English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For January 03/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
Simeon; this righteous Man took Jesus in his arms and
said: ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your
word; for my eyes have seen your salvation
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
02/25-35/:”Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was
righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy
Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he
would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit,
Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to
do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and
praised God, saying, ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have
prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.’And the child’s father and mother were
amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to
his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many
in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of
many will be revealed and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on January 02-03/2022
Video-Text: Resolutions For the new year of 2022/Elias Bejjani/January
01/2022
Rahi considers that a genuine path to international disarmament will bring great
benefits to the peoples
Lebanon’s Rai Says Local Dialogue 'Unmet', Country Losing Its Identity
Bassil accuses House Speaker of forcibly depriving President of the Republic of
his powers
Lebanese Christian leader says alliance with Hezbollah imperiled
Bassil Warns Hizbullah, Lashes Out at Berri
Army: Four prisoners arrested after escaping from Ablah Barracks Prison in the
Bekaa
Hamieh: A year in which some politicians are liberated from propositions that
render us a captive nation
"If cases continue to surge, Lebanon may go into lockdown," says Abiad
Abiad Says Lockdown Decision Being 'Carefully Studied'
4 Syrians Die after Burning Coal for Heat in South Lebanon
Lokman Slim: Hezbollah Controls Lebanon’s Civil and Political Parties/Firas
Hamieh/Rassef 22 net/Sunday 07 February 20211
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
January 02-03/2022
Pope Francis says violence against women insults God in New Year’s speech
Revolutionary Guards Say 9 Killed in Shootout in Iran's Southeast
Iraq: Pro-Iranian Factions Question US Withdrawal, Threaten America
Russian jets bomb rebel-held Idlib in Syria, witnesses say
Concern over 'Critical' Palestinian Prisoner on Hunger Strike
357 Palestinians Were Killed in 2021, Including 90-Year-Old Man
Egypt Pushes for Calm after Gaza-Israel Flare-Up
Sudan’s PM announces resignation amid political deadlock
Sudan security forces fire tear gas at large anti-coup rally
Biden told Ukraine leader US will ‘respond decisively’ if Russia invades: White
house
France to Ease Covid Rules as England Says Curbs are 'Last Resort'
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC
English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
January 02-03/2022
Is Climate Change a Threat to Peace and Security?/Najib Saab/Asharq Al
Awsat/January 02/2022
‘Deals with the devil’ are short-sighted folly/Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/January
02/2022
Six priorities for diplomatic breakthroughs in 2022/Baria Alamuddin/Arab
News/January 02/2022
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on January 02-03/2022
Video-Text: Resolutions For the new year of 2022
Elias Bejjani/January 01/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/81879/elias-bejjani-resolutions-for-the-new-year-of-2020/
(First published on 01 January/2021)
How healthy and fruitful would it be if each and every one of us is fully ready
to welcome the new year of 2022 with a clear conscience and a joyful
reconciliation with himself/herself, as well and with all others, especially
those who are the beloved ones, e.g, parents, family members, friends, etc.
How self gratifying would be for any faithful and wise person to enter the new
year of 2022 and he/she is completely free from all past heavy and worrying
loads of hostility, hatred, enmities, grudges, strives and jealousy.
And because our life is very short on this mortal-perishable earthly world.
And due to the fact that, Our Heavenly Father, Almighty God may at any moment
take back His Gift of life from any one of us.
Because of all these solid facts and realities, we are ought to leave behind all
the 2021 hardships, pains and disappointments with no regrets at all.
We are ought to happily welcome and enter the 2022 new year with a totally empty
page of our lives….ready for a new start.
Hopefully, every wise, loving, caring and faithful person would feel better in
striving to begin this new year of 2022 with love, forgiveness, faith, hope,
extended hands, open heart, and self-confidence.
I wish every one a Happy, Happy new Year that hopefully will carry with it all
that is love, forgiveness, faith, hope, extended hands, open heartd, and
self-confidence.
Rahi considers that a genuine path to international
disarmament will bring great benefits to the peoples
NNA/Sunday, 02 January, 2022
Maronite Patriarch, Cardincal Beshara Boutros al-Rahi, considered during his
Sunday Mass sermon that "every honest dialogue requires trust between the
interlocutors, and dialogue means that we listen, discuss and agree with each
other, and walk together, and thus we cultivate the land of conflict and sow
seeds of peace in it."Rahi considered that "the pursuit of a genuine path of
international disarmament can only bring great benefits to the development of
peoples and states, and liberate financial resources to be used in a more
convenient way for the health and welfare of the earth and others."
“I appeal to the rulers and all those with political and social responsibilities
to walk together on the three paths, i.e. intergenerational dialogue, education
and work with courage and creativity,” he said.
Lebanon’s Rai Says Local Dialogue 'Unmet', Country
Losing Its Identity
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 2 January, 2022
Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al-Rai said the dialogue between Lebanon’s
political parties to solve the country’s crisis remained “unfulfilled”, adding
that the country has a problem with its lost identity. “Lebanon is sick because
of its lost identity which must be restored,” said Rahi in remarks he made
during his New Year sermon on Sunday. The Patriarch also criticized the
Hezbollah party without naming it. He referred to “politicians and partisans who
brought the wars of others to Lebanon, and went to the wars of others in their
own lands, which led to its collapse and isolation from the Arab countries and
the international community." Rai said Lebanon must “restore its identity” which
he said the country has lost as a result of the interference of some parties in
the wars of others. “It is necessary for Lebanon to restore the robustness it
lost, … it is a place of convergence and dialogue, and an element of stability
in the region,” he said. On the calls of President Michel Aoun on Lebanon’s
political parties to sit down for “national dialogue”, the Patriarch reacted
without directly referring to Aoun saying that local dialogue has so far
remained “unfulfilled.” He called for providing the appropriate atmosphere to
launch a national dialogue and stage the parliamentary elections under the
supervision of international observers. “If intentions are sincere, the coming
period shall be sufficient to revive government work, end negotiations with
international financial institutions, control borders, restore relations with
the Gulf states, primarily the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and rectify Lebanon’s
position, moving from bias to neutrality, and from the policy of axes to a
balanced policy,” concluded Rai.
Bassil accuses House Speaker of forcibly depriving
President of the Republic of his powers
NNA/Sunday, 02 January, 2022
Free Patriotic Movement Leader, MP Gebran Bassil, held a televised press
conference on Sunday, saying that “the false wing of the revolution protected
itself with the slogan - 'All means all' - to target us alone, while the real
slogan should have been "All except us!"
“Our political system is disrupting itself because the Taif Agreement was aimed
at keeping Lebanon governed from the outside, and only the President is confined
with deadlines, and all our calls for rectification, calmly and through a
dialogue table, have been ignored,” Bassil stressed.
He accused the House Speaker of forcibly depriving the President of the Republic
of his powers through the Parliament and Constitutional Council, and stripping
the rest of the sects of their right to rotate over the ministries of finance
and interior. "This centralized state has failed under your leadership and
because of your system, and we do not want to live in a failed state, but rather
a state that we want to be civil and secular,” the MP asserted.
Bassil alao attacked the Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, who is politically
protected by the political system, saying: “He is the head of the financial
system and a battle-leading officer who carried out the largest organized
robbery of people’s money and prevented other judges from prosecuting
him."Regarding the understanding with Hezbollah, the FPM Chief stressed that he
does not want to cancel the Mar Mikhael agreement, but rather "wants to develop
it."He said, "We supported the resistance against Israel and ISIS, and we
supported it politically, not with money or lives, and we obtained political
support from it to consolidate rights through partnership and national
balance."Bassil also commented on the US sanctions against him, noting that he
had submitted a request to lift the "unjust and false accusations of alleged
corruption against him, and to prove this with documents according to the
American law, the Freedom of Information Act."
Lebanese Christian leader says alliance with Hezbollah
imperiled
AP/January 02, 2022
BEIRUT: The head of Lebanon’s largest Christian party said on Sunday that a
15-year-old alliance with the country’s powerful Shiite group Hezbollah was no
longer working and must evolve. The televised speech by Gebran Bassil, who heads
the Free Patriotic Movement, signaled an unprecedented level of frustration with
Hezbollah and suggested the 2006 alliance credited with helping maintain peace
in the small country was in jeopardy. Bassil’s comments come amid a devastating
economic crisis and also ahead of critical parliamentary elections in which his
party is expecting tough competition. Undoing the alliance with Hezbollah would
cost him more votes in the May elections. But Bassil, a former foreign minister,
said the alliance is costing him credibility with supporters. Bassil is also the
son-in-law of Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun. He has positioned himself as a
reformer and is believed to have ambitions to run for president himself. Bassil
pinned his frustration on Hezbollah’s other ally, the powerful Shiite Amal
Movement, led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He said in recent months
Hezbollah has backed Berri’s Amal at the expense of their own alliance.
“We reached an understanding with Hezbollah (in 2006) not with Amal,” Bassil
said in an hour-long speech. “When we discover that the one making decisions in
(this alliance) is Amal, it is our right to reconsider.”
Hezbollah and its allies control most seats in parliament and are the main
backers of the government that took office in September. But the government and
parliament have been paralyzed as political disagreements deepened and as
Lebanon faces an unprecedented economic crisis unraveling since 2019.
Berri is an old-time rival of Bassil, who accused him of using his power in
parliament to block several of his draft bills. Recently, Hezbollah and Amal
have been widely critical of the investigation into last year’s Beirut Port
investigation, accusing the judge of being biased against their allies— a
position at odds with Bassil’s party. Hezbollah has asked for the judge to be
removed, leading to a paralysis within the government. Deadly clashes in October
that pitted Amal and Hezbollah supporters against Christian gunmen were
triggered by the investigation dispute and further strained relations with
Bassil’s party, which accused Amal of the violence. Bassil criticized Hezbollah
for not backing his party on reform laws that he says aim to weed out corruption
and ensure decentralized financial policies, or in efforts to protect
constitutional powers of the president. Such choices have left Bassil unable to
justify to his supporters Hezbollah’s decisions, he added, openly blaming Berri
for the rift. “It is understandable why the Americans want to corner Hezbollah,
but it is not understandable why (Hezbollah) wants to corner themselves,” Bassil
said of Hezbollah’s alliance with Berri. Hezbollah is designated a terrorist
group by the United States. Bassil has been placed on a US sanctions list for
corruption. He claims the sanctions are to pressure him to undo his alliance
with Hezbollah. “We don’t want to cancel or tear apart the (2006) memorandum of
understanding,” Bassil said. “But we want it to evolve because it no longer
responds to the challenges, particularly economic and financial, facing
us.”Supporters hail the alliance as a step toward a more democratic Lebanon,
transcending traditional Christian-Shiite rivalry. For Hezbollah, the alliance
with Christian groups, which traditionally sided with the West, provided it with
cover after its 2006 war with Israel.
“Naturally, we are stronger electorally if allied with Hezbollah,” Bassil said.
“But between winning the elections and gaining ourselves, we choose ourselves,
our credibility and our dignity.”
Bassil Warns Hizbullah, Lashes Out at Berri
Naharnet/Sunday, 02 January, 2022
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Sunday issued a stern warning to
Hizbullah over the fate of the memorandum of understanding between the two
parties as well as the fate of the entire country, as he lashed out at
Hizbullah’s ally Speaker Nabih Berri.
“My mind goes first to the families of the port victims who lost their lives due
to an unjust crime. It secondly goes to the families of those unjustly detained,
who have been deprived from seeing them during the holidays due to the unjust
judiciary,” Bassil said in a much-anticipated televised address.
He added that the country needs a "major change" that would include “all aspects
of our national life” and a transformation of “the political system and the
financial and economic system.”
“Only the President is confined with deadlines and all our calls for
rectification, calmly and through a dialogue table, have been ignored,” he
lamented.
Hitting out at Hizbullah and Berri’s Amal Movement, known as the Shiite Duo,
Bassil decried that “some have turned consensual democracy into a veto right for
every sect, and they're using it to paralyze Cabinet or even prevent voting on
ordinary resolutions.”
“The central state is a failure under your leadership and due to your system and
we don’t want to live in a failed state; we rather want a secular state,” he
added.
“We want a civil, secular state, a strong army, a productive economy and an
independent foreign policy,” Bassil said.
Addressing Hizbullah about its alliance with Berri, the FPM chief added: “Shiite
unity is very important, but when you sacrifice the state and the entire country
for it, you lose the country, unity and yourself.”
“We have chosen Mar Mikhail over Tayyouneh, and we're still with this choice,
but where is the practical translation of the Mar Mikhail agreement? Where is
state building? Can it happen through covering up for corruption?” Bassil said.
He, however, noted that “partitioning and federalism” are not the solution,
pointing out that they cannot be implemented in tiny and fragile Lebanon and
that they “cannot resolve the disputes over foreign policy and the financial
system.”
He added: “We tried to improve the (2006) Memorandum of Understanding (with
Hizbullah) behind closed doors, seeing as we do not want to abolish it, but it
no longer meets our challenges and the resistance must remain within the state.”
“We need serious dialogue with Hizbullah and we won't win extra votes should we
end the understanding,” Bassil said.
Hizbullah leader “Sayyed Hassan (Nasrallah), who has a special place in my heart
and mind, will now say that such remarks should be said behind closed doors.
He's right, but we tried and talked a lot about profound dialogue to activate
and develop the MoU, and we formed a joint committee that met only once, as if
there is nothing urgent!” the FPM chief added.
Referring to Hizbullah, he went on to say: “They themselves are not convinced
and have no answers, and we ask them they only have one answer: Berri!"
“Lebanon cannot be without a state! They (Hizbullah) are losing people's
sympathy and the problem has become with all communities, from all orientations
and sects, both allies and rivals. I have warned that the problem has become
deep within the FPM's bases, and when I no longer become convinced of some
things, I do not try to convince them of them,” he cautioned.
“It is unacceptable to be asked to choose between the state and civil peace,”
Bassil stressed.
Criticizing Hizbullah and Berri, he added: “Such a behavior in the government,
judiciary, Tayyouneh and the Constitutional Council cannot be tolerated! The
story of a bargain, the farce of foiling the solution and the rejected last
offer that I received in the last minute cannot be tolerated! The process of
infringing on the President's constitutional powers during Michel Aoun's tenure
cannot be tolerated!”
Such a behavior in the government, judiciary, Tayyouneh and the Constitutional
Council cannot be tolerated! The story of a bargain, the farce of foiling the
solution and the rejected last offer that I received in the last minute cannot
be tolerated! The process of infringing on the President's constitutional powers
during Michel Aoun's tenure cannot be tolerated!
It is unacceptable to be asked to choose between the state and civil peace.
Lebanon cannot be without a state! They are losing people's sympathy and the
problem has become with all communities, from all orientations and sects, both
allies and rivals. I have warned that the problem has become deep within the
FPM's bases, and when I no longer become convinced of some things, I do not try
to convince them of them.
They themselves are not convinced and have no answers, and we ask them they only
have one answer: "Berri!"
Sayyed Hassan, who has a special place in my heart and mind, will now say that
such remarks should be said behind closed doors. He's right, but we tried and
talked a lot about profound dialogue to activate and develop the MoU, and we
formed a joint committee that met only once, as if there is nothing urgent!
We need serious dialogue with Hizbullah and we won't win extra votes should we
end the understanding.
We tried to improve the Memorandum of Understanding behind closed doors, seeing
as we do not want to abolish it, but it no longer meets our challenges and the
resistance must remain within the state.
Partitioning and federalism are not the solution and they cannot resolve the
disputes over foreign policy and the financial system.
We have chosen Mar Mikhail over Tayyouneh, and we're still with this choice, but
where is the practical translation of the Mar Mikhail agreement? Where is state
building? Can it happen through covering up for corruption?
Shiite unity is very important, but when you sacrifice the state and the entire
country for it, you lose the country, unity and yourself.
We want a civil, secular state, a strong army, a productive economy and an
independent foreign policy.
The central state is a failure under your leadership and due to your system and
we don’t want to live in a failed state; we rather want a secular state.
Some have turned consensual democracy into a veto right for every sect, and
they're using it to paralyze Cabinet or even prevent voting on ordinary
resolutions.
Only the President is confined with deadlines and all our calls for
rectification, calmly and through a dialogue table, have been ignored.
The "major change" must include all aspects of our national life and I sum it up
with two essential changes: the political system and the financial and economic
system.
My mind goes first to the families of the port victims who lost their lives due
to an unjust crime. It secondly goes to the families of those unjustly detained,
who have been deprived from seeing them during the holidays due to the unjust
judiciary.
Army: Four prisoners arrested after escaping from Ablah
Barracks Prison in the Bekaa
NNA/Sunday, 02 January, 2022
Lebanese Army Command - Orientation Directorate issued a statement on Sunday, in
which it indicated that “on January 1, 2022, an Intelligence Directorate patrol
unit in the Hermel-Bekaa region re-arrested four prisoners of initials M.S., H.Y,
A.Z and M.K., after escaping from Ablah Barracks Prison in the Bekaa on December
24, 2021.” “An investigation has been initiated with the detainees under the
supervision of the concerned judiciary, the statement added.
Hamieh: A year in which some politicians are liberated from
propositions that render us a captive nation
NNA/Sunday, 02 January, 2022
“A year in which some politicians are liberated from propositions that make it a
dependent, bound nation, instead of being sovereign and independent and free to
choose its options,” said Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamieh, in
an issued statement today marking the outset of the New Year.
He added: “Let the index of true patriotism that we all claim actually be our
engagement in revival, in line with our real status, and for the year 2022 to be
the renaissance of the nation with the rise of all its facilities.”
"If cases continue to surge, Lebanon may go into lockdown," says Abiad
NNA/Sunday, 02 January, 2022
Minister of Public Health, Firass Abiad, indicated Sunday morning that "the
issue of closing the country is under study and it will be according to the
number of infections."The minister explained that the goal is not to reach this
stage, but if things accelerate, they are ready to take any decision, including
closing schools, which would be a disastrous decision. In this context, Abiad
stressed that all efforts are focused on work so as not to impose a forced
closure.
Abiad Says Lockdown Decision Being 'Carefully Studied'
Naharnet/Sunday, 02 January, 2022
Health Minister Firass Abiad announced Sunday that the decision to lock down the
country to rein in the major surge in Covid infections is being “carefully
studied.”Speaking to VDL (93.3) radio, Abiad said such a decision would be based
on the available numbers and data, adding that the focus is on “the duration of
this lockdown, especially that Lebanon’s (economic) situation cannot withstand”
a lengthy lockdown. “But if the spread rate increases, we are ready to take the
decision,” he said. Lebanon has been witnessing a new wave of Covid-19 cases and
the tally is expected to further increase in the wake of the holidays.
4 Syrians Die after Burning Coal for Heat in South
Lebanon
Associated Press/January 02/2022
A Syrian mother and her three children died in their sleep after inhaling toxic
fumes from burning coal to heat their room in a village in southern Lebanon, a
rescue group said Sunday. Youssef al-Dor, an official with Resala Health
Ambulance Association, said he transported the bodies to be buried from a
hospital where the four were pronounced dead. Al-Dor said the family used coal
to warm their room on a cold night in a house in Kharayeb, a southern village
overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. An official from Fakih Hospital said the
mother, 31, and her kids ages 8, 7 and 4 were already dead on arrival. They were
declared dead of asphyxiation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in
line with regulations. Lebanon's state National News Agency said the four died
in their home. Lebanon, a country of 6 million people, is home to 1.5 million
Syrians who fled the now decade-old civil war in their country. They often live
in squalid camps and shoddy homes. As Lebanon grapples with an unprecedented
economic crisis, poverty has deepened for both Lebanese and Syrians. The United
Nations estimates that 90% of Syrian refugee households live in extreme poverty.
في مقابلة لم تُنشَر سابقاً... لقمان سليم: حزب الله يمتلك
"ماستر كي" يفتح به أبواب الأحزاب المدنية
Lokman Slim: Hezbollah Controls Lebanon’s Civil and Political Parties
Firas Hamieh/Rassef 22 net/Sunday 07 February 20211
The key to understanding the issue of Hezbollah’s subjugation of civil parties
in Lebanon is not in discussing its relationship as a 'super party' with each of
these parties. Rather, it is something similar to a 'master key', that
dismantles all blockades and unlocks closed doors, it is the ongoing conflict
with Israel, which includes under it the concept of resistance, the rejection of
the normalization of ties with Israel, the end of Israel, and the fight against
the 'Greatest Evill'.
This is what the Lebanese researcher, publisher, and political activist Luqman
Slim said in an interview conducted with him in March 2019. In the interview,
which hasn’t been published before, the political commentator adds that some
parties, “specifically the left, as well as Nationalists and Ba’athists” – which
theoretically have a social or national project with contempt towards Israel –
“have bankrupted its societal and national projects, and now only the conflict
with Israel remains on their agendas.”
Slim was assassinated on February 4th, in a village in southern Lebanon. His
body was found in a car parked on the side of the road, with the coroner's
report revealing that he had been shot with six bullets – five in the head and
one in the back.
In the interview, Slim talks about how the Party of God, Hezbollah, is able of
pulling the ropes of civil and secular parties in Lebanon in its favor. He also
dissects the foundations that govern this relationship.
- What is the key to understanding the relationship between the religious
Hezbollah and the “civil” and “secular” parties in Lebanon?
At first, it is worthy of note that there are three categories of parties:
parties with a left-wing tendency that are heirs to the ideology of Marxism;
nationalist parties such as the Ba'ath Party and the Syrian Social Nationalist
Party; and the third category includes some Palestinian organizations, secular
ones that claim non-denominationalism, and these – even if they are not Lebanese
– their presence in Lebanon makes them key Lebanese players.
What is the nature of the relationship that made it possible for secular parties
to follow to the core the interests of a religious party, which attributes
itself and its name quite literally to Allah?
The key to understanding the issue is not in discussing the relationship between
this 'super party' and each of these parties. The key that explains this
relationship – and may also explain the relationship of subjugation that unites
Hezbollah with parties that were once in a hostile position towards it – is
something similar to a 'master key', that dismantles all blockades and unlocks
closed doors. This magic key is the ongoing conflict with Israel, which also
includes under it the concept of resistance, the rejection of the normalization
of ties with Israel, the end of Israel, and the fight against the 'Greater
Devil'.
The magic key that allows Hezbollah to control so many Parties is the conflict
with Israel, which includes under it the concept of resistance, the rejection of
the normalization with Israel, the end of Israel, and the fight against the
'Greater Devil'
There are some parties whose ideological makeup is in opposition to Israel –
namely the left, the nationalists and the Baathists – and they have a social or
national project to which hostility towards Israel is included. These parties
have bankrupted their societal and national projects, and now only the conflict
with Israel remains in its agenda. The waiver of this agenda is considered the
final shot or the final breath released from these parties on the track to the
end of their effectiveness. In order to stay alive, they are forced to play
within Hezbollah's space or within the spaces permitted by Hezbollah.
The Relation Will Go From Public to Private: Consequences of Germany’s Hezbollah
Ban
Lebanon’s Revolution Forever Ended Hezbollah’s Domination
Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Amal Parties Unite Against the People
Hezbollah found that these parties and movements, after their projects and
schemes tanked, became something like a cat without claws. In practice, there
was no longer an ideological problem between the two sides, and Hezbollah
considered that it was their exclusive agent due to the strength of its rhetoric
and the difficulty of confronting this anti-Israeli discourse in the Lebanese
public sphere.
The relationship between civil parties and the religious Hezbollah has no
ideological basis or a common theoretical proposition other than antagonism
towards Israel. Also, the relationship must be viewed from a different angle,
for the way each side sees the other must be examined. The relationship is not
one-way, but rather it has two directions, as Hezbollah does not view all these
formations and factions in the same way.
- How can we describe the relationship between the Lebanese Communist Party and
Hezbollah?
If we take the model or format of the Lebanese Communist Party – LCP, then what
Hezbollah means when it supports it in some junctures is keeping a safety valve
meant for venting or as a release or outlet in some areas. Hezbollah knows that
there is a frame of mind not too loyal to the approach of religion among a large
segment of Shiites. It therefore leaves a narrow margin for maneuverability,
particularly in southern Lebanon. However, it takes from the communists much
more than that – including, among other things: establishing its image as a
party that respects political pluralism – and during electoral periods, it uses
them to its advantage.
The LCP knows that Hezbollah is the distributor of corruption in Lebanon and
overlooks that under the pretext of resistance and the conflict with Israel
first, and due to its inability to engage in a political confrontation with it –
as the prevalent results of the confrontation will be resounding and
deconstructive of the Lebanese Communist Party itself.
Thus, the LCP became owned by its proprietor Hezbollah, and anyone that makes a
sound outside the flock in this party is excluded, especially if he has any
ideas opposing Hezbollah or has an alternative vision different from what
Hezbollah defines for the resistance and the ongoing conflict with Israel. As an
indication of this: Can the Lebanese Communist Party – or any party claiming
civility, secularism, and nationalism – carry out any activity within the areas
controlled by Hezbollah without its permission? Or is it possible for the
Lebanese government to carry out any activity without the permission of
Hezbollah in its territories? If the Lebanese government is unable to do so,
does any other party have the ability to do such things – like calling for
demonstrations and popular movements, establishing their own centers, putting up
banners, distributing political leaflets, blocking roads, or holding festivities
in the capital’s suburbs, southern villages, or Baalbek-Hermel – except in the
rarities?!
Luqman Slim in a formerly unpublished interview: Hezbollah can only be seen
through a military perspective. It can’t last without war just like fish can’t
last without water; Hezbollah’s supporting environment is not its masses but
rather war
Therefore, Hezbollah invests in politics just as it invests in any company, for
it is a multinational holding company that manages smaller companies and has all
the necessary ideological tools as well as the required military, economic, and
financial strength.
In a memorial invitation called for by the Lebanese Communist Party not too long
ago, a verse from the Holy Quran was put in the invite’s text... In here and in
other similar events, one can find indications that the ideologies of leftist
parties, the LCP in particular – being one of the most widespread civil parties
across the region of Lebanon – began to dissipate and allow the religious
ideology of Hezbollah penetrate and permeate within.
Presently, the Lebanese Communist Party has a reservoir of nostalgia scattered
across dozens of villages, and with hundreds of people, belonging to its golden
era; so it is allowed to be its sponsor, but only within what is permitted.
Hezbollah leaves spaces for these parties to act in without having the ability
to form a cohesive unit.
- Among the secular civil parties influencing the Lebanese political scene, we
find the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, so what exactly governs its
relationship with Hezbollah?
The Syrian Social Nationalist Party is one of the oldest Lebanese parties, and
with the exit of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from Lebanon, this
party became loyal to Syria. One of the mysteries and conundrums is the lack of
an identified ideological link between it and the religious Hezbollah.
The Syrian Nationalist Party is content with the spoils of what Hezbollah
provides it with – through giving priority to the conflict with Israel over
anything else, in addition to escaping from raising problems related to the
ideological compatibility between it and Hezbollah. What also unites them is the
iron-like organization, as well as their joining of the Iranian and Syrian
regimes.
During the most recent parliamentary elections (2018), the Syrian Social
Nationalist Party did not deviate from Hezbollah's will and joined its electoral
lists due to having some type of credit. Hezbollah considers this party to be
one of the strategic reserves that it invests in and imposes its conditions
onto... Hezbollah prefers to support the candidates of this party because it
holds some popularity in some areas and causes sensitivities in others.
- What about the Syrian Ba’ath Party?
The Syrian Ba'ath Party no longer has a purchasing value in the electoral arena,
and therefore it is excluded from entering Hezbollah’s lists, despite being a
part of the ruling party in Syria. It had a period of glory under the Syrian
presence for a time and then lost its popularity. It also had a presence in
Akkar but lost it, and the reason for that was the predominance of sectarian
sentiment in Lebanon over the remaining other Arab and national affiliations.
Even on the ideological level, the idea of Arabism lost its luster, and the
parties calling for Arab nationalism went bankrupt – much more than the
bankruptcy of leftist parties because leftist parties are capable of sneaking in
under social headlines. Hezbollah finds that the Ba’ath Party has lost its
profitability as a company, and has become like a basket of scorpions, with its
leadership squabbling amongst itself from the inside – such as the dispute
between Fayez Shukr and Minister Assem Qanso, as well as the presence of mutual
accusations within the party.
Likewise, Hezbollah revived the “al-Mourabitoun” (or the Independent Nasserite
Movement – INM), in order to secure a crossing bridge within the Sunnis. Some of
these parties are shrouded in fog as they claim to be civil and secular parties,
but they move within only one sectarian space and do not have any
cross-sectarian extensions. These parties address the Sunni conscience from the
standpoint of Nasserism, but what is the political definition and political
agenda of the Nasserist ideology today? It is almost impossible to define what
Nasserism now means. It’s a little like an ancient relic to some extent.
Hezbollah uses the “Resistance Brigades”, which is a military wing affiliated
with it and serves its objectives. The process of subjugating leftist and
nationalist parties takes place by giving them some type of role in these
brigades, and Hezbollah then extends a helping hand to them, such as the ‘Eagles
of the Whirlwind’ (a military organization affiliated with the Syrian Social
Nationalist Party) among others.
Hezbollah has created a framework for all these parties, as they convene and
issue statements. They do not have any original or primary role, but rather
serve as a sort of façade meant to polish Hezbollah's image. In 1997, Hezbollah
created a framework for these small parties that it called the ‘gathering of
national parties and forces’, which included more than 20 parties in Lebanon.
The Popular Nasserist Organization headed by Representative Osama Sa’ad has an
inherited Sidonian position that one cannot ignore, because they have a history
in the resistance. As for the People's Movement, it was unable to endorse or
garner electoral votes and failed to deliver Najah Wakim's son to parliament.
From around itself, Hezbollah also gathers groups from the civil society using
the same strategy, under two headings, “the heading of resistance” and “the
ethical or moral heading in facing against Israel”. Thus, these groups remain
indebted to it and dependent on it due to the difficulty of opposing this
strategy and liberating itself from it.
- What is the reason that makes the Shiites the nucleus of civil parties in
Lebanon?
Shiites are the most influential within the organizational frameworks of most
civil and secular parties, for historical reasons that made them “fertile”
members for these parties. In order to approach this, one must return to the
roots of the Lebanese Communist Party early in its life or during its
beginnings, as it was strong amongst the Armenian community when they were the
vulnerable sect or group of that period. Therefore, it is natural for the
Lebanese Communist Party to find its solid core and calling within the Shiite
community as a marginalized group in need of political representation as well as
the development of its members’ social condition.
Luqman Slim in an unpublished interview: Leftists, Nationalists & Baathists had
social and national projects that are now bankrupt, only conflict with Israel
remains on their agendas, comfortably landing these parties in Hezbollah's lap
In addition, South Lebanon was the front line with Israel during the period of
the Palestine Liberation Organization’s presence in Lebanon. These parties are
drawn from the Shiite milieu since the emergence of the state of Israel in 1948
led to the closure of borders, and the migration of Shiites from the South
began. This is a demographic fact that cannot be overlooked and forgotten.
- How is this linked to the 2018 parliamentary elections?
During the last parliamentary elections, the results of all the remnants of the
left were not honorable or praiseworthy at all. Hezbollah benefited from the
votes of the secular Shiites, even those calling for a civic democratic state,
as they voted for the religious Hezbollah under the guise of resistance.
These meager numbers have their implications in politics and in the pecking
order of Lebanese politics. Hezbollah won 343,000 votes while the Amal Movement
pulled in 204,000 votes – noting that Hezbollah garnered votes in favor of the
head of the Amal Movement Nabih Berri, knowing that it will inherit his movement
following his death.
As for the Socialist Ba’ath Party, represented by Fayez Shukr, it won 1,159
votes, while the candidates of the Social Nationalist Party – winners and losers
side by side – garnered 20,651 votes throughout all of Lebanon. Whereas the
Lebanese Communist Party gathered only 10,119 votes with all of its candidates
failing, while Osama Sa’ad won 9,880 preferential votes. As far as the People's
Movement represented by Omar Najah Wakim was concerned, it only succeeded by
obtaining no more than 476 votes.
- Shiites in Lebanon, where to? Is there a role for the Amal movement,
considering it has a civil basis?
Nabih Berri is the true heir to the Ass'adiyah leadership that was holding on to
the relationship with the public through the direct interests of the people. The
Amal movement wants the authority but also wants to milk the country down to the
bone. It uses Shiite fanaticism depending on the circumstances, while
Hezbollah’s mobilization is continuous and ever-present – in peace there is
mobilization, and in war there is mobilization.
Hezbollah possesses the potential to make a leader, and doctrine plays a
fundamental role in this regard and gives it preference over the Amal movement
as well as the rest of the civil parties that revolve within its orbit.
Secretary-General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah is the representative of the
‘al-Wālı̄ al-Faqīh’ (the Governance of the Jurist) and his ‘shadow’ in Lebanon,
and the ‘al-Wālı̄ al-Faqīh’ is the ‘shadow’ of the Shiite revered Imam al-Mahdi.
There is an interconnected game of shadows, and the Shiite consciousness is a
religious conscience par excellence. There is a link between the Shiite
consciousness and the religious myth, and this is what Hezbollah surpasses both
the Amal Movement and other civil parties in.
What Berri calls for in his speeches about the abolition of political
sectarianism (which is one of the provisions of the Amal Movement’s charter) has
become nothing but pipe dreams. The decision-making circles within the movement
are well aware of this since Hezbollah's agenda is the one that expresses the
majority of the Shiite conscience. In addition, the situation in the region also
indicates more extremism, fanaticism, and retrenchment, hence the impossibility
of establishing civil societies in the region, as the world is continuously
heading towards more extremism.
Hezbollah is a “sealed organization” – Nasrallah said this in a sense of praise
for secrecy. The party can be imagined as a well-oiled machine that works
automatically, while the Amal movement as a human body that is subject to erring
or damage. There is no ideology present in the Amal movement, nor does it have a
project for an alternate or reserve society similar to the auxiliary society
that Hezbollah has built.
We may be optimistic by saying that the Amal movement protects some Shiites from
extremism, but if we talk about the Shiite community generally as a whole, then
there is no doubt that they – as are other groups in this region – are heading
towards more extremism, and this is a widespread prevalent state. The higher the
Sunni anger rises, the more it will be matched from that of the Shiite,
Christian, Druze, etc..
The main position of Hezbollah is not fighting Israel, but rather to continue
the state of war mobilization, regardless of the direction of war, because this
party loses its role and justification for its existence outside the state of
military mobilization. Hezbollah survives on wars, whether they were wars with
an internal enemy or with an external one.
Hezbollah will remain in a permanent state of work to expand its share within
the Amal movement, within the Shiite temperament as a whole, and within the
other temperaments of various groups in Lebanon – such as the Sunni, leftist and
civil temperament. Hezbollah can only be seen through a military war-like
perspective, for the party cannot survive and go on without wars, just like a
fish cannot live outside water, and the environment that supports Hezbollah is
not its masses or constituency but rather war.
https://raseef22.net/article/105474-%D8%A3%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%81%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B9%D8%AA-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
January 02-03/2022
Pope Francis says violence against women insults
God in New Year’s speech
Reuters, Vatican City/02 January ,2022
Pope Francis used his New Year’s message on Saturday to issue a clarion call for
an end to violence against women, saying it was insulting to God. Francis, 85,
celebrated a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the day the Roman Catholic Church
marks both the solemnity of Holy Mary Mother of God as well as its annual World
Day of Peace. Francis appeared to be in good form on Saturday following an
unexplained incident on New Year’s Eve where he attended a service but at the
last minute did not preside over it as he had been expected to. At the start of
the Mass on Saturday, he walked the entire length of the central aisle of
basilica, as opposed to Friday night, when he emerged from a side entrance close
to the altar and watched from the sidelines. Francis suffers from a sciatica
condition that causes pain in the legs, and sometimes a flare up prevents him
from standing for long periods. Francis wove his New Year’s homily around the
themes of motherhood and women -- saying it was they who kept together the
threads of life -- and used it to make one of his strongest calls yet for an end
to violence against them. “And since mothers bestow life, and women keep the
world (together), let us all make greater efforts to promote mothers and to
protect women,” Francis said. “How much violence is directed against women!
Enough! To hurt a woman is to insult God, who from a woman took on our
humanity.”During an Italian television program last month, Francis told a woman
who had been beaten by her ex-husband that men who commit violence against women
engage in something that is “almost satanic.”Since the COVID-19 pandemic began
nearly two years ago, Francis has several times spoken out against domestic
violence, which has increased in many countries since lockdowns left many women
trapped with their abusers.
Public participation at the Mass was lower than in some past years because of
COVID restrictions. Italy, which surrounds Vatican City, reported a record
144,243 coronavirus related cases on Friday and has recently imposed new
measures such as an obligation to wear masks outdoors. In the text of his
Message for the World Day of Peace, issued last month, Francis said nations
should divert money spent on armaments to invest in education, and decried
growing military costs at the expense of social services. The annual peace
message is sent to heads of state and international organizations, and the pope
gives a signed copy to leaders who make official visits to him at the Vatican
during the upcoming year.
Revolutionary Guards Say 9 Killed in Shootout in Iran's
Southeast
Agence France Presse/January 02/2022
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they killed six "armed bandits" in a shootout
in the country's southeast that also left three of its members dead. The latest
clashes in Sistan-Baluchistan broke out around a hideout of the militants near a
village in the centre of the province, the paramilitary force said late Saturday
on its Sepah News website. "Six bandits were killed and five others wounded," it
said, while three members of the force also died. No arrests were announced. On
Friday, the Guards said they "targeted and killed the perpetrators" behind an
attack that left two of their members dead on December 25 in the same province.
Sistan-Baluchistan lies on the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan and is a
flashpoint of clashes with smuggling gangs as well as separatists from the
Baluchi minority or extremist militant groups. On November 18, three policemen,
including a colonel, were killed and six wounded in fighting with an armed group
in an area bordering Sistan-Baluchistan.
Iraq: Pro-Iranian Factions Question US Withdrawal,
Threaten America
Baghdad – Asharq Al-Awsat/January 02/2022
The Iraqi authorities’ assertions of the withdrawal of US combat forces from
Iraq and the transformation of their mission into an advisory role do not seem
to have convinced the pro-Iranian factions, whose leaders took advantage of a
rally in Baghdad on Saturday, to remind the Americans of the “ongoing
resistance” against them. During a gathering marking the second anniversary of
the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and the leader of the
Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the
Badr Organization and Al-Fateh coalition, Qais Khazali, Secretary-General of
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, as well as Faleh al-Fayyad, head of the Popular Mobilization,
expressed their rejection of the US forces continued presence in Iraq. In
response to the agreement between Baghdad and Washington, which passed through
several stages, including four rounds of strategic dialogue, Khazali said that
the US occupation was trying to circumvent its military presence in Iraq. In a
first reference to the missile and drone strikes against US military bases and
the US embassy in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Khazali said: “You had to
understand well the lessons that the heroes of the resistance addressed to you…
and the messages sent to you by the heroes of the resistance with their missiles
and drones.”Amiri and Fayyad, for their part, stressed in their speeches the
need for the Americans to withdraw completely from Iraq, pledging that anti-US
forces would remain “on standby”, despite the authorities’ assertion that the US
combat forces would leave the country. The Iraqi government, headed by Mustafa
Al-Kadhimi, had conducted four rounds of strategic dialogue with the US, the
last of which during the Iraqi premier’s visit to Washington on July 25, which
resulted in the signing of an agreement stipulating the withdrawal of US combat
forces at the end of 2021.
Russian jets bomb rebel-held Idlib in Syria, witnesses
say
Reuters/02 January ,2022
Russian jets bombed areas near the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on Sunday,
witnesses and rebel sources said, marking a new year flare-up for the last
opposition-held bastion. War planes flying at high altitude, which tracking
centers said were Russian Sukhoi jets, dropped bombs on several towns and a
water pumping station serving the overcrowded city of Idlib, whose wider
population is more than a million. No immediate comment was available from
Russia or the Syrian army, which says it targets the hideouts of militant groups
who control the region but deny any attacks on civilians. An official at the
city's water utility service said it was out of action as a result of the
strikes. Witnesses said the strikes in the last twenty four hours in the
rebel-held enclave also hit livestock and poultry farms close to the Bab al Hawa
border crossing with Turkey. “The Russians are focusing on infrastructure and
economic assets. This is to add to the suffering of people,” Abu Hazem Idlibi,
an official in the opposition administration, said. Other targets included
villages in the Jabal al-Zawiya region in the southern part of Idlib province,
with no immediate reports of casualties, residents and rescuers said. A series
of raids after midnight on Saturday hit makeshift camps that house thousands of
displaced families near Jisr al Shuqhur, west of Idlib with two children and a
woman were killed and 10 civilians wounded, the civil defense service said.
There has been a relative lull in air strikes since November after a renewed
Russian-led campaign followed by Turkish army reinforcements inside the enclave
raised the prospect of a wider resumption of violence. A deal brokered nearly
two years ago between Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al Assad's
forces, and Turkey, which supports opposition groups, ended fighting that had
displaced more than a million people within a few months.
Concern over 'Critical' Palestinian Prisoner on Hunger
Strike
Agence France Presse/January 02/2022
A Palestinian prisoner languishing in hospital after an extensive hunger strike
teetered close to death Sunday, sparking international concern and Palestinian
demands that Israel release him from detention without charges. Hisham Abu
Hawash, a 40-year-old member of the Islamic Jihad militant movement, began
refusing food in August to protest Israel holding him without charges or trial.
The married father of five from Dura in the south of the Israeli-occupied West
Bank was being held under administrative detention, a practice of arresting
suspects for renewable six-month terms without allowing them to view the charges
or evidence against them. "His condition is difficult and complex," Liad Aviel,
spokesman of the Shamir Medical Centre in central Israel where Abu Hawash is
being held, told AFP. The International Committee of the Red Cross said medical
teams that visited Abu Hawash had found him "in critical condition requiring
expert clinical monitoring". According to the ICRC, Abu Hawash has been refusing
food for around 140 days. It issued a statement warning of "potentially
irreversible health consequences and possible tragic loss of life". His wife,
Aisha Hrebat, told AFP on Sunday he was in a "very dangerous" situation, adding
that "since yesterday he can't talk at all and doesn't know what's going on
around him". "Even after he ends his strike, he will have difficult problems,"
she said, adding their lawyer was submitting an urgent appeal against his
detention to Israel's supreme court. An Israeli security source described Abu
Hawash as "an Islamic Jihad operative, who was arrested due to involvement in
terror activity". Israel says the protocol prevents crimes while authorities
continue to gather evidence, though Palestinians say it denies them of their
rights. "The way Israel has used administrative detention is arbitrary," said
Shawan Jabarin, head of the Al-Haq rights group based in Ramallah on the West
Bank. He said Abu Hawash was one of about 550 Palestinians held by Israel in
administrative detention. Abu Hawash's plight has ignited Palestinian support.
Palestinian civil affairs minister Hussein al-Sheikh called on Israel via
Twitter to "release Abu Hawash immediately", with his appeal echoed by
protesters who gathered over the weekend in Ramallah. At a rally in Gaza, Ismail
Radwan, an official with the Islamist movement Hamas that rules the enclave,
said Israel must understand that prisoners constitute a "red line" for the
Palestinians. The Islamic Jihad, the second largest militant group in Gaza, said
it holds "the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the deteriorating health"
of Abu Hawash, threatening revenge if he dies.
357 Palestinians Were Killed in 2021, Including
90-Year-Old Man
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 2 January, 2022
Israeli forces have killed 357 Palestinians in 2021, according to recent
official figures. The National Assembly for Martyrs of Palestine Families issued
a report showing that around 19 percent of those killed were women, which is the
highest figure in the history of the Israeli regime's crimes and acts of
violation after its occupation of Palestinian land in 1948.The report said 22
percent of those martyred were children, a total of 79 victims. The eldest
victim is Amin Mohammed Hamad Al-Qulaq (90 years), from Gaza, who was killed
during the war on Gaza in May. Secretary-general of the National Assembly for
Martyrs of Palestine Families Mohammed Sbeihat said that the soldiers are
receiving instructions from the political and military leaderships to kill
unarmed Palestinians regardless of their gender or age. The Israeli army killed
357 Palestinians, including 100 in the West Bank and 257 in Gaza. Among the
victims, 286 were killed in May during the Israeli aggression on Gaza, according
to the report. In the same context, a group of Palestinian institutions said
Friday, that the Israeli army arrested nearly 8,000 Palestinians in 2021,
including more than 1,300 minors and 184 women. The institutions include the
Commission of Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner Society, ADDAMEER
(Arabic for conscience) Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, and Wadi
Hilweh Information Center. In their joint report, they revealed that the number
of prisoners and detainees in the prisons of the occupation, until the end of
December 2021, amounted to about 4,600 prisoners, including 34 female prisoners
and a minor girl. The number of children and minor detainees was about 160, and
the number of administrative detainees was about 500, while the number of
detainees from the Palestinian Legislative Council was almost 9. Moreover, the
number of sick prisoners reached nearly 600, four of whom had cancer, and at
least 14 prisoners had tumors of varying degrees, including Fouad Al-Shobaki (81
years), who is the oldest prisoner. The report stated that the number of
prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment reached 547. The Palestinian News and
Information Agency (WAFA) further revealed that the occupation continues to keep
hold of 10 journalists in its prisons. A total of 384 Israeli violations against
journalists working in the occupied Palestinian Territory were registered in
2021.
Egypt Pushes for Calm after Gaza-Israel Flare-Up
Associated Press/Sunday, 2 January, 2022
Egyptian officials Sunday pushed for Israel and Palestinian militants in the
Gaza Strip to rein in hostilities and adhere to a cease-fire in place since the
war in May. The Egyptian efforts came a day after Hamas militants launched
rockets into the Mediterranean Sea off central Israel, prompting Israel to carry
out airstrikes on militant positions in Gaza early Sunday. No casualties were
reported. The Israeli military said it struck "a rocket manufacturing site and
military posts" belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip overnight in response to
Saturday's rocket fire. "Whoever points missiles at Israel bears
responsibility," Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said at the start of the
government's weekly Cabinet meeting. On Wednesday, Palestinian militants shot an
Israeli contractor working along the border fence and Israel responded with tank
fire at militant positions in what was the first exchange of fire in months.
Egyptian officials called on Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza
to stop their actions seen by Israel as "provocative," and for Israel to
accelerate arrangements agreed upon as part of the cease-fire, an Egyptian
diplomat with knowledge of the ongoing efforts said. The diplomat spoke on
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter
with the media. "Neither side wants a full-blown war," the diplomat said. "They
just want guarantees and steps on the ground."The cease-fire, brokered by Egypt
and other mediators, has been fragile but largely held since the 11-day war
between Hamas and Israel in May. But the militant group says Israel has not
taken serious steps to ease the blockade it imposed on Gaza with Egypt after the
Islamic movement seized control of the coastal enclave in 2007.
At the same time, the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group has threatened
military action against Israel if a hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner dies.
Hisham Abu Hawash, an Islamic Jihad member held by Israel under administrative
detention, has staged a hunger strike for over 130 days.
Israel's controversial policy of administrative detention allows suspects to be
held without charge indefinitely. Israel says the practice is necessary to keep
dangerous suspects in custody without disclosing critical intelligence that
could expose sources. Palestinians and rights groups decry the policy as a
violation of due process.
Sudan’s PM announces resignation amid political deadlock
The Associated Press/02 January ,2022
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced his resignation Sunday amid
political deadlock and widespread pro-democracy protests following a military
coup that derailed the country’s fragile transition to democratic rule. Hamdok
called for a dialogue to agree on a “national charter” and to “draw a roadmap”
to complete the transition. The October coup had upended Sudan's plans to move
to democracy after a popular uprising forced the military’s overthrow of
longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019. On
Sunday, prior to his resignation, Sudanese security forces violently dispersed
pro-democracy protesters, in the latest demonstrations to denounce the takeover
and a subsequent deal that reinstated the prime minister but sidelined the
pro-democracy movement. A medical group said at least two people were killed.
The Sudan Doctors Committee, which is part of the pro-democracy movement, said
one of the dead was hit “violently” in his head while taking part in a protest
march in Khartoum. The second was shot in his chest in Khartoum’s twin city of
Omdurman, it added. The group said dozens of protesters were injured.
Activist Nazim Sirag said security forces used tear gas and sound grenades to
disperse protesters, and chased them in side streets across the capital.
Protests also took place in other cities including Port Sudan and Nyala in the
Darfur region. The protests came despite tightened security and blocked bridges
and roads in Khartoum and Omdurman. Internet connections were also disrupted
ahead of the protests, according to advocacy group NetBlocs. Authorities have
used such tactics repeatedly since the Oct. 25 coup. Sunday's fatalities have
brought the death toll among protesters since the coup to at least 56, according
to the medical group. Hundreds have also been wounded. Allegations surfaced last
month of sexual violence, including rape and gang rape by security forces
against female protesters, according to the United Nations.The ruling sovereign
council has vowed to investigate violence against the protesters.On Saturday, US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged security forces to “immediately cease
the use of deadly force against protesters" and to hold those responsible for
violence accountable. He also called for Sudanese leaders to accelerate their
efforts to form a “credible cabinet,” an interim parliament and judicial
electoral bodies that will prepare for the country’s planned 2023 elections. The
rotating leadership of the sovereign council now chaired by Gen. Abdel-Fattah
Burhan should be transferred to a civilian as was planned before the coup,
Blinken said. “We do not want to return to the past, and are prepared to respond
to those who seek to block the aspirations of the Sudanese people for a
civilian-led, democratic government,” he added.
The October military takeover upended a fragile planned transition to democratic
rule following a popular uprising that forced the military’s overthrow of
longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019.
Hamdok, a former UN official seen as the civilian face of Sudan’s transitional
government, was reinstated in November amid international pressure in a deal
that calls for an independent technocratic Cabinet under military oversight led
by him. That deal, however, was rejected by the pro-democracy movement, which
insists that power be handed over to a fully civilian government tasked with
leading the transition. Hamdok defended the Nov. 21 deal with the military,
saying that it was meant to preserve achievements his government made in the
past two years, and to “protect our nation from sliding to a new international
isolation.”
Sudan security forces fire tear gas at large anti-coup
rally
AFP/Sunday, 2 January, 2022
KHARTOUM: Thousands of Sudanese pro-democracy protesters rallied Sunday outside
the presidential palace in Khartoum, braving tear gas, a mass deployment of
armed soldiers and a telecommunications blackout. They demonstrated against an
October 25 coup launched by military leader General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan,
shouting “power to the people” and demanding a return of the “military to the
barracks.” As with previous demonstrations, which have become regular since the
coup, the authorities have erected roadblocks, with shipping containers blocking
Nile River bridges between the capital and outlying areas. Internet and cell
phones have not worked since the morning and security forces were perched on
armored vehicles with heavy machine guns watching passers-by. But thousands of
Sudanese nonetheless came out to demonstrate “in memory of the martyrs,” with at
least 54 protesters killed in street violence since the coup, according to
medical sources. Web monitoring group NetBlocks said mobile Internet services
were cut from mid-morning ahead of the planned protests, the first of the year.
Activists use the Internet for organizing demonstrations and broadcasting live
footage of the rallies.Sudan, with a long history of military coups, has
undergone a fragile journey toward civilian rule since the 2019 ouster of
autocrat Omar Al-Bashir following mass popular protests.
But the country has been plunged into turmoil since Burhan — Sudan’s de facto
leader following the ouster of Bashir — launched his coup and detained Prime
Minister Abdalla Hamdok. Hamdok was reinstated on November 21, but mass protests
have continued as demonstrators distrust veteran general Burhan and his promises
of seeking to guide the country toward full democracy. Activists have kept up a
more than two-month-long campaign of street demonstrations against the army’s
takeover, despite a crackdown that has seen at least 54 people killed and
hundreds injured, according to the pro-democracy Doctors’ Committee group. The
rallies have been repeatedly broken up by security forces firing rounds of tear
gas, as well as charges by police wielding batons. On Thursday, six people were
shot dead in Khartoum when security forces cracked down on mass rallies that saw
tens of thousands take to the streets chanting “no to military rule.” Burhan
insists the military’s move “was not a coup” but a push to “rectify the course
of the transition.” On Friday a close adviser warned that “the demonstrations
are only a waste of energy and time” which will not produce “any political
solution.”Activists say 2022 will be “the year of the continuation of the
resistance” in posts on social media.They demand justice for those killed since
the coup as well as the more than 250 who died during the mass protests that
began in 2019 and paved the way for the toppling of Bashir. Activists have
condemned sexual attacks during December 19 protests, in which the UN said at
least 13 women and girls were victims of rape or gang-rape.The European Union
and the United States issued a joint statement condemning the use of sexual
violence “as a weapon to drive women away from demonstrations and silence their
voices.”Over 14 million people, one in three Sudanese, will need humanitarian
aid next year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, the highest level for a decade.
Biden told Ukraine leader US will ‘respond decisively’
if Russia invades: White house
AFP/03 January ,2022
US President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in
telephone talks on Sunday that Washington and its allies would “respond
decisively” if Russia moves to invade its pro-Western neighbor, the White House
said. In a readout of the Biden-Zelensky call, White House press secretary Jen
Psaki also said the US leader expressed support for diplomatic efforts including
planned talks between high-level US and Russian officials set for January 9 and
10 in Geneva. “President Biden made clear that the US and its allies and
partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine,” Psaki said
in a statement. Biden also “reaffirmed the US' commitment to Ukraine's
sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she said. The show of US support for
Ukraine comes days after Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin of severe
consequences if Moscow invades the former Soviet country.
Washington and its European allies accuse Russia of threatening Ukraine with a
new invasion. Some 100,000 Russian troops are massed near the border of the
country, where Putin already seized the Crimea region in 2014 and is accused of
fomenting a pro-Russian separatist war which erupted that same year in the east.
Moscow describes the troop presence as protection against the expansion of NATO,
although Ukraine has not been offered membership in the military alliance.
France to Ease Covid Rules as England Says Curbs are
'Last Resort'
Agence France Presse/January 02/2022
France announced an easing of Covid restrictions from Monday and Britain's
health minister said curbs were an "absolute last resort", as governments face
tough choices between controlling the virus and keeping economies open.
Coronavirus cases have surged globally in recent weeks, fueled by the emergence
of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, and the pandemic dampened New
Year's celebrations yet again. Europe crossed 100 million known cases on
Saturday, and governments there are keen to prevent healthcare systems from
becoming overwhelmed by Covid-19 while also avoiding punishing restrictions.
Fully vaccinated people in France who test positive will only have to isolate
for seven days, and can leave quarantine after five days if they show a negative
test. The change in rules should allow a "benefit-risk balance aimed at ensuring
the virus is controlled while maintaining socio-economic life", the French
health ministry said. According to an AFP tally of official figures, 17 out of
52 countries or territories in Europe beat their previous record of most cases
in a single week. The countries with the highest ratio of infections per 100,000
inhabitants in the world were all in Europe too, with Denmark showing the worst
figure of 2,045. However, some studies have sparked hope that Omicron does not
cause Covid as severe as the Delta variant, with some governments factoring that
into their decisions to ease curbs. But the World Health Organization has warned
of trying times ahead, saying Omicron could lead to "a tsunami of cases" because
of its high transmissibility.
'Absolute last resort'
The virus surges dampened New Year's celebrations around the world, with events
cancelled and tens of millions spending the holidays under some form of
restrictions. The British government, which is responsible for health policies
in England only, has put in place some precautions but so far refused to curb
socializing and large events despite record case numbers last week. It has
pointed to the less dramatic rise in hospitalizations compared with case numbers
as justification. "Curbs on our freedom must be an absolute last resort and the
British people rightly expect us to do everything in our power to avert them,"
Health Secretary Sajid Javid wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper."I've been
determined that we must give ourselves the best chance of living alongside the
virus," he added, noting the "enormous health, social and economic costs of
lockdowns".
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have all rolled out new rules since
Christmas limiting gatherings.
- Parties, protests, prayers -
Despite virus concerns, populations in many parts of the world have grown
increasingly weary of restrictions, sparking regular protests and defiance in
some countries. Dutch police on Saturday broke up a rave in breach of Covid
rules that was attended by hundreds in a disused factory, local media reported.
Dozens of police officers entered the makeshift venue in the central town of
Rijswijk with hundreds more mobilized to shepherd people away, NOS television
said. The illegal rave attracted people from far and wide with locals saying
they had seen vehicles come in from France and Germany but also as far away as
Spain and Italy. And in Stuttgart, Germany, about 100 activists attempted to
stage an unauthorized protest against Covid vaccines and restrictions. The virus
was also on the minds of some worshippers who hiked to the summit of Mount
Mitake in Japan to pray at a shrine and watch the first sunrise of 2022.
"Naturally, I prayed for a new year to be one in which the coronavirus goes
away," said visitor Rie Mogi.
The Latest The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on January 02-03/2022
Is Climate Change a Threat to Peace and Security?
*Najib Saab/Asharq Al Awsat/January 02/2022
The United Nations concluded its 2021 environmental discourse with a resolution,
endorsed by a majority of the General Assembly members, deeming climate change a
threat to world peace and security. However, the resolution was vetoed by Russia
when presented to the UN Security Council. While it had strong support from rich
and poor countries most affected by climate change, especially small
island-states, the resolution was opposed by a group of developing countries,
with China taking the middle ground and abstaining from voting.
Supporters of the project considered that climate change represents an
existential threat to humanity, and addressing its effects requires binding
decisions at the Security Council level. As for the opponents, they feared that
the decision would turn into a pretext for imposing strict measures on
developing countries to reduce their emissions, without providing them with
sufficient support and the promised aid to enable them to make a smooth
transition to a green economy that maintains the balance of natural resources
and reduces emissions.
The Russian objection to transferring the climate issue to the Security Council
was based on the assumption that the move might turn a scientific issue into a
political one. But proponents of the resolution said that the recent political
climate summit in Glasgow already settled the matter, when it adopted the
findings of the scientific reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC), and left it to national politicians to make the
implementation decisions. The summit agreed to take the necessary measures to
limit the increase in global temperatures at 1.5 degrees, with all measures
entailed to reduce emissions to zero by mid-century. While a large number of
countries pledged to achieve this goal by 2045, China committed to 2060 at the
latest. Rich countries also pledged to enhance their support for poor countries,
so that they can achieve their development goals in parallel with reducing
emissions. Compliance with these pledges, by rich developed countries,
developing countries and China, embodies the principle of “common but
differentiated responsibility” in international environmental law, which puts a
higher share of the responsibility for fighting climate change and its costs, at
the door of countries historically responsible for the bulk of emissions and
resource depletion.
The Chinese centrist position was a well-calculated political stand. It is as if
China was saying: We acknowledge the scientific findings evidenced by facts,
that the effects of climate change are huge and constitute an urgent danger that
must be addressed with swift measures. We recognize the catastrophic effects of
climate change on health, the spread of epidemics, the degradation of natural
resources, droughts, fresh water scarcity, food production and rising seas that
threaten vast regions and entire countries with extinction. However, any
Security Council resolutions must be balanced, requiring rich and advanced
countries to shoulder their historical responsibilities and abide by their
commitments, before sanctions are unleashed on everyone.
The debate at the UN General Assembly and the vetoed draft resolution in the
Security Council were the subject of a discussion I participated in, together
with a US researcher in climate affairs, and a political consultant who was a
senior member of former US President Donald Trump’s administration. While the
university academic and I agreed that climate change indeed poses a threat to
human existence and global peace and security, and is likely to cause famine,
wars, conflicts and unprecedented waves of refugees, the former American
official had a contradictory position, replicating the populist ideology led by
President Trump. He considered that climate change does not enjoy a scientific
consensus, despite reliable American studies that confirm that the proportion of
skeptics of climate change among American scientific researchers themselves does
not exceed 2 percent. He stated that the immediate effect on the climate and
human health is from other gases than carbon dioxide. This is true, which makes
it necessary to reduce pollutants such as sulfur, carbon monoxide, ozone,
methane and dust particulates from the atmosphere, it is also true that burning
fuel without proper controls is the main cause of these toxic emissions.
Reiterating President Trump’s accusations against the media that it is false and
biased, he said the media is responsible for exaggerating the climate problem
and blowing it out of proportion. Apparently, he missed the fact that the
scientific reports of the IPCC are the basis of what is reported in the media,
and that these reports are issued unanimously by committees that include the
most prominent climate scientists in the world.
When populists fail to refute scientific facts, they turn to economics. The new
US administration’s commitment to its climate pledges will lead, according to
the former Trump adviser, to a decline in the United States’ competitiveness,
vis-à-vis China. I had to remind him that what weakened US competitiveness was
the Trump administration’s withdrawal from climate pledges and programs, which
made China lead the solar industry and flood world markets with its products.
Were it not for the continuation of major American companies to build their
future plans for a post-Trump era, on the basis of the imperativeness of
reducing emissions and transitioning to a green economy, the US would have
completely lost its competitive edge.
The United States and European countries are pressing today to conclude binding
agreements that lead to confronting the challenges of climate change, the latest
of which was their failed attempt to pass a resolution in the Security Council
that considers climate change a threat to global peace and security. It is
comprehensible that some countries fear the possible consequences of such a
decision, but it is the responsibility of the US and Europe to take steps
designed to remove reservations and inspire confidence.
What is required, at the outset, is that the US and Europe set a role-model
example and prove the seriousness of their promises and commitments, starting at
home front. For example, they cannot call for a reduction in emissions on one
hand, and demand that oil-producing countries raise the production ceiling to
lower prices, on the other. Seriousness calls for rapid rationalization of
consumption within the US and Europe. A country like Germany cannot demand
drastic measures from the world to tackle the repercussions of climate change,
while its government is still unable to set speed limits on its highways, under
pressure from German manufacturers promoting their fast engines, knowing that
the faster the engine, the higher the carbon emissions.
Second, developed countries should assist in science, technology transfer and
training, so that developing countries can possess their own capabilities to
make a transition to a green economy, by rationalizing the use of clean energy
and balanced management of natural resources to ensure their renewal and
sustainability.
Finally, it is required that rich developed countries provide financial support
to developing countries to help them implement transformation programs, by
focusing on investments, not just loans which squeeze poor countries with
additional debts.
After achieving these fair conditions, no country will be able to oppose a UN
resolution that considers climate change to be a threat to peace and security.
Until then, poverty, including energy poverty, will remain the number one threat
to global peace and security.
*Secretary-General of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) and
editor-in-chief of Environment & Development magazine
‘Deals with the devil’ are short-sighted folly
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/January 02/2022
After a troubled 2021, forecasts across the Middle East and North Africa region
are plentiful, and colored in a familiar palette ranging from promise to dread.
New opportunities continue to flourish even in the midst of successive pandemic
waves and other global challenges, such as a warming planet or intensifying
great power rivalry. Of greater concern, however, are mounting regional
tensions, and the numerous localized difficulties as Arab countries try to
settle into a “new normal” that seems to point toward greater Arab cohesion,
sparked by accelerating American disengagement.
What that “normal” is will vary by country, but at a regional level America’s
disinterest has catalyzed alternative forms of engagement to manage conflict and
resolve tensions among even the bitterest of rivals. There is some hope that
dialogue, new forms of diplomacy, and even outright rapprochement will fare much
better than force of arms in extraterritorial battles that only sow woes rather
than reap geostrategic gains. On a broader level, this new trajectory promises
much in terms of the enduring stability and peace that have always been elusive
across the MENA region, and perhaps explains why there is so much optimism.
But there is a problem.
There has been a stunning shift in the global community’s normalization of
malign actors in some of the world’s most volatile regions. It emerged in Syria,
and is fast permeating conflict resolution processes in other hotspots across
the region.
What were once protracted civil wars — tragic remnants of lost aspirations from
a decade ago — have stalled, since there are no diplomatic or military solutions
to settling differences among warring factions. However, to neighboring states,
the region, and the world beyond, continued instability in the absence of a
political settlement poses just as much as risk as the resumption of
hostilities. Thus, instead of using the lull in fighting to push for inclusive
dialogue, what the world community and parts of the region have elected to do is
to rehabilitate harmful actors and re-engage with known war criminals.
In Syria, US policy is clearly one of non-confrontation with the Assad regime
despite being a principal backer of the anti-Assad Syrian Kurds. It goes even
further. Washington did not oppose Syria's election to the World Health
Organization's executive board in May, nor did the White House reject Interpol’s
reintegration of Syria into its information exchange network in October. Despite
Interpol’s assurances, reintegrating Syria could still lead to the abuse of the
organization’s “red notices” to hunt the regime’s critics, from the political
opposition to journalists, and human rights activists anywhere in the world.
Furthermore, while unprecedented forms of cooperation are required to solve
Lebanon’s numerous woes, it is illogical to include Syria in a US-facilitated
energy deal whereby Damascus would also receive foreign energy. Stranger still,
the Biden administration is exploiting loopholes in the sanctions on those
responsible for human rights abuses against Syrian civilians.
There has been a stunning shift in the global community’s normalization of
malign actors in some of the world’s most volatile regions.
In addition to back-channel negotiations with Russia over Syria, the Biden
administration has also lifted some restrictions on financial engagements with
the Assad regime, opening the floodgates for funding that goes well beyond the
country’s humanitarian needs and may benefit the regime. It is a shocking
about-face from insisting the regime be held accountable for gross human rights
violations to elevating its status via active cooperation and engagement.
This strange coddling of malign actors is not unique to Syria. In Libya, a
notorious warlord accused of war crimes could become a frontrunner in now
postponed presidential elections. It caps a four-year rehabilitation of Khalifa
Haftar, leader of a militia he calls the Libyan National Army — an
anti-government insurgency — as a credible, legitimate voice in Libya's
political future.
His participation in the raft of conferences on Libya are often touted as the
only serious attempts at resolving its endless conflict and political malaise.
However, the more the global community embraces Haftar, the further it emboldens
his insurgency against the UN-recognized government in the west, which
culminated in a failed assault on the capital between 2019 and 2020. In 2021,
this continued embrace granted carte blanche to an unperturbed Haftar and his
chief political ally, Aguila Saleh, to essentially write the very law that will
govern the elections they hope will lead to their ascent to power. The world
must recognize that a power-sharing agreement between militias east and west of
the country is not going to solve the Libyan crises.
Similar developments are underway in Lebanon, which remains crippled by an
immovable political class resistant to much-needed reforms that would hopefully
divorce the state from Hezbollah, and restore the country's long-lost luster.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has been blocking cabinet meetings since October,
demanding the dismissal of the judge investigating the August 2020 Beirut port
blast. However, in a country facing the worst economic disaster since the
mid-19th century, with over 80 percent mired in poverty, and where child labor
has doubled in the last year alone, the international community does not appear
moved to ratchet up pressure on Lebanon's political elite.
Perfunctory sanctions and ineffectual asset freezes have not resulted in any
momentum on reforms, or shaken the establishment enough to revisit the well
known causes of Lebanon's political ills. The next chance for the Lebanese to
make a change is the parliamentary elections in May, but with an immovable
ruling elite and a largely uninterested international community, there is little
hope of any meaningful change. Clearly, despite the enormity of the allegations
against these malign actors, the world has decided that re-engagement is a more
realistic approach than intervention.
Proponents of this kind of normalization will point to significant strides in
peacebuilding. However, the coddling of harmful actors will merely embolden
others to escalate their activities, exacerbating humanitarian crises and
threatening regional security and stability.
In Afghanistan, no threats, inducements or the risk of imminent collapse have
persuaded the Taliban to cut ties with Al-Qaeda, complicating relief efforts and
threatening long-term stability. If the creeping normalization of malign actors
becomes the norm in 2022, even the Taliban may get a pass — just as Abdel Fattah
Al-Burhan has faced no consequences for the coup that derailed Sudan’s
democratic transition. He still remains a central figure in Sudan’s fractious
political landscape, despite having dismissed civilian bureaucrats and replaced
them with Bashir-era veterans.
In Iraq, pro-Iranian political groups are demanding inclusion in some form of
national consensus government. In it, however, senior officials would be
answerable to their party leaders first, and then the prime minister. Should the
Sadr bloc fail to form a credible government with a clear mandate, the heavily
armed pro-Iranian bloc are prepared to disrupt the whole processes.
To a conflict-fatigued region and a wary global community, the cheap way out is
normalization, and acceding to the demands of Iran-backed militias — but this
will just open up space for Tehran to continue meddling in Baghdad’s governance,
which does not bode well for Iraq’s stability, sovereignty and economic
re-emergence.
*Hafed Al-Ghwell is a senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Institute at the
John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Twitter: @HafedAlGhwell
بارعة علم الدين: ست أولويات للاختراقات الدبلوماسية في عام 2022
Six priorities for diplomatic breakthroughs in 2022
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/January 02/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/105236/105236/
Lebanon: The past year was another one of heartbreak, suffering and rapid
decline under the twin hegemony of Hezbollah and Tehran, underpinned by their
corrupt alliance with President Michel Aoun and Gebran Bassil, and the latter’s
destructive quest for the presidency. Hezbollah dominates the state, but exists
outside the principles and values of the state, and undermines the state’s
sovereignty and legitimacy. Aoun delayed elections until May because he knows
his Free Patriotic Movement will perform disastrously. When (and if) these
elections do occur, citizens must vote decisively for change — kullun yaani
kullun, all of them means all of them! Nevertheless, even the best possible
outcome of these elections would be only a modest first step in Lebanon’s long
journey out of the darkness. The Arab nations of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq will
never flourish without assertive and ambitious GCC and Arab involvement, capable
of dwarfing Iran’s hostile meddling.
****
Geopolitics in 2022 will continue to be defined by superpower rivalry between
America, China and Russia, with potential for imminent conflict in Ukraine.
Is the new year fated to repeat 2021’s disastrous failures of global leadership,
evidenced by the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan, Lebanon’s continued
disintegration, and breathtaking naivety in the face of Iran’s aggressive
expansionism? Here are six areas where energetic diplomacy and popular activism
could have a decisive impact.
China: The world cannot afford to demonize China with its extraordinary economic
and demographic weight, and its leadership’s achievements in lifting millions of
citizens out of poverty. But Beijing’s increasingly assertive authoritarian
ideology, its brutal treatment of Hong Kong and the Uighurs, and its flexing of
military muscles in the Pacific region, all necessitate a tough response.
Beijing can and must evolve into a constructive player on the world stage. A
principal challenge is that, compared with 20 years ago, international law and
multilateral forums have been dangerously weakened. If our multipolar world
cannot establish collective principles for peaceful coexistence, while
enshrining justice and fundamental human rights, we risk setting ourselves on
the path toward mutually assured annihilation.
Russia: President Vladimir Putin respects strength. The West must therefore
demonstrate resolve, not appeasement and indecision, in preempting any invasion
of Ukraine and further Russian encroachment into eastern Europe. With Russian
expansionism also on flagrant display in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, we
must demonstrate to autocrats in China, Russia, Iran and Turkey that such
violations of sovereignty can never be accepted by the civilized world.
However, elements of this Russian aggression stem from a sense of inferiority
and a perception that Moscow is not accorded its due respect on the world stage.
Whether we like it or not, Putin has forged Russia back into being a world
power, and it deserves mutual respect — if it plays by the rules. With Russia’s
economy already in a dire state, Biden has wisely reminded Putin of the
consequences if the West chose to sever Moscow from the global economy.
So much can be achieved in 2022, but only if leaders, diplomats and citizens
cooperate in the cause of global peace and stability, in a just and laws-based
world.
Lebanon: The past year was another one of heartbreak, suffering and rapid
decline under the twin hegemony of Hezbollah and Tehran, underpinned by their
corrupt alliance with President Michel Aoun and Gebran Bassil, and the latter’s
destructive quest for the presidency. Hezbollah dominates the state, but exists
outside the principles and values of the state, and undermines the state’s
sovereignty and legitimacy. Aoun delayed elections until May because he knows
his Free Patriotic Movement will perform disastrously. When (and if) these
elections do occur, citizens must vote decisively for change — kullun yaani
kullun, all of them means all of them! Nevertheless, even the best possible
outcome of these elections would be only a modest first step in Lebanon’s long
journey out of the darkness. The Arab nations of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq will
never flourish without assertive and ambitious GCC and Arab involvement, capable
of dwarfing Iran’s hostile meddling.
Iran: US diplomats I speak to recognize that Tehran is cynically playing for
time in nuclear negotiations. The microscopic compromises that Iran may be
willing to countenance will have zero impact in neutralizing the Islamic
Republic as a global threat and an exporter of terrorism, paramilitarism,
narcotics and weapons proliferation.
With Tehran months away from nuclear break-out capacity, 2022 is the
make-or-break year when the world must grasp the implications of what is
required to prevent the ayatollahs from menacing the world with nuclear and
ballistic weapons. Will 2022 be the year when courageous Iranians bring down
their hated leaders? Or the year when the long-expected confrontation between
Israel and Iran finally erupts? Drastic diplomatic action is necessary to
forestall this latter apocalyptic scenario.
Iraq: Iran-backed militants from Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi performed abysmally in
elections, but they still hope to exploit their paramilitary and economic muscle
to obstruct any curtailing of their political power. The world has the perfect
opportunity to knock these terrorists down to size, through drastic cuts to
Hashd funding and enforcing laws which dictate that these forces should cease
existing as independent entities. In a state drowning in corruption, the Hashd’s
aggressive brinkmanship risks dragging Iraq back into conflict, with some of the
most brutal rivalry in evidence within the Shiite camp itself. Iraq and Lebanon
face a stark choice between restoring their independence, identity and
sovereignty, or a slow and painful demise as militia states.
Religious diversity: It has never been more important to halt the inexorable
eradication of Christians and other minorities across the Middle East,
particularly in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, where chronic instability has made life
unlivable. Christian, Jewish, Druze, Palestinian and Yazidi communities have
immensely enriched the region’s cultural heritage. But such has been the rate of
coerced emigration, due to economic collapse and the horrors of persecution,
that historic communities are falling to levels where they are scarcely
sustainable. This is a catastrophe for the world.
This year should be the one when conflicts in Yemen, Syria and Libya are finally
resolved, with renewed commitment to muscular diplomacy, and Libyans likely to
soon gain their opportunity to vote. Meanwhile, while the world prevaricates,
Afghanistan teeters on the brink of complete collapse and mass starvation, and
Afghan women have been utterly divested of their hard-won rights. Palestinians
continue to be squeezed out of existence. After the unimpressive Glasgow 2021
climate change summit, intensified worldwide efforts are necessary to rescue the
planet.
Plagued by the afflictions of populism, intolerance and nativism and the rise in
anti-democratic forces, the past decade witnessed a progressive Western
withdrawal from the world. This encouraged predatory powers to expand, giving
rise to profound illiberal, authoritarian and retrogressive tendencies — just
one manifestation of which has been media purges and killings of journalists.
We hope that 2022 will witness a turn in this tide, as people realize that if we
desire a stable and prosperous world that reflects our values, then we must be
vigorously involved in the world, and influence it for the better. So much can
be achieved in 2022, but only if leaders, diplomats and citizens cooperate in
the cause of global peace and stability, in a just and laws-based world.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.