hizbullah, she used the English word 'plague,' and the [Arabic] translators were
divided on how to translate it. Some said it should be translated as 'curse,'
namely a curse named Hizbullah, while others translated it as 'plague' or
'epidemic.' [But] who is the curse, plague or epidemic?... We all remember the
Israeli invasion in 1982 and what it did in Lebanon when it entered Beirut and
most parts of the country. [Everyone remembers] what it has done to the
Lebanese, the Palestinians, the Syrians and everyone else. It has perpetrated
war crimes, destroyed, bombed and massacred. Is that not the case? And who was
it that sponsored, protected, supported and financed [Israel as it did this]? It
was the U.S. The Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 was a curse and a plague,
and we managed to overcome it. This curse and plague was, first and foremost, an
American product… Made in USA…
"You, the U.S. administration, are the curse and the plague that arrived in our
country, whereas we [Hizbullah] – who constitute the main branch of the
resistance alongside our brethren, the other resistance movements and factions –
we are the ones who lifted this curse and removed this American plague. [But]
you kick it out the door and it comes back in through the window…
"Who was it that wanted [to create] chaos in Lebanon in 2019 [a reference to the
protests that broke out across Lebanon in October 2019 against the economic
crisis and government corruption in the country],[5] having failed in its plan
to [start] a civil war? It was you Americans… The [instigators of] the chaos in
2019 [i.e., the protestors], did they not demand the resignation of the
government and the parliament? That means destroying the country. That is your
curse, the American curse, the American plague and the American epidemic… The
curse began back then [in 2019] and its effects are evident to this day, in the
economic crisis, the living conditions, the economic and administrational
collapse and the collapse of [Lebanon's] national currency. America's economic
siege [on Lebanon] started at the same time and [also] persists to this day… The
siege I am talking about is being imposed by [the Americans] sitting in
Washington. It bans any country from investing in Lebanon, extending aid to it,
or depositing funds in Lebanon's central bank… Worse, if any country in the
world dares to come out against the American siege and extend aid to Lebanon,
the Americans come and forbid the Lebanese state, the [Lebanese] government, to
accept this aid. What do you call this? A curse and a plague…
"Looking at the region, [we see] an even greater catastrophe. Now that Syria has
won the world war [against it], it is suffering terribly in terms of its economy
and the living conditions [of its citizens]. What is the reason for this? The
American Caesar Act… And who is responsible for the ongoing war in Yemen? Who is
responsible for all the injustice in our region? Who is responsible for what is
happening in Iran in the recent weeks... and in Palestine? It is the American
plague…"[6]
Hizbullah Deputy Secretary-General Na'im Qassem: The U.S. Is Responsible For
Lebanon's Crisis
As stated, the report that the U.S. had forbidden Lebanon to receive free fuel
from Iran likewise sparked anti-American responses. Hizbullah Deputy
Secretary-General Na'im Qassem said at a November 9 memorial for a Hizbullah
activist: "The U.S. is the reason for the Lebanese crisis. It is the one
preventing Lebanon from receiving electricity [from Jordan via Syria] and
accepting the Iranian grant [of fuel]."[7] On November 12 Qassem tweeted:
"Lebanon has been forbidden to accept a grant of 600,000 tons of Iranian fuel,
worth some $350 million. This means depriving Lebanon of 5-6 hours of
electricity a day for several months! #Curse the rapacious America."[8]
Deputy Chair Of Hizbullah's Executive Committee: The U.S. Trying To Cause
Lebanon's Collapse
Sheikh 'Ali Da'moush, the deputy chair of Hizbullah's Executive Committee, spoke
in a similar vein at a Hizbullah Martyrs Day event on November 13. He said: "The
main reason for the Lebanese people's suffering is the U.S. administration,
which has placed Lebanon under [economic] siege. It is increasing the suffering
of the Lebanese people and works to exacerbate the crises and the problems by
preventing Lebanon from accepting aid and receiving electricity and gas. [It is
also] preventing a solution to the problem of the [Syrian] refugees, interfering
in Lebanon's internal affairs and trying to impose [the appointment of a
Lebanese] president subordinate to its will.
"The U.S. administration is now planning to bring about Lebanon's collapse [by]
sparking disagreements and bringing the situation inside [the country] to an
explosion that will destroy it. That is what U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
for Near Eastern Affairs [Barbara Leaf] revealed when she spoke about a
dangerous scenario in Lebanon that will cause the country to be completely
destroyed and [then] rebuilt according to the interests of the U.S. and Israel.
That means [that it will be built] without the resistance [Hizbullah], because
the resistance poses a threat to Israel and gives Lebanon strength in the
struggle against [Israel's] ambitions.
"The Lebanese must not forget that the one who supported the Israeli invasion
that destroyed Lebanon in 1982, aided it, protected it, sponsored it and
financed it, was the U.S., and that the weapons that killed the Lebanese and
destroyed large parts of the country in 1993, 1996 and until 2006 were American
weapons. We must also remember that the one who brought ISIS, and the [other]
terrorists who accuse [fellow Muslims] of heresy, into our region and into
Lebanon, and the one who bombed and killed in the Beqaa Valley, in the Dahiya
and in Beirut, is the American administration. It was also the one who created
the chaos [in Lebanon] and used its servants to spark discord in the country and
to impose a siege on the Lebanese since 2019, and was a major reason for the
economic and financial collapse and the plunge in living standards.
"[But] as long as we are armed with the spirit of the martyrs – their faith,
knowledge, awareness, perception, courage, steadfastness, might, determination,
will and readiness for struggle and sacrifice in defending our people and in
preserving the honor and sovereignty of our country – the American
administration will not mange to realize its plans, its goals and the
catastrophic scenarios it is warning the Lebanese about. It will fail and will
be disappointed, just like in all its previous attempts."[9]
Head Of Hizbullah's Parliamentary Bloc: If It Weren't For The U.S. The Lebanese
Could Have Had Power For 10 Hours A Day
Muhammad Ra'd, the head of Hizbullah's "Loyalty to the Resistance" bloc in the
Lebanese parliament, said at a memorial in the town of Harouf on November 10:
"The Americans have [now] said explicitly what they concealed when Iran first
decided to provide Lebanon with a grant of fuel to meet the needs of the
Lebanese people and hopefully activate the power plants for 10-12 hours a day.
This grant comes from Iran, which rebels against the American tyrant, and the
Americans have imposed sanctions on anyone dealing with Iran. That is the
obstacle preventing the Lebanese government from accepting this grant… and that
is why [the Lebanese] do not have power [at least] for 10 hours a day…"[10]
Hizbullah's Parliamentary Bloc: The U.S. Will Continue Harming Lebanon If We
Refuse To Obey It
Hizbullah's "Loyalty to the Resistance" bloc itself also attacked the U.S.
following the Al-Akhbar report. A statement issued after the bloc's November 10
meeting said: "The U.S. administration insists on continuing its barbaric
aggression against Lebanon and its people, and has declared, with the utmost
arrogance, that accepting the Iranian fuel grant will expose Lebanon to American
sanctions. We hereby present this [American] position to all the Lebanese
people, so that they know which international element is thuggishly subjecting
their country to a siege, and [so they know whose] officials are openly rebuking
Lebanon and warning it that it will suffer more unless it submits to the policy
of tyranny. We in Hizbullah firmly oppose the rationale of the American hegemony
and control, condemn it, and reiterate our insistence that Lebanon exercise its
sovereign right to determine its own interests… We hereby declare to our people
that we will not agree to be patronized and dictated to by anyone…"[11]
Hizbullah Supporters On Twitter: The Massacres, Crimes And Killing In Lebanon
Are An American Curse
Following Nasrallah's speech, many Hizbullah supporters on Twitter likewise
directed invective at the U.S., using hashtags like "America is the curse" and
"MADE IN USA." Nasrallah's son Jawwad, for example, tweeted: "The massacres,
crimes and killing in Lebanon are an American curse."[12]
User Zainab Al-'Ali shared an image depicting the U.S. as Satan, with the
hashtag "America is the curse."[13]
User Hassan Fakhoury shared pictures of victims of attacks in Lebanon, and
wrote: "The injustice suffered by honorable Lebanese is made in America. The
Arabs have agreed on this since 1982… and in 2022 they still do. #MADE IN
USA."[14]
[1] For previous examples of this rhetoric, see MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series
No. 1606 - Hizbullah Waging Campaign Against U.S. And Its Influence In Lebanon:
'We Know How To Hurt Them And Threaten Their Interests' – November 23, 2021.
[2] Speaking on November 4, 2022 at the Washington-based Wilson Center, Barbara
Leaf said: "I'm mindful of the narrative in some parts of this town and
elsewhere, that letting Lebanon collapse may somehow enable it to rebuild from
the ashes, free of the plague that Hizbullah has represented for so many years.
If only it were so simple…" Wilsoncenter.org, November 4, 2022.
[3] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon)ת November 9, 2022. It should be noted that, according to
other sources, the U.S. has not given any official reply on this issue. See Al-Sharq
Al-Awsat (London), November 11, 2022; aljazeera.net, November 14, 2022.
[4] Reuters.com, September 7, 2022. According to sources in Lebanon's energy
ministry, Iran has not yet decided whether to provide the fuel to Lebanon, and
if so, whether Lebanon will be required to pay for it. Almodon.com, November 10,
2022.
[5] On these protests see Special Dispatch No. 8332 - Lebanese Politicians,
Journalists, Before The Outbreak Of The Current Protest-Wave: It Is Hizbullah
That Caused The Economic Crisis In The Country – October 25, 2019.
[6] Alahedmews.com.lb, November 11, 2022.
[7] Almanar.com.lb, November 9, 2022. In July 2021 talks commenced between
Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan on a deal to supply Lebanon with power from Jordan and
gas from Egypt via Syria. U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea said at the
time that she would act to facilitate the deal by exempting it from U.S.
sanctions under the Caesar Act, which prohibits gas transactions with the Syrian
regime. Allowing the deal is in line with the American interest to alleviate
Lebanon's energy crisis and render superfluous Hizbullah's efforts to import
fuel from Iran. However, as of this writing, the U.S. has not officially
consented to the move. Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), December 6, 2022. See also MEMRI
Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 1602 - Jordan, With U.S. Consent, Spearheads
Efforts To Return Syrian Regime To Arab Fold – October 19, 2021.
[8] Twitter.com/shnaimkassem, November 12, 2022.
[9] Almanar.com.lb, November 13, 2022.
[10] Alahednews.com.lb, November 10, 2022.
[11] Alahednews.com.lb, November 10, 2022.
[12] Twitter.com/_mjn, November 11, 2022.
[13] Twitter.com/zainab_elali, November 12, 2022.
[14] Twitter.com/hasanm133, November 11, 2022.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on December 29-30/2022/
Al-Azhar’s greeting to Copts provokes anger
Gobran Mohamed/Arab News/December 29, 2022
CAIRO: Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Sunni Islam’s oldest and foremost seat of learning,
confirmed that controversy and disagreement over congratulating the Christian
brothers on the occasion of Christmas has been renewed with the approaching end
of each year. The Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism said that this
debate was settled by Al-Azhar Al-Sharif a long time ago. Al-Azhar Observatory
for Combating Extremism added in a statement that this matter was recently
evident in the congratulations of Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, the most
senior cleric at Al-Azhar, addressed to Pope Francis, Pope Tawadros II, and the
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew
I, church leaders, and Christian brothers in the East and West. “This
congratulations carried an explicit call to raise the voice of brotherhood and
peace in order for security and stability to prevail everywhere,” Al-Azhar
Observatory said. The observatory said that it noticed the reaction caused by
the grand imam’s greetings, which were published on his Facebook page. Compared
with 30,000 positive reactions to the congratulations, more than 16,000 “angry
and sarcastic” responses came from those who rejected the idea of congratulating
Christians on Christmas, based on “ignorance of religious teachings and
misconceptions that some promoted about its contradiction with the Islamic
faith,” it said.
“In a clear raising of the tone of violence and hatred against the other who
dissents in religion, this is an interaction that indicates a wrong
understanding of the texts of religion and leads to a threat to public peace and
contempt for religion, which entails a legal penalty and a religious
violation.”The Al-Azhar Observatory said that these objectors cited false
statements about scholars, strict interpretations of Shariah texts, or old
fatwas that had their historical context and occasions. This transgression also
appeared in the right of anyone who issues fatwas or adopts the saying that
congratulating Christian brothers on their holidays is permissible. “This is
what we clearly noticed in the comments accompanying the grand imam’s
congratulations to the Christian brothers in the East and West,” the observatory
said. According to the observatory, this statistic shows the negative side of
false and extremist ideas that exploit ignorance of Shariah issues to accuse
people of infidelity and mislead people with flimsy charges that only exist in
the minds of their promoters and resonate with the weak-minded. “This leads us
to repeat the call for the need to fully adhere to the legal fatwas and
jurisprudential opinions issued by official institutions in this regard while
having good faith in the nation’s scholars and symbols,” it said. The
observatory said that congratulation is one of the aspects of “righteousness”
that Islam urges us to do toward people in general. It extended its sincere
congratulations to the Christian brothers on the occasion of Christmas, “and
hopes that the coming year will be a year of goodness and peace, in which all
conflicts will end and the spirit of peace and human brotherhood will prevail in
the whole world.”The Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism seeks to
consolidate the teachings of the true Islamic religion and magnify its message
based on moderation, moderation, tolerance, and human brotherhood by providing
moderate and meaningful content in various languages, emphasizing the
universality of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, and strengthening Egypt’s global position in
the field of combating extremism and building community peace.
Former Jordanian MP Tarek Khoury On Hizbullah TV:
The Jews Killed Christ, Drove Nails Into His Arms And Legs; The Enmity Between
Judaism And Christianity Is Eternal; Were Jesus Alive Today, He Would Lead The
Intifada
MEMRI/December 29/2022
Source: Al-Manar TV (Lebanon)
Former Jordanian MP Tarek Khoury said in a December 25, 2022 show on Al-Manar TV
(Hizbullah-Lebanon) that the Jews persecuted Jesus and opposed Christianity
throughout its entire history. Claiming that Jesus called the Jews the "progeny
of vipers" and the children of the Devil, he said that the "enmity between
Judaism and Christianity is eternal" and that the Jews killed Jesus. He also
said that if Jesus were alive today, he would be the leader of the "resistance"
and of the Intifada in Palestine. For more about Tarek Khoury, see MEMRI TV Clip
No. 7129. Tarek Khoury: "Jesus and Christianity have been persecuted by the Jews
since the days of Christ. The Jews persecuted Christ until they drove nails into
his arms and legs in order to get rid of him. "These are the Jews. Jesus
described them as 'progeny of vipers,' and elsewhere, he said to them: 'You
belong to your father, the Devil.' "This enmity has been eternal, because [the
Jews] do not want this character, this ideology, this heroic way of life, to
exist and confront them. This is why Christ was persecuted and why Christianity
is persecuted to this day. "Many Christians fail to note that the enmity between
Judaism and Christianity is eternal, and that it was the Jews who killed Christ.
"It must be made clear to every Christian on Earth that the enmity between
Judaism and Christianity is eternal. It is nothing new. "In my view, if Jesus
were alive today, he would lead the resistance. He would lead the resistance
ideology and the Intifada in the land of Palestine."
Israel swears in Netanyahu as PM of hard-line
government
Associated Press/December, 29/2022
Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn into office Thursday, taking the helm of the most
right-wing and religiously conservative government in Israel's history and
vowing to implement policies that could cause domestic and regional turmoil and
alienate the country's closest allies.
Netanyahu took the oath of office moments after parliament passed a vote of
confidence in his new government. His return marks his sixth term in office,
continuing his more than decade-long dominance over Israeli politics. His new
government has pledged to prioritize settlement expansion in the occupied West
Bank, extend massive subsidies to his ultra-Orthodox allies and push for
sweeping reform of the judicial system that could endanger the country's
democratic institutions. Netanyahu is the country's longest serving prime
minister, having held office from 2009 until 2021 and a stint in the 1990s. He
was ousted from office last year after four deadlocked elections by a coalition
of eight parties solely united in their opposition to his rule while on trial
for corruption. That coalition broke apart in June, and Netanyahu and his
ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox allies secured a parliamentary majority in
November's election.
"I hear the constant cries of the opposition about the end of the country and
democracy," said Netanyahu after taking the podium in parliament ahead of the
government's formal swearing-in on Thursday afternoon. His speech was
interrupted repeatedly by heckles and jeers from opposition leadership, who at
times chanted "weak." "Opposition members: to lose in elections is not the end
of democracy, this is the essence of democracy," he said. Netanyahu heads a
government comprised of a hard-line religious ultranationalist party dominated
by West Bank settlers, two ultra-Orthodox parties and his nationalist Likud
party. His allies are pushing for dramatic changes that could alienate large
swaths of the Israeli public, raise the risk of conflict with the Palestinians,
and put Israel on a collision course with some of its closest supporters,
including the United States and the Jewish American community.
Netanyahu's government published its platform, which stated that "the Jewish
people have exclusive and indisputable rights" over the entirety of Israel and
the Palestinian territories and will advance settlement construction in the
occupied West Bank. That includes legalizing dozens of wildcat outposts and a
commitment to annex the entire territory, a step that would draw heavy
international opposition by destroying any remaining hopes for Palestinian
statehood and add fuel to calls that Israel is an apartheid state if millions of
Palestinians are not granted citizenship. Netanyahu's previous administrations
have been strong proponents of Israel's West Bank settlement enterprise, and
that is only expected to be kicked into overdrive under the new government.
Israel captured the West Bank in 1967 along with the Gaza Strip and east
Jerusalem — territories the Palestinians seek for a future state. Israel has
constructed dozens of Jewish settlements that are home to around 500,000
Israelis who live alongside around 2.5 million Palestinians. Most of the
international community considers Israel's West Bank settlements illegal and an
obstacle to peace with the Palestinians. The United States already has warned
the incoming government against taking steps that could further undermine hopes
for an independent Palestinian state. The new government has also raised
concerns about impingement of minority and LGBTQ rights.
Outside parliament, several thousand demonstrators waved the Israeli and Pride
flags and chanted "we don't want fascists in the Knesset." Another protest was
expected in Tel Aviv later in the day. Earlier this week, two members of the
Religious Zionism party said they would advance an amendment to the country's
anti-discrimination law that would allow businesses and doctors to discriminate
against the LGBTQ community on the basis of religious faith. Those remarks,
along with the ruling coalition's broadly anti-LGBTQ stance, have raised fears
among the LGBTQ community that the new Netanyahu administration would roll back
their limited rights. Netanyahu has tried to allay those concerns by pledging no
harm to LGBTQ rights. Yair Lapid, the outgoing prime minister who will now
reassume the title of opposition leader, told parliament that he was handing the
new government "a country in excellent condition, with a strong economy, with
improved defensive abilities and strong deterrence, with one of the best
international standings ever."
"Try not to destroy it. We'll be back soon," Lapid said.
Amir Ohana elected Israel's first openly gay parliament
speaker
Agence France Presse/December, 29/2022
Former minister Amir Ohana was elected as Israel's first openly gay speaker of
parliament on Thursday, ahead of the swearing in the of new government. An MP
since 2015, the member of incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
right-wing Likud party was elected with 63 votes in favour, five against and one
abstention during a parliamentary vote. He is the third most senior figure after
the president and prime minister, according to the country's constitution. In
2019, he became the first gay man to hold a ministerial post when he was
selected as Netanyahu's justice minister. A coalition agreement between
Netanyahu's Likud and Avi Maoz, the leader of the anti-LGBTQ Noam party, shocked
Israel's gay community. According to the agreement, Maoz will be appointed
deputy minister in charge of "Jewish identity". Maoz vowed to "study the legal
avenues to cancel Gay Pride", he told Israeli radio after the elections, as he
joined the far-right formation Religious Zionism. The U.S. ambassador to Israel,
Tom Nides, recently pledged to judge the government "on its actions rather than
on the declarations of certain politicians in the campaign.""I've been to gay
pride, I've marched in Jerusalem, I've marched in Tel Aviv and I plan to march
again. There's no doubt in my mind that there will be another gay pride in
Jerusalem," Nides told Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Israel is more progressive on
LGBTQ rights than many of its Middle East neighbours and recognises the
marriages of same-sex couples who wed abroad. The outgoing coalition government
passed legislation banning so-called "gay conversion therapy" and granting
surrogacy rights to all.
Israel's ex-intelligence minister Eli Cohen nominated as
foreign minister
Agence France Presse/December, 29/2022
Former Israeli intelligence minister Eli Cohen, an architect of the
normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries, was Thursday
nominated as foreign minister by prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu announced the nomination in a speech to the Israeli parliament as he
outlined the direction of his new government, expected to be voted in by
lawmakers later in the day, succeeding a coalition government headed by Yair
Lapid. In 2020 the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, all normalized
relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords. Cohen then led the first
official delegation to Sudan in January 2021, after the country also signed a
normalization agreement with Israel. Cohen takes office as Netanyahu seeks to
expand the so-called Abraham Accords to Saudi Arabia. "We laid the foundations
for Saudi joining the Abraham Accords," Lapid said in a farewell speech to
parliament. "The secret details will be handed to the incoming prime minister.
If the new government continues in the route we carved out, normalisation with
the Saudis can be reached in a short time."
As Netanyahu returns to office, troubles lie ahead
Associated Press/December, 29/2022
After five elections that have paralyzed Israeli politics for nearly four years,
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has finally returned to power with the
government he has long coveted: a parliamentary majority of religious and
far-right lawmakers who share his hard-line views toward the Palestinians and
hostility toward Israel's legal system. Yet Netanyahu's joy may be short-lived.
Putting together his coalition proved to be surprisingly complicated, requiring
nearly two months of painstaking negotiations and a series of legal maneuvers
just to allow his partners to take office. Among them: newly created Cabinet
positions with widespread authority over security and a law allowing a
politician on parole for a criminal conviction to be a government minister.
Along the way, he was forced to make generous concessions to allies that include
commitments to expanding West Bank settlements, proposals to allow
discrimination against against LGBTQ people and boosting subsidies for
ultra-Orthodox men to study instead of work. If these plans are carried out,
they will alienate large portions of the Israeli public, raise the chances of
conflict with the Palestinians, upset Israel's powerful security establishment
and put Israel on a collision course with some of its closest allies, including
the U.S. government and the American Jewish community. Even members of
Netanyahu's Likud Party are grumbling. Netanyahu has sought to play down
concerns, saying that he will set policy — little comfort for his many critics
who have bristled at his hard-line policies toward the Palestinians. His
ultranationalist partners will also have great leverage over him because they
have promised to promote legislation that could dismiss criminal charges against
him. They are sure to test his limits. Here is a closer look at some of the
challenges awaiting the new government:
THE UNITED STATES
The Biden administration has expressed unease over the more extreme politicians
in the new government, but said it will judge it by policies, not personalities.
Early indications do not bode well. A day before taking office, Netanyahu's
government said West Bank settlement expansion would be a top priority. It wants
to legalize dozens of wildcat outposts and says that it plans to annex the
occupied territory at an unspecified time. The U.S. opposes settlements as
obstacles to peace. It also considers steps that marginalize the Palestinians,
LGBTQ people and other minority groups as detrimental. Netanyahu has vowed to
protect minority rights. But if his coalition moves forward, there could be a
crisis in relations with Israel's closest ally. Leaders of the American Jewish
community have also expressed concern over the incoming government and members'
hostility toward the liberal streams of Judaism popular in the U.S. Given
American Jews' predominantly liberal political views, these misgivings could
have a ripple effect in Washington and further widen a partisan divide over
support for Israel.
THE PALESTINIANS
Many Palestinians have greeted the election of the new government with a shrug.
With peace talks already on hold for over a decade, some don't see how any
government can make things worse. But that sense of resignation could turn to
anger if the new government steps up settlement activities or annexes the West
Bank, the heartland of their hoped-for state. Fighting in the West Bank, already
at its highest levels in years, could escalate. And if Netanyahu's allies test
the tense status quo in east Jerusalem — home to the city's most important and
sensitive holy site — violence could spread across Israel and into the Gaza
Strip, as it did in 2021. Gaza's Hamas rulers have already warned of an "open
confrontation" next year.
JITTERY SECURITY CHIEFS
The military, along with Israel's police and myriad security agencies, command
influence and respect in Israeli society. Netanyahu has historically worked well
with his security chiefs. But a pair of appointments have raised questions about
that relationship. Netanyahu has placed a far-right provocateur who was once
convicted of incitement and supporting a Jewish terrorist group in charge of the
nation's police force. He also passed legislation putting a firebrand West Bank
settler in charge of settlement policy, including the power to appoint a top
general responsible for policies toward the Palestinians. The impending changes
prompted Israel's outgoing army chief to contact Netanyahu and express concerns.
The army said the men agreed there would be no policy changes until the military
presents its viewpoints. "The army must be kept out of the political discourse,"
it said.
DOMESTIC AGENDA
Netanyahu and his allies have announced an ambitious agenda of social changes
that are deeply unpopular with the secular middle class, according to a recent
survey by the Israel Democracy Institute, an influential think tank. They
include plans to weaken the Supreme Court and increase already unpopular
stipends for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students who do not serve in the
military or work. A proposal endorsed by his allies would allow hospitals and
businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
The judicial changes, headlined by a plan to give parliament the power to
overturn Supreme Court decisions, could lead to the dismissal of corruption
charges against Netanyahu. These proposals have drawn conflict-of-interest
allegations and raised concerns they will destroy country's system of checks and
balances.
Protesters are already demonstrating in the streets against the incoming
government. Hundreds of members of Israel's powerful high-tech sector, scores of
retired fighter pilots and retired diplomats have all published letters against
the new government. These trends could all gain steam in the coming months.
LIKUD
Netanyahu wields a firm grip on Likud — by far the largest party in parliament.
But several members are unhappy over his generous concessions to smaller parties
that have left them without the high-powered Cabinet posts they coveted. Some
have even complained publicly. There are no signs of a rebellion. But if they
remain unhappy, they could hinder his ability to pass his agenda in parliament.
Israeli Minister Sees Possible Attack on Iran
‘in Two or Three Years’
Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 29/2022
Israel could attack Iranian nuclear sites in two or three years, its defense
minister said on Wednesday, in unusually explicit comments about a possible
timeline. With international efforts to renew a 2015 nuclear deal having
stalled, the Iranians have ramped up uranium enrichment, a process with civilian
uses that can also eventually yield fuel for nuclear bombs - though they deny
having any such design. Experts say Iran could potentially raise the
fissile purity of its uranium to weapons-grade in short order. But building a
deliverable warhead would take it years, they say - an estimate echoed by an
Israeli military intelligence general this month. "In two or three years, you
may be traversing the skies eastward and taking part in an attack on nuclear
sites in Iran," Defense Minister Benny Gantz told graduating air force cadets in
a speech. For more than a decade, Israel has issued veiled threats to attack its
arch-enemy's nuclear facilities if it deems world powers' diplomacy with Tehran
a dead end. However, some experts doubt Israel has the military clout to deliver
lasting damage to Iranian targets that are distant, dispersed and well-defended.
The Israeli military intelligence forecast for 2023 is that Iran "will continue
on its current path of slow progress" in the nuclear realm, according to Israel
Hayom newspaper on Sunday. "Iran will only change its policies if extreme
sanctions are imposed on it; then it could decide to accelerate enrichment to
military grade," said the report, which a military spokesperson confirmed as
citing genuine intelligence assessments. Under an ambiguity policy designed to
deter surrounding foes while avoiding provocations that can spur arms races,
Israel neither confirms nor denies having nuclear weaponry. Scholars believe it
does, having acquired the first bomb in late 1966. nlike Iran, Israel is not a
signatory to the voluntary Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970, which offers access
to civilian nuclear technologies in exchange for the forswearing of nuclear
weaponry.
Iran Replaces Central Bank Governor amid Currency Crash
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 29 December, 2022
Iran appointed a new head of its central bank on Thursday after the currency
crashed to its lowest level ever against the dollar amid mass protests and
ongoing Western sanctions. Mohammad Reza Farzin, 57, a senior banker and former
deputy finance minister, was tapped to replace Ali Salehabadi, who resigned
after 15 months at the post, the official IRNA news agency reported. The rial
was trading at around 430,000 to the dollar on Thursday, down from 370,000
earlier this month. Already battered by years of Western sanctions over Iran's
nuclear program, the rial was trading at 315,000 when anti-government protests
erupted in mid-September. The protests were ignited by the death of a woman who
was detained by the country's morality police. The demonstrations rapidly
escalated into calls for an end to more than four decades of clerical rule.
At least 508 protesters have been killed and more than 18,600 people have been
arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has closely
monitored the unrest. Iranian authorities have not provided an official death
toll. Iran’s currency was trading at 32,000 rials to the dollar at the time of
the 2015 nuclear accord that lifted international sanctions in exchange for
tight controls on Iran’s nuclear program. That deal unraveled after
then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from it in
2018. The Biden administration had been trying to restore the agreement up until
the protests broke out, but those talks hit a deadlock several months ago.
Second Russian Defense Sector Bigwig Dies in
Two Days
Allison Quinn/The Daily Beast/December 29, 2022
The former commander-in-chief of Russia’s ground forces died in a military
hospital earlier this week—the second bigwig in the country’s military
industrial complex to die in just two days. They are just the latest senior
Russia military or political elites to drop dead unexpectedly in recent months.
Alexei Maslov, a retired army general, was serving as a special representative
of military-technical cooperation for Uralvagonzavod, Russia’s largest tank
manufacturer, when he died “unexpectedly” last Saturday, the company announced
in a statement. No cause of death was given. Maslov, who was appointed as
Russia’s military representative to NATO in 2008, died just two days after
Vladimir Putin abruptly canceled his first visit to Uralvagonzavod since 2019.
The Russian leader was expected to fly into Yekaterinburg last week before
heading to Nizhny Tagil to meet with staffers at the tank factory, where workers
have been enduring 12-hour days, six days a week due to fulfill orders for the
war against Ukraine. Local authorities in Yekaterinburg went to ridiculous
lengths for his impending visit, reportedly banning drivers of local public
transportation from letting passengers out anywhere near Putin’s motorcade.
Authorities in Nizhny Tagil reportedly forbid student drivers from using the
streets. But then Putin’s visit was abruptly canceled at the last minute, local
media reported. Maslov’s death came just a day after Alexander Buzakov, the
director general of Admiralty Shipyards, died suddenly and “tragically” from
unknown causes. Buzakov, who St. Petersburg Gov. Alexander Beglov credited with
making sure Russia’s military was “prepared for confrontation with the West,”
had previously told Russian state media the shipyard was preparing to fulfill a
Defense Ministry order for diesel-powered submarines capable of launching Kalibr
cruise missiles—the same ones Moscow has been using for months to launch attacks
on Ukraine.
Fallen colossus: USSR's terror, triumphs began 100 years
ago
MOSCOW (AP)/Thu, December 29, 2022
With its brutality, technological accomplishments and rigid ideology, the Soviet
Union loomed over the world like an immortal colossus. It led humankind into
outer space, exploded the most powerful nuclear weapon ever, and inflicted
bloody purges and cruel labor camps on its own citizens while portraying itself
as the vanguard of enlightened revolution. But its lifespan was less than the
average human's; born 100 years ago, it died days short of its 69th birthday.
The Soviet Union both inspired loyalty and provoked dismay among its 285 million
citizens. The dichotomy was summarized by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who
served in its notorious KGB security agency. “Anyone who doesn’t regret the
passing of the Soviet Union has no heart,” he said. “Anyone who wants it
restored has no brains.” On the centenary of the treaty that formed the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics, The Associated Press reviews the events of its rise
and fall.
ESTABLISHMENT
Five years after the overthrow of Russia's czarist government, four of the
socialist republics that had formed in the aftermath signed a treaty on Dec. 30,
1922 to create the USSR: Ukraine; Byelorussia; Transcaucasia, which spread over
Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan; and Russia, including the old empire's holdings
in Central Asia. The USSR, which later expanded to include Moldova, Latvia,
Lithuania and Estonia, left the republics with their own governments and
national languages, but all subordinate to Moscow.
LENIN DIES
Vladimir Lenin, the first Soviet leader, was already in poor health when the
USSR was formed and died little more than a year later. Josef Stalin
outmaneuvered rivals in the ensuing power battle.
COLLECTIVIZATION
Stalin incorporated private landholdings into state and collective farms.
Resistance to collectivization and the policy's inefficiencies aggravated
famines; Ukraine's 1932-33 “Holodomor” killed an estimated 4 million people, and
many term it an outright genocide.
GREAT PURGE
Driven by Stalin's fear of rivals, Soviet authorities in the 1930s launched show
trials of prominent figures alleged to be enemies of the state and conducted
widespread arrests and executions often based on little more than denunciation
by neighbors. Estimates say as many as 1.2 million people died in 1937-38, the
purge's most intense period.
WWII
World War II inflicted colossal suffering on the Soviet Union, but cemented its
superpower status and swelled citizens' hearts with the conviction that theirs
was a virtuous and indomitable nation.
An estimated 27 million Soviets died. The Battle of Stalingrad was among the
bloodiest in history; Nazi and affiliated forces besieged Leningrad for more
than two years. The Red Army doggedly pushed back and slowly advanced until
reaching Berlin, ending the war's European theater.
The war left Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia incorporated into the Soviet Union,
as well as what later became Moldova. Stalin used wartime conferences to demand
a Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, eventually drawing Poland,
Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and East Germany behind the “Iron
Curtain.”
STALIN DIES
Stalin's death in 1953 was traumatic for Soviets who venerated him. Huge crowds
gathered to pay their respects and more than 100 people reportedly died in the
crush. He left no designated successor, and the country's leadership became
embroiled in jockeying for power. Nikita Khrushchev cemented his position at the
top in 1955.
KHRUSHCHEV THAW
Formerly a loyal functionary, Khrushchev turned on his predecessor once firmly
in power. In a speech to a Communist Party congress, he railed for hours against
Stalin's brutality and the “cult of personality” he engendered. He later had
Stalin's body removed from the Red Square mausoleum where Lenin's body also lay.
The speech was a key point in what became known as the Khrushchev Thaw, a period
of relaxed repression and censorship.
Khrushchev was ousted in 1964 in a vote by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet,
which was led by Leonid Brezhnev. He became the USSR's leader.
SPACE RACE
The 1957 launch of Sputnik-1, the first artificial satellite, sparked enormous
concern in the United States that the Soviets were speeding ahead
technologically. The U.S. accelerated its space program, but the USSR sent the
first human into outer space, Yuri Gagarin, four years later. American Alan
Shepard's 15-minute suborbital flight the next month only emphasized the space
gap.
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
Perhaps the closest the world ever came to full nuclear war was the 1962
confrontation between the U.S. and the USSR over the presence in Cuba of Soviet
nuclear missiles, which Khrushchev sent in response to U.S. nuclear-capable
missiles placed in Turkey. The U.S. ordered a naval blockade of the island and
tensions soared, but the Soviets agreed to pull back the missiles in return for
the removal of U.S. missiles from Turkey. The positive offshoot was the
establishment of a U.S.-USSR hotline to facilitate crisis communications.
DETENTE
In the Brezhnev years, Washington and Moscow engaged in the so-called “detente”
period that saw several arms treaties signed, improved trade relations and the
Apollo-Soyuz spacecraft docking, the first joint mission in outer space. That
ended after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Brezhnev died in 1982, and
relations withered under successors Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, who
were in ill health and died after less than 15 months in office.
AFGHANISTAN WAR
Despite Afghanistan's reputation as “the graveyard of empires,” the Soviets sent
in troops in 1979, assassinating the country's leader and installing a compliant
successor. Fighting dragged on for nearly a decade. Soviet troops — 115,000 at
the war's height — were battered by resistance fighters used to the rough
terrain. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began a withdrawal in 1987 and
completed it in 1989. More than 14,000 Red Army troops died in the conflict that
eroded the image of Soviet military superiority.
STAGNATION
“They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work." This sarcastic line became
popular in the Brezhnev era as the economy staggered through low and even
negative growth. The rigidity of central planning was seen as a major cause
along with high defense spending.
GORBACHEV RISES
The dour torpor that set in during the late ‘70s lifted when Gorbachev was
chosen Communist Party leader after Chernenko’s death. Personable, a relative
youngster at 54 and accompanied by his fashionable wife, Raisa, Gorbachev
brought a strongly human touch to a grim and opaque government, sparking
enthusiasm dubbed “Gorbymania” in the West. Within months, he was campaigning to
end economic and political stagnation, using “glasnost,” or openness, to pursue
the goal of “perestroika” — restructuring. He signed two landmark arms
agreements with the U.S., freed political prisoners, allowed open debate,
multi-candidate elections and freedom to travel, and halted religious
oppression. But the forces he unleashed quickly escaped his control.
Long-suppressed ethnic tensions flared into strife in areas such as the southern
Caucasus. Strikes and labor unrest followed price increases and consumer good
shortages so severe that even showpiece Moscow stores were bare.
CHERNOBYL
Gorbachev's standing in the West was undermined when a reactor at the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant exploded in 1986, spewing radioactive fallout over much of
Europe for a week. Despite Gorbachev's vaunted glasnost, the Soviets did not
inform the outside world, or even their own citizens, of the disaster for two
days. They allowed a large May Day event in Kyiv despite elevated radiation
levels.
BERLIN WALL FALLS
Although the USSR had sent troops to put down uprisings in the satellite states
of Hungary and Czechoslovakia in 1956 and 1968, it did not intervene when
democratization and waves of dissent spread through East Bloc countries in 1989.
The most vivid consequence of standing back came when East Germany opened
passage to West Germany: Jubilant demonstrators swarmed the Berlin Wall that had
blocked off the city's Soviet sector since 1961, and hammered chunks off it.
COUP ATTEMPT
The Soviet prime minister, defense minister, KGB head and other top officials,
alarmed at growing separatism and economic troubles, on August 19, 1991, put
Gorbachev under house arrest at his vacation dacha and ordered a halt to all
political activities. Tanks and troops ground through the streets of Moscow, but
crowds gathered to defy them. Russian President Boris Yeltsin clambered onto a
tank outside the parliament building to denounce the coup plotters. The attempt
collapsed in three days and Gorbachev returned to Moscow, albeit with his power
severely weakened.
COLLAPSE
Over the next four months, the USSR disintegrated with the slow drama of a
calving glacier, as several republics, including Ukraine, declared independence.
Yeltsin banned Communist Party activities in Russia.
The leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus in early December signed an accord
stating the Soviet Union had ceased to exist. On Dec. 25, Gorbachev resigned and
the USSR's flag was lowered from the Kremlin. Debate persists on what felled the
colossus: its repressive ways, poor decisions by ailing leaders, adherence to an
arguably unviable ideology — all could have played a part. Thirty years later,
analyst Dmitri Trenin, then-director of the Moscow Carnegie Center, told The
Associated Press: “The collapse of the Soviet Union was one of those occasions
in history that are believed to be unthinkable until they become inevitable.”
Putin is threatening ‘nuclear blackmail’ in Ukraine – but
the world must not give in, historian says
Kim Sengupta/The Independent/December 29, 2022
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches its first anniversary, both sides
are preparing for fresh offensives with flickering hopes of a ceasefire
extinguished almost as soon as they surface. For the historian Timothy Snyder,
this war in the heart of Europe, one of the most momentous in recent history,
will end with paradigm shifts and a new reality in the international order - but
not the cataclysmic nuclear apocalypse some fear. Speaking to The Independent,
he said: “Putin has introduced nuclear rhetoric. There is a temptation to give
in to nuclear blackmail, it has become a matter of obsessive importance to many.
This is what Putin wants, to make us worry about threats he is just alluding to.
“We need to keep a perspective on this, need to remember that superpowers lost
in Vietnam and Afghanistan humiliatingly and didn’t use nuclear weapons. There
is a realisation that it is essential to support Ukraine, not just by the Biden
administration, but Nato and democratic countries.”Snyder, whose writing and
teaching courses as a professor at Yale University have focused on Ukraine and
Russia, is a vociferous advocate for Ukraine, fulsomely espousing the country’s
fighting spirit and holding that a Russian defeat is essential for democracy.
His online lecture course, ‘ The Making of Modern Ukraine’ has been viewed more
than 4.6 million on YouTube in 70 countries. The admiration is reciprocated. To
Volodymyr Zelensky “Timothy Snyder is an outstanding historian and a true friend
of Ukraine who tells the whole world about the importance of Ukraine, its true
history, values, the way they were shaped, and why we need to protect
them.”Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, followed up by saying his
government would be open to a “peace” summit at the UN, with Secretary General
Antonio Guterres as the mediator.
A day later, however, the response from the Kremlin was uncompromising. Foreign
minister Sergei Lavrov issued an ultimatum that unless Ukraine accepted Russia’s
demands including ‘demilitarisation and denazification’ and acceptance of
territorial losses, the Russian army will “decide the issue”. This was followed
by intense strikes across Ukraine on Kherson, Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Odesa.
For Snyder this was further evidence that Moscow is not serious about peace. In
any event, he asks, why should Ukraine accept the loss of sovereign territories
when it has been successfully retaking swathes of it in the military campaign? I
last met Snyder in Ukraine in September when the current Ukrainian
counter-offensive began in the Kharkiv oblast, taking key strategic towns like
Izyum. The success of the troops led to the reclamation of towns and villages
such as Lyman in the Donbas and Kherson in the south, a key target for the
Russians. Such victories helped steady Western backing, which seemed to be
fraying, for Ukraine. Last week Zelensky went to Washington to address a joint
session of Congress and receive confirmation of a US civilian and aid package of
$45 million, including Patriot missile defence systems. “What is very apparent
now is that Ukrainians are great warriors and [there is] recognition that they
are fighting this war for all of us, for the democratic world,” said Snyder.
“And they are doing this calmly against an enemy which has committed terrible
atrocities, and openly wanted the destruction of their country.”Snyder is doing
his own bit. He is a leading figure, along with the actor Mark Hamill of Star
Wars fame, and the superstar singer and actor Barbra Streisand in a crowdfunding
campaign to raise $ 1.25 million organised by the Ukrainian group United 24. The
money raised is for “Shahid Hunter”, a system to counter the Iranian made Shahid
drones being used by Russia to inflict severe damage to infrastructure, aimed at
cutting off electricity and heating during the bitter winter months. “We are
half way there with the funding which is great,” said Snyder. “I could have
become involved in other projects like restoring libraries. That would have been
easier. I didn’t want to do the easy thing. I asked the Ukrainians what they
wanted, and they said focus on drones.
“It makes sense to focus on something which is targeting civilians, a crime the
Russians are committing.” There needs to be focus on the broader aspect of war
crimes, Snyder wanted to stress, and efforts should not falter just because it
may be difficult to make perpetrators face justice.
“Was Nuremberg important because some people were executed, or because of the
principles it established? There needs to be a tribunal to examine what
happened, we need to record for history what is being done in Ukraine.”
Snyder’s own interpretation of history has been criticised in some quarters. His
book ‘Bloodlands’, which charts the deaths of 14 million people in eastern and
central Europe at the time of Hitler and Stalin has received widespread praise,
but has also been attacked by some in the far-left for allegedly pandering to
right-wing nationalism. In Snyder’s own homeland, there are strident voices
against the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine, mainly from supporters
of Donald Trump, such as Fox broadcaster Tucker Carlson and Republican
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Despite such dissent, there is still broad backing among both Democrats and
Republicans for supporting Ukraine, Snyder maintained. “The progress being made
by Ukrainian forces shows that the investment being made is being paying off.
This is not just an investment in this conflict, but deterrence against other
ones. “What is happening in Ukraine may well deter China from attacking Taiwan.
At the end of this war, the world may well be a safer place.” How and when the
war will end is an issue of widespread debate and conjecture. Snyder holds: “It
isn’t just Russian forces in Ukraine that are in retreat, Putin is really in
retreat. Ordering mobilisation is plainly not something he wanted to do. It was
big enough to anger the population but not big enough to change the course of
the war. “We have seen hundreds of thousands of Russians leave the country
because of mobilisation. Those who have been sent to the war, survive and come
back, will be dissatisfied and angry, they will just add to those in the
military who are discontented. We have seen that discontent in very senior
ranks, the High Command being brutally criticised.”Reflecting on the future,
Snyder added: “Putin has rivals, others will emerge. We don’t know how any power
struggle will go in Russia. I don’t expect anything sudden or dramatic: we’ll
hear less and less of Putin, more from others in the hierarchy, it’s possible he
may just fade away.”
Russia fires missiles at Ukraine's major cities
Thu, December 29, 2022
STORY: Russia fired scores of missiles into Ukraine early on Thursday, targeting
Kyiv, the northeastern city of Kharkiv, and other cities in a massive aerial
bombardment that knocked out power, Ukrainian authorities said. In Kyiv, a team
of emergency workers searched through the smouldering wreckage of a residential
house destroyed by a blast. Ukraine's military said it shot down 54 missiles out
of 69 launched by Russia in an attack that began at 7am local time. Air raid
sirens rang out across the country and in Kyiv sounded for five hours - one of
the longest alarms of the war. Some residents rushed to take shelter in this
metro station. Russia has mounted numerous waves of air strikes in recent months
on Ukrainian critical infrastructure, leaving millions without power and heat in
freezing temperatures. The latest blitz came hard on the heels of the Kremlin's
rejection of a Ukrainian peace plan, insisting that Kyiv must accept Russia's
annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
These homes were destroyed near Zaporizhzhia
"I went to sleep in my room, but wanted to watch the TV. So I fell asleep. I
woke up to everything shaking, crumbling. I got up and screamed to my husband,
'where are you?' I ran barefoot on glass. He appeared and glass was falling on
him."Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, but Ukraine says its
daily bombardment is destroying cities, towns, and the country's power, medical
and other infrastructure. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what President
Vladimir Putin calls a "special military operation" to demilitarize its
neighbor.
Kyiv and its Western allies have denounced Russia's actions as an
imperialist-style land grab.
Kremlin says it is concerned about Karabakh blockade after
Armenian criticism
MOSCOW (Reuters)/December 29, 2022
The Kremlin said on Thursday Russia was concerned about tensions between Armenia
and Azerbaijan over a blockade of the road linking breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh to
Armenia and would keep trying to mediate, after Armenia's leader criticised
Russia's stance. In response to a question from reporters, Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov said: "We are concerned about the tension that has arisen around
the Lachin corridor, and the Russian side will continue its efforts, both in
contacts with Yerevan and in contacts with Baku." The corridor, which allows
supplies from Armenia to reach the 120,000 ethnic Armenians who control the
mountainous region, has been policed by Russian peacekeepers since 2020.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but its
inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenian and it broke away from Baku's
control in a war in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the Soviet Union was
disintegrating. In 2020, Azerbaijan retook territory in and around the enclave
after a second war that ended in a Russian-brokered ceasefire, and peacekeepers
deployed along the Lachin corridor, which became the only route into and out of
Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani civilians identifying themselves as environmental
activists have blockaded the road since Dec. 12. Nagorno-Karabakh authorities
say food, medicine and fuel are running short in the enclave. The Armenian news
site Hetq had on Thursday quoted Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as
saying that Russian peacekeepers had not fulfilled their obligations under the
2020 ceasefire. Pashinyan was quoted as accusing the Russian forces of "becoming
a silent witness to the depopulation of Nagorno-Karabakh". Pashinyan said that
if the Russian troops were unable to ensure stability and security in
Nagorno-Karabakh, they should make way for a United Nations peacekeeping
mission. Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Lachin
corridor at an informal meeting in St Petersburg on Monday.
Ukraine hit by new Russian missile barrage
Agence France Presse/December 29, 2022
A fresh barrage of Russian strikes battered Ukraine on Thursday, wounding at
least three people including a teenager in Kyiv and cutting electricity in the
west. On Thursday morning, blasts were reported across the vast country
including in the Ukrainian capital, the second city Kharkiv in the east and the
western city of Lviv on the border with Poland. Most of Lviv, where Russian
strikes are still rare, was left without electricity, its mayor Andriy Sadoviy
said. "The enemy is attacking Ukraine from various directions with air and
sea-based cruise missiles from strategic aircraft and ships," Ukraine's air
force said on social media. Presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said that more
than 120 missiles had been fired by the 'evil Russian world' to destroy critical
infrastructure and kill civilians en masse." "We're waiting for further
proposals from 'peacekeepers', he wrote ironically on Twitter. The attacks came
10 months into Moscow's offensive in Ukraine where Russian strikes have been
battering the country's energy grid, leaving millions in the cold and dark in
the middle of winter.
- Three people wounded in Kyiv -
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that at least three people were in wounded in
the strikes, including a 14-year-old girl. He warned of potential power cuts and
called on residents to stock up on water. Two private houses were hit by
fragments of downed missiles in the east of the capital while an industrial
enterprise and a playground were damaged in the city's southwest, local
officials said. In the east, a "series of explosions" hit Ukraine's second city
Kharkiv, mayor Igor Terekhov said.Governor Oleg Synegubov said "critical
infrastructure" was targeted in the region of Kharkiv and its main city where
four missiles hit eastern and southern neighbourhoods. In the historic city of
Lviv, mayor Sadoviy warned of potential water cuts. Lviv governor Maksim
Kozytski said that air defence was at work and called on residents to stay in
shelters. In the south, Odessa governor Maksym Marchenko said air defence shot
down 21 missiles over the region. "Fragments of one of the enemy missiles fell
onto a residential building, fortunately there were no casualties," he said. He
added that there was damage to energy infrastructure and emergency power cuts
were enforced in the region. Moscow has said the strikes on Ukrainian
infrastructure are a response to an explosion on the Kerch bridge connecting the
Russian mainland to the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014. The Kremlin
has said it holds Kyiv ultimately responsible for the humanitarian impact of the
strikes for refusing to capitulate to Russian negotiation terms.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he was convinced that
Moscow would achieve its goals in Ukraine sooner or later thanks to its
"patience" and "perseverance". "We are in no hurry," he said. He reiterated
Moscow's stance that for talks to resume Kyiv should recognise the annexation by
Russia of four Ukrainian regions. "Our absolute priority is four new Russian
regions," Lavrov said. Western intelligence and military sources have said that
Russia is struggling to meet the ordnance needs for the invasion, but Moscow has
pushed back. "We will never run out of Kalibrs," the Russian defence ministry
said on messaging app Telegram, referring to the cruise missiles used to batter
Ukraine.
Syria's Kurds launch offensive against IS
militants
Agence France Presse/December 29, 2022
Syrian Kurdish-led forces said Thursday they had launched an offensive against
Islamic State group fighters, days after jihadist gunmen launched a deadly
prison attack. Six Kurdish fighters were killed Monday when IS militants
attacked a complex in Raqa, the jihadist group's former de facto capital in
Syria, in a bid to free fellow militants imprisoned there.The Kurdish-led Syrian
Democratic Forces said the offensive, dubbed "Operation al-Jazeera Thunderbolt",
aimed to "eliminate" IS gunmen from areas that had been "the source of the
recent terrorist attacks". The SDF said the operation was being carried out
alongside the U.S.-backed coalition, although there was no immediate
confirmation from the international force that they were taking part. The SDF
statement said that in addition to the thwarted Raqa attack, IS fighters had
recently carried out eight assaults in the northern Syrian areas of Deir Ezzor,
Hasakeh and the Al-Hol camp for displaced people, which houses family members of
IS militants. Referencing recent Turkish airstrikes on Kurdish forces in
northeast Syria, the SDF said IS was trying to "take advantage" of the situation
by "carrying out more terrorist attacks". After a meteoric rise in Iraq and
Syria in 2014, IS saw its so-called caliphate collapse, but fighters remain.
Supported by an international anti-jihadist coalition led by the United States,
the SDF spearheaded the fight against IS in Syria and drove the group from its
last stronghold in the country in 2019. IS continues to claim attacks in Iraq
and Syria, and the SDF regularly launches operations against the jihadists in
Syria. The group said Monday's attack on Raqa aimed to avenge "Muslim prisoners"
and female relatives of jihadists living in Al-Hol camp. In September, Kurdish
authorities arrested more than 200 people in Al-Hol following the discovery of
tunnels and an arsenal of weapons used by jihadists.
Brazilian football legend Pele dead at 82
Agence France Presse/December 29, 2022
Brazilian football icon Pele, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time
and a three-time World Cup winner who masterminded the "beautiful game," has
died at the age of 82, his family said Thursday."Everything we are is thanks to
you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace," daughter Kely Nascimento wrote on
Instagram. Named athlete of the century by the International Olympic Committee
in 1999, Pele is the only footballer in history to win three World Cups -- 1958,
1962 and 1970. Nicknamed "O Rei" (The King), he scored more than 1,000 goals in
one of the most storied careers in sport, before retiring in 1977. He had been
in increasingly fragile health, battling kidney problems and colon cancer --
undergoing surgery for the latter in September 2021, followed by chemotherapy. -
'Samba football' -Born October 23, 1940, in the southeastern city of Tres
Coracoes, Edson Arantes do Nascimento -- Pele's real name -- grew up selling
peanuts on the street to help his impoverished family get by. His parents named
him for famed American inventor Thomas Edison. But he was soon given the
nickname Pele, for his mispronunciation of Bile, the name of a goalkeeper at
Vasco de Sao Lourenco, where his footballer father once played. Pele dazzled
from the age of 15, when he started playing professionally with Santos. He led
the club to a flurry of titles, including back-to-back Intercontinental Cups,
against Benfica in 1962 and AC Milan in 1963. Known for his genius with the
ball, he epitomized the sublime style of play called "samba football" in Brazil,
where he was declared a "national treasure." He scored an all-time record 1,281
goals in 1,363 matches for Santos (1956-74), the Brazilian national team, and
the New York Cosmos (1975-77). But beyond his records, he will be remembered for
revolutionizing the sport, his ever-present number 10 on his back. The first
global football star, he played a lead role in the game's transformation into a
sporting and commercial powerhouse, tapping his preternatural athleticism
despite his relatively small size -- 1.70 meters (just under five-foot-seven).
He also played with heart, visible in the iconic black-and-white footage of the
17-year-old phenom bursting into tears after helping Brazil to its first World
Cup title, in 1958. Eight years earlier, seeing his father cry when Brazil lost
the 1950 World Cup final at home to Uruguay, he had promised to bring the trophy
home one day.
- Sports royalty -Pele reached the pinnacle of his greatness at the 1970 World
Cup in Mexico, the first broadcast in color, where he starred on what many
consider the greatest team of all time, with talents such as Rivellino, Tostao
and Jairzinho.
He was often welcomed like royalty when traveling abroad with Santos or the
national team. Legend has it in 1969 his arrival in Nigeria was the occasion for
a 48-hour truce in the bloody Biafra war.
Pele declined offers to play in Europe, but signed for a brief, lucrative swan
song with the Cosmos at the end of his career, bringing his star power to the
land of "soccer."
His reign extended beyond the pitch, with gigs as a movie star, singer and later
sports minister (1995-1998) -- one of the first black cabinet members in Brazil.
But he faced criticism at times in Brazil for remaining quiet on social issues
and racism, and for what some saw as his haughty, vain personality. Unlike
Argentine rebel Diego Maradona, his rival for the title of greatest of all time,
Pele was seen as close to those in power -- including Brazil's 1964-1985
military regime.
- Final match -Pele's public appearances had grown increasingly rare, and he
frequently used a walker or wheelchair.
He was hospitalized several times for urinary infections, then again in 2021 and
2022 for the colon cancer that marked the beginning of the end. But he met his
health problems with trademark humor.
"I will face this match with a smile on my face," he posted on Instagram in
September 2021, after surgery to remove his colon tumor.
He was deeply moved when Maradona, his longtime friend and rival, died of a
heart attack in 2020 at age 60.
"The world has lost a legend," he wrote. "One day, I hope, we will play soccer
together in the sky."
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on December 29-30/2022/
Republicans Step Up Attacks on FBI as It Investigates Trump
Adam Goldman and Alan Feuer/The New York Times/December 29, 2022
WASHINGTON — When George Piro learned that some of his former colleagues were
spreading unfounded rumors about him, he was stunned.
Piro, 55, was a highly decorated agent in the FBI. During his 23-year career, he
earned a national intelligence medal for the months he spent interrogating
Saddam Hussein, supervised several high-profile shooting investigations and
consistently earned reviews that were among the highest for agents who ran field
offices. Now, he stood accused of misconduct by a group of former agents who had
been placed on leave and called themselves “the Suspendables.” In a letter sent
this month to FBI Director Christopher Wray, the group surfaced persistent
accusations against the bureau, saying it had discriminated against
conservative-leaning agents. The group’s letter also falsely suggested that Piro,
who once ran the FBI’s office in Miami, had played a suspicious role in the
bureau’s search this summer of Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump’s
private club and residence in Florida.
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“These claims are absolutely false,” Piro said in an interview. “I dedicated my
life to the country and the FBI. I am disappointed that former agents would
spread lies about me.”
The attacks on Piro, and his angry rebuttal of them, are emblematic of a toxic
dynamic that is increasingly central to Republican Party politics. Trump’s
supporters — among them, Republicans poised to take over the House next month —
have seized on the letter’s accusations and stepped up their assaults on the
FBI, seeking to undermine the bureau just as it has assumed the lead in an array
of investigations of Trump.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who will be the Judiciary Committee’s chair next month,
has pledged to investigate what he describes as the politicization of the FBI as
well as that of the Justice Department. In a taste of what is to come, the
committee’s Republican staff released a 1,000-page report last month that
asserted that the FBI hierarchy “spied on President Trump’s campaign and
ridiculed conservative Americans” and that the “rot within the FBI festers in
and proceeds from Washington.’’
Historically, the FBI’s most vocal critics have come from figures on the left,
who have accused it of using heavy-handed tactics in investigating groups like
trade unionists or civil rights activists. Conservatives and Republicans have,
at least by tradition, supported the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.
A majority of the attacks laid out in the Suspendables’ letter to Wray, who was
appointed by Trump, echoed those by the Judiciary Committee. The panel’s report
also condemned the bureau for using counterterrorism tactics to investigate
conservative parents at school board meetings — an allegation that seemed to
have come from a mischaracterization of the FBI’s plan to track threats of
violence against school board officials.
The report further accused the agency of “helping Big Tech to censor Americans’
political speech” — a claim that misrepresented the way the FBI has sought for
years to curb online disinformation, especially when it comes from foreign
actors. Long before the House report or the letter to Wray were released, Trump
and his allies in Congress and the news media were already targeting federal law
enforcement officers and demonizing those who scrutinized the former president.
The attacks began in 2018, after federal agents searched the office of Michael
Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, for evidence of campaign finance violations.
After the search, Rudy Giuliani, another lawyer close to Trump, went on the
warpath. He declared that the FBI’s office in New York — with which he had
worked closely as the U.S. attorney in Manhattan — had behaved like “storm
troopers” in conducting the raid.
Since then, Trump and his supporters have gone after the bureau for its role in
investigating his campaign’s ties to Russia; for purportedly failing to
investigate issues surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop; and for using informants
to infiltrate a group of militiamen charged in a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer of Michigan. Some critics, including former agents, have attacked the
FBI for pursuing those in the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,
describing the criminal prosecution of the rioters as political persecution.
This drumbeat of vitriol has created a reflexive reaction against the FBI as
nefarious and partisan among large swaths of the right, even as Trump has lost a
measure of political support.
“The FBI is the largest criminal gang in the country,” right-wing commentator
Dinesh D’Souza recently wrote on Twitter, adding, “It’s America’s version of the
KGB or the Chinese state police.”
To be sure, the FBI has made several grievous errors in recent years. It failed
to follow up on a tip that might have prevented a school shooting in Parkland,
Florida, in 2018. It bungled an investigation in 2015 into claims that a doctor
for USA Gymnastics had sexually abused young women.
In 2020, an FBI lawyer pleaded guilty to doctoring an email that was used in
preparation to ask a court to renew an order to wiretap a former Trump campaign
adviser. Questions have also been raised about whether the bureau, which is in
charge of preventing terrorism, could have done more to stop the Capitol attack
with the use of secret informants it had within two of the far-right groups
involved in the riot.
Some recent attacks on the FBI by right-wing officials and figures in the news
media seem intended to make money. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., sells
“Defund the FBI” baseball hats; Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump adviser, peddles
T-shirts reading, “FBI: Fascist Bureau of Intimidation.”
The barrage of messaging comes as the bureau itself has faced violence.
In August, an Ohio man, enraged by the search of Mar-a-Lago, tried to break into
the FBI’s field office near Cincinnati and was ultimately killed in a shootout
with local police. Investigators later discovered social media posts he had
written encouraging others to kill federal agents.
On Dec. 16, a Tennessee man who was facing charges of assaulting police during
the Capitol attack was charged again with plotting to assassinate several of the
federal agents who had investigated him. He was also accused of planning an
attack on the FBI’s field office in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The Suspendables’ letter and the House Republicans’ report were both apparently
drawn from statements by former FBI agents who left the bureau under a cloud and
then came forward as self-described whistleblowers. Among them is Steven Friend,
a former agent from Florida, who refused to take part in a SWAT raid this summer
of a Jan. 6 suspect facing arrest on misdemeanor charges.
“I have an oath to uphold the Constitution,” Friend, a 12-year veteran of the
bureau, told his supervisors when he declined to join the raid Aug. 24 in
Jacksonville, Florida, which he deemed an excessive use of force. “I have a
moral objection and want to be considered a conscientious objector.”
According to Justice Department records, there was only one Jan. 6-related
arrest in the Jacksonville area Aug. 24: that of Tyler Bensch, who was accused
of being a member of a right-wing militia group connected to the Three Percenter
movement.
What Friend omitted from his account — which was published in The New York Post
and widely shared online — was that while Bensch was charged with only
misdemeanors, documents in his case say that on Jan. 6, 2021, he posted a video
of himself outside the Capitol wearing body armor and a gas mask and carrying an
AR-15-style rifle. The documents also say that witnesses told the FBI they had
seen photographs of Bensch carrying a similar rifle at other times.
Former FBI agents who have served on SWAT teams said the use of tactical agents
during arrests has nothing to do with the charges someone is facing but is based
instead on a risk assessment of the suspect.
“When in doubt, you use SWAT,” said Robert D’Amico, who served on the Miami
tactical team for four years and the hostage rescue team for almost two decades.
“You never let the charges dictate the tactics.”
Last year, two FBI agents were killed and three more were wounded while serving
a search warrant in a case involving child pornography in Florida. The suspect
did not have a violent history and had been deemed low risk. The deadly episode
illustrated the dangers of serving warrants or arresting suspects considered not
threatening. The agents worked for Piro.
Friend’s lawyer said his client objected to the SWAT team arrest because he
wanted to “de-escalate” the situation and avoid what he described as another
Ruby Ridge — a reference to a botched FBI raid on a white supremacist compound
in Idaho in 1992 that has becoming a rallying cry for far-right extremists.
The FBI declined to comment on the attacks against Piro, but three former and
current law enforcement officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to
discuss personnel matters, said he was not under investigation when he retired
from the bureau.
Piro said he was depressed by how some former agents had turned on the bureau.
“I am saddened by their behavior and their total disregard for those who are
working for the FBI,” he said, “and those who came before them to make the FBI
the premier law enforcement agency in the world.”
© 2022 The New York Times Company
Christians Weren’t Always Welcome Mats for
Jihad
Raymond Ibrahim/December 29/2022
In what follows, John Zmirak interviews me for The Stream:
Stream contributor Raymond Ibrahim has written two books about the nearly
1,400-year struggle between the Christian world and Islam, Sword and Scimitar
and Defenders of the West. Both of them would make terrific Christmas gifts,
especially for teenage boys and young men who need heroes.
The Stream’s John Zmirak interviewed the author about each book. This is part
two, on Defenders of the West (click here for part one).
Christians Used to Defend the Innocent
John Zmirak: Tell us a bit about Defenders of the West.
Raymond Ibrahim: It’s about, and to quote that book’s subtitle, “The Christian
Heroes Who Stood Against Islam.” Whereas Sword and Scimitar told the long story
of conflict between Islam and the West in the context of eight decisive battles,
Defenders of the West does so in the context and through the eyes of eight
decisive men — Duke Godfrey, El Cid, Richard Lionheart, Saint Ferdinand, Saint
Louis, John Hunyadi, Skanderbeg, and Vlad the Impaler. Each staunchly stood
against Islamic aggression in the West and Islam’s three main theaters of war:
the Holy Land (three chapters), Spain (two chapters), and the Balkans (three
chapters).
Zmirak: What inspired you to write Defenders of the West?
Ibrahim: There seems to be a massive deficit of heroes nowadays, and I wanted to
show that it wasn’t always like this. Western people did not always take it for
granted that their leaders (meaning “politicians”) would be cynical,
politically-correct, self-serving, and cowardly — far from it. So I looked
around in history for those leaders who embodied the opposite traits: sincerity,
altruism, self-sacrifice, patriotism, and above all, death-defying courage.
Especially those who displayed those qualities facing the West’s historic enemy,
and my specialty, Islam.
Cowardly, Servile Christians Today
Zmirak: What is it about Christianity as preached today that prevents such men
coming forward now?
Ibrahim: Ah, that’s a whole book unto itself. Much of the change you allude to
revolves around how Christianity is understood nowadays. Its passive and
peaceful qualities — “turning the other cheek,” etc. — have all but come to
define Christianity. In reality, of course, most of Christian history and
doctrine offered abundant room for defensive warfare and righteous wrath —
particularly in the context of Just War. That’s a concept I explore throughout
the book, contrasting it to the incessant war-mongering of Jihad.
Christians of former days believed it was their right and duty to defend
Christian lands and people — and they fought fire with fire to do it,
sacrificing much in the process, including their lives. Such is the irony.
Western civilization would have long since perished without the sorts of men
featured in Defenders of the West. But today they are largely seen by their
Western descendants as exemplars only of the patriarchy, “toxic masculinity,”
xenophobia, and, of course, “racism.” How and why that change came about tells
us more about us than them.
Can We Still Have Heroes?
Zmirak: Who was your favorite hero in defending the West, and why?
Ibrahim: This is difficult to answer; besides, I wouldn’t want to influence
anyone with my own personal inclinations. Ultimately, the stories of all eight
men are remarkable and inspiring. Accurate movies should be made for each and
every one of them. It seems that each character has something different to
offer, resonating differently with different readers. For example, I’ve shared
the book with several colleagues and each of them responded with a different
favorite character.
Fighting Against Slavery
Zmirak: What do you hope is the biggest takeaway from the book?
Ibrahim: Ultimately, I think the book offers very exciting — though currently
little known — biographies of eight singular warriors. As such, it should make
for an enthralling read. At the same time, it documents some interesting
patterns that are otherwise unknown or ignored — that, for example, Muslims
invaded various parts of Europe, massacred and enslaved millions over the
centuries, and always on the same jihadist logic that Islam’s apologists today
insist is “un-Islamic.” In other words, the book was designed to be both
entertaining and informative: by reading about the dramatic lives and struggles
of these iconic fighters, and thereby gaining a much better understanding of the
past with Islam, readers will also gain a much better understanding of their
present.
Put differently, and as mentioned, the people of the West now accept as a
dogmatic premise that Islam was historically and for centuries an advanced,
enlightened, and tolerant force — especially in comparison to Europe. As long as
that myth persists, all the violent and terrible things currently being
committed in Islam’s name must be chalked up to other factors — territorial
disputes, grievances, economics, education, politics. Never Islam itself.
Such logic is admittedly sound — but only as long as its first premise remains
unchallenged. Defenders of the West shatters it.
Zmirak: Thanks, Raymond. I especially like that, for all its scholarship,
Defenders of the West is a brisk and engaging read. In the words of Victor Davis
Hanson (from his foreword to the book):
Defenders of the West is engaging storytelling of fascinating people and
forgotten events at its best. Although anchored in arcane or archaic texts, it
reads and flows like an adroitly crafted novel, buttressed by a scholarship that
allows those of the past to speak for the past.
I think it would make a great Christmas gift. Where can people get it?
Ibrahim: Thank you, John; it’s appreciated. Defenders of the West can be
purchased from many book dealers (linked here), including Amazon and
Conservative Readers.
The Taliban is Engineering Afghan Society
Hussam Itani/Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 29/2022
No one is going to launch a nuclear bomb on Afghanistan in response to the
challenge raised by the Taliban government’s education minister, Mohammad Nadim,
who is adamant about banning women from receiving an education. A more probable
outcome is that Afghan women will be alone in fighting the war this regime
insists on waging against society.
Mohammad Nadim has used two pretexts to justify the de facto decision of the de
facto authorities in Afghanistan- first, women attending without a male guardian
and second, women not wearing the veil. Despite the condemnations of Muslim
bodies like al-Azhar, whose Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb has said the decision
“does not represent Islamic Shariaa and goes against the message of the Holy
Quran,” the Afghan education minister has stressed that the movement will not
walk back on its decision “even if they drop an atomic bomb on us.”
The Taliban followed up its decision to ban women from attending university with
a ban on women working in NGOs under the pretext of “complaints of women
employees’ noncommitment to the Islamic dress code.” This decision impelled
three NGOs to suspend their operations in the country at a time when the
catastrophic state of the economy in Afghanistan has made the role they play
there, distributing meals and providing medical care to marginalized
communities, more critical than ever. Both decisions have come after the Taliban
banned girls from secondary school, only allowing them to complete elementary
education. The obscurity around the reasons for the decisions of the Taliban
wanes when we account for three matters. First, like other ideological parties,
be they religious or secular, the Taliban seeks to create an ideal/ virtuous/
good society. In this pursuit, they follow in the footsteps of an uncountable
number of political parties in the East and West that have decided to build a
society in their image and based on their ideals.
In the Taliban’s vision for an ideal society, which it has not scaled down since
it entered Kabul for the first time in 1996, women have no place outside their
homes. And so, it is beside the point whether the Taliban attributes this vision
for society to its particular interpretation of Islam or the traditional tribal
values prevalent in Afghanistan. What matters is that it will be implemented by
force if with resistance, which will be primarily local. And so, it would not be
an overstatement to claim that banning women from receiving an education comes
within the framework of conscious social engineering.
Second, we have the circumstances under which the Taliban rose to power. They
came to rule the country after a twenty-year war, which convinced the movement
it had a right to exercise authority based on the revolutionary legitimacy it
gained after destroying the foreign occupiers and their local allies. Thus, the
Taliban does not believe that anyone has a right to question it or hold it to
account, especially not the foreigners who paid no mind to the Afghan villages
being bombed by American planes, as a Taliban official put it.
Moreover, these decisions come at a time when the Taliban does not have
elections of any kind on the agenda. It is not concerned with enlarging its
popular or political support base. As was made clear from the way it handled the
negotiations with representatives of other Afghan forces towards the end of
Ashraf Ghani’s tenure, the Taliban will go about implementing its social and
political program in full. The countries that have maintained ties with Kabul do
not see domestic matters as a priority and have thus not been affected by the
decisions of the government in place.
As for the third factor, it is that ISIS has been increasingly active in
Afghanistan. It has been escalating its armed attacks, some of which have
targeted Kabul, while others include planting explosives and launching sporadic
attacks across the country. Seeing ISIS as its competition, the Taliban wants to
outdo the former by showing itself to be as extreme as possible in its
interpretation of religious questions. From this angle, we can understand the
context of reports about disagreements between hardliners and moderates within
the movement’s top brass. It goes without saying that Afghan women will be the
victims of this competition, as they are weak- an easy target for extremists of
any camp.
The resistance that Afghan women have demonstrated with their demands for their
basic rights to work and receive an education is nothing short of heroic. First
and foremost, it stems from the refusal of Afghan society, after being ravaged
by decades of war and foreign occupation, to be shackled and prevented from
continuing to reform itself, regardless of who is in power. Women carry the
heaviest burden in saving society and waking it up from the coma it has been in
for so long. This is going to be an extremely difficult task, considering the
history of the country and the series of disasters that have hit it without
pause for centuries. It seems that the “shortcoming” that the late poet Hafez
Ibrahim believed to be the root of the problem in the East, our neglect of
women’s education, will remerge every few years in a new form and under
different pretenses.
The Twitter Files
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 29/2022
Something strange is happening. While the news is brimming with stories about
the administrative decisions Elon Musk has made since acquiring Twitter, more
important news about the company has not been covered by the media. In what has
become known as the “Twitter files,” Musk demonstrates that Twitter was not
genuinely impartial and that it did not guarantee everyone freedom of speech.
Among the most important of these files is how Twitter suppressed the story
about the president’s son Hunter Biden published by the ‘New York Post.’ Another
of the files shows that the wife of former president Barack Obama had been
involved in a campaign to ban Donald Trump from Twitter.
The files also show that the FBI interfered with Twitter’s oversight under the
pretext of safeguarding the integrity of the elections, which the FBI commented
on by saying it was normal procedure.
That is not all. The journalist Twitter hired, Matt Taibbi, revealed that
President Biden’s team was in regular contact with Twitter, pushing the company
to delete certain tweets attacking Biden. Taibbi has presented evidence to back
up his claims.
It has also been revealed that Twitter knew of secret accounts managed by the
American army that sought to promote US interests in the Middle East, and they
were not closed despite breaking laws against promotional accounts.
Commenting on the news, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has said he blames
himself for having given the company so much power in regulating “freedom of
expression,” adding that his biggest mistake was investing in tools that allowed
Twitter to steer conversations instead of leaving this to its users, which made
the company come under “external pressure.”Dorsey also criticized the decision
to ban Trump from the platform but also defended this step from a business
standpoint. “We did the right thing for the public company business at the time,
but the wrong thing for the internet and society.”
Despite all of that, the Twitter Files did not get the coverage they deserved,
neither in the US, the West, nor the Arab world. To be fair, Issa al-Nahari, an
upright journalist working at the Arabic language version of ‘The Independent’
provided the deepest coverage of this story. Though shameful, it is
understandable that American and Western media outlets ignored it because of
ideological divisions and the leftist media’s pro-Twitter bias, which only ended
with Musk’s arrival, and its determination to mislead the public and further
their liberal leftist agenda. However, the question here is: what justifies the
Arab media’s neglect of this important story, which could open the door to
serious conversations about the agendas of social media platforms, warn users
against the dangers of this ideological effort to misguide them, and show that
“social media freedom” is a lie?
We all remember how, during what was falsely called the Arab Spring, President
Obama presented access to Twitter and Facebook as human rights, demonizing
moderate states under the pretext that they were silencing their people by
controlling social media.
The truth unfolding before our eyes tells us the opposite. It has become clear
that the American administration and federal authorities are the ones
intervening, monitoring, and steering. And so, the pressing question is: why has
the Arab media ignored this dangerous story? Is there an answer?
Iran’s nuclear prize for supporting Russia’s
war
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 30, 2022
When the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in February, the idea that
the Iranian regime could play a critical role in the war was inconceivable to
some people. But the Islamic Republic has gradually escalated its involvement in
the conflict. Iran’s first move, alongside staunch ally Syria, was to vote in
April against UN General Assembly Resolution ES-11/3, which suspended Russia’s
membership of the UN Human Rights Council. Later, in the first instance of
military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran during the conflict, the
theocratic establishment in Iran began supplying kamikaze drones to Russia. This
led to the Ukrainian foreign ministry stripping the Iranian ambassador in Kyiv
of his accreditation and reducing the embassy’s diplomatic staff, according to
the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
The Islamic Republic recently threatened Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,
in response to his speech at the US Congress this month during which he accused
Tehran of supplying weapons to Russia. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Nasser Kanaani said, in a statement published on the Iranian regime’s official
ministry website: “Mr. Zelensky had better know that Iran’s strategic patience
over such unfounded accusations is not endless.” He added that Ukraine’s
president should “draw a lesson from the fate of some other political leaders
who contented themselves with the US support.”
However, the evidence that the Iranian regime is delivering weapons to Russia,
and therefore adding fuel to the conflict’s fire, is overwhelming. The EU has
concluded that Tehran is indeed “provid(ing) military support for Russia’s
unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine” in the form of the
“development and delivery of unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia.”
As its involvement escalated to the next level, the Islamic Republic began to
dispatch troops to Crimea to assist Russia in its attacks on Ukraine’s
infrastructure and civilian population, and to enhance the effectiveness of the
suicide drones. US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that
“the Iranians decided to move in some trainers and some technical support to
help the Russians use them (the drones) with better lethality.”Currently the
Iranian regime is also planning to provide Russia with ballistic missiles,
alongside the drones. It is worth noting that the Iranian regime has the largest
and most diverse ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East. The Iranian
regime is increasing its involvement in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
But how does the Islamic Republic benefit from its involvement in the conflict
between Russia and Ukraine? First of all, after being hit by draconian
international financial sanctions, Tehran is seeking partners with which it can
increase trade and skirt the US-led sanctions.
According to the latest report from Bloomberg, Tehran and Moscow are
establishing a new transcontinental trade route, stretching about 3,000
kilometers from Europe to the Indian Ocean, which is “beyond the reach of any
foreign intervention.”The report adds: “The two countries are spending billions
of dollars to speed up delivery of cargos along rivers and railways linked by
the Caspian Sea. Ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show dozens of Russian
and Iranian vessels — including some that are subject to sanctions — already
plying the route.”Militarily speaking, there is an opportunity for the Iranian
regime to learn from failures of its drones during the Russia-Ukraine war, and
use the information it gains to further perfect its drone technology and
ballistic missile program. In addition, the Islamic Republic will most likely
ask Russia to supply it with advanced military technology in return for Tehran’s
support.
As British Defense Minister Ben Wallace told the UK parliament this month: “Iran
has become one of Russia’s top military backers … In return for having supplied
more than 300 kamikaze drones, Russia now intends to provide Iran with advanced
military components, undermining both Middle East and international security —
we must expose that deal. In fact, I have, just now.”Thirdly, by supplying
weapons to a global power such as Russia, the regime in Tehran is asserting
itself on the world stage as a major state player with significant military
power.
Finally, it is not unrealistic to assume the Iranian regime will seek Russian
assistance to advance its nuclear program. Moscow and Tehran previously worked
together to construct several nuclear reactors in Iran and advance the regime’s
nuclear technology. It has become increasingly clear that the Islamic Republic
is rushing to cross the nuclear threshold and become a nuclear-armed state.
As Zelensky has correctly warned: “I have a question for you: How does Russia
pay Iran for this, in your opinion? Is Iran just interested in money? Probably
not money at all but Russian assistance to the Iranian nuclear program.
Probably, this is exactly the meaning of their alliance.”
The Iranian regime is increasing its involvement in the conflict between Russia
and Ukraine. By adding fuel to the fire, Iran’s leaders are attempting to
benefit themselves, economically and militarily.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political
scientist.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Erdogan's failed rapprochement towards Syria
Fadel Manasfa/The Arab Weekly/December 29/2022
During a phone call with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara will not set a timetable for its
operations in Syria and that its war against terrorism will continue unhindered.
The phone call came a week after Turkish forces targeted the strongholds of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria,
in response to the deadly bombing on Istiklal Street in Istanbul last November.
It came also after Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to entice Bashar al-Assad towards
reconciliation as Assad did not see in it any benefit for him at present.
The Syrian president rejected the outstretched hand of Erdogan. Ankara’s
declared purpose was to overcome past differences and set the stage for new
relations, just as it did with its foes of yesterday, and I mean here Saudi
Arabia, Egypt and the UAE as part of what has been dubbed “zero- problems
diplomacy.”With this rejection, Ankara missed an opportunity to receive a Syrian
authorisation that would have amounted to a green light to launch its military
operation in northern Syria, without being accused of violating the sovereignty
of another country. Turkey in fact wants to hit two birds with one stone:
maintain strong relations with Russia, which has a military presence in Syria,
and reconcile with a regime that it sees has clearly gained the upper hand over
the 2011 uprising.
The official Syrian news agency, SANA, chose this particular juncture to publish
a story about the 83rd anniversary of Turkey's occupation of the so-called
Iskenderun District, a geographic area under Turkish rule today. Syrian media
had avoided talking about the issue when Syrian-Turkish relations were at their
best. The SANA story, which comes in the midst of Ankara's attempts to end its
dispute with Damascus, clearly shows that Syria wants to seize the current
opportunity to place the Iskenderun issue on the agenda of any future talks as
part of its conditions for normalisation with Turkey.
Although he failed in his leadership of the country and was unable to do away
with the corruption plaguing his officials, hence fuelling the fires of the
people's uprising against his rule, Assad is a man who wisely reads developments
and pragmatically changes positions when necessary.
Perhaps his decision not to move forward towards returning to the Arab League
stemmed from his conviction that this return would not have brought any gains to
Syria and above all would not have earned it international or regional
legitimacy. Rather, it would have pushed it to accept Gulf dictates that would
have jeopardised its close relations with Iran, which is an unacceptable option
for the regime. It is so for many reasons, including Syria’s consideration for
Iran’s position regarding the 2011 events and its military support, which helped
save the Damascus regime when many of its friends denied it a helping hand.
With Turkey, Assad also toes a pragmatic line. He is very much aware that Turkey
needs to pursue a policy of rapprochement with Damascus to rid itself of the
Kurds in northern Syria and ensure control by Turkish Army forces over the two
countries’ common border. This would render Erdogan a service that Assad does
not want to provide for free. The Syrian president knows for a fact that there
are interests at stake for Turkey in seeking rapprochement with Damascus. It
wants stabilise its borders and tighten the screws on the Kurds, in addition to
being relieved of the Syrian refugees’ burden. But accepting the return of these
refugees to their home country will come with a steep price for Assad, as his
regime is floundering under the pressure of economic and energy problems.
Erdogan could have used some economic inducements to show Syria goodwill and the
advantages it could reap from reconciliation. He could have announced Ankara’s
readiness to sponsor a Syria reconstruction conference or closed the media
outlets based in Turkey and that are unsettling to Assad and his regime. He
could even have postponed the military operation he seeks to carry out in
northern Syria, until his rapprochement with Damascus became a reality.
Turkish diplomacy was somewhat hasty when it reached out directly to the
Russians about the situation in Syria, thinking that the solution would come
from Moscow and not from Damascus, and that Assad would agree to meet with
Erdogan without hesitation assuming that Syria needs Turkey more than the
opposite.. The opportunity is still there despite Assad's refusal to reconcile
with Erdogan’s Turkey. But the Turkish military operation in northern Syria
should be set against the background of a precise and quick mission and not just
be a cover for violating the sovereignty of Syrian. The regime in Ankara must
also clearly define its position towards the Syrian opposition groups some of
which are active in Turkey. Furthermore, the border issues must be settled in a
way that does not associate Assad with a normalisation process that alters the
geography of Syria for the sake of Turkey’s national security. Otherwise, the
rapprochement of the two regimes will stay in limbo for a long while.
*Fadel Manasfa is a Palestinian writer.