English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 03/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the
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Bible Quotations For today
Prophet, Anna, Blesses The Child
Jesus In The Temple
Luke 02/36-40/There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of
Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband
seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about
the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. When
Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they
returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became
strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on February 02-03/2022
Health Minister: Covid-19 cases to exceed 10,000 today
President Aoun meets delegation from the Office of the Lebanese Notary Public
Council
Aoun Says Forensic Audit 'Game' at Final Stage, Every Culprit Will be Exposed
Cabinet Discusses Ministries Budgets, Postpones 'Customs Dollar' Debate
Cabinet Assigns Ministers to Follow Up on Drivers Demands
Rahi meets Gallagher in Bkerki
Lebanese unable to fund own embassies abroad
Bou Habib meets US Ambassador
Public Transport Drivers Warn of 'Escalatory Steps' as They Block Roads in
Protest
Day of chaos in Lebanon as taxi, bus and truck drivers block roads
Lebanon's Taxi, Bus and Van Drivers Block Roads in Protest
Economy Ministry Director General Tours Beirut Supermarkets to Inspect Prices
EU Launches 17th Edition of the 'Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press'
Erdogan Says Turkish Companies Ready to Rebuild Beirut Port
Security Forces To Curb Fuel Smuggling from Syria to Lebanon
Middle East Of Life, Middle East Of Death/Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/February
02/2022.
The Lebanese Response Is Familiar/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/February,
02/2022
One Year On, Justice on Hold for Slain Lebanese Activist Lokman Slim/Asharq Al-Awsat/February
02/2022
Lokman Slim assassination: one year on, Lebanese intellectual's absence leaves
void/Sunniva Rose/The National/February 02/2022
Hariri’s exit pushes Lebanon further into the unknown/Mohamed Chebaro/Arab
News/February 02/2022
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on February 02-03/2022
Israeli Defense Minister Kicks off Visit to Bahrain
Israeli PM to Speed up Rollout of Lasers for Missile Defense
Opposition says Iran created mercenary naval unit for attacks
Iran State TV Streaming Site Targeted with Dissident Message
Israel Pushes Ahead with Deal to Authorize West Bank Outpost
Iranian Supertanker Carrying Condensate Docks in Venezuela
Washington Stakes Nuclear Deal on Iran’s ‘Political Decision’
Leaked Text Suggests Possible US-Russia Missile Arrangement
US, Turkish Presidential Advisers Discuss ‘Russian Aggression’ in Ukraine
Turkish Jets Target Kurdish Positions in Iraq, Syria
Egypt, EU Agree on Advancing Coordination at All Levels
Washington Mulling Cutback in Funding for Sudan’s Military
IGAD: No Initiative to Resolve Sudan Crisis
OPCW: Chlorine Used on Syrian Opposition Area in 2016
US Calls for Emergency UN Security Council Meeting on N.Korea
Erdogan Seeks Payoff from Russia-US Clash on Ukraine
Titles For The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on February 02-03/2022
Akash Bashir, who died protecting Catholic worshippers in Pakistan, named
a Servant of God/Katie Yoder/CNA/Lahore, Pakistan/February 02/2022
Amnesty International Wants to End the Jewish State/Richard Kemp/Gatestone
Institute/February 02/2022
On Malicious and Benign Interventions/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/February,
02/2022
Ukraine Crisis Boosts Macron's Call for a European Army/James Stavridis/Asharq
Al-Awsat/February, 02/2022
If Putin wins, it’s not only Ukraine that loses/Clifford D. May/FDD/February,
02/2022
Iran first/Farouk Yousef/The Arab Weekly/February,02/2022
Biden has all the evidence needed to redesignate Houthis/Maria Maalouf/Arab
News/February 02/2022
on February 02-03/2022
Health Minister: Covid-19 cases to exceed
10,000 today
NNA/Wednesday, 02 February, 2022
Minister of Public Health, Firas Abiad, has expected more than 10,000
coronavirus cases to be recorded in Lebanon on Wednesday.
"The number of Covid-19 infections will surpass 10,000 today," the Minister told
a news conference at the Grand Serail."The situation does not require a
lockdown, but we cannot ease the measures," he said.
President Aoun meets delegation from the Office of
the Lebanese Notary Public Council
NNA/Wednesday, 02 February, 2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, asserted that "What is happening
today in the financial issue aims to burden depositors with the burdens of
others' mistakes, and this is unacceptable. We are working hard to prevent it
from happening, especially since all the promises circulated in this field are
incorrect”. President Aoun also affirmed that "It is impossible for the one who
betrayed the country to fix the situation. Whoever brought us to where we are
today cannot be the righteous responsible for correcting things and finding
solutions after mistakes he committed”.
“When we demand the Central Bank’s governorship to give the information required
to complete the forensic audit, we are attacked by well-known parties that do
not want the investigation to reach clear results and to hold responsible those
who brought the financial and banking situation to the painful reality in which
citizens live and the daily suffering of not getting their rights nor their
food” the President said. “This game is in its final stage, and the matter of
each responsible for this great catastrophe will be revealed” the President
emphasized. President Aoun’s positions came while meeting a delegation from the
newly elected Office of the Notary Public in Lebanon and from the Administrative
Committee of the Mutual and Pension Fund. The delegation was headed by the head
of the Council’s office, Mr. Naji Al-Khazen, who delivered a speech at the
beginning of the meeting in which he highlighted the importance of the work of
notaries in Lebanon. El-Khazen also tackled the affairs of the profession,
especially after the completion of the third elections for the Council of
Notaries Public, pointing out that "The council was established in 2014 as a
result of the struggle of notaries public to establish a representative body
that expresses their opinion and ideas and works to develop, protect and fortify
the profession”.
“President Aoun was one of the most important supporters at the time of the
draft law related to the establishment of this council” El-Khazen added.
El-Khazen also talked about the council’s tasks specified in the law, including
on the internal level, ensuring the care of the profession’s affairs and its
fortification, the good performance of the notaries public and their tasks, and
expressing opinion and submitting proposals on all draft laws and decrees
related to organizing the profession of notaries, in addition to the tasks on
the external level.
El-Khazen pointed out that “The council was a necessary need for Lebanon in
terms of joining the International Federation of Notaries Public, which now
includes more than 90 countries around the world, which gave Lebanon a presence
and a position at the international level, and opened an avenue for improving
professional relations through the exchange of experiences and knowledge between
the councils of notaries public members of the International Federation”.
El-Khazen then discussed the French interest in developing the tasks of notaries
public in Lebanon to conform to international standards, and developing work
through the use of modern means in the service of judicial and administrative
work, through electronic linkage and electronic signature, i.e. what is known as
the official contract through electronic communication.
On the other hand, El-Khazen stressed that the creation of centers for notaries
public must be carried out according to an objective study, and be filled
through a match that takes into account the standards of competence, as is
happening now. Moreover, El-Khazen pointed out that the notary public is in
contact with various economic sectors and their activities to secure legal
guarantees and what is known as redressing conflicts between individuals,
indicating that the notary public is in need of the support and care of the
state and the Ministry of Justice in many matters, especially with regard to the
Mutual Fund and Retirement, which secures the pension and the right to
hospitalization for notaries. In light of the economic crisis that affected the
salaries of notaries public, especially the retired ones, El-Khazen wished to
intervene with the Banque du Liban and those concerned with the banks to free
the assets in the banks from the funds affiliated with the Notaries Council,
most of which are marked for medical services, calling for financial support
from the government for this fund, “Which has become in need of special
attention after to become threatened”.
President Aoun
The President welcomed the delegation, and pointed to the importance of the
notary public profession, its development and modernization of its means of work
to keep pace with the times, praising the efforts of the Notaries Council to
prove its presence at the global level, especially after joining the
International Federation of Notaries Public, which allows its members to
communicate with international councils and exchange experiences in several
fields. In addition, President Aoun stressed that the tasks of the notary public
confirm the validity and integrity of transactions and contracts that take place
between citizens and separate them in the event of any dispute.“Today we are
facing a struggle related to the issue of depositors’ money, which is in danger,
and what is happening in this context is burdening depositors with the burdens
of the mistakes of others, and this is unacceptable. We are working hard to
prevent it from happening, especially since all the promises that are circulated
in this field are incorrect” President Aoun said. Moreover, President Aoun
emphasized that “It is impossible for the one who betrayed the country to fix
the situation. Whoever brought us to where we are today cannot be the right
person to correct things and find solutions after the mistakes he committed
against this country. And when we demand the central bank’s governorate to give
the information required to complete the forensic audit, we are under attack
from well-known parties that do not want the investigation to reach clear
results and to hold responsible those who brought the financial and banking
situation to the painful reality in which citizens live and the daily suffering
of not accessing their rights and livelihood” the President continued. “Here, I
would like to stress that this game has become in its final stage, everyone
responsible for this great catastrophe will be revealed” President Aoun
concluded.-- Presidency Press Office
Aoun Says Forensic Audit 'Game' at Final Stage,
Every Culprit Will be Exposed
Naharnet/Wednesday, 02 February, 2022
President Michel Aoun warned Wednesday that every one responsible for the
financial disaster will be exposed. "The game has reached its final stages,"
Aoun said. In a meeting with a delegation of the Notary Public Council, Aoun
stated that he doesn't accept that depositors bear the brunt of someone else’s
mistakes. "We are working hard to prevent this from happening," he assured. The
president claimed being attacked by sides that don’t want the forensic audit to
reach conclusions and to hold the culprits accountable. Aoun had met Tuesday
with archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the current Secretary for Relations with
States within the Holy See's Secretariat of State. Gallagher confirmed that Pope
Francis intends to visit Lebanon soon, and expressed the pope's worry about the
situation in Lebanon. He quoted the pope as saying that Lebanon should remain a
message of peace, forgiveness and diversity and that all sects should place
common interest above personal interests.
Gallagher also wished for Justice for all the Lebanese and the families of the
victims of the Beirut port blast.
Cabinet Discusses Ministries Budgets, Postpones
'Customs Dollar' Debate
Naharnet/Wednesday, 02 February, 2022
Cabinet convened Wednesday at the Grand Serail to resume the discussion of the
2022 draft budget. Cabinet discussed the so-called customs dollar but no
agreement was reached concerning the LBP to USD exchange rate that will be used
to calculate customs on imports. The current rate is 1,500 Lebanese Lira to 1
dollar. The issue will be postponed to another session. Cabinet will also
discuss the ministries' budgets. On Saturday Cabinet had asked Energy Minister
Walid Fayyad to justify a treasury advance that his ministry had requested as a
funding for Électricité du Liban. On Monday, Cabinet also asked Fayyad for
further inquiries. Fayyad reportedly said he is presenting a clear plan to
increase daily hours than raise the electricity prices. Meawhile, taxi and
public transportation drivers blocked several vital roads across Lebanon to
pressure the government to take a decision on improving the conditions of the
drivers. "We hope the Cabinet, during its session, will take a decision on the
agreement that had been reached between the union and the government," Head of
the Unions and Syndicates of Land Transport Sector Bassam Tlais said.
He added that if Cabinet approves their demands, all roads will be open.
If not, the strike is scheduled to continue until Friday with sit-ins from 5
a.m. to 3 p.m.MTV said it has learned that Cabinet will not discuss the unions'
demands today. On Monday, Cabinet had asked Finance Minister Youssef Khalil to
study the possibility of finding financial resources to meet the land transport
unions' demands presented by Public Works Minister Ali Hamiyeh, as Cabinet is
not financially capable of resolving the issue. Cabinet has been meeting since
Tuesday to discuss the 2022 draft budget, a prerequisite to unlock the
International Monetary Fund aid. It will resume its meetings on Thursday.
Cabinet Assigns Ministers to Follow Up on Drivers Demands
Naharnet/Wednesday, 02 February, 2022
Acting information minister Abbas Halabi said Cabinet has discussed the land
transport sector demands, in its session today, Wednesday. Taxi and public
transportation drivers had started on Wednesday a three-day strike to pressure
the government to take a decision on improving the conditions of the drivers.
Halabi said that Cabinet has approved, during the session, to assign the
minister of Public Works and Transportation, the minister of Interior and the
minister of Finance to follow up on the drivers demands. the ministers were
asked to take into consideration the state's financial capabilities.
Cabinet also decided to include the treasury advance, that Energy Minister Walid
Fayyad had requested as a funding for Électricité du Liban, in the state budget.
The plan presented by Fayyad must be approved first, Halabi said.Fayyad said
that his plan includes administrative reforms in the energy sector and an
increase in power production.The discussion of the so-called customs dollar was
postponed to the next session that will be held on Thursday morning.
Rahi meets Gallagher in Bkerki
NNA/Wednesday, 02 February, 2022
Vatican's Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard
Gallagher, has arrived at the patriarchal edifice in Bkerki, accompanied by
Papal Ambassador, Monsignor Joseph Spiteri, for a meeting with Maronite
Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, and the bishops of the
community, during the monthly meeting of the Council of Maronite Archbishops.
Lebanese unable to fund own embassies abroad
AFP/The Arab Weekly/February,02/2022
Cash-strapped Lebanon has told its embassies to look for donors to help cover
their running costs, as it falls behind on paying diplomats' salaries and
contemplates shutting missions abroad. A foreign ministry circular, dated
January 25, asks foreign missions to seek donations from the Lebanese diaspora
and respond to its request within two weeks. The ministry is studying closing
down a number of missions "as an urgent financial measure adopted by a large
number of states swept by similar financial crises," the circular said. The
foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for additional
information about the document and the financial situation at its embassies. Two
Lebanese diplomatic sources said that employees of foreign missions had not been
paid for the month of January. One source said they had been told they would
receive their salaries within the next week. Lebanon is in the throes of what
the World Bank has described as one of the worst financial collapses in world
history. Since 2019, it has burned through most of its reserves of hard
currency, leading to a dollar shortage that has seen the national currency lose
more than 90% of its value.Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said that in
December he had begun carrying out a plan to cut spending at embassies,
including rent allowances, diplomats' salaries and expenses for parties and
travel. Savings could amount to $18 million out of a total budget of $95
million.
Bou Habib meets US Ambassador
NNA/Wednesday, 02 February, 2022
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Dr. Abdallah Bou Habib, on Wednesday
received US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, during which they discussed the
outcome of Minister Bou Habib’s visit to Kuwait, and that of PM Mikati to
Turkey. Discussions also dealt with the issue of securing electric power and
working to facilitate matters with Egypt.
Public Transport Drivers Warn of 'Escalatory Steps'
as They Block Roads in Protest
Naharnet/Wednesday, 02 February, 2022
Taxi and public transportation drivers on Wednesday blocked several vital roads
across Lebanon amid a crunching economic and financial crisis that has affected
all sectors. The land transport unions had announced a three-day strike to
pressure the government, convening today, to take a decision on improving the
conditions of the land transport drivers. It was the second time in three weeks
unions held strike action, forcing schools, universities, and many shops to
close. With public transport virtually nonexistent in Lebanon, many rely on such
shared taxis, buses or minivans for their daily commute and travel. "We hope the
Cabinet, during its session, will take a decision on the agreement that had been
reached between the union and the government," Head of the Unions and Syndicates
of Land Transport Sector Bassam Tlais said. Beirut was eerily quiet as
protesting drivers blocked its main highways and intersections, some with
burning tires. The drivers blocked main roads in the capital, including Hamra
and Martyrs' Square. Roads in the southern suburbs have also been blocked
including the airport road, as well as roads in Tripoli, Western Bekaa, Aley,
Sidon, Dora and many others, while the road from Nahr el Kalb to Jounieh has
been partially reopened. “There was a time when a taxi driver’s son could become
a doctor, an engineer, anything prestigious," said taxi driver Hussein Assam,
55, who was protesting near central Beirut's once thriving Hamra Street. "Now
the taxi driver can’t even feed his children.”“The poor person who can’t eat
anymore is going to burn the entire country,” Assam added, looking on the former
commercial boulevard that has been reduced to penury. Tlais said he hopes a
solution will be reached today. "Otherwise, we will be forced to take escalatory
steps," he warned, adding that these steps won't be "at the expense of the
citizens."The strike is scheduled to continue until Friday with sit-ins from 5
a.m. to 3 p.m.
Day of chaos in Lebanon as taxi, bus and truck
drivers block roads
Arab News/February 02/2022
Public and private institutions and businesses were forced to close by the
protests, which are set to last for three days, as many employees could not get
to work The demonstrators were demanding subsidized fuel for their vehicles,
along with other measures to address the wider economic crisis
BEIRUT: Scores of taxi, bus and truck drivers in Lebanon began a three-day
strike on Wednesday, blocking roads and demanding that the government address
surging prices and the wider economic crisis. It was the second time in three
weeks that unions have organized industrial action, forcing schools,
universities and many shops to close. The protesting drivers are demanding
subsidized fuel for their vehicles, among other things. The cabinet has ignored
the demands during marathon meetings to discuss this year’s austerity budget.
Angry drivers set tires on fire in Beirut and blocked the main entrances to the
capital and its suburbs with their cars. There were similar scenes in other
major cities in several regions. Wednesday’s protests were scheduled to continue
until 3 p.m. but ended at noon following objections from people stuck in their
cars on blocked roads. The demonstrations forced the closure of public and
private institutions and businesses, as employees could not get to work.
Bassam Tlais, head of the Unions and Syndicates of Land Transport Sector,
acknowledged the inconvenience to commuters and reduced the demands of unions to
one: “For the cabinet to approve what was decided to support the land-transport
sector, with implementation to take place as a next step.”
He added: “This demonstration will last three days and we will wait and see how
it will play out in the cabinet. Otherwise, the situation will escalate.”
Ministers have been debating the budget that will be submitted to parliament for
approval. Many people have protested against the budget, even before it is
finalized, as it includes additional taxes. Meanwhile government fees are still
being calculated according to the official exchange rate of 1,507 Lebanese
pounds to the dollar, but this is not generally available and on the black
market the local currency has lost most of its value.
An economic-social forum that includes political and economic opposition figures
said: “The 2022 draft budget aims at increasing poverty, starvation, inflation
and deflation, and is a project to legitimize the politically, economically and
financially corrupt system. “The draft budget includes a massive increase in
taxes and fees, about 90 percent of which are indirect taxes imposed on the poor
and middle-income earners, while taxes on capitalists’ gains do not exceed 3.7
percent. “The increase in taxes is accompanied by a reduction in spending on
infrastructure investment, for which only (about) 4 percent has been
allocated.”After the sign-up period for the recently introduced DAEM Social
Safety Net Program expired recently, it appeared that more than 550,000 families
had registered. Observers say this represents about “50 percent of Lebanese
families.”There were also protests by angry residents in some areas on Wednesday
about the wildly fluctuating prices of food, fuel, power and services. In the
southern border town of Al-Khiam, a pro-Hezbollah community, people demonstrated
outside the local municipal building about “the high cost of the unjustified”
bills for using power generators and “the lack of transparency on the part of
the generator committee.” Residents also demanded that the Ministry of Economy
“immediately take the necessary steps to control the spiraling prices in shops
and supermarkets, as the prices drastically differ from one shop to another in
the same town.”Mohammed Abou Haidar, director-general at the Ministry of
Economy, joined officials from the Consumer Protection Service and members of
state security on visits to supermarkets in Beirut to check prices amid the food
security crisis and arrest sellers found to be acting improperly. Abou Haidar
said: “The dollar rate decreased from 33,000 Lebanese pounds to about 20,000 and
a price drop should have followed. However, we note obvious irregularities in
the prices displayed. We tell everyone that the situation is no longer
sustainable and that is unacceptable.”Amid the chaos on Wednesday, a loud
explosion shook the coastline at Keserwan to the south of Beirut. It appeared to
have been caused by an Israeli aircraft breaking the sound barrier.
Lebanon's Taxi, Bus and Van Drivers Block Roads in
Protest
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
Scores of Lebanon's taxi, bus and truck drivers started a three-day strike on
Wednesday, blocking roads and demanding the government address surging prices
and a broader economic crisis. It was the second time in three weeks unions held
strike action, forcing schools, universities, and many shops to close. With
public transport virtually nonexistent in Lebanon, many rely on such shared
taxis, buses or minivans for their daily commute and travel, The Associated
Press said. Beirut was eerily quiet as protesting drivers blocked its main
highways and intersections, some with burning tires. Unions have said the strike
actions will last from 5:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. “There was a time when a taxi
driver’s son could become a doctor, an engineer, anything prestigious," said
taxi driver Hussein Assam, 55, who was protesting near central Beirut's
once-thriving Hamra Street. "Now the taxi driver can’t even feed his children.”
Lebanon’s crippling economic crisis has been described by the World Bank as one
of the worst in the past century, and unions have routinely held protests and
strikes since the government officially ended state subsidies in October. A full
tank of gasoline now costs more than the monthly minimum wage. A government
gridlock seemed to ease somewhat on Jan. 24, when the powerful Hezbollah group
and its main Shiite ally ended months of boycott on the body. It now hopes to
elaborate the 2022 budget and an economic recovery plan. Back near Hamra street,
taxi driver Assam was joined by two other drivers as they waited for orders to
shut down traffic. “If there’s no outcome today, there will be later,” he said,
looking on the former commercial boulevard that has been reduced to penury. “The
poor person who can’t eat anymore is going to burn the entire country.”
Economy Ministry Director General Tours Beirut
Supermarkets to Inspect Prices
Naharnet/Wednesday, 02 February, 2022
Director General of Economy Ministry Mohammad Abou Haidar raided Wednesday
supermarkets in Beirut in order to control prices violations.
Fines were issued against violators.Abou Haidar noted that prices of food and
goods in the supermarkets were not as reduced as they should have, given the
decline in the dollar’s exchange rate. The central bank had recently allowed
commercial banks to purchase U.S. dollars in return for Lebanese pounds based on
the Sayrafa exchange rate, which strengthened the pound to 20,000 from a low of
34,000 last month. "This greed is not acceptable," Abou Haidar said, adding that
the Ministry and the Public Prosecution will be strict. Economy Minister Amin
Salam had warned last week that any one who takes advantage of the difficult
situation will be pursued. "I would personally knock the Judge's door, if I have
to," Salam said, warning of legal proceedings against anyone who raises prices
or monopolizes diesel. Lebanon had witnessed recently a severe storm amid
worsening shortages in state energy supply and residents are heavily relying on
costly private generators running on diesel to heat their homes. Salam advised
generators owners who do not want to abide by the Energy Ministry prices to
close.
EU Launches 17th Edition of the 'Samir Kassir Award
for Freedom of the Press'
Naharnet/Wednesday, 02 February, 2022
The European Union and the Samir Kassir Foundation launched Wednesday the 17th
edition of the “Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press”. The award, which
has been granted by the European Union since 2006, honors the Lebanese
journalist and writer Samir Kassir, who was assassinated in 2005. The
competition for the award has attracted since its creation more than 3,000
candidates from the Middle East, the Gulf and North Africa. In a video message
aired on social media and television, European Union Ambassador to Lebanon,
Ralph Tarraf, encouraged journalists from across the region to participate in
this year’s edition. “Together, let us continue defending freedom of expression
and keeping democracy alive,” he said. President of the Samir Kassir Foundation,
Gisèle Khoury, highlighted the importance of the award as “a perpetuation of a
legacy that believes in freedom of expression.” She added: “It is a beacon of
hope for new journalists to help them preserve their profession and their
freedom.” The contest is open to candidates from North Africa, the Middle East
and the Gulf. The deadline for sending in contributions is 1 April 2022. Three
awards will be granted for the best:
- Opinion Article
- Investigative Article
- Audiovisual News Report
The contributions must be centered on one or more of the following topics: rule
of law, human rights, good governance, fight against corruption, freedom of
expression, democratic development, and citizen participation. The winner of
each of the three categories will receive a prize of €10,000.
The jury will be composed of seven voting members from Arab and European media
and one observer representing the European Union. The names of the jury members
will be communicated during the prize-awarding ceremony, which will take place
on 1 June 2022 in Beirut, on the eve of the 17th anniversary of Samir Kassir’s
assassination.
The contest regulations, application forms and details of the candidature file
are available on the following website: www.samirkassiraward.org
Registration closes on 1 April 2022.
Erdogan Says Turkish Companies Ready to Rebuild Beirut
Port
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a meeting with Lebanese Prime
Minister Najib Mikati in Ankara on Tuesday, that Turkish companies were ready to
implement infrastructure projects, including the reconstruction of the Port of
Beirut. “I expressed that our companies are ready to undertake important
infrastructure projects, including the reconstruction of the Port of Beirut,”
Erdogan said during a joint press conference with Mikati. He added that the two
sides discussed bilateral relations, “in particular, developing communication
and enhancing opportunities for cooperation.”“We continue to stand by Lebanon
and are ready to support the reform efforts of the Lebanese government,” Erdogan
told the reporters. “During our meetings, we discussed Turkey-Lebanon relations.
We focused on the development of cooperation opportunities. We discussed
together with my dear friend how we can contribute to Lebanon and what
additional steps we can take,” he added. Erdogan said Turkey intends to
strengthen cooperation and solidarity with Lebanon in a wide range of fields.
For his part, Mikati said that discussions with the Turkish president
highlighted the bilateral relations, which “recently gained a strong and
effective impetus in all fields, on the basis of cooperation and mutual
understanding.” The issue of displaced persons was also discussed, where Mikati
stressed the need for combined efforts “to secure their return to their
homeland.”
Security Forces To Curb Fuel Smuggling from Syria to Lebanon
Baalbek (East Lebanon) – Hussein Darwish/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February,
2022
Syrian authorities have closed the smuggling crossings along the border with
northeastern Lebanon, in an effort to curb increasing smuggling of fuel,
vegetables and livestock from Syria. Smuggling activities from Syrian territory
to Lebanon have increased over the past months due to the difference in the
prices of basic commodities. Twenty liters of diesel fuel costs about LBP
250,000 in Syria, compared to LBP 350,000 in Lebanon where the material is
scarce and has been lately sold in the black market. The Syrian military
tightened its control over the Syrian side of the border, closing the illegal
routes and adopting strict security measures to prevent the crossing of Lebanese
vehicles into Syrian villages inhabited by Lebanese in the countryside of Al-Qosair
(southwest of Homs). It also prevented cars from crossing the border into
Lebanon. The measures “led to a complete cessation of smuggling operations from
both sides at the illegal crossings in the northern Bekaa,” field sources in
Hermel told Asharq Al-Awsat. The closure included all smuggling routes in the
Hermel area, adjacent to the Syrian territory. The source said the new measures
came as a result of “revived smuggling from Syria to Lebanon,” explaining that
the opposite-smuggling wave “increased with the decline in prices in Syria and
their rise in Lebanon.” The Syrian measures come in parallel to efforts by the
Lebanese security forces to combat smuggling and to chase car-stealing gangs. A
Lebanese military source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Lebanese Army’s Second
Land Border Regiment has intensified its security measures on the
Lebanese-Syrian border, arresting gangs involved in smuggling and transporting
stolen cars from Lebanon into Syria.
البرتو فرنندس كتب في ذكرى سنة على اغتيال لقمان سليم مقالة عنوانها: شرق أوسط
الحياة، وشرق أوسط الموت
Middle East Of Life, Middle East Of Death
Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/February 02/2022.
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106026/alberto-m-fernandez-memri-middle-east-of-life-middle-east-of-death-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%aa%d9%88-%d9%81%d8%b1%d9%86%d9%86%d8%af%d8%b3-%d9%83%d8%aa%d8%a8-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%b0%d9%83%d8%b1/.
It is a year ago since Lokman Slim was assassinated in Lebanon. His was the
latest in a series of high-profile killings of politicians, journalists, and
military officials in Lebanon that lasted for more than a decade. Lebanon has
seen many assassinations in recent years and it is likely that it will see more.
Overwhelmingly, those targeted for elimination have been opponents of
Hezbollah.Lokman was a dear friend. He was also, in my view, a great and brave
man – writer, publisher, filmmaker, activist – who believed deeply in human
dignity, in life, and who represented the best of what all too often has been
cheaply described as the Lebanese Ideal. His death was a great loss not only for
Lebanon but for freedom-loving people in the Middle East and beyond.
I wish that his death had provoked a real political earthquake in his home
country, bringing about real change, but, of course, nothing really happened.
The economic crisis, the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, and (with the
notable exception of Rafiq Hariri's death in 2005) other high-profile killings
have failed to shake the status quo of a kleptocratic state locked in a
symbiotic relationship with a terrorist group. The state of Lebanon is the host
while Hezbollah is the parasite, the two increasingly intertwined. Lokman's
heroic family and friends continue the good fight – as do many other Lebanese of
good will. They deserve our constant, clear-eyed support in every way possible,
including in calling for justice and an end to impunity, an end that can only
come with a disarmed Hezbollah, a contradiction in terms. Lokman Slim is gone,
his strong vision lingers, despite his killers.
If anything, Lebanon's ruling kleptocracy have doubled down on maintaining their
stranglehold on power. First by seeking to manipulate any sort of future
international bailout or financial restructuring as much as possible in their
favor and secondly by covering for and rationalizing Hezbollah's continued
puppet master rule, as seen by the shameless interaction of the Lebanese
government with the West and with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.
But Lokman's death and Lebanon's agonizing travails place in sharp contrast an
even greater conflict rolling through the Arab Middle East for years now, one
that seems to be reaching a type of climax between two contending sides. There
are no angels among states in the region and I am not referring to Western type
pipe dreams of democracy versus dictatorship or "the people/street" versus the
regime. This is something more elemental.
There is an ongoing, murderous effort to reconfigure countries and societies in
the region toward near permanent war and conflict without end. Most of this
effort is driven by Iran and its many proxies in the region, in Lebanon, of
course, by Hezbollah. The "Resistance Axis" is a weapon fashioned by Iran's
Revolutionary Guards against Israel, but also against any state or sub-group
within a state, that might stand against the Iranian tide. It is a tool made for
hegemony, for constant mobilization toward an apocalyptic end goal. Iran is not
alone. Some of the attempt at the violent reordering of societies and nations is
driven by Sunni Islamism and Jihadism, whether from actual terrorist groups like
Al-Qaeda and ISIS or by extremists of the Muslim Brotherhood in its various
regional iterations. The goal here is to demolish what was there before and
forcibly rebuild around a militant ideology. The fact that states like Lebanon
or Yemen are poverty-stricken and their populations increasingly desperate can
even be seen as a plus in such dystopian scenarios.
States that are Western allies and ostensibly fight Sunni extremism, countries
like Egypt and Jordan, also face internal challenges driven by the enticing
narratives of the militants. You can watch parts of Egyptian or Jordanian
political discourse (in both countries heavily monitored by their own security
services) and be struck by the extremism and intolerance.
Opposing Iranian and Islamist dreams of unbridled conflict are a few states that
seek to defend themselves and to safeguard their own attempts at securing
modernity and prosperity within their borders. Countries like Israel, the United
Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. Not angels, not paragons of perfect virtue, not
by a long shot. But builders rather than destroyers, trying, with their faults
and missteps, to break out of the toxic cycle of destruction and conflict we
know so well for so long. A Middle East Of Life in contrast to a Middle East Of
Death.
Lokman's life and vision were a rebuttal of the entire Hezbollah project.
Stable, tolerant, and prosperous societies in the UAE and, increasingly, in
Saudi Arabia are visible rebuttals and rejections of the revolutionary end state
envisioned by Iran and by the Salafi-Jihadis. Israel's existence as a Jewish
majority state with a significant Arab population buying into the system, warts
and all, is by its very presence, an existential threat to the Muqawama ("rwesistance")
paradigm.
The repeated attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE coming from the Houthis in
Yemen are certainly connected to the war in Yemen and the fact that Iran's
proxies in that country are facing tougher opposition on the ground. But the
attacks are also an attempt at sabotaging governance and ideological models
which stray from the disastrous policy decisions of the past and which promise
to be successful, inspiring others elsewhere that a better, different future is
possible. It is no coincidence that Iran funds and works with religiously based
Shia militias and parties, with Baathists, and with Sunni Islamists like Hamas
and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They represent a continuation of what has been
the dominant narrative for decades, permanent revolution and frequent death,
forever, until some illusory ideological victory is achieved down the road.
Some days it seems like the region is well and truly lost, at least in terms of
a real break with a bloody past. There is plenty of ground for despair.
Certainly, the West, including the United States, is in a defensive crouch in a
region from which we only seem to want disentanglement. When good people are
killed in Lebanon and Iraq or when Iran and its puppets threaten to destroy Arab
cities and high rises made of glass, seemingly without political consequences,
one can easily despair. But a far better response is to get angry and keep
working, whether it is the work of civil society groups like the Lokman Slim
Foundation or the Dar Al-Jadeed publishing house in Beirut or those helping the
destitute and marginalized in Lebanon. And real, tangible hope is also to be
found in the heroic and skilled work of air defense professionals protecting the
skies over Jeddah and Abu Dhabi. Successfully defending one's sovereignty,
whether by taking out terrorist missile launchers or by continuing to build
societies that are strong, tolerant, and forward-looking is the best response
and the sweetest revenge.
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.
The Lebanese Response Is Familiar
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/February, 02/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106023/%d8%b7%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%82-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b1%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d9%85%d8%b9%d8%b1%d9%88%d9%81-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84/
I don’t think it is difficult to predict the response to the paper submitted by
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister, Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al Sabah, to the
Lebanese officials, regarding confidence-building measures to end the crisis
with the Gulf. Whoever deals with the intra-Lebanese crisis can anticipate the
answer and the method in which it will be formulated, especially when it comes
to the file of terrorist Hezbollah and its weapons, as well as the
implementation of the “disassociation” policy. According to information, the
document presented by the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister to the Lebanese includes, for
example, setting a time frame for the implementation of UN Security Council
resolutions, including UNSCR 1559, which calls for the disarmament of the
outlawed factions, i.e., Hezbollah.
Here, we are already aware of the Lebanese response, as Reuters quoted Lebanon’s
Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib as saying: “I am not going to end Hezbollah’s
existence, it is out of the question in Lebanon. We are going for dialogue.”
In fact, we don’t need sources to know the response. The Lebanese minister had
previously said in an audio tape broadcast by Okaz newspaper that the Americans
were “pressing hard during the Trump era, with Secretary of State Pompeo, and
asking us to get rid of (Hezbollah).” He continued: “How can we get that done? I
told them once. If you send us 100,000 Marines, rid us of Hezbollah and want to
celebrate, then the champagne is on us.”
Therefore, it is clear that Lebanon is unable to disarm Hezbollah, and is not
even willing to engage in the battle to enclose the party politically. In fact,
some of Lebanon’s politicians, no matter how distressed they may seem,
contributed to empowering Hezbollah at the political level.
Regarding the implementation of the “disassociation” policy, Reuters quoted
sources familiar with the draft response that Lebanon would not be “a launchpad
for activities that violate Arab countries”, and that it was committed “verbally
and actually” to a policy of dissociation from regional conflicts. This is not
feasible because of the hegemony of Hezbollah’s weapons. Who among the Lebanese
can stop the terrorist party from interfering in the Syrian crisis? Or prevent
it from meddling with Yemeni affairs? Who will prevent the party from smuggling
drugs while it controls the Lebanese ports?
The truth is that the Lebanese response will be a continuation of the
“circumvention” approach that has taken the country to this major crisis. No
Lebanese government will be able to confront the terrorist Hezbollah as long as
it sticks to this prevailing method. This analysis does not mean that the Gulf
States are wasting their time. Instead, with all wisdom, they are building a
Gulf, Arab and international stance against the terrorist Hezbollah, and proving
that Lebanese politicians are not serious about resolving their crisis. Even if
it takes a long time to shape a real position against those who caused the
crisis in Lebanon, the moment of truth is coming, especially as we are
witnessing sharp political turning points in the region, represented by the
Vienna negotiations, the serious developments on the ground in Yemen, and more.
As for the Lebanese politicians, they will inevitably become victims of their
own policies, just as Lebanon has fallen as their prey.
One Year On, Justice on Hold for Slain Lebanese Activist Lokman Slim
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 02/2022
A year after the murder of Lebanese intellectual and Hezbollah critic Lokman
Slim, his family is still searching for accountability in a country where crimes
often go unpunished. "We really need justice for Lokman," his widow Monika
Borgmann told AFP from their home in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut,
days before the first anniversary of his killing. If his murder goes unpunished,
it would be like "giving the green light to the killers, whoever they are, to
continue" their crimes, she said, amid stalled investigations into his murder. A
secular activist, 58-year-old Slim was found dead in his car on February 4 last
year, a day after his family reported him missing. His body was found in
southern Lebanon -- a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement -- but
the culprits have yet to be identified. An outspoken activist and a researcher
passionate about documenting the civil war that raged from 1975-1990 in Lebanon,
Slim was a divisive figure. His sway over foreign diplomats in Lebanon often
sparked the ire of Hezbollah and its loyalists. In several televised interviews,
Slim accused the group of taking Lebanon hostage on behalf of its Iranian
patrons.
In one of his last TV appearances, he accused the Syrian regime of having links
to the ammonium nitrate shipment that caused the catastrophic explosion at
Beirut's port in August 2020. Slim's family has received no updates from the
authorities since investigations into his murder started.
This is not unusual for a country where even investigations into the Beirut port
blast have yet to identify a single culprit -- a year and a half after the
explosion destroyed swathes of the city. The judiciary is still working on
gathering evidence from security agencies over Slim's murder, said a judicial
source, explaining that investigations are still at an "information-gathering
phase". They are yet to reach any key conclusions because not all security
agencies have provided investigators with the necessary information, the same
source added. Borgmann, Slim's widow, said that the family has been left in the
dark. "We don't really know where we are going," she said, expressing doubts
over whether any progress will ever be made.
Slim's family has called for an independent, international probe into his
murder. It is a demand that Borgmann said is within reach after United Nations
experts last year called for a credible and impartial investigation. "The
government should consider requesting international technical assistance to
investigate the killing of Mr. Slim," UN human rights experts said in March.
Lebanese politicians and media personalities have suspected Hezbollah's
involvement in his murder, but Slim's family has never publicly accused the
party of his killing. "Of course, I have my opinion who is behind (the murder),"
said Borgmann, a film director, originally from Germany. "But for me it's not
really enough to point the finger at anybody and... stop there," she added. "We
need proof and we need accountability," she said, expressing hopes his killers
will be jailed. Borgmann said Hezbollah had threatened Slim several times, most
notably in December 2019. A group of people attacked his home in the southern
suburbs of Beirut, plastering Hezbollah slogans and messages on the walls,
calling him a traitor and warning that his "time will come".
At the time, Slim said he would lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of
Hezbollah and Amal movements should anything happen to him or his family. "Lokman
said it himself," Borgmann said. There have been at least 220 assassinations and
murder attempts since Lebanon's independence in 1943 until Slim's killing last
year, according to Beirut-based consultancy firm Information International.
Investigations into these murders have rarely yielded results due to political
interference or lack of evidence. After he was killed, Slim's family launched a
foundation in his name that is devoted to studying political assassinations in
Lebanon and in the region. "Political assassinations played a major role in
controlling political life in Arab societies," said Hana Jaber, the foundation's
director. They create "imaginary barriers... that deter societies from thinking
freely or producing alternative political, societal and cultural projects". As a
result, the foundation created in Slim's honor will work to counter the culture
of impunity around political assassinations and "break the isolation of those
who are under threat", Jaber said. For Borgmann, the foundation will serve to
preserve Slim's legacy. "The fight against the culture of impunity has always
been at the center of our work," she said. "Now we need to do it without him,
but for him."
Lokman Slim assassination: one year on,
Lebanese intellectual's absence leaves void
Sunniva Rose/The National/February 02/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106013/sunniva-rose-the-national-lokman-slim-assassination-one-year-on-lebanese-intellectuals-absence-leaves-void-%d8%b3%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a%d9%81%d8%a7-%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%b2-%d9%85%d9%88%d9%82%d8%b9-%d8%a7/
One year after his assassination, friends of Lokman Slim mourn the loss of an
independent Lebanese thinker whose absence is felt at a time of great upheaval
in Lebanese society.
Lebanon is reeling from its worst economic crisis yet, pushing the public to
increasingly question the country’s governance since the end of the 1975-1990
civil war. Slim, 58 at the time of his death, dedicated his life to trying to
promote a sense of Lebanese citizenship outside of traditional sectarian
divisions. In his view, the main obstacle to a more cohesive society was
Hezbollah, a Lebanese regional militia backed by Iran that is also active in
local politics. His family and friends believe the Shiite party played a role in
his assassination – a charge it denies.
They all said that Slim was more than a political commentator. He was a
publisher, an archivist, a writer, a film maker, and a grass roots activist
among Lebanon’s Shiite community who tried to offer them alternatives to
Hezbollah.
He would have so much to say right now in building a new society. And now he’s
gone,” said artist and writer Chaza Charafeddine.
Freedom is a word often used by Slim’s entourage to describe him: freedom of
thought, of expression and of movement. He defied convention. The son of a
Shiite Lebanese father and an Egyptian Christian mother, Slim came from a
left-wing background but spoke to everyone, including members of the US
administration under Donald Trump's presidency.
Unlike many Shiite critics of the Iran-backed party, he often drove to visit
friends in south Lebanon. Despite death threats, Slim never chose to live away
from his family home situated in a Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut.
"It's very difficult to replace him," said his German widow, Monika Borgmann. "A
lot of people are trying to do things, but he did his work from here," she said,
referring to the neighbourhood. The fact that his body was found riddled with
bullets in that same region is a strong signal, for his supporters, that
Hezbollah may be behind his killing. The investigation is continuing but few
expect arrests. Lebanon has a long history of unsolved assassinations of party
critics. “He lived free so that others could live like him,” said Slim’s
long-time friend Moustafa Yammout, who goes by the name Zico, Zico House being
the cultural centre that he runs in Beirut.
'A brave guy'
Slim’s idealism and lack of political ambition made him unpopular with Lebanon’s
political class, which was mostly absent at his funeral.
He faced huge backlash after WikiLeaks 2008 revelations that showed that he was
willing to talk to Lebanon’s longtime enemy Israel – a taboo in Lebanon. At the
same time, he pushed the unpopular idea that Lebanon’s refugees, including
Syrians and Palestinians, needed more rights. “He was a patriot, a progressive
who believed in real democracy,” said Lebanese historian Makram Rabah, who often
collaborated with Slim. “He believed that peace is a way forward for
humanity.”Pro-Hezbollah media tried to tarnish Slim’s reputation by accusing him
of being an Israeli or a western spy.
Mr Rabah, who has also been the target of such accusations, pointed out that
“previous experience has shown that people who spy on Hezbollah are usually
party members themselves.”
Lebanese media reported on Monday a crackdown against at least 17 suspected
Israeli spies that included a Hezbollah member who the group refused to hand
over to the judiciary. Such accusations resurfaced after Slim's assassination. A
report published in September by media and press freedom watchdog Skeyes Media
showed that accusations of collaboration with Israel, which is considered high
treason in Lebanon, started increasing in the weeks before Slim's death.
Lebanese Shiite journalists with large Twitter followings took a lead in
propagating hate speech against Slim and celebrating his killing. Slim made no
secret of his meetings with senior US and western officials. He informally
advised on policy towards Lebanon, which is facing financial collapse and the
emergence of critical, reformist political parties.
Combined with his strong presence at the grass roots, his ties to the
international community might be why he was killed, friends and supporters said.
“You name me one guy who has tried to engage western intellectuals on a specific
policy towards the Shiite community,” said a close friend. "He [Slim] was not
clandestine about it and despite this, he died."
But there are many other reasons that could be behind his killing last year, his
friends, said.
This could include a change in US presidency – Joe Biden’s inaugural ceremony
took place two weeks before Slim’s death. Mr Biden’s Democratic party is widely
viewed as more conciliatory towards Iran than his Republican predecessor Mr
Trump.
In 2016, Slim refused an asylum offer made by the US government, which warned
him that he could be killed, said David Schenker, senior fellow at the
Washington Institute and former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern
affairs. “He was a brave guy. He said that he’d stay and do his work,” Mr
Schenker said. Slim rarely spoke about death threats. He broke his silence in
December 2019, when explicit calls for his assassination were stuck the outside
walls of his home. In a public letter, he wrote that Hezbollah’s leader Hassan
Nasrallah should personally be held responsible should anything happen to him or
his family.
“No way they were going to let him live”
Slim’s killing succeeded in durably instilling fear among independent Shiites,
said his close friend. “His death was so brazen. There was so little
condemnation targeted at Hezbollah,” he said, referring to the State
Department’s statement following Slim’s death which did not mention the group.
“Instead of emboldening his community to embrace his legacy, we were left to
fend for ourselves.”
Mr Schenker, another close friend of Slim, agreed. “The fact that the
international community hasn’t rallied around Lokman has had a bit of a chilling
effect, which is exactly what Hezbollah hoped to accomplish,” he said. “There
has always been a concern about not exacerbating all of Lebanon’s problems. But
Lebanon would be more stable if people were held to account.”
Inga Schei, a US national who worked closely with Slim, believes that one of the
consequences of his killing will be that no independent Shiites will dare run in
the parliamentary elections scheduled for May. “The point was to scare people,”
she said. In the past, independent Shiite candidates have been physically
assaulted. The NGO that Ms co-ran with Slim, Hayya Bina, represented a direct
challenge to Hezbollah, she said.
Hayya Bina’s first campaign in 2005 was to promote the idea that Lebanese
communities can vote outside their confessional identity. It also trained
English teachers and conducted interfaith meetings.
Ms Schei paused the NGO’s work after Slim’s death out of fear for the safety for
their Lebanese employees. She always knew Slim would be assassinated.
“There was no way they were going to let him live,” she said. Yet many try to
put on a brave face about Slim’s death, in part in tribute to his formidably
creative life. “He lived more free than Nasrallah. That’s why killing him isn’t
a problem,” said Zico, with a chuckle.
Secret communist cell
Zico and Slim first met as part of a secret communist cell during the late
1980s. The two men were told to cut ties with party leadership and that after
one year, they would be contacted. Nothing happened. “Maybe they wanted to get
rid of us, maybe it was a joke, maybe it was one of Lokman’s tricks,” Zico said.
They failed as communist spies but became lifelong friends, sharing a desire to
live unfettered by Lebanon’s conservative social norms.
“Lokman liked to play. Nothing stopped him, neither religion, nor family or
anything. It was how life should be. You respect your roots, but you don’t allow
yourself to be pressured by them,” Zico said. One of the first projects that
Slim and Zico worked on after the war was campaigning against a concert staged
by Lebanon’s superstar singer Fairuz in downtown Beirut in 1994.
Hailed at the time as an emotional reunion between the diva and her public in a
country finally at peace, the concert also kick-started a controversial
reconstruction project of the war-damaged area. Slim launched a slogan, “Fairuz
Say No and Kill The King” – a reference to a sentence that Fairuz used in her
theatre plays before the war, Zico said.
“Lokman knew that Fairuz was being used to demolish downtown with little popular
protest,” he said. In parallel to his activism, Slim founded in 1990 publication
house Dar Al Jadeed with his sister Rasha Al Ameer, which she looks after alone
since her brother’s assassination.
Like Zico, artist and writer Mrs Charafeddine remembers a larger-than-life
character who balanced multiple projects at once, ranging from saving archives
from a historic hotel by buying it from a waste company, to delving into
sensitive regional security matters.
“He was brilliant, courageous and had an exceptional, critical mind,” she said.
“He was eloquent. "His language was perfect. That’s also one of the reasons they
hated him,” she said, referring to Hezbollah. In addition to speaking Arabic,
Slim switched easily between English, French and German.
As a single young woman living in Beirut’s southern suburbs in the 1990s, Mrs
Charafeddine recalled intense social pressure, including from former militiamen
who repeatedly finding excuses to drop by her flat to check on her visitors.
But she was surrounded by friends like Slim who gave her courage to bear it. “It
is something that I wasn’t expecting to find,” she said. She and Slim hailed
from similar backgrounds – big Shiite families that included prominent
politicians on Slim’s side and clergymen on hers. “Normally, when you come from
a family that is well-known, you try to hide when you live your life,” she said.
Building memory
For Mrs Charafeddine, Slim was at his professional best during his years of
collaboration with Monika Borgmann, whom he met in 2001. Together, they founded
Umam, an NGO devoted to the memory of the civil war, in 2005, which is still
based in Slim’s family home. They rose to prominence with an exhibition
featuring a bus where a massacre that triggered the war in April 1975 took
place. They later produced two films together, one on the 1982 Sabra and Shatila
massacre and one on Lebanese detainees in Syria’s Tadmor prison, a widely hailed
feat in a country that refuses to engage with its troubled past.“What we were
trying to do at Umam was to build a memory which can be shared by all the
Lebanese,” Mrs Borgmann said. Umam’s exhibition centre is open to all, including
to people from the Hezbollah-controlled neighbourhood. One of its most popular
events was the screening of the 2010 World Football Cup. “Hezbollah was trying
to forbid people to come, but they came anyway because their wish to see
football was bigger than listening to the party,” Mrs Borgmann said. The bus
exhibition and the subsequent films were Lebanese photographer Marwan Tahtah's
introduction to the couple. He went on to exhibit his photos of Lebanon’s 2019
anti-government protests at Umam for what was to be the last exhibition
organised by Slim.
“I only knew him for six months but we talked about a lot of things. About
archives, about the city. Many only see Lokman as someone who was against
Hezbollah, but for me he was more important than that,” he said. Mrs Borgmann
said that the exhibition was a way of honouring the “momentum” of the 2019 “revolution.”“Not
everyone agreed with Lokman’s political views, but I think we managed to
maintain political balance and objectivity over the years at Umam,” she said.
In addition to participating in launching a foundation in Slim's name devoted to
political assassinations, Mrs Borgmann has continued Umam’s work after her
husband's death. This is Slim’s most important legacy, Mrs Charafeddine said
“Lokman was first of all a researcher. The work he did for history and for
memory was exceptional,” she said. “It’s so sad that he died because of his
political activism because he played such an important role in preserving
Lebanon’s memory.”
محمد شبارو: خروج الحريري يدفع لبنان
أكثر إلى المجهول
Hariri’s exit pushes Lebanon further into the unknown
Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/February 02/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106032/mohamed-chebaro-hariris-exit-pushes-lebanon-further-into-the-unknown-%d9%85%d8%ad%d9%85%d8%af-%d8%b4%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%88-%d8%ae%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%ac-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%b1/
Lebanon’s fate has long been hanging in the balance. A precariously balanced
sectarian formula has impacted its stability, while a regional inter-Arab
entente — or lack of it — could translate into a detente or acts of violence and
an international East-West confrontation could stimulate arguments between the
divided Lebanese. But the last 15 years have clearly seen Lebanon firmly
position itself in the orbit of an Iran that is bent on taunting Israel and the
West, dragging the international community into lengthy negotiations to curb its
nuclear program while denying any meddling in the affairs of Arab countries.
Hezbollah has been serving Tehran’s interests in a bid to dominate Lebanon and
use it in its scuffles with the Arab Gulf states and the wider world.
It is not news to write that Hezbollah wields total control over Lebanon, while
window dressing such control by propping up representatives from each of
Lebanon’s sectarian communities as required by the country’s quasi-democracy.
The recent decision by Sunni Muslim leader Saad Hariri to step away from
Lebanese politics opens the door for Shiite Hezbollah to tighten its already
strong hold over the country, rendering it a bastion of Iranian influence on the
Mediterranean. But this might also risk driving Lebanon’s Sunni community into
despair, pushing the most marginalized into the hands of extremists.
Three-time Prime Minister Hariri’s reason for exiting public life and boycotting
May’s scheduled general election could destabilize Lebanon even further, as he
cited Iran’s influence over Lebanese affairs as the key reason for his bowing
out. He said he saw little hope of any possible positive change for the country
and its suffering populace.
Hariri’s departure, long anticipated by those who saw the futility of
window-dressing politics, opens a new phase in Lebanon’s sectarian politics,
which is governed by a system of power-sharing among its many sects. It also
rings alarm bells for fear that the peaceful, inclusive, compromise-based
approach to Lebanese policies adopted by Hariri and his Future Movement could
easily be replaced by a demagogic, more extremist-leaning leadership that might
be propped up or even manufactured by the dominant power controlling every
matter in Lebanon’s domestic, regional and international affairs.
Hariri’s move might also accelerate the fragmentation of the Sunni community,
whose majority is still opposed to Hezbollah’s posturing in Lebanon and Iran’s
regional agenda, unlike the Christian community, which is already divided.
President Michel Aoun, for example, pays lip service to Hezbollah’s agenda,
helping to erode the state, society and the independence of the country in favor
of rubber stamping and advancing the interests of his patrons in Tehran.
This exit of one of Lebanon’s key anti-Hezbollah Sunni leaders — whose ex-PM
father was found by an international tribunal to have been assassinated by a
Hezbollah affiliate — adds to Lebanon’s uncertainty. This small nation has been
on the brink since it was classified as suffering one of the world’s worst
financial crises of the past 100 years. It has a collapsing economy, its
national currency is in free fall, its power supply has been reduced to one or
two hours daily, the cost of living is skyrocketing, and fuel prices are
increasing. All of this has been supervised by a political class that is
determined to carry on with its corruption and embezzlement of state and
nonstate funds, while preventing the reforms on which international support
hinges.
The impact of Hariri’s announcement is yet to be felt, but it will surely extend
beyond the election, which is unlikely to refresh the precariously calibrated
distribution of seats that have swung in favor of Hezbollah and the advocates of
its policies in the country. Hezbollah, being stronger militarily and
financially than most factions in Lebanon, is well positioned to capitalize on
Hariri’s retreat from public life.
Hezbollah is well positioned to capitalize on the former prime minister’s
retreat from public life.
Hezbollah has for years been bent on trying to undermine and weaken Hariri’s
grip on the Sunni community in Lebanon. And many believe that the void he leaves
is likely to be filled by marginal Hezbollah-allied Sunni personalities that
lack national Sunni support, as well as regional and international stature. At
the same time, Hezbollah must be wary of the emergence of more hawkish figures
who will seek confrontation rather than strike compromises like Hariri chose
to.A weakened Hariri and a weaker Sunni community has always been a goal of the
Iran-allied Hezbollah, but the changing of the rules with Hariri’s exit ahead of
the May election will distort the group’s calculations. However, this is
unlikely to divert its path from consolidating its grip on a bankrupt and
dispossessed Lebanon, which is approaching its ultimate fate as a failed state.
Lebanon after Hariri will be a more dangerous place. Its power-sharing formula —
loathed for years by some Lebanese — seems to have edged closer to irrelevance.
Hezbollah will always be capable of propping up a loyal Sunni leadership to
display on the world stage and add to its carefully designed, constitutionally
compliant national mix of nominal leadership, and it will not shy away from
grooming extremists for such roles if necessary. But I doubt this will win over
a further-marginalized Sunni community that has been pushed to the brink and has
long held the belief that Lebanon is only viable as a country when all its
communities are represented in the precariously balanced power distribution
formula, while also being determined to uphold its special relationship with the
Arab Gulf states against all odds.
*Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist, media consultant and trainer
with more than 25 years’ experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current
affairs and diplomacy.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
February 02-03/2022
Israeli Defense Minister Kicks off Visit to
Bahrain
Associated Press/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
Israel's defense minister on Wednesday began a trip to Bahrain, the first
official visit by an Israeli defense chief since the two countries established
diplomatic relations in 2020. The two-day visit by Benny Gantz is scheduled to
include meetings with top Bahrain defense officials and Bahraini leaders, the
Israeli Defense Ministry said. There was no immediate confirmation of the visit
from Bahrain, which like Israel, has great animosity toward Iran. Gantz's office
said he was joined on the trip by a number of top Israeli security officials,
including the commander of Israel's navy. Bahrain is also the strategically
located home port for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Bahrain was among four Arab
countries that joined the "Abraham Accords," a series of diplomatic pacts with
Israel brokered by the Trump administration. For years, Israel and Bahrain
maintained clandestine security ties, rooted in their concerns about Iran. Since
the agreement, the countries have opened embassies, signed a series of
agreements and established direct flights and business ties. Bahrain's
population is majority Shiite, and the country has been ruled since 1783 by the
Sunni Al Khalifa family. Since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, Bahrain's rulers
have accused Tehran of arming militants and fomenting dissent on the island,
something Iran denies. Normalization with Israel remains a contentious issue for
Bahrain's Shiite majority, which long has accused the country's Sunni Muslim
rulers of treating them like second-class citizens.
Israeli PM to Speed up Rollout of Lasers for Missile
Defense
Associated Press/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
Israel's prime minister has acknowledged that its Iron Dome defense system is
too expensive and the country is speeding the rollout of laser technology to
help protect it from rocket attacks. Naftali Bennett told a security conference
that the new generation of technology -- a "laser wall" -- will be unveiled
within a year in southern Israel. Little is known about the system's
effectiveness, but the system eventually is expected to be deployed on land, in
the air and at sea and send a deterrent message to archenemy Iran and its
proxies. The lasers are designed to complement Israel's multilayered defenses —
which include the Iron Dome and other systems capable of intercepting long and
medium-range missiles and drones. "The economic equation will be reversed; they
will invest a lot and we will invest a little," Bennett told the Institute for
National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. "If it is possible to
intercept a missile or rocket with just an electric pulse that costs a few
dollars, we will have nullified the ring of fire that Iran has set up on our
borders," Bennett said, adding, "This new generation of air defense can also
serve our friends in the region." Israel unveiled the Iron Dome a decade ago,
and the military says it has been a great success, with a 90% interception rate
against incoming rocket fire during four wars against militants in the Gaza
Strip. But in his speech, Bennett said the system is limited by its high price,
which is partly underwritten by the United States. Defense officials had
originally planned for the laser technology to be ready in about two years. The
laser technology is intended to complement the Iron Dome and other systems to
meet new threats. Bennett said someone in Gaza can fire a rocket toward Israel
for a few hundred dollars, but it costs tens of thousands of dollars to
intercept it. He spoke from Israel's recent experience: In May, Hamas fired more
than 4,000 rockets toward Israel. "That is an illogical equation," Bennett said.
"We decided to break this equation."He said that within a year, Israel's
military will begin testing what is designed to become a "laser wall" against
missiles, rockets and drones. The system could be used by Israel and other
countries against threats from Iran, which has developed long-range missiles
capable of striking Israel. Israeli defense officials have spoken before about
successful tests of laser defense systems mounted on aircraft with the aim of
intercepting unmanned aircraft. The laser system has been described as having
the ability to address longer-range threats at high altitudes regardless of
weather conditions.
Opposition says Iran created mercenary naval unit for
attacks
AFP/February 02, 2022
PARIS: Iran has created a new naval militia made up of mercenaries from around
the region to attack enemies in its neighborhood and particularly off Yemen, the
exiled opposition alleged on Wednesday.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran said the unit had been created as
part of the Quds Force, the arm of the Revolutionary Guards responsible for
extra-territorial operations. “The Quds Force has been recruiting mercenaries
for newly created, armed and trained terrorist units to attack ships and
maritime targets in the region,” it said in a report based on information
received from Iran. The NCRI, which is outlawed in Iran and is the political
wing of the People’s Mujahedin, said the mercenaries were being hired from Iraq,
Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Africa. The fighters are brought to Iran for training
and then sent back to their home countries to conduct the operations, it
said.“The strategy affords the politically weakened and vulnerable Iranian
regime a veneer of plausible deniability for its proxy war in the region, as it
seeks to augment the export of terrorism on which it depends,” the group added.
It said the primary location for naval commando training is at a naval academy
in Ziba Kenar on the Caspian Sea in Gilan Province. The militia troops are then
organized in naval commando battalions, which are deployed in the Arabian Sea,
the Bab Al-Mandab Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.
The aim is to “disrupt maritime navigation of commercial ships, to attack ports,
conduct ship hijackings and plant mines.”It detailed examples where such
operations had already been carried out including suicide and bomb attacks using
small boats off Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah.Iran is deeply implicated in
Yemen’s seven-year war, where it backs Houthi rebels in their fight against the
government. Tensions have soared after the rebels launched missile attacks on
UAE. “No rockets are fired, no attacks on ships take place, and no suicide speed
boats target the shores, unless the order has come from Tehran,” said Soona
Samsami, the NCRI’s representative in the US.
Iran State TV Streaming Site Targeted with
Dissident Message
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
A streaming website that features Iranian state television programming has
acknowledged suffering technical issues amid reports that dissident hackers
played an anti-government message on the platform. Telewebion said it suffered
“infrastructure” irregularities Tuesday and suffered an archive failure, without
elaborating on the cause, The Associated Press said. The problems came as a
video message circulated online claiming to be from a self-described group of
hackers called “The Justice of Ali" in Farsi. In the video, which Farsi-language
news networks abroad say played on the streaming platform, a masked man appears
and a muffled voice says Iran's government “will no longer silence us.” “We’ll
burn hijabs. We’ll burn their pictures and propaganda posters,” the man says.
“We will break their idols. We will reveal their palaces so that the people can
punish them.” “The Justice of Ali” did not immediately respond to a request for
comment via an account it used in an earlier conversation with The Associated
Press. In August it released footage showing grim conditions at Iran's notorious
Evin prison it claimed it obtained through a hack. The video comes just ahead of
commemoration ceremonies for Iran's 1979 Revolution this month. It also follows
an apparent hack Thursday that saw multiple channels of Iran’s state television
broadcast images showing the leaders of an exiled dissident group and a graphic
calling for the death of the country’s supreme leader. The incident Tuesday
potentially marks the latest in a series of embarrassing cyberattacks against
the Iranian Republic, as world powers struggle to revive a tattered nuclear deal
with Tehran. Other attacks, which Iran has blamed on Israel, have targeted its
nuclear program. In October, an assault on Iran’s fuel distribution system
paralyzed gas stations nationwide, leading to long lines of angry motorists
unable to get subsidized fuel for days. An earlier cyberattack on Iran’s railway
system caused chaos and train delays.
Israel Pushes Ahead with Deal to Authorize West Bank
Outpost
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
Israel's outgoing attorney general has okayed a deal between the government and
West Bank settlers that would retroactively authorize an outpost established
without official approval, Israeli media reported Wednesday. The move pushes
forward the deal, which still needs a final green light from the country's
defense minister, who signed on to the plan last year. It puts further strain on
the country's fragile, ideologically-diverse governing coalition, which includes
parties that support and oppose Palestinian statehood. Under the agreement
reached last year, the settlers left the outpost peacefully and the area became
a closed military zone, with the houses and roads erected remaining in place. As
part of the deal, a survey was carried out which, according to media reports,
determined that part of the land was not owned by Palestinians, paving the way
for the establishment of a religious school and for some settler families to
return. Israel's Justice Ministry declined to comment. Prime Minister Naftali
Bennett's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Critics
said the retroactive approval of the wildcat outpost was a reward for settlers
who break the law, at a time when settler violence against Palestinians has
surged. Michal Rozin, a lawmaker with the Meretz faction, which is part of the
government and supports Palestinian statehood, said the approval was “a victory
for the violence of the outlaws in the outposts,” noting in a tweet that the
move violated the coalition's decision to avoid divisive issues to ensure its
stability. The settlers named the outpost Eviatar, after an Israeli killed by a
Palestinian in 2013, and say it was home to dozens of families. The deal to
remove the settlers came just after the country's fragile government was formed
and appeared to have been struck as a way to avoid the media spectacle of troops
forcibly dragging away Israeli families. Palestinians in nearby villages say the
outpost was built on their land and fear it will grow and merge with larger
settlements nearby. Before the settlers left, Palestinians held near-daily
protests which led to violent clashes with Israeli troops. Israel captured the
West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want it to form the main
part of their future state. Nearly 500,000 settlers live in more than 130
settlements that are authorized by Israel as well as dozens of outposts the
state views as unlawful across the occupied West Bank. Israel has repeatedly
granted these rogue settlements retroactive approval. The Palestinians and much
of the international community view all settlements as violation of
international law and an obstacle to peace.
Iranian Supertanker Carrying Condensate Docks in
Venezuela
Naharnet/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
An Iran-flagged supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of condensate
has docked at a Venezuelan port, with both countries facing U.S. sanctions,
according to analysts and satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press. The
arrival of the oil tanker Starla comes as negotiations continue in Vienna over
the Islamic Republic's tattered nuclear deal with world powers, which allowed
for oil sales. In 2018, the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the accord under
then President Donald Trump, sparking years of tensions across the wider Mideast
that continue today. The Starla arrived off the coast of Barcelona, Venezuela,
in late January. A satellite photo analyzed by AP from Planet Labs PBC showed
the vessel there Sunday and corresponded to other images of the vessel and its
helipad. Its dimensions also matched those of the Starla, which is owned by
National Iranian Tanker Co. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the company in October
2020, saying it helped fund the expeditionary Quds Force of Iran's paramilitary
Revolutionary Guard. The Starla represents the first known condensate shipment
of 2022 from Iran to arrive in Venezuela as part of a relationship between the
two oil-exporting nations that are both under American sanctions. Iranian state
media has not acknowledged the Starla's arrival in Venezuela after earlier
trumpeting other shipments. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond
to a request for comment. Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, said
the ship is carrying 2.1 million barrels of a very light form of oil based on
natural gas that Venezuela's state-owned company uses to dilute its heavy crude
oil to turn into an exportable blend. Madani said the vessel departed Iran on
Dec. 11 and turned off its mandatory Automated Identification System for more
than a month and a half. The system is used to prevent collisions, but companies
in recent years have adopted a number of techniques, including turning it off,
to evade detection as the U.S. has expanded economic sanctions. Iran maintains
close ties to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and has shipped gasoline and
other products to the country amid a U.S. sanctions campaign. Madani said
vessels carried condensate from Iran to Venezuela four other times since 2020,
bringing in more than 8.3 million barrels. Claire Jungman, the chief of staff at
the New York-based group United Against Nuclear Iran who also tracks Iranian oil
shipments, similarly identified the Starla from satellite images. Jungman said
her organization had tracked an uptick in covert Iranian oil sales to China and
Venezuela that she described as the countries "seeing how far they can push the
Biden administration.""If the U.S. is going to just keep letting them slide by …
Iran is going to keep stalling," Jungman said. "They are getting what they want
by the lack of enforcement on sanctions."
Washington Stakes Nuclear Deal on Iran’s ‘Political Decision’
Washington - Ali Barada/Wednesday, 2 February,
2022
US officials revealed that the Vienna talks aimed at getting Iran and the US to
return to mutual compliance with the obligations of the nuclear agreement are
nearing completion. However, they stressed that after many months of
negotiations, returning to the deal is now subject to a “political decision”
from Tehran, which must retract its violations in exchange for lifting the
sanctions imposed on it because of its nuclear program. Remarks from Biden
administration officials point out to the signatories of the 2015 Iran nuclear
deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), having
completed the technical side of steps needed to be taken in Washington and
Tehran for their return to full compliance with the agreement. Four years ago,
former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear
deal, a move which was followed by several violations from Iran. The JCPOA was
reached between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United
Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United
States—plus Germany) together with the European Union. Today’s statements by
Biden administration officials confirm that Washington has taken the political
decision to return to the deal and is waiting for a similar resolution by
Tehran, a matter which largely falls in the hands of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei. In an article published by the New York Times, a senior official said
that the new deal would not limit Iran’s missile development and would not halt
Tehran’s support for terrorist groups or its proxy forces, which have stirred
unrest across the Middle East, as some Democrats and nearly all Republicans have
demanded. Iran continues to back proxies like the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in
Lebanon, and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq in Iraq. The deal’s restoration would almost
certainly become a campaign issue in the midterm elections in Congress this
year, the official told the New York Times. When Trump exited the original
agreement in 2018 — which he called “the worst deal ever” — he promised to force
Tehran into new negotiations, saying he would get better terms and also halt the
country’s support for the Syrian regime, its funding of terrorist groups and its
missile tests.
For President Joe Biden, restoring the deal — and with it, limits on Iran’s
production capability — would fulfill a major campaign promise and seal a breach
Trump created with Britain, France, Germany and the European Union, which
participated in the original agreement along with Russia and China. But it also
comes with significant political risks. Despite the risk involved for Democrats,
Biden is prepared to return to the 2015 agreement and “to make the political
decisions necessary to achieve that goal,” a senior State Department official
said in a presser in which Asharq Al-Awsat participated. The State Department
official said that the negotiations to restore the 2015 agreement were “in a
final stretch” and that “all sides” needed to commit to returning to full
compliance. “If our goal is to reach an understanding quickly – which is what we
need to do – and to avoid misunderstandings and to avoid miscommunication and to
make sure that both sides know exactly what they’re getting into, the optimal
way to do that in any negotiation is for the parties that have the most at stake
to meet directly,” the official told reporters. “We’re prepared to meet with
Iran if they are prepared to meet with us,” they added, noting that it would be
very “regrettable” if the two sides didn’t come together for direct talks,
especially since there is little time left. State Department spokesman Ned Price
confirmed that “there are only a few weeks left to reach an agreement, and if
the talks fail, Washington will increase economic and diplomatic pressure on
Tehran.”
He referred to the conditions of American prisoners in Iran, saying that “their
release (...) is one of our main priorities in the Vienna talks.”
US officials did not provide any details of the new agreement, but restoring the
old agreement would mean that all restrictions imposed on Iran’s production of
nuclear materials will end in 2030, which means that Secretary of State Anthony
Blinken will not be able to obtain a “longer and stronger” agreement due to
Iranian officials’ refusal. Iranian negotiators sought written guarantees that
the US would not abandon the agreement again, but their American counterparts
emphasized that Biden could not provide such guarantees. Although Iran has not
accumulated the same amount of enriched uranium it had before the 2015
agreement, it has taken advanced technical steps to raise the level of
enrichment to 60 %, which is closer to the 90 % used to produce nuclear weapons.
“A country enriching at 60 percent is a very serious thing,” Rafael Grossi, the
director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations
body that inspects Iran’s production facilities and verifies compliance with
agreements. “Only countries making bombs are reaching this level.” It is not
known whether Tehran will send its 60% enriched fuel to Russia, as it did in the
past, or to another country. Moreover, it is unclear how Israel will respond to
any new agreement, given that it has carried out several operations to sabotage
Iranian facilities. The US and Iran also appear to be close to reaching a
prisoner swap deal to free four American citizens in exchange for Iranians
sentenced for sanctions violations, according to two people familiar with the
talks cited by the New York Times. The senior State Department official said
that he could not envision a deal with Iran if Americans were not released, and
Iran’s foreign ministry subsequently said it would be open to a prisoner
exchange with the US.
Leaked Text Suggests Possible US-Russia Missile
Arrangement
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
The United States could be willing to enter into an agreement with Russia to
ease tensions over missile deployments in Europe if Moscow steps back from the
brink in Ukraine, according to a leaked document published in a Spanish
newspaper on Wednesday.
The daily El Pais published two documents purported to be written replies from
the United States and NATO last week to Russia’s proposals for a new security
arrangement in Europe. US officials could not be immediately contacted to
confirm that one document is authentic.
In reference to the second document, NATO said that it never comments on
“alleged leaks.” But the text closely reflects statements made to the media last
by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg as he laid out the 30-nation military
organization’s position on Russia’s demands.
The US document, marked as a confidential “non-paper,” said that the United
States would be willing to discuss in consultation with its NATO partners “a
transparency mechanism to confirm the absences of Tomahawk cruise missiles at
Aegis Ashore sites in Romania and Poland.”
That would happen on condition that Russia “offers reciprocal transparency
measures on two ground-launched missiles bases of our choosing in Russia.”Aegis
is a system for defending against short or intermediate-range missiles. But
Russia has claimed in the past that the US could attack with Tomahawk
intermediate-range missiles from Aegis Ashore sites. The US document said
Washington would have to consult with NATO allies on the potential offer,
particularly with Romania and Poland. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to
comment on the leaked documents, saying only that “we didn’t release anything.”
In comments to the state RIA Novosti news agency, Russia’s Foreign Ministry also
refused to confirm or deny that the documents published by El Pais were
authentic. Fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine have mounted in recent months,
after President Vladimir Putin deployed more than 100,000 troops to areas near
Ukraine’s borders, including in neighboring Belarus, backed by tanks, artillery,
helicopters and warplanes. Putin says he does not intend to order an invasion.
The US underlined after its written proposals in the leaked document that
“progress can only be achieved on these issues in an environment of
de-escalation with respect to Russia’s threatening actions towards Ukraine.”
US, Turkish Presidential Advisers Discuss ‘Russian Aggression’ in Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Ibrahim Kalin, chief adviser to
the president of Turkey, spoke on Tuesday and discussed their commitment to
"deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine", the White House said in a
statement. Turkish state broadcaster TRT Haber said Kalin told Sullivan that
Turkey would provide "all forms of support" to resolving the Ukraine crisis and
a Thursday visit there by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would
"contribute to solving the issue with diplomacy". Turkey offered in November to
mediate in the crisis. Diplomatic sources said last month both Russia and
Ukraine were open to the idea of Ankara helping. Turkey is a maritime neighbor
of both Ukraine and Russia, in the Black Sea, and has good ties with both. It
has called on them to avoid any military conflict and warned Russia that an
invasion of Ukraine would be unwise. Earlier on Tuesday, Russian President
Vladimir Putin accused the West of deliberately creating a scenario designed to
lure it into war and ignoring Russia's security concerns over Ukraine. TRT Haber
said Kalin and Sullivan had also discussed talks between Turkey and Armenia to
normalize ties after decades of animosity. Ties between NATO allies Turkey and
the United States have been strained over a host of issues in recent years,
including Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems and policy
differences in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean. The allies have agreed to
put aside differences and focus on areas of cooperation but that has yielded
little public improvement.
Turkish Jets Target Kurdish Positions in Iraq, Syria
Associated Press/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
Turkish warplanes struck suspected Kurdish militant positions in Iraq and Syria
early on Wednesday in a new aerial offensive which officials said aimed to
protect Turkey's borders from terrorist threats. A Turkish defense ministry
statement said the strikes hit targets on Sinjar Mountain and in the Karacak
region in northern Iraq, and the Derik region in northern Syria. The operations
dubbed "Winter Eagle" were aimed against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK,
in northern Iraq, and the People's Protection Units, or YPG in Syria. The
targets struck included shelters, caves, tunnels, ammunition depots, bases and
training camps, the ministry said. The YPG is a close U.S. ally against the
Islamic State group but is seen by Ankara as a terrorist group because of its
ties to Turkey's Kurdish rebels. The strikes aimed to "eliminate terrorist
attacks against our people and security forces from the north of Iraq and Syria
and to ensure our border security," the ministry statement read. Defense
Minister Hulusi Akar claimed that several militants were "neutralized" in the
operation, including a number of names wanted by Turkey. There was no immediate
comment from the Kurdish groups. All planes returned to their bases safely, the
ministry said, adding that "utmost sensitivity was shown" regarding the security
of the civilians during the operations. The defense ministry said Turkey would
"continue the fight against terrorism for the security of our country and our
nation with determination until the last terrorist is neutralized."Turkey has
carried out similar cross-border airstrikes in the past. The PKK has led an
insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984 which has killed tens of thousands of
people. The group is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its allies,
including the U.S. and European Union.
Egypt, EU Agree on Advancing Coordination at All Levels
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
Egypt and the European Union agreed to advance friendly relations and maintain
joint coordination in light of the existing multiple and strong ties between
them. On Monday, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received a phone call from
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
Von der Leyen praised the president’s vision to achieve comprehensive
development across Egypt, the unremitting efforts to combat terrorism, and
Egypt's successful experience in combating illegal immigration, the spokesman
for the Egyptian presidency said. “The call discussed ways to promote bilateral
cooperation,” he added, stressing that Sisi confirmed his interest in
strengthening cooperation and developing mutual dialogue between the two sides
in light of their common interests and challenges. For her part, the European
Commission president underlined the EU’s desire to further boost cooperation
with Cairo at various levels in light of Egypt’s leverage in the region. The
call also touched on a number of issues and developments in the region. Von der
Leyen confirmed the European interest that the ongoing coordination with Sisi is
ensured on many important international and regional issues, including Egypt's
hosting of the COP 27 climate summit this year. The two sides agreed on the need
to continue consultation, exchange views and intensify cooperation to reach
political settlements for the various crises facing the region and maintaining
peace and security in the Middle East, Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean.
“This is necessary for both restoring stability in the region and securing a
better future for its people,” the spokesman added.
Washington Mulling Cutback in Funding for Sudan’s Military
Washington - Rana Abtar/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February,
2022
The US State Department confirmed to Sudan’s military leaders that Washington is
prepared to apply additional costs if violence continues.
Washington has also accused Moscow of “playing a negative role” and backing the
“coup” in Sudan. “We are now reviewing the full range of traditional and
non-traditional tools at our disposal to further reduce the funds available to
Sudan’s military regime, to isolate its military-controlled companies, and to
increase the reputational risk for any who choose to continue to engage in
‘business-as-usual’ with Sudanese security services and their economic
enterprises,” US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee
said in remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Phee added that “we’re looking very hard right now at non-traditional methods of
pressure, particularly in terms of, for example, the illicit gold mining that
takes place, and we're also looking at the many enterprises that are owned by
security forces.” She also addressed Russia's role in the crisis in Sudan,
saying Moscow is interested in exploiting insecurity for tactical and financial
gains. The official warned that Moscow plays a negative role in supporting coups
in Africa, including Sudan, which is a source of concern. Phee cautioned that
"Russia is the old Sudan," noting that leaders of Sudan's security forces have a
choice "they can be the leaders who help Sudan complete this historic transition
or they can be the leaders that fail. We want a Sudan that has a partnership
with the US and with our like-minded partners in the world and not with Russia."
Phee repeatedly reiterated that the Sudanese security forces are not monolithic,
as "some of them truly would like to affect a transition. They do not know how
to do it. They are falling back on their own playbook."She also reiterated its
call on the security forces to cease force and violence against peaceful
demonstrators. "The Sudanese people are amazing. They are committed. They are
creative. They have a vision of what they want, and they will not let that
vision go. I haven't seen that kind of strength and cohesion in other difficult
environments in which I have worked."
Despite these statements, bipartisan committee members strongly criticized the
US official. They indicated the US administration failed to use the tools at its
disposal to impose sanctions. They also stressed that Congress would set certain
conditions before releasing any aid to Sudan, specifically the $700 million that
the administration froze after October 25. Democratic Committee Chairman Bob
Menendez said that despite publicly committing to dialogue to resolve the
current crisis, the "Sudanese military continues to kill, torture, abuse and
detain protesters and civil society activists." Menendez warned that the
security forces had killed nearly 80 civilians since the coup, including a
27-year-old man, last weekend. "While a dialogue is necessary, there must also
be consequences for those responsible for human rights abuses and for those of
the highest levels who have engineered the coup," said Menendez.
He announced his support to the Biden administration to immediately suspend $700
million in aid. However, he noted that these actions are "insufficient to end
the violence and force the generals to the negotiating table."Menendez
questioned the UN initiative to resolve the crisis, saying that although the
United Nations Mission in Sudan indicated that it would facilitate the
Sudanese-led talks, it did not have any means to compel participation or hold
the participants accountable for their commitments. The committee's senior
Republican, Senator Jim Risch, sharply criticized Sudan's military leaders,
saying: "The well-documented violence against civilians before and following the
October 25 coup proves that Sudan's military is brutal, can't be trusted, and
incapable of leading Sudan's democratic transition." "We may need to engage
Generals Burhan and Hemedti to find a path toward restoring civilian control. We
must put them on notice." The lawmaker repeated calls for the US administration
to describe the events of October 25 as a "military coup" and not a military
takeover.
IGAD: No Initiative to Resolve Sudan Crisis
Khartoum - Ahmed Younis/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February,
2022
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said on Tuesday it will
not propose an initiative to resolve the political crisis in Sudan that erupted
in wake of the October 2021 military coup. IGAD’s role will be restricted to
helping Sudan get out of this crisis, and to submitting reports to the Authority
at the meeting to be held on the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis
Ababa next week. “We are convinced that IGAD’s efforts should be limited to
supporting the people of Sudan in facing the crisis. We do not want to dispel
efforts, so we will not present a parallel initiative to solve the current
crisis in the country,” IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said in a
press conference concluding his visit to Khartoum. Gebeyehu had arrived in the
Sudanese capital on Sunday for a three-day visit, to hold talks with the
military and political leaders. “We know that the Sudanese are capable to
prudently address the challenges they face. As a regional organization, of which
Sudan is a member, we have come to assist the efforts made by its people,”
Gebeyehu said. He added that IGAD insists on playing a role in Khartoum by
coordinating with the African Union and other international players.
“Accordingly, we held consultations with diplomatic representatives in Sudan,
and we agreed not to present multiple parallel initiatives,” he stressed. During
his visit, Gebeyehu held talks with head of the Sovereign Transitional Council
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as
Hemedti, as well as foreign diplomats and Sudanese political forces, during
which he was briefed on the development of the situation and efforts to address
the crisis. His visit is the first direct official action by the African body
since the Oct. 25 military coup. The army takeover halted a power sharing
arrangement between the military and civilians negotiated in 2019 after a
popular uprising that forced the removal of longtime president Omar al-Bashir
and his government.
OPCW: Chlorine Used on Syrian Opposition Area in 2016
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
Chlorine was used in an attack on an opposition-held area in Syria in 2016 in
which at least 20 people suffered breathing difficulties, the world's chemical
weapons watchdog concluded Tuesday. The incident near a field hospital outside
the town of Kafr Zeita came shortly after witnesses reported a helicopter
dropping at least one object, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons (OPCW) said. Inspectors obtained an industrial chlorine cylinder
retrieved from the site and were able to "positively link" it to the October 1,
2016 attack, helped by digital evidence and witness interviews, it said. "The
report concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe that the industrial
chlorine cylinder was used as a weapon," the OPCW said in a statement, based on
a report by its Fact-Finding Mission which probes chemical attacks in Syria.
Witnesses reported a helicopter taking off from regime-held Hama airport before
the attack, on an agricultural area where a number of opposition groups were
sheltering in caves. "Shortly afterwards, the helicopter dropped two barrels,
according to a number of witnesses, while others reported being aware of one
barrel only," the report said. "Approximately 20 individuals suffered from
suffocation and breathing difficulties."The inspectors found that "the cylinder
ruptured as a result of mechanical force and released a toxic irritant
substance", said the report. The report by the Hague-based OPCW will add to
pressure on Syrian President Bashar-al Assad's regime from Western countries to
come clean over its alleged chemical weapons use. Syria denies the use of
chemical weapons and insists it has handed over its weapons stockpiles under a
2013 agreement with the US and Russia, prompted by a suspected sarin gas attack
that killed 1,400 in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta. Both sides have been accused
of chemical weapons use in the conflict, although the majority of the alleged
incidents have been blamed on the Syrian regime. An OPCW report last week found
that mustard agent was used in a 2015 ISIS group attack in northern Syria.
US Calls for Emergency UN Security Council Meeting on
N.Korea
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
The United States has requested an emergency meeting on Thursday of the UN
Security Council on North Korea, which launched its most powerful missile since
2017 last weekend, diplomatic sources said Tuesday. The meeting is expected to
be held behind closed doors. It is up to Russia, the president of the Security
Council for the month of February, to confirm the timing, said AFP. "We really
do hope that the Council will be able to speak with one voice" with a
declaration, a diplomat speaking on the condition of anonymity said. North Korea
confirmed on Monday it had fired a Hwasong-12 "ground-to-ground intermediate-
and long-range ballistic missile," in its first test since 2017 of a weapon that
powerful. Earlier Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced the
launch as "a clear violation of Security Council resolutions." "At least what we
should insist upon is that the Council would urge DPRK to respect UN Security
Council resolutions," the anonymous diplomat added, referring to the country's
official name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "If the Council is
not even able to call for respect of its own decisions, we have a problem."
North Korea is "making steady progress on ballistic, improving the range, the
precisions and the lethality of its missiles," he said. The country has both
nuclear and ballistic missile technologies, the diplomat said. "At some stage if
you mix the two technologies, which they don't seem to have been able to manage
until now...the threat will be absolutely intolerable," he said. US envoy to
North Korea Sung Kim has discussed the latest launch with South Korean and
Japanese authorities in recent days, State Department spokesman Ned Price said
in a statement. "Special Representative Kim condemned the DPRK’s ballistic
missile launches as violations of UN Security Council resolutions and
destabilizing to the region," Price said, underscoring the US's "ironclad
commitment" to help defend allies Japan and South Korea and to pursue diplomatic
solutions with North Korea. The test on Sunday was North Korea's seventh in
January -- the most ever carried out by the country in a calendar month, raising
fears Pyongyang could renew nuclear and intercontinental missile tests. The test
broke a 2018 moratorium by Pyongyang. In 2017, the UN Security Council on three
occasions decided unanimously to impose new heavy economic sanctions on
Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile tests. The sanctions, the Council's latest
show of unity over North Korea, target the country's oil imports as well as its
coal, iron, textile or fishing exports.
Erdogan Seeks Payoff from Russia-US Clash on Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 February, 2022
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will try to leverage his strategic
position in NATO and his rapport with Russia's Vladimir Putin when he visits
Kyiv on Thursday in a bid to head off war in Ukraine. The veteran Turkish leader
hopes mediation between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky can
avert a Russian offensive that Washington warns could start by mid-February. His
high-profile efforts -- met with caution in Moscow -- carry huge stakes and
potentially rich rewards, AFP reported. Analysts believe a serious conflict in
Ukraine could upend Turkey's economy and imperil Erdogan's chances of extending
his rule into a third decade in elections due by mid-2023. It could also force
Ankara to pick sides between Putin -- a leader who holds several economic and
military trump cards over Turkey -- and traditional Western allies that have
grown impatient with Erdogan's rule.
Kyiv's acquisition of battle-tested Turkish drones is a particular worry for
Russian-backed separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine and for the Kremlin. But
analysts think success in averting a Russian invasion could highlight Turkey's
importance to the Western defense alliance and warm Erdogan's chilly relations
with US President Joe Biden. "This is an opportunity for Turkey to elevate its
status and come out of the doghouse, metaphorically speaking, in NATO," Asli
Aydintasbas of the European Council on Foreign Relations told AFP. "Ankara will
also use this as an opportunity to improve ties with Washington," she added. "Erdogan
has developed this unique personal relationship with Putin that is
simultaneously competitive and consensual -- allowing them to support different
sides in Libya, the Caucasus and Syria."
'Keeps his word'
Erdogan's evolving relationship with Putin has been one of the defining features
of diplomacy across southeastern Europe and the Middle East. Their relations
imploded after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in
2015. They improved markedly after Putin became the first head of state to call
Erdogan on the night he survived a Turkish coup attempt in 2016. Most Western
leaders waited days before publicly supporting Erdogan -- indecision that
analysts say pushed Turkey closer to Russia in subsequent years. This bond has
withstood repeated tests since. Their support for opposing sides in Syria and
Libya did not keep Turkey in 2019 from acquiring a Russian missile defense
system at the heart of current tensions with Washington. Putin also appeared to
take in stride Turkey's game-changing supply of drones to Azerbaijan during its
2020 war with Moscow-backed ethnic Armenians in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh. "This
is a person who keeps his word -- a real man," Putin said of Erdogan weeks after
the Karabakh conflict wound down. Istanbul Medipol University scholar
Abdurrahman Babacan said Erdogan and Putin share what "most leaders do not have
in their bilateral relations: timely intervention and playing their cards face
up".
'Counter the Bayraktars'
Ukraine represents one of the leaders' points of friction. Erdogan vocally
opposed Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea because of the historical presence of
ethnically-Turkic Tatars on the peninsula. He has backed Kyiv's NATO ambitions
and approved Ukraine's acquisition of Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 combat drones.
Ukraine's release of grainy footage of a TB2 destroying a separatist military
target prompted Putin to raise the issue during a December 2021 call with
Erdogan. Eastern separatist leader Denis Pushilin cited the drones as the main
reason Russia should start openly arming Ukraine's rebel fighters. "First and
foremost, we need to counter the Bayraktars," Pushilin said. Military analysts
play down the drones' importance in case of all-out war. "Yes, in an asymmetric
fight that pits the Ukrainian army against the forces in the Donbass, a few TB2s
can tilt the balance of forces," the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Middle
East Program director Aaron Stein told AFP.
"However, in the event Russia invades, the TB2 isn't going to matter."
'All about Erdogan' -
Most analysts doubt Erdogan would openly confront Putin on Ukraine. "If Turkey
does escalate, Russia can respond in kind -- pressure (against Turkish soldiers
and proxies) in Syria, economic sanctions," said Oxford University scholar
Dimitar Bechev. "Given its weakness, the Turkish economy can ill afford a
boycott by tourists from Russia," veteran Turkey watcher Anthony Skinner added.
Washington Institute fellow Soner Cagaptay said Erdogan's immediate worry was to
keep the economy strong enough to give his sagging approval numbers a chance to
recover before the next election.
"Turkey is all about Erdogan right now, and Erdogan is all about winning the
election in 2023," Cagaptay said. Analysts said this made Erdogan's mediation
efforts all the more important. "Russian (military) actions will exacerbate
Turkish economic weakness, such as increasing the cost of oil," said Stein.
"This will not be pleasant."
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
February 02-03/2022
Akash Bashir, who died protecting Catholic worshippers in Pakistan, named a
Servant of God
Katie Yoder/CNA/Lahore, Pakistan/February 02/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106019/akash-bashir-who-died-protecting-catholic-worshippers-in-pakistan-named-a-servant-of-god-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%b7%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8/
When a suicide bomber attempted to enter a Catholic church in Pakistan in 2015,
a 20-year-old volunteer security guard blocked him.
“I will die but I will not let you go in,” he reportedly told the terrorist
armed with explosives. The attacker then set off a bomb, immediately killing
himself and the man now recognized as a candidate for canonization: Akash Bashir.
Because of his actions, the church — with more than 1,000 Catholics inside — was
saved from a direct blast.
Bashir died on March 15, 2015, when suicide bombers attacked St. John’s Catholic
Church and Christ Church of the Church of Pakistan. Located in Lahore, the
churches stand in one of the country’s largest Christian neighborhoods.
Terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar (TTP-JA) later claimed
the attacks that killed 17 people and injured more than 70, Vatican News
reported.
Those numbers might have been greater if Bashir had not guarded St. John’s
Catholic Church.
Nearly seven years later, on Jan. 31, Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore
announced that the Vatican accepted Akash Bashir as a Servant of God, the title
given to a candidate for the sainthood while his or her life and work is closely
examined.
The archbishop made the announcement about Bashir, an alumnus of the local Don
Bosco Technical Institute, on the feast of St. John Bosco, UCA News reported.
Father Francis Gulzar, vicar general of Lahore archdiocese, responded by calling
it a “great day for the Catholic Church in Pakistan,” the UCA News report read.
“He offered his life as a sacrifice to save the lives of the Christian community
at St. John's Catholic Church,” the vicar general said. “He is the first
Pakistani Christian who has been raised to the rank of the Holy People of God.”
Akash Bashir's father, Bashir Emmanuel, said he did not initially know the news
about his son.
“One of my sons shared that there is a special Mass at the church,” he said, UCA
News reported. “This is a very big honor for us. Akash symbolizes the strength
of the Christian faith in our country. I pray for the clearance of all steps to
sainthood.”
Citing Salesian news agency ANS, Vatican News reported that the Congregation for
the Causes of Saints authorized the Lahore archdiocese to open the cause of the
martyrdom of Akash Bashir last November.
Bashir’s mother, Naz Bano, previously told Aid to the Church in Need that her
son first joined the volunteer security guards at their church in November 2014.
“All denominations were recruiting youth following the 2013 suicide bomb attack
at All Saints Church in Peshawar City,” she said. “Akash used to discuss it with
his friends and kept insisting for three months that he wanted to guard the
church. He was ready to sacrifice his life if God gave him a chance to protect
others.”
She remembered hearing explosions the day that he died.
“The streets were filled with people,” she recalled. “Hearing the second blast,
I rushed with my youngest son towards the Catholic church.” Eventually, she
found whom she was looking for: her son.
“I was searching for Akash among the boys standing near the church gate,” she
said. “But he was lying down in the dirt. His right arm was almost ripped off. I
could not believe my eyes.”
Today, she said, another one of her sons, Arsalan, now guards the church “to
take the place of his brother.”
“We did not stop him,” she said. “We cannot prevent our sons from serving the
Church. It is their choice.”
She described her son, Akash, as a “part of my heart.”
“But our happiness is greater than our grief,” she told ACN. “He was a simple
boy who died in the path of the Lord and saved the priest and worshippers.
People love him. Akash is already our saint.”
*Katie Yoder is a correspondent in CNA's Washington, D.C. bureau. She covers
pro-life issues, the U.S. Catholic bishops, public policy, and Congress. She
previously worked for Townhall.com, National Review, and the Media Research
Center.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250275/akash-bashir-who-died-protecting-catholic-worshippers-in-pakistan-named-a-servant-of-god?fbclid=IwAR3eIkZYTXJJ_bSfij4Zdpd550mbLFXj6BzBI2iI-7JEvcs5ngxoR0UB6Xg
Amnesty International Wants to End the Jewish State
Richard Kemp/Gatestone Institute/February 02/2022
Unfortunately for the inveterate peace-processors and their followers, the Arab
world has moved on from their own opposition to Israel. They see the country for
what it is: a source of stability and prosperity in the region. They understand
the dangers of continuing Palestinian intransigence and animosity and have
denied them a veto on progress — a veto that Amnesty and its fellow Israel
rejectionists want to see reinstated.
This report will also provoke increased violence, abuse and boycotts against
Jews in Israel and Jews who support Israel in the diaspora, in an era where
antisemitic attacks are already at a high point and on the rise. That may not be
Amnesty's aim in producing this twisted document, but they cannot be so blind as
to fail to see its bloody consequences, which have played out over decades
following similar distorted reports, debates, resolutions and media
fabrications.
The definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance (IHRA) includes: "Denying the Jewish people their right to
self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is
a racist endeavor". The British government has signed up to the IHRA definition.
Amnesty is based in the UK and the UK police should now investigate it for
spreading these grievous antisemitic lies.
The latest grotesque exhibition of anti-Israel vitriol among NGOs is this week's
publication of a report by Amnesty International that recycles tired, repeatedly
disproven yet deliberately provocative antisemitic tropes and accusations of
racism. This from an organization that was itself last year branded as
"systemically racist". Pictured: Agnes Callamard (left), Secretary General of
Amnesty International, at a press conference in Jerusalem, Israel, on February
1, 2022.
The latest grotesque exhibition of anti-Israel vitriol among NGOs is this week's
publication of a report by Amnesty International that recycles tired, repeatedly
disproven yet deliberately provocative antisemitic tropes and accusations of
racism. This from an organization that was itself last year branded as
"systemically racist".
The title of the report, "Israel's apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel
system of domination and crime against humanity", is not only a blatant and
unsubstantiated lie but also an insult to black South Africans who suffered so
horrifically under a genuinely apartheid regime. Few will read this 200+ page
diatribe of falsehoods, distortions and half-truths, but many will see and
absorb its title, which has already been plastered greedily across left-leaning
newspapers and disseminated to millions in social media. The BBC, for example,
trumpeted "Israel's policies against Palestinians amount to apartheid" in an
online article, giving full weight to Amnesty's claims, quoting several people
who support them, but allowing only the briefest opposing view from the Israeli
government at the end.
What is provoking NGOs such as Amnesty and Human Rights Watch, who published a
similar discredited report last year, to ever-greater excesses of anti-Israel
propaganda? Why has the United Nations General Assembly just approved an
unprecedented permanent commission of inquiry into Israel by the UN Human Rights
Council? The problem for these anti-Israel lobbies is that things are not going
their way. Tactically, their over-arching intent to drag Israelis into the dock
at The Hague seems to be faltering, with a seemingly less enthusiastic Chief
Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court. Strategically, far from the
desired retrenchment and eventual termination of the Jewish state, it is getting
stronger and stronger with increasing global diplomatic and economic outreach;
and there has been an abject failure by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
movement to make any impact on the Israeli economy despite years of poisonous
efforts.
Above all, the historic Abraham Accords have been a red rag to a bull to all
these bodies — waved in their faces again last week by Hatikva playing as
Israel's president was received at the Royal Palace in Abu Dhabi by Sheikh
Mohammed bin Zayed. This was not in the script, which demanded continued
unrequited concessions to the Palestinians by Israel, leading to the imposition
of an Islamic state on Israeli territory, before any wider peace could be
achieved with the Arab world. Unfortunately for the inveterate peace-processors
and their followers, the Arab world has moved on from their own opposition to
Israel. They see the country for what it is: a source of stability and
prosperity in the region. They understand the dangers of continuing Palestinian
intransigence and animosity and have denied them a veto on progress — a veto
that Amnesty and its fellow Israel-rejectionists want to see reinstated.
The previous draft of the report, obtained by NGO Monitor and hastily amended,
inadvertently revealed the true motive behind Amnesty's anti-Israel campaign. It
included the words: "The system of apartheid originated with the creation of
Israel in 1948". As the Anti Defamation League puts it, the report's allegations
that "Israel's crimes go back to the sin of its creation in 1948, serve to
present the Jewish and democratic state as singularly illegitimate at its
foundational roots."
According to NGO Monitor:, the purpose of the report is "to characterize the
right of Jews to sovereign equality in their historic homeland as a violation of
the [international] legal order."
Let us be in no doubt, this report is not a criticism of the State of Israel. It
is a chillingly clear manifesto pronouncing Israel an illegal entity with no
right to exist. Page after page, it shows a deeply-troubling obsession with
righting the supposed wrong of 1948. It calls for Israel to be flooded with
generation after generation of descendants of Arabs who left in 1948, and who
expected to return after five invading armies had wiped Israel off the map. Such
an influx of so-called refugees would be unprecedented anywhere in the world. It
would mean the termination of the State of Israel, a condition of perpetual
conflict between Arabs and Jews under a single Palestinian state, and the end of
the Jewish people's right to self-determination.
Presenting Israel as a racist endeavour, as other left-wing NGOs and
international institutions also seek to do, brings us full-circle. The strident
and vicious opposition to Jews in the land, opposition that in modern times
dates back to the 1920s, was based on pure racism. It was the Islamic doctrine
that no other peoples could be sovereign in land that had ever been dominated by
Muslims. Therefore Jews, indigenous to the territory, could never be allowed
their own state and had to be fought to subjugation or death. As I explained in
the article, "Exposing the Lie of Israel Apartheid", the religious-racist nature
of the conflict was transformed by the Soviet Union into an
imperialist-nationalist struggle, to gain greater acceptance and support in the
democratic world. And now we are back to a trumped-up inversion of the original
racist conflict.
As the Soviets understood, accusations of racism rightly incur abhorrence among
civilised people. Hence the attraction of Amnesty and their fellow travellers to
portraying Israel as an apartheid state. As international lawyer Eugene
Kontorovich explained this week, Israel = Apartheid is no more than a slightly
updated spin on the Zionism = Racism mantra driven by the Soviet Union and
immorally adopted by the UN in 1975 before being repealed.
Again like the Soviets, Amnesty's prime target is not the Arab world, it is the
West. Like the propaganda of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, the intention
is to provoke outrage across the West, to isolate and vilify Israel among world
governments, international bodies, universities and businesses.
This report will also provoke increased violence, abuse and boycotts against
Jews in Israel and Jews who support Israel in the diaspora, in an era where
antisemitic attacks are already at a high point and on the rise. That may not be
Amnesty's aim in producing this twisted document, but they cannot be so blind as
to fail to see its bloody consequences, which have played out over decades
following similar distorted reports, debates, resolutions and media
fabrications.
The definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance (IHRA) includes: "Denying the Jewish people their right to
self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is
a racist endeavor". The British government has signed up to the IHRA definition.
Amnesty is based in the UK and the UK police should now investigate it for
spreading these grievous antisemitic lies.
*Colonel Richard Kemp is a former British Army Commander. He was also head of
the international terrorism team in the U.K. Cabinet Office and is now a writer
and speaker on international and military affairs. He is a Jack Roth Charitable
Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
On Malicious and Benign Interventions
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/February, 02/2022
There are instances of benign interventions one country could make in another.
Here are some examples of cases where that is the case:
- The regime of state (A) is committing acts of genocidal against its people, so
state (B) intervenes to stop it (Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, al-Assad’s Syria,
Gaddafi’s Libya...).
- An armed ethnic or religious group in country (A) commits acts of genocide
against a weaker group (Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda and Burundi, Serbs and
Muslims in Bosnia, the Taliban in Afghanistan, ISIS and the Yazidis in Iraq...).
- The regime of state (A) starves its own people (North Korea...).
- The political system of state (A) poses a threat to its neighbors, of invading
and occupying them (Hitler in Czechoslovakia and the rest of Europe, Saddam
Hussein in Kuwait...).
- A military or tribal regime seizes power in state (A) and is rejected by the
majority of the population (countless examples).
Some of these cases are covered by the principle of “humanitarian intervention,”
but, naturally, taking action in such cases is not unanimously supported. Such
interventions have only been made in a few of the cases that warranted it.
Nevertheless, these interventions remain defensible and justified when they do
happen.On the other hand, another form of intervention or use of the threat of
intervention is absolutely indefensible. Interventions of this kind are made for
the following reason: The people of state (A), the majority, often through their
parliament, take a decision on their self-determination, their way of life or
foreign policy, but this decision is not appreciated by country (B), which
considers it a threat.
Russia’s Ukraine policy, which is reinforced by the deployment of 100,000
soldiers on the border, is a glaring example. The threats China has been posing
to Taiwan, with the former rejecting the latter’s independence from it, is
another. In the Arab Levant, we have another well-known example, when Assad’s
Syria deprived Lebanon of an independent foreign policy in the name of a “single
course and destiny.” When Lebanon wanted to wrest this right, it was met with
assassinations of its politicians, journalists and writers.
During the Cold War, this type of intervention, at times direct and at others
through intermediaries and proxies, was launched by the two superpowers often:
the Soviet Union, with its army and the Warsaw Pact forces, crushed Hungary in
1956 and former Czechoslovakia in 1968; and it stood ready to crush Poland in
1981. The United States did not involve its army in crushing other countries. It
did, however, support military coups against elected democratic regimes. The
most prominent of these examples were the 1953 coup in Iran against the
government of Mohammad Mosaddegh, the 1954 coup in Guatemala against the
government of Jacobo Arbenz, and the 1973 coup in Chile against the government
of Salvador Allende.
The argument - explicit or implied - for both superpowers’ interventions
addressed security: the regime we are crushing strengthens our rival at our
expense. As for the rival, it is the Western camp in Moscow’s view and the
Soviet camp in Washington’s view.
After the Cold War and the democratic agenda’s rise globally, Washington stopped
intervening against democratic regimes. Its first war in Iraq (which was not
democratic) led to Kuwait’s liberation from Iraqi occupation. For its second
war, the US was forced to justify it with the lie of the weapon of mass
destruction. Today, this kind of malicious intervention is linked to particular
regimes that do not need any lies to justify their actions. They declare,
without apprehension nor reluctance: I am defending my security against the will
and freedom of others. These regimes share particular characteristics, the most
prominent of which are perhaps:
- The regime is authoritarian, even if it adopts superficially democratic
facades in some cases, as Putin’s Russia does.
- It is a mostly nationalist and populist regime with a leader who is worshiped
or semi-worshiped at its head.
- It puts raw security arguments above others. No consideration is paid to
anything else, including the will of the population of the country where the
intervention is to take place. And while many of those countries were communist
in the past, that is, they are non-ideological today, Iran remains among the
interventionist countries most reliant on ideological pretexts, though these
pretexts do not succeed in concealing its expansionist tendencies.
- Existential questions surround the future of the interventionist regime and
its viability. Even China, the only one of the interventionist countries that is
on the rise, wealthy, and cohesive, might not be safe from such questions in the
long run. The phenomenon of malicious intervention has become one of the
phenomena haunting our world today. In all likelihood, the weakness of the
international community’s will as represented by democratic regimes first, and
second, the fact that benign interventions have faltered, with countries
becoming reluctant to launch them, are the reasons why malicious interventions
have become so widespread and glaring.
Ukraine Crisis Boosts Macron's Call for a European Army
James Stavridis/Asharq Al-Awsat/February, 02/2022
The crisis in Ukraine continues to ramp up, with the US, the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization and Russia engaged in a disjointed diplomatic dance,
exchanging position papers on European security structure.
Meanwhile, Russia’s 8th Guards Army – an historic unit with World War II ties to
Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin recommissioned several years ago —
occupies the spearhead position for a possible invasion. Until now, most of the
action has centered around the US and Russia, which is just what Putin intends —
he seeks to emphasize the co-equal status of Washington and Moscow. Yet the
Europeans, led by President Emmanuel Macron’s France, are pushing their way into
the negotiations. What is the Europeans’ agenda, and how will it play out in
this crisis and beyond?
Henry Kissinger famously said that the problem with trying to “call Europe” when
the US needs help from its allies is that there is no central authority to pick
up the phone. Despite its large population and economic power, the continent is
hobbled (in a security sense) with a diversity of cultures, history, languages
and foreign-policy objectives.
NATO has 28 European nations, and the European Union has 27 members — each of
them pedaling the collective bicycle with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
Predictably, this is beginning to show in the Ukraine crisis.
On Friday, Macron and Putin talked on the phone, and the signs of some
divergence between US and Europe were evident, with French officials insisting
that Putin showed a willingness to be reasonable. Macron has frequently spoken
of the need for independent European foreign policy, and historically France has
had better relations with Russia than many other NATO nations, stretching back
to the 17th century. The French seem to believe the US is overreacting to
Putin’s forces camping out on the Ukrainian border, and my friends in the French
military say we are placing too much emphasis on the images of Russian tanks,
troops and trucks. I don’t agree, nor does the US intelligence community. (To
their credit, and in contrast to the Germans, the French have offered to move
some troops into Romania if things escalate.)
In addition to the US-Russia and NATO-Russia diplomatic forums, there is a
purely European path. France and Germany are charter members of the Normandy
Format talks, alongside Russia and Ukraine — the only relatively small grouping
where the latter two nations are engaged directly. In the past, the Normandy
group has had some success in reducing the level of combat between pro-Russian
insurgents and Ukrainian government forces in the Donbas region of southeastern
Ukraine.
In the conversation with Putin, Macron reportedly put on the table some new
ideas to de-escalate, which may be fleshed out in future Normandy format talks,
assuming no war breaks out in the coming days.
The approach is consistent with another aspect of traditional French foreign and
security policy, which is to stake out independent positions that de-emphasize
NATO. In 1966, President Charles de Gaulle temporarily pulled France out of the
alliance’s military structure.
Macron has often mused about the need for a standing European army, which is
certainly within the means of the wealthy European nations. When I was supreme
allied commander at NATO, I would often see our French allies — who were strong
operational contributors to every alliance mission — work hard to bring other EU
military forces into counterpiracy missions and hotspots such as the Balkans and
Libya.
To create a large standing European army, presumably under the direction of the
EU, would require buy-in from not only France but also Germany, Italy, Poland
and other major European militaries. While US officials often complain
(appropriately) about the failure of European NATO allies to meet the stated
goal of spending 2% of their GDP on their militaries, the collective European
defense budget (including the UK) is around $300 billion — more than triple that
of Russia. A serious standing military under EU direction is well within their
financial scope, and Putin’s increasing adventurism may push them in that
direction. Certainly, that is a subtext in Macron’s outreach to the Russians —
demonstrating the independence of the European voice in the crisis and making a
not-so-subtle point about the need for a European military.
Germany is the other key element for any such initiative, and over the past few
days, the signals from the new government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz have had a
slightly softer approach to Russia than the rest of NATO. This is natural, given
the nations’ significant trade ties — and above all the German reliance on
Russian natural gas. As the crisis continues, Washington may increasingly
struggle to maintain a strong alignment between the US-UK hard line and the
somewhat more conciliatory approach of France and Germany. The new chancellor is
expected in Washington for consultations with President Joe Biden in early
February.Putin, of course, would be happy to see his threats around the
periphery of Ukraine create a serious division between the US and the EU — a
kind of geopolitical dividend to his main objective of keeping Ukraine from
moving closer to the West. His other great hope is to marginalize NATO by
fostering disagreements among the Europeans at the table in Brussels. Thus far,
the US has managed to keep everyone more or less in line. The hope is that
Macron’s initiative won’t give Putin new opportunities to capitalize on any
differences.
If Putin wins, it’s not only Ukraine that loses
Clifford D. May/FDD/February, 02/2022
Unless your name is Vladimir Putin, you don’t know whether Russian troops are
going to invade Ukraine. And even if your name is Vladimir Putin, you may be
uncertain. It’s an autocrat’s prerogative to change his mind.
The Old Russia Hands in think tanks and universities are providing contradictory
analyses. That must confuse policymakers.
I first visited Russia more than a half-century ago. A few years later I went to
college with the current Russian president. Seriously: I was an exchange student
at Leningrad State University (Rah! Rah!) while he was studying there. But no,
we didn’t hang out and drink brewskis.
Bill Maher blasts the Democrats
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Peeved Putin complains West ‘ignored’ demands as Blinken, Lavrov confer
What strikes me as the most common misunderstanding right now: claims that Mr.
Putin is only acting defensively, that he fears NATO. NATO has never been
aggressive. By far the most powerful military in NATO is America’s, but it’s
obvious that Washington wants to avoid armed conflict at all costs, as most
recently demonstrated by the capitulation in Afghanistan. Mr. Putin does oppose
Ukraine joining NATO, but that was already an impossibility for the foreseeable
future. Decisions on NATO enlargement must be by “unanimous agreement.” Can you
imagine Germany agreeing to admit Ukraine?
So, why not issue an official statement declaring that Ukraine will be
permanently banned from the club as Mr. Putin has demanded? First, because that
would whet his appetite for additional concessions. Second, because, we believe
(don’t we?) that citizens of democracies should be free to make their own
decisions, including whether to join mutual defense pacts if they fear a
neighbor. Who might that neighbor be? Here’s what I think is really going on:
Mr. Putin views himself as Russia’s modern emperor. His mission: To restore
Russia’s ancient empire — to put it back together again after its great fall in
the Cold War. In 2005, he called the breakup of the Soviet Union the “greatest
geopolitical catastrophe of the century.”
The proper title for a Russian emperor: “czar of all the Russias.” That implies
not just today’s Russia which stretches across 11 times zones, but also Belarus
(or White Russia) and Ukraine (sometimes known as Little Russia).
Mr. Putin insists that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people — a single
whole,” and that the Ukrainian nation is an artificial creation.
Iran first
Farouk Yousef/The Arab Weekly/February,02/2022
The missiles of the so-called Islamic Resistance struck Baghdad airport and hit
two civilian planes the other day. It was an out-of-date message to US forces
which had already left their bases more than a month before. This meant if one
read the message correctly, that the so-called Resistance woke up one day and
did not find its enemy but, since its missiles were ready to launch, it fired
them anyway without taking into account the fact that the target was now Iraqi
and civilian.This was not an isolated incident. Rather, it was the perfect
embodiment of the strategy of the like-minded so-called Islamic Resistance
groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza, where Hamas recently commemorated the
anniversary of the killing of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis, denouncing Saudi Arabia
and the Gulf states.
This is a clear indication that the Iranian game plan pursued under the banner
of resistance is that of terrorist groups carrying out Tehran's aggressive and
expansionist project in the region. We are not talking anymore about the
targeting of the two Satans. This is about Khomeini’s old saying, “The road to
Jerusalem goes through Karbala.”
When Hezbollah turned its guns towards the chests of the Lebanese instead of
pointing them at Israel, it did so to satisfy Iranian demands. In so doing, it
subjected the Lebanese to an indirect form of occupation which will not easily
go away. Within this mindset, the Lebanese cannot ask the international
community to help them rid themselves of that occupation. They cannot afford to
take up the friends of Lebanon of their offers of help until Hezbollah is
disarmed.
The same applies to Iraq, where getting rid of the quota system, on which the
Resistance militias thrive, looks impossible. Through that system, Iran has in
the past few years promoted its interests in Iraq and anchored its hegemony
through a network of military bases managed by the militias loyal to the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards.
Any change will be nominal. This is what Lebanon has proposed to the Arab world
through the Mikati government, which has only succeeded in obtaining the
voluntary resignation of Information Minister George Kordahi. And when it enters
negotiations with a number of Arab countries, it cannot even engage
confidence-building measures. The weapons of the Resistance are hence
non-negotiable. The Lebanese prime minister has no control over reality and
cannot remove any of the obstacles thrown on his path.
And if Nouri al-Maliki, who once claimed to be the leader of the Resistance in
Iraq, exits the scene, this will not lead to the reversal of the situation. This
is so because the existence of the Popular Mobilisation Force is enshrined in
law. Unless that law is abolished, which would be an extraordinarily heroic act,
the Hashed al-Shaabi (PMF) will still be there, preventing the emergence of a
sovereign state.
The Iraqi government does not even have the means to improve public services as
its budgets have been sucked dry by the corrupt practices of the Shia parties
and the Sunnis and Kurds surrounding them. The Resistance will continue its
nationwide looting as long as it wields its weapons.
This is a situation which the people cannot accept but which is likely to
continue until a popular explosion occurs. This is what Mikati in Lebanon and
Sadr in Iraq are working to postpone. There is an inevitable clash looming
between the people and the system in place. Whether in Iraq or Lebanon, nothing
will change as long as Iran's proxy militias impose their diktat.
"Iran first" is the real motto. It has never been a question of Palestine in
Gaza, nor was it that of Yemen in Sana'a. The Yemeni militias that bombed Abu
Dhabi Airport did not think about the interests of Yemen, just as the organisers
of the funeral demonstrations in Gaza did not think about Palestine.
For the so-called Islamic Resistance, everything will have to wait until Iran
achieves its destructive goals in the Arab world.
*Farouk Yousef is an Iraqi writer. His article was translated and adapted from
the Arabic. It was initially published by the London-based Al Arab newspaper.
Biden has all the evidence needed to redesignate Houthis
Maria Maalouf/Arab News/February 02/2022
The Biden administration must reverse its policy and redesignate the Houthis as
a terrorist organization. President Joe Biden has to listen carefully to what
the major think tanks in Washington are saying, following careful studies, about
the crimes of the Yemeni group. It is the duty of such researchers to locate the
intellectual sources that indicate the impossibility of the Houthis not being
classified as a terrorist outfit.
Many research institutes in Washington have passed important judgments about the
Houthi menace. Collectively, they constitute a strategic opportunity for the US
government to change the thinking that drove the Biden administration to last
year remove the group’s name from the list of designated Foreign Terrorist
Organizations, apparently because there is a need for the Houthis to distribute
humanitarian assistance. How can humanitarian aid continue while the Houthis are
stealing it?
One example of the critical views authored by distinguished scholars on the
horrors of the Houthis is the briefing paper that was published by the Center
for Strategic and International Studies last month. It stated: “The Houthis are
orchestrating an increasingly intense irregular warfare campaign against Saudi
Arabia and other countries in the Gulf using sophisticated cruise and ballistic
missiles, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones), and other
stand-off weapons.”
Ultimately, the US president and his team have to get rid of their yearning to
sign a nuclear deal with Iran, as this is a sign of America’s weakness.
These actions are occurring in the context of escalating violence in Yemen. The
number of Houthi attacks per month against Saudi Arabia and other targets
doubled in the first nine months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.
Biden should not delegate condemning Iran and the Houthis, who are now also
attacking the UAE, to his subordinates. He himself has to single them out as
culpable for their crimes. Meanwhile, the Emirati government should start
launching airstrikes from its Al-Dhafra airbase to destroy the missile launchers
operated by the Houthis. The US president should discuss with the Pentagon how
to endorse such defensive and necessary strategic moves by the UAE.
Ultimately, Biden and his team have to get rid of their yearning to sign a
nuclear deal with Iran, as this is a sign of America’s weakness. Any new Iran
deal would also beset the cooperation the US has spent decades cultivating with
the UAE and Saudi Arabia. And it would encourage the Houthis to launch more
missile attacks against these two important Arab countries.
In fact, the war in Yemen is going on because of the Houthis’ crimes and Iran’s
endorsement of their policies. If Biden were to read the studies available to
him, he would reverse his incorrect conviction that the Houthis and Iran are
interested in a peaceful settlement to the conflict.
Finally, Biden should outline his Yemen policies by delivering a speech quoting
various think tanks’ crucial conclusions on its war.
There is no more evidence required to show that the Houthis are a threat to
regional peace, global stability and the national security of the US. Can Biden
take swift action against the terrorist group?
• Maria Maalouf is a Lebanese journalist, broadcaster, publisher, and writer.
Twitter: @bilarakib