English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For 14 July/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.july14.22.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus cures the Caaanite Woman’s Daughter/Woman,
great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was
healed instantly.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew
15/21-28/:”Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting,
‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’But
he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying,
‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’He answered, ‘I was sent only
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’But she came and knelt before him,
saying, ‘Lord, help me.’He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food
and throw it to the dogs.’She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from their masters’ table.’Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is
your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed
instantly..
Titels
For English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News
& Editorials published on July 13-14/2022
Lawsuit filed in US over Beirut blast for $250 mn
Govt. formation struggle: Any progress soon?
Lebanon to lodge complaint with Security Council against Israel
Gantz says Hezbollah will pay for 'Palestinian terror' carried out from Lebanon
President Aoun meets French ambassador Grillo
US naval forces begin maritime exercise with Lebanon
Khalil denies hiring lawyers in US to lift sanctions imposed on him
Jumblat warns from disaster, says 'no escape' from reforms
Bassil: Mikati doesn't want to form a new government
Berri slams wage disparity between public sector employees
Finance Subcommittee completes bank secrecy law review
Huawei redefines Lebanon’s future through advanced technologies
Nasrallah declares 'beyond Karish' equation, says 'war more honorable than
starvation'
"Lebanese president must be elected within constitutional deadline, France tells
Aoun
The election of a new president while Lebanon is occupied is merely
futile/Jean-Marie Kassab/July 13/2022
The futile quest to form the next Lebanese government/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya
English/July 13/2022
Did Lebanon Have a ‘Belle Epoque’ in the First Place?/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq
Al-Awsat/July 13/2022
Titles For Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
July 13-14/2022
US President Biden’s visit to Saudi unlikely to lead to lasting
relations: Luttwak/Jennifer Bell, Al Arabiya English/July 13/2022
Israel Lasers in on Iranian Drone Threat as Biden Visits
US, Israel Announce New Tech Partnership
Biden Greeted as Old Friend in Israel at Start of Middle East Tour
Biden to ‘Minimize Contact’ on Middle East Visit Due to COVID-19
Security ties between Israel and Gulf states strengthen, changing face of region
Biden lays wreath at Yad Vashem, meets Holocaust survivors
Russia’s Deepening Ties with Iran Represents a ‘Profound Threat’, Says White
House
Iran Slams Biden’s Vow to Pile Pressure on it to Revive Nuclear Deal
France Sees Weeks to Save Iran Nuclear Deal, but US Sets No Deadline
Iran Vows to Stick To ‘Rightful and Logical’ Stance in Nuclear Talks
Iran Says it Arrests Members of Kurdish ‘Terror Network’
Tightening Hijab Restrictions Sparks Debate between Civil Society, Iranian
Authorities
UN sees progress in talks to free up Ukraine grain exports
Titles For LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on July 13-14/2022
The Siege of Acre: When “Muslims Were Tried by an Unparalleled
Disaster/Raymond Ibrahim/July 13/2022
Turkey Celebrates Barbaric Conquest of Constantinople, Seeks to “Bury” the
“Current Byzantines”/Raymond Ibrahim/July 13/2022
America's Retreat by 1,000 Small Steps/Peter Schweizer/Gatestone Institute./July
13/2022
Are Democrats Rivals of Saudi Arabia?/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/July
13/2022
Will Efforts to Establish Grain Corridors from Ukraine Succeed?/Omer
Onhon/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 13/2022
Because it Is Saudi Arabia/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 13/2022
Searching for an Honest Man"/Lawrence Kadish/ Gatestone Institute./July 13/2022
Biden’s Saudi visit is a return to the norm, not a ‘reorientation’/Faisal
J. Abbas/Arab News/July 13/2022
The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on July 13-14/2022
Lawsuit filed in US over Beirut blast for $250 mn
Agence France Presse/July
13/2022
Victims of Lebanon's deadly 2020 port blast have filed a quarter-billion-dollar
lawsuit against a US firm for its suspected links to the tragedy, a Swiss
foundation assisting the plaintiffs said Wednesday. Accountability Now said in a
statement that the claim was filed this week in Texas against US-Norwegian
geophysical services group TGS. The company owns British firm Spectrum Geo,
which a decade ago chartered the Rhosus ship, which was carrying the ammonium
nitrate that was subsequently unloaded at Beirut port and exploded on August 4,
2020. The blast -- described as one of the largest non-nuclear explosion in
recent history -- killed more than 200 people, wounded thousands and ravaged
entire neighborhoods. Accountability Now said Spectrum had "entered into a
series of highly profitable but suspicious contracts with the ministry of energy
of Lebanon" to transport seismic survey equipment from Lebanon allegedly to
Jordan aboard the Rhosus. The minister at the time was Gebran Bassil, President
Michel Aoun's son-in-law, who has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the
explosion. Spectrum had chartered the derelict Moldovan-flagged Rhosus but the
ship never actually set sail. The Lebanese investigation into the blast has
faced systematic and blatant political obstruction from day one. The cataclysmic
explosion happened when what was left of the 2,750-tonne stock of ammonium
nitrate that came off the Rhosus seven years earlier caught fire. It remains
unclear what caused the fire, but victims want the officials whose negligence
and corruption allowed the hazardous material to remain poorly stored for years
to face justice. The nine plaintiffs are all US citizens and include Sarah
Copland, the mother of two-year-old Isaac Copland, who was one of the
explosion's youngest victims. The lead counsel in the "strict liability" case is
US firm Ford O'Brien Landy LLP, and Accountability Now's lawyer Zena Wakim said
TGS's response should be known "in the coming months". "This lawsuit is a first.
It's a way of circumventing the obstruction that has the investigation has faced
in Lebanon," Wakim told AFP."The evidence that will be generated by this lawsuit
can also benefit the Lebanese investigation," she said. "The spirit of the claim
is to benefit all the victims."
Govt. formation struggle: Any progress soon?
Naharnet/July 13/2022
Circles close to the Free Patriotic Movement told al-Joumhouria newspaper, in
remarks published Wednesday, that the worst thing that might happen is to give
the presidential powers to a caretaker government. The sources urged for a quick
formation before the end of President Michel Aoun's term. While the daily
considered that there will be no progress regarding the government formation in
the coming days, al-Manar TV said that there is no rupture between Aoun and
Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati. "The hitch is in the suggestions, not in
the appointments," al-Manar added. On another note, Ali Darwish, former MP in
Mikati's bloc, said that the PM-designate is open to all suggestions and
affirmed that Mikati is on good terms with Aoun.
Lebanon to lodge complaint with Security Council against
Israel
Petra/July 13/2022
Lebanese President Michel Aoun Wednesday said that Lebanon plans to file a
complaint with the Security Council if it continues to violate Lebanese
airspace. According to the Lebanese presidency, Aoun
had informed the commander of the international forces operating in the south
(UNIFIL), Major General Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, about his plans to move against
Israel, noting that the Israeli violations have become "almost daily," violating
Security Council Resolution 1701.Aoun noted the need for coordination between
the Lebanese army and UNIFIL to uphold stability in the southern region to avoid
disputes between international soldiers and residents during UNIFIL's patrols in
villages. He expressed his hope that the Security
Council would extend the period of UNIFIL forces operations at the end of next
month, highlighting their role in maintaining security and stability in southern
Lebanon. In turn, Saenz reiterated the commitment of
UNIFIL to continue working to enhance cooperation with the Lebanese authorities
to uphold peace and stability.
Gantz says Hezbollah will pay for 'Palestinian terror'
carried out from Lebanon
Naharnet/July 13/2022
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has accused Hezbollah of military
cooperation with Hamas. Gantz warned that the "actions" of Hezbollah leader
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah would lead to a powerful response by the Israeli army.
He added that Palestinian "terror" from Lebanon could endanger Lebanese citizens
and lead to a "loss of control." "Lebanon will pay the price for actions carried
out from within its territory," Gantz said. Gantz's statements come a month
after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Nasrallah and Lebanese officials in
Beirut and a day ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to Israel.
President Aoun meets French ambassador Grillo
Naharnet/July 13/2022
French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo met Wednesday with President Michel
Aoun to discuss the Lebanese-French ties and the latest political developments
in Lebanon. Grillo stressed the necessity of respecting the constitutional
deadlines in the government formation and in the presidential election and the
importance of reaching positive results in the mediated negotiations over the
sea border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel.
She also urged the Lebanese Parliament to issue the needed laws for the economic
and financial recovery.
US naval forces begin maritime exercise with Lebanon
Naharnet/July 13/2022
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)
have kicked off exercise Resolute Union 2022. The annual exercise focuses on
maritime security operations, mine countermeasures and explosive ordnance
disposal. “For 22 years, the Resolute Union exercises have built collaboration
between our armed forces and ensured the LAF are prepared to carry out their
mission,” said U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea. “Despite all the
challenges facing the LAF this year in the context of Lebanon’s economic crisis,
they have shown extraordinary commitment and the United States will continue to
offer our full support to all their efforts,” she added. Approximately 60 U.S.
personnel from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Coast Guard are
participating. “This is an excellent opportunity to work with our highly capable
Lebanese partners and strengthen our relationship,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper,
commander of NAVCENT, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. “Working
together enhances regional security and stability,” he added. NAVCENT is
headquartered in Manama, Bahrain and includes U.S. forces operating in the
Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three
critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal and Bab al-Mandeb.
Khalil denies hiring lawyers in US to lift sanctions
imposed on him
Naharnet/July 13/2022
MP Ali Hassan Khalil, who is Speaker Nabih Berri’s political aide and a former
finance minister, denied Tuesday a media report alleging that he has hired a law
firm in the United States in order to lift the U.S. sanctions imposed on him.
These are “baseless fabrications,” Khalil said in a statement.
“I’m not convinced in the first place with filing a lawsuit before the U.S.
authorities, because the sanctions they imposed were political par excellence
and are targeted against my position and political role in the (Amal) Movement,”
he added. Describing the article published by the journalist Nicolas Nassif in
al-Akhbar newspaper as “suspicious,” Khalil threatened Nassif with a lawsuit if
he doesn’t “correct and publish this statement.”In his article, Nassif claims
that Khalil has “tasked a law firm with defending him before the U.S.
authorities for a preliminary sum of money said to be $1.5 million.”
Jumblat warns from disaster, says 'no escape' from reforms
Naharnet/July 13/2022
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said Wednesday there is no
escape from the necessity of carrying out reforms. "Some say that the large
number of tourists is a sign of prosperity and they forget that the Central
Bank's reserves are declining every day as a result of the absence of basic
reforms," Jumblat tweeted. He added that when the reserves run out, the
situation will be disastrous and "we will enter the unknown.""There is no
escaping that reforms must be carried out," Jumblat concluded.
Bassil: Mikati doesn't want to form a new government
Naharnet/July 13/2022
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil accused Wednesday Prime
Minister-designate Najib Mikati of seeking constitutional means in order to keep
the caretaker government and avoid forming a new cabinet.
"Mikati doesn't want to form a new government," Bassil said in a statement. He
added that a government cannot be formed "between a yacht and a plane" nor
"between Greece and Britain." "It must be formed in the Baabda palace between
the President and the PM-designate."Bassil went on to say that "they do not want
to make any accomplishment" during President Michel Aoun's term.
Berri slams wage disparity between public sector employees
Naharnet/July 13/2022
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday that the salary disparity between
the different categories of public sector employees would lead to a greater
collapse and will have social and economic repercussions. Berri called for
rectifying the salaries' issue, even if it requires to immediately freeze the
decision "before it is too late."The Speaker's statement comes after Central
Bank Governor Riad Salameh reportedly issued a decision to increase the judges'
salaries. Some MPs and the caretaker minister of Labor considered the decision
to be "selective," as other public sector employees have been protesting for
salary adjustments.
Finance Subcommittee completes bank secrecy law review
Naharnet/July 13/2022
Head of the Finance and Budget Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan said Wednesday that
the Finance Subcommittee has reviewed a reformed bank secrecy law and will send
it to the Finance and Budget committee for approval. The Finance and Budget
Committee will discuss the law tomorrow, Thursday, along with the World Bank
wheat loan. A law that lifts bank secrecy was required by the International
Monetary Fund in order to fight corruption and to detect and investigate
financial crimes.
Huawei redefines Lebanon’s future through advanced
technologies
Naharnet/July 13/2022
Huawei announced Wednesday it is working to help Lebanon lift its economy
through technology. "Lebanon stands at the precipice of change – it needs to
move forward and prioritize the implementation of a resilient ICT strategy in
order to secure its bright future," the CEO of Huawei in Lebanon, Aiden Li, said
in a statement. Li added that the World Bank Group has adapted its strategy to
support Lebanon’s emerging needs – the Performance and Learning Review (PLR) of
the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) to make it more people-centric, being
more selective in the sectors that directly benefit the poor and most
vulnerable, including refugees, and preparing the ground for a reform program.
He said that the government also recently signed the U.N. Sustainable
Development Cooperation Framework, which aims to strengthen the capacity of
Lebanese institutions to deliver on their duties and promote sustainable
development for a prosperous, inclusive Lebanese society. "The ongoing difficult
economic turmoil has left Lebanon more vulnerable to cyber security attacks.
Such attacks at a national level can potentially impact government services,
business continuity, or loss of critical data. As Lebanon builds its ICT
infrastructure, it’s imperative that it strengthens its cyber security posture
and seal crucial perimeters," Li added. "Speaking at a cyber-security conference
in Beirut in June this year, Chairman of the Arab Internet & Telecom Union Feras
Bakour urged Arab states to invest more in cyber technology, as digital
transformation contributes to only 4 percent of the region's GDP growth. He
further reiterated the importance of studying all aspects of cyber threats and
allocating funds to the development of human resources," the statement went on
to say.
Li stressed the Lebanese's resilience, innovation and determination in the face
of adversity. "In fact, a team from Lebanon bagged second place in the Practice
Competition, during the Global Finals of Huawei ICT Competition 2021-2022 in
Shenzhen, China. They competed and won against 150,000 students that
participated in the competition from more than 2,000 universities in 85
countries and regions worldwide. A Lebanon-based team was also one of the two
teams from the Middle East to be shortlisted amongst the top ten finalists in
Huawei’s inaugural Tech4Good Global Competition 2022," Li said.
"This is why we believe that delivering high-quality ICT education and training
will arm these youths with the skills and knowledge required, and will help
ensure that we do not fall behind in the global digitization race.
A robust, resilient and secure national 5G network is key to helping Lebanon act
on the world stage, from reliable communications to enabling swift business
transactions."Li went on to say that back in 2019, Huawei performed the nation’s
first commercial trial of 5G together with telco Touch. "We are now working to
help Lebanon lift its economy through technology, given its global leadership as
the first ICT company globally to unveil a full range of end-to-end (E2E)
3GPP-compliant 5G product solutions, and the world’s first 5G chipset," he
added.
"While the government is championing technology adoption with the aim of
digitally and electronically transforming Lebanon and creating smart cities, the
implementation of 5G capabilities will serve to underpin a digital ecosystem,
helping drive forward this urgent need for digital transformation.
There is a great deal of room for growth. According to government figures, in
2018, ICT contributed to around 2.1% of the nation’s GDP, the equivalent of
US$1.1 billion, and the sector's total impact on GDP, whether direct or
indirect, is forecasted to reach US$7 billion by 2025," the statement said.
The statement added that the commercial deployment of 5G networks in Lebanon
will significantly contribute to the country’s economic activity, creating
thousands of new jobs, including cybersecurity professionals, network
technicians and engineers. And while the COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays in
introducing 5G, the GSMA forecasts that Lebanon will have commercial 5G services
by 2024.
"Working in partnership with leading universities to sponsor Huawei ICT
Academies helps ensure the brightest students have access to cutting-edge
technologies, internships and real-world job opportunities. The academies
deliver training and certification programs to both instructors and students via
the Huawei Authorized Information and Network Academy program (HAINA). "Via such
collaborations, Huawei and its academic partners aim to contribute towards the
development of Lebanon’s ICT talent ecosystem, in line with Lebanon’s Digital
Transformation Strategy. Together, we are ensuring there is a capable talent
pool, ready to face the challenges of digitalization. "Digital transformation
comes with a need to manage energy requirements – through the lens of
sustainability – and those requirements are being deeply considered by Huawei in
a digital energy roadmap. The approach to utilizing technology in managing power
is designed to help nations like Lebanon manage renewable energy through smart
grid technology, cutting-edge storage solutions and demand-side management, for
example.
"But the backbone of any digital transformation strategy needs to revolve around
education, security and reliability. Huawei has been working with the Lebanese
government, the private sector and academia since first establishing its
regional presence in the 1990s, to build a talent supply chain covering the
entire learning, certification, and employment process; to create a robust,
secure national communications network and to protect that network with
world-class cybersecurity," Huawei's CEO said.
He concluded that "for Lebanon to move forwards and regain its global
competitive footing, we need to work together in creating a bright new future,
driven by digitalization. Without nurturing future talent and adopting
future-proof technology, this cannot be achieved."
Nasrallah declares 'beyond Karish' equation, says 'war more
honorable than starvation'
Naharnet/July 13, 2022
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday announced a new equation
resembling his famous “beyond, beyond Haifa” slogan during the 2006 war,
threatening to “flip the table on the entire world” if Lebanon does not get
allowed to benefit from its offshore oil and gas resources. “For the first time
in the history of the Zionist entity, the resistance launched three drones at
the same time and towards the same target, and we have the ability to send armed
drones of various sizes and with bigger numbers,” Nasrallah said in a televised
speech, referring to Hezbollah’s sending of three unarmed drones towards the
Israeli-operated Karish gas field ten days ago. “The drones message and its
magnitude say that we are serious and will be gradual in our choices. We will do
what’s needed and this message has been delivered to the enemy. We have various
capabilities on land, at sea and in the air and all of these are open choices.
We will do anything that serves our cause with the right magnitude, at the right
time and in the right way,” Nasrallah added.
Addressing both “enemies and friends,” Hezbollah’s chief said he is “not waging
a psychological war.”“We are serious and this path is the only path to rescue
the state. If we continue in this manner, we are heading towards what’s worse
than war,” he added. Noting that there are sides that want to “destroy the
country” and to “see people standing in queues and killing each other out of
hunger,” Hezbollah’s leader said “threatening with war and going to war would be
more honorable than what the enemy wants for us.”"If we go to war, we might
impose our conditions on the enemy," Nasrallah said
“If you don’t allow (international) companies to extract oil (from Lebanon’s
offshore fields), we will flip the table on the entire world,” he threatened. “I
tell the Zionist enemy and the Americans that the drones message is a modest
beginning for what we might go to,” he warned.
“Write down the new equation: Karish, what’s beyond Karish and what’s beyond,
beyond Karish, and we are following up on all fields, wells and platforms across
Palestine,” Nasrallah added. "If the objective is to prevent Lebanon from
extracting oil and gas, no one will be able to extract gas and oil nor to sell
gas and oil, no matter the consequences," he went on to say. Moreover,
Hezbollah’s secretary general stressed that “the resistance is the only strength
that Lebanon possesses to extract gas and oil.”
“Hundreds of billions of dollars can be secured from the offshore gas in order
to rescue Lebanon,” he noted. “There is a golden chance in these coming two
months, in light of the U.S.-European need for gas,” Nasrallah said, warning
that “Lebanon has the ability to obstruct the sale of gas to Europe.”Addressing
Lebanese officials, Nasrallah stated: “Do not allow the Americans to deceive you
and pass time. You should obtain your rights before September, or else things
will become more difficult.”Referring to U.S. energy envoy Amos Hochstein,
Nasrallah said “the so-called U.S. mediator is not a mediator but rather a party
and he is working for the Israelis.”“What brought Hochstein on his latest visit
(to Lebanon) are two things -- the urgent need to secure an alternative to the
Russian gas and the resistance’s serious threats,” Nasrallah boasted. “We said
that we will not stand idly by, we are following up on the developments and we
have the right to make any step at any time,” he stressed. Nasrallah also
refrained from directly commenting on the statement issued by caretaker PM Najib
Mikati and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib that criticized
Hezbollah for sending the drones. Mikati and Bou Habib said at the time it was
an unnecessarily risky action. "Whether our message was understood in Lebanon or
not, we don't care about that. What is important for us is that the enemy gets
the message," he said. The maritime border dispute between Lebanon and Israel
returned to the fore last month after Israel moved a production vessel into
Karish, parts of which are claimed by Lebanon. The move pushed the Lebanese
government to call for the resumption of U.S.-mediated negotiations that had hit
a wall last year over demarcation disputes. President Michel Aoun, caretaker
Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab and senior
Israeli sources have in recent days announced that progress has been made in the
negotiations and that they expect positive results soon. U.S. mediator Hochstein
is meanwhile accompanying U.S. President Joe Biden on a visit to Israel that
began a few hours prior to Nasrallah’s speech. The U.S. mediator is expected to
hold talks with Israeli energy officials over the sea border dispute with
Lebanon.
"Lebanese president must be elected within
constitutional deadline, France tells Aoun
Najia Houssari/Arab News/July 13, 2022
France’s ambassador to Lebanon clarified the French position amid growing
concerns of a possible presidential vacuum
Lebanon faces a political deadlock in forming a new government until a new
president is elected
BEIRUT: France’s ambassador to Lebanon has urged President Michel Aoun to
respect constitutional deadlines on the election of his replacement as the
country struggles to avoid a crippling political stalemate.
In talks with Aoun on Wednesday, Anne Grillo clarified the French position amid
growing concerns of a possible presidential vacuum after Aoun’s term ends on
Oct. 31. She highlighted “the importance of speeding up parliament’s approval of
the necessary laws to restore the economic and financial situation, in addition
to following up on the Beirut port blast and fixing responsibilities.”Lebanon
faces a political deadlock in forming a new government until a new president is
elected. Meanwhile, parliament is scheduled to start holding sessions to elect a
president as of September. The government is yet to be formed due to the
campaigns launched by the Free Patriotic Movement headed by Gebran Bassil
against Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, despite the latter presenting to
Aoun what he called a “full-featured” government formation.
Those close to the president said he rejected it because the Ministry of Energy
was not given to a Christian FPM-affiliated figure. Instead, Mikati suggested a
Sunni figure, not affiliated with the FPM, and kept the Ministry of Finance for
the Shiite duo, Hezbollah and the Amal movement. Bassil said: “Mikati does not
want to form a new government and is looking for constitutional loopholes to
keep his resigned caretaker government.”There are growing rumors that the
current FPM-affiliated ministers may withdraw from the caretaker government,
ending its legitimacy, should Mikati decide to transfer the president’s powers
to the premier in the event of a presidential vacuum.
However, constitutional expert Saeed Malek said that withdrawing from an already
resigned government does not mean anything. “The constitutional principle
stipulated the continuity of this public facility. Shouldn’t ministers, in this
case, remain in charge until a new government is formed or other ministers
replace them?” Malek said: “If these people unilaterally quit their job, they
could be held accountable and prosecuted by parliament for the offense of not
fulfilling their duties.” In light of the political stalemate, state
institutions are facing new strikes by public employees.
Georges Brax, a member of the gas station owners’ syndicate, said the
fuel price table was not issued due to the strike staged by the General
Directorate of Oil employees. Fadi Abu Shakra, a representative of the union for
fuel distributors and gas stations in Lebanon, said: “If the strike continues,
the import of fuel ships will stop because import licenses will be suspended
since public employees will not be doing their jobs. The situation is
critical.”The crisis has been worsened by leaked new measures to pay the
salaries of judges based on the exchange rate of 8,000 Lebanese pounds to the
dollar, thus multiplying their value, since they still get paid based on the
official rate of 1,507 Lebanese pounds to the dollar.
Before the economic crisis in 2019, a judge’s salary in Lebanon was equivalent
to about $5,000 (7.5 million Lebanese pounds.) But since the national currency’s
depreciation, it became equivalent to $150. If judges were to be paid based on
the 8,000 LBP/USD rate, they would make $937, which is far more than Lebanese
university professors, high-ranking public employees and military officers are
currently making.
Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri demanded on Wednesday all discriminatory
measures against different public sector employees be stopped, claiming they
will lead to collapses greater than the financial and economic slumps. Public
employees are demanding that their salaries, benefits, transportation
allowances, and compensation be increased according to the prevailing conditions
and inflation. The heads of departments in the
Directorate of Public Finance, in coordination with the Directorate of Treasury,
the Directorate of Budget and Expenditure Control, and the Directorate of
Administrative Affairs, joined the protest movement by announcing Wednesday that
they are going on strike until the salaries of Ministry of Finance employees are
increased based on the 8,000 LBP/USD rate, and their transportation allowances
raised according to the new gas prices. Member of the Development and Liberation
bloc, MP Mohammed Khawaja, described the decision of the Banque du Liban
governor regarding the judges’ salaries as bribery. MP
Halima Kaakour warned against adopting different exchange rates in different
sectors, and stressed the need to modify the salaries of public employees within
a comprehensive recovery plan that does justice to the employees and protects
them from inflation.
The election of a new president while Lebanon is occupied is merely futile
Jean-Marie Kassab/July 13/2022
The election of a new president, if it ever happens, will not change anything at
all as long as Lebanon will still be under Iranian occupation. Matters will go
on getting worse. I am sorry to say that to all of those betting on such
elections and set counters for the issue like " xx days to the departure of Aoun".
The situation did not change following the parliamentary elections. It will be
the same with the new president. The same scenario will apply, with its dreadful
consequences and disappointments. This is probably due to the public
disinformation spread around by both ill-intentioned power seekers as well as
shallow minded yet well intentioned desperate people.
No reform whatsoever was done. Government coffers are depleted. Etc etc. Why
would any international money body give us a penny?
Why would the international community extend any help if the Lebanese people
don’t even recognize the fact that Lebanon is occupied by Iran except for a very
few voices that are barely audible.
The circle we are running in is diabolic and looks inescapable. Most of the
Lebanese people are drugged. At least they look like it. Drugged most probably
by their own leaders.
It is time that a new leadership arises. Genuine and clean leadership and not
rotten. Leaders that act beyond their personal interests.
Lebanon is occupied by Iran.
Lebanon is about to collapse.
Do not be fooled by the sight of cafés full of rejoicing people. They remind me
of the musical band in the last minutes before the sinking Titanic. They remind
me of the last days of Saigon before the Vietnam war started.
God save Lebanon from his own people.
Jean-Marie Kassab
TASK FORCE LEBANON.
The futile quest to form the next Lebanese government
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya English/July
13/2022
The recent parliamentary election, which took place in Lebanon in mid-May, was
theoretically a chance for this failed state to regain a semblance of normalcy.
It should have jumpstarted a political and economic reform process that would be
met by the international community and particularly the International Monetary
Fund, which stands ready to inject funds and leverage international support.
Naturally, the process mentioned above is nowhere to be found as the Lebanese
ruling elite have yet to show any intention to champion and support any proper
reforms or to facilitate the formation of a government; one that can lead
Lebanon out of its abyss. As it stands, Lebanon has a caretaker cabinet led by
Prime Minister Najib Mikati, with 54 members of the new parliament recently
renamed to form the upcoming cabinet.
Yet Mikati’s constitutional mandate of forming the next cabinet was thwarted by
the incumbent president of the republic Michael Aoun. He rejected the line-up
offered to him, preferring to stall and refrain from publicly snubbing it.
Mikati, a veteran politician and a pillar of Lebanon’s ruling elite, not
necessarily a good thing, was aware of Aoun’s predisposition. Thus, he made sure
to leak the line-up to the press to embarrass and perhaps force the hand of
Aoun. It was a manoeuvre that failed to achieve its goal.
Naming Nawaf Salam Lebanon’s Prime Minster is the sensible thing to do
OPINION
Lebanon crisisNaming Nawaf Salam Lebanon’s Prime Minster is the sensible thing
to do
Mikati’s new line-up only introduced changes to six out of the current 24
members. These changes were designed to remove ministers with critical
portfolios who have proved to be incompetent and unfit to carry out their
duties. It includes primarily the Ministry of Economy, Energy, and Water and the
Ministry of Finances that are pivotal for Lebanon’s projected economic
resurgence. The Lebanese constitution grants the president the prerogative to
discuss any proposed cabinet line-up. Still, the ultimate vote of confidence is
reserved by the parliament. Yet, Aoun, time and again, has derailed and abused
his rights to secure gains for his son-in-law and political heir Gebran Bassil
and Hezbollah’s political fig leaf.
Mikati knows that the government he tries to put together will never see the
light of day. Yet, he is adamant not to come across as the reason for this
failure and, in the process, gain some merit points with the international
community who wishes for Lebanon to stand on its feet. Bassil and Aoun refuse to
grant Mikati this simple concession because Aoun’s term as president expires on
October 31. The projected failure to elect his replacement will leave Mikati’s
cabinet as the remaining caretaker executive power.
US government sanctions mire Bassil’s quest to replace his father-in-law. Thus,
he will try to stall until he can remove his name and be eligible to be elected
president, or so he hopes. Consequently, Bassil wishes to capitalize on power
before the end of Aoun’s term. He has put forth a package deal that includes an
agreement over critical ministerial portfolios, senior security positions,
diplomatic appointments as well as the governor of the central bank. It’s an
impossible feat to achieve given the current political status quo.
Coincidently, given the terrible projection of things, the Lebanese are left
with no choice but to try to avoid this scenario by either going back to the
streets and overthrowing the corrupt ruling elite or applying pressure on the
newly elected members of parliament, commonly referred to as the 13 reform MP’s.
Those classified as members of the opposition to drive through the demand to
elect a new neutral and capable president also form part of this group. Its aim
is to once and for all end the destructive legacy of Michael Aoun and
Hezbollah’s hold through him over all elements of the state.
The failure or success in forming the next cabinet will not stop the spiral
descent of the Lebanese state, as the entire political establishment has refused
to take any responsibility for their previous and future crimes and
mismanagement of state resources. It has consequently continued to use the
mandatory bank reserves - literally the savings of the Lebanese - to bankroll
their financial acrobatics. Pondering the government’s fate is time wasted;
let’s focus on the battle ahead.
Mikati and his fellow politicians might look like statesmen. They are nothing
but a façade for an archaic, corrupt system that has time and again endangered
the lives of its inhabitants. It has allowed Hezbollah, a transnational Iranian
militia, to seize control of the resources of the state all in the service of
Iran and its expansionist project. However, the Lebanese wish to deal with their
problems ahead. It has become apparent that the current political system and all
that comes with it have become toxic and incorrigible. It must be put to sleep
and never allowed resurrected.
Did Lebanon Have a ‘Belle Epoque’ in the First Place?
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 13/2022
The Lebanese can’t stop talking about their belle epoque, and the worse their
conditions become- and they are doing so on a daily basis- the more they use
this term. Did Lebanon indeed have a belle epoque before the economic crisis
accompanied by Hezbollah’s arms?
The term was coined to refer to the mass development witnessed in Europe between
the French Prussian war of 1870-71 and the First World War. At the time, an
optimistic view of history and progress prevailed, and its manifestations came
one after the other; Europe’s inhabitants seemed incomparably better off and
freer, as financial and cultural achievements followed in unprecedentedly quick
succession.
This was a marvelous period in European history, and, in a sense, in world
history. Culture, music, art and literature flourished, while similar economic
growth had not been seen since thirteenth-century China. As a result, Europeans’
life expectancy rose to amazing extents for the first time, and the world
became, with this initial globalization, an extremely intertwined place in which
canals and bridges were built through seas, mountains were conquered, and
deserts were cut up.
Population movements saw 2.5 million Italians live in Argentina, mass
immigration also emerged in the United States and Britain, and investment abroad
spiked, with 55 percent of all British capital invested outside the empire,
primarily in North America but also in Latin America and Europe. The era was
also one of technological innovations demanded by the industrial revolutions:
the telephone, telegraph, electric motor, and modern steel and chemical
industries were born.
The past seemed to be dying without nostalgia or tears being shed.
If this is what is meant by the belle epoque, a time that was crucial to shaping
our modern world, it would be comical to mention any other belle epoque, be it
Lebanese or non-Lebanese.
We need to lower our expectations then. In this very contained and relative
sense, yes, we can discuss a belle epoque in Lebanon and many other Arab
countries that flourished during this time according to five modest criteria.
First, we have options and their role, that is, for human endeavors to be open
and available, not impeded by an iron grip, ideological taboos, or a “central
cause” that we must drag history toward by the neck. The “beauty,” here, is in
the refusal to shut down history, which is the highest stage of “ugliness”.
The second criterion is freedom of speech and assembly, be it partisan,
syndical, or otherwise, whereby individuals and communities can assert their
presence and exist independently of the state or any enforced “sacred” ideology.
As for the third criterion, it is the capacity to take gradual steps forward,
that is, for there to be a path that is not obliterated by its inherent
interruptions. In 1958, for example, a mini-civil war broke out in Lebanon.
However, this didn’t prevent the country from witnessing ten consecutive years
of stability.
As for the fourth, it is the strength of our links and openness to the world,
precisely and specifically, the region that produced that original “belle
epoque” and contributed most to our modernity.
Finally, economic prosperity. Theories and interpretations may diverge wildly,
but the fact that all preceding eras were “more beautiful” than today’s
“ugliness” in Lebanon is beyond dispute.
On the two sides of this debate, we fall on two arguments that are difficult to
digest: In refuting the idea of “belle epoque” in Lebanon, the first argument
resorts to what resembles a determinism that rules out all alternative
possibilities. This view argues: the state of affairs we currently find
ourselves in is rooted in this same past. Without denying that seeds of the
explosion have always been at the heart of Lebanon’s configuration, the fact
remains that these seeds reaping what they had reaped was neither necessary nor
inevitable.
Advocating this argument of inevitability absolves armed resistance movements,
local militias, the years of Syrian tutelage, and all the hindrances to
state-building that came with them of their responsibility for the situation we
find ourselves in. Applying this deterministic argument to some other Arab
countries (Iraq, Syria...) absolves the military coups and the regimes they
established of their responsibility for what happened.
Contending that there had indeed been a “belle epoque,” the counterargument
lowers the level of discussion and boils it down to a touristic level: Mireille
Mathieu sang in Baalbek, Charles Aznavour sang in Byblos, our handsome President
of the Republic drove a Bentley, the first lady was as elegant as Farah Diba or
Imelda Marcos, the foreign minister spoke fluent French and English and applied
protocol... This argument trivializes the discussion, is riddled with class and
perhaps sectarian biases, and has the propensity to veer toward racism. These
questions are beside the point; the issue is far more serious.
Yes, we had a “belle epoque” to our abilities, but we, unfortunately, didn’t
have the ability to safeguard it.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
July 13-14/2022
US President Biden’s visit to Saudi unlikely to lead to lasting
relations: Luttwak
Jennifer Bell, Al Arabiya English/13 July ,2022
One of world’s most sought-after military strategists who has advised the
Pentagon, presidents, and prime ministers across the globe has told Al Arabiya
English that US President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia is unlikely lead to
any lasting strengthened bilateral relations. Edward Luttwak, a polyglot
American born to Jewish parents in Romania and raised in Italy and England, is
the author of more than a dozen books on grand strategy, geoeconomics, military
history, and international relations, including Strategy: The Logic Of War And
Peace, The Grand Strategy Of The Soviet Union and his famed 1968 book Coup
d’Etat: A Practical Handbook. Edward Luttwak is one of world’s most sought-after
military strategists who has advised the Pentagon, presidents, and prime
ministers across the globe. (Screengrab)
Edward Luttwak is one of world’s most sought-after military strategists who has
advised the Pentagon, presidents, and prime ministers across the globe.
(Screengrab) In an extended interview with Al Arabiya English, Luttwak discussed
the US President’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, while he also paid tribute to
his former colleague and friend Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who was
assassinated on July 8 ahead of a parliamentary election.. Through the lens of a
self-described “grand strategist,” Luttwak, who has served on the editorial
boards of Géopolitique (France), the Journal of Strategic Studies, The European
Journal of International Affairs, and the Washington Quarterly, laid out his
theory on why President Biden will head to the region outlining his affirmative
vision for US engagement in the region over the coming months and years, his
meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – and the likely outcome of
that encounter.
Q: What can we expect from President Biden’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia?
A: This visit is actually what is called a ‘Summit meeting’; which is not
usually places or events when anyone ever decides anything. Summit meetings have
to be prepared in great detail beforehand. It’s an absolutely reckless thing to
go into a Summit meeting [without that preparation]. You only go in with things
you are negotiating. The principles, the ones that meet in the room, have been
fully briefed on what was decided by them and their governments before the
meeting. Also, because otherwise things can go wrong, and accidental things can
go wrong, each side also has to have a ‘loud voice person’; someone who will
immediately summon the media and tell the media their version of the story. So,
if now, [Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman and Biden are not in a good
relationship at the summit at all, the Summit is a strained and forced Summit…
that’s bad. Also, from the way the insults and messages were exchanged, it’s not
a fully preferred Summit.
Q: What could go wrong at – in your words – a Summit meeting if things go wrong?
A: Well, in case you want to be frightened, the last time a not fully prepared
summit happened was (former US President) John F. Kennedy’s – who thought he was
a genius - meeting in Vienna with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev… This
resulted in the Cuban Missile Crisis that almost burned the world. That is as
bad as it can go down. So, I do hope that the Saudis have the ‘loud voice
person’ who will take charge and issue the communication. I certainly hope that
President Biden will stick to his own ideas about foreign affairs with his very
long experience and his own natural moderation and will ignore the [Former US
President] Obama people and the Clinton people that are not really interested in
him being the successor but are nevertheless his staff. And that’s the reality
of life. To them [followers of Obama and Clinton], allies are highly suspect.
Enemies are not. If an American president improves relations with Cuba [a known
enemy of the US] they are applauding, if they improve relations with Iran, they
are applauding. Relations with an ally; they don’t applaud.
Q: So President Biden will not be – in your words – applauded for meeting with
Saudi Arabia? Because they are a key ally, rather than an enemy?
A: They believe Saudi has committed a sinful act. So, the people who are
surrounding Biden, when they’re back in Washington, they’re surrounded by people
that think that Saudi Arabia is awful. And who are indifferent when you point
out to them that nice or not nice, they are a key regional ally and the loss of
it would diminish key American power.
Q: Is losing that key American power not an incentive for these upcoming talks
with Saudi to be fruitful?
A: Half of them believe key American power should be diminished. After all, the
United States is the country that declared independence in 1776 in order to
preserve slavery; that is the current line, because the British were abolishing
it. So, if you go and tell them that the American power is weakened, this is the
kind of situation we are in. However, Saudi Arabia is by no means unique.
There’s a category called key American ally. Everyone one of them is under
attack. For example, the government of Indian President Modi is highly unpopular
in the Biden White House, and Trump invited Modi over and they had the massive
celebration with the Indian community; it was a massive thing at Madison Square
Garden applauding the two presidents. So Modi is suspect because he is non
secular, and he is evil because he doesn’t let people have transgender rights or
drink. So Saudi Arabia is the key regional ally – but it’s evil. India is a key
ally – because of China – but now Modi is an enemy; he wouldn’t be invited to
the White House, if he were he would be besieged by questions. When the people
who are around the American President are anti-American, that would cause
hysteria, but their priorities is not actually enhancement of American power
their priorities are varied, such as transgender rights and abortion rights. So,
these people would always welcome improving relations with Cuba or something
like that. Iran for example, if Biden were to meet the Iranian leader – one who
hangs and castrates’ people – they would be ecstatic. If Biden announced, he was
flying over Saudi Arabia to meet the Iranian leader – they would applaud… they
would say he was making a “diplomatic breakthrough.” This is like when [former
US President] Richard Nixon met Chinese leader Mao Zedong – who at that point
been responsible for 60 million deaths – in Beijing to reset their countries’
relations. Who in Washington criticized that? Your friends are suspects – you
want to embrace your enemies. That is a logical position, if you fundamentally
believe if American power is evil. So, this Summit meeting is an irresponsible
meeting because you’re never supposed to go to a Summit meeting which has not
been fully prepared and fully agreed and fully scripted.
There has been, as you touched upon earlier, some choice language used by the US
against Saudi Arabia. He said he was meeting Saudi Arabia royalty as part of a
broader “international meeting” and has previously named the Saudi Crown Prince
a “pariah.” What do you think of this and how will this affect the outcome of
the visit?
A: The language is highly disturbing. When he said, “I’m going there, I am not
sure if I am meeting him,” then, ‘I am going somewhere else but he’s going to be
there.” Then, “I won’t shake his hand.” And I think, this will be the [US]
headlines of that meeting. It will be keyed in two ways, ‘Biden avoided
embracing Mohammed bin Salman,’ if they are able to write the words ‘Biden
refused to shake Mohammed bin Salman’s hand’ they will but there’ll be
catastrophic consequences from that kind of stuff. There is another fact which
is, summits are very dangerous consequences. But Saudi need to respond to the
people that will attack them. Saudi has to say, “You have to decide if you want
us to be your friends or your enemies, if you want us to be friends this is who
we are here.”
Will the meeting address some of the other topics that are pressing in the
region, including Iran’s stalled nuclear deal?
A: That is where Biden’s long experience and maturity will come in. His staff,
Obama people, they pressed him very hard to meet the JCPOA (the formal name of
the Iran nuclear deal) requirement. Biden said no, which horribly disappointed
the Obama people. But he wouldn’t budge. Which is why now there isn’t an
agreement. Biden was the one who prevented the agreement.
You were a long-term friend of the assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe, what is your takeaway from Friday’s tragic death?
A: Shinzo Abe was the most significant Japanese leader. He was killed most
accidentally, but the truth is that he had to withdraw from the longest Prime
Ministership in Japanese history. Because of his colitis. This is an extremely
difficult disease. It happened to him before he was finally forced to resign and
then came back and thankfully remained 12 years, partly because he’s very stoic
because he can withstand pain. And now he was severely deteriorated as it
happens, and it’s a very sad thing. I knew him for a very long time – he was a
friend. A week after he became Prime Minister, he asked me to help set up a
National Security Council and then I stayed in for 10 years. I have pictures of
me and Abe hugging and kissing, he created contemporary Japan. Because before
him, Japan had no real foreign policy. Abe changed all that.
Israel Lasers in on Iranian Drone Threat as Biden
Visits
Asharq Al-AwsatWednesday, 13 July, 2022
Moments after US President Joe Biden touched down in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, the
Israeli military showed him new hardware it says is essential to confronting
Iran: anti-drone lasers. While Israel has long been known for its efforts to
thwart Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Israeli officials have increasingly been
sounding the alarm over Iran's fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Earlier this month, the Israeli military said it had intercepted four
unarmed drones headed for an offshore gas rig, claiming they were Iranian-made
and launched by the Tehran-backed Lebanese party Hezbollah. As concerns mount
over drone warfare, Israel hopes the new "Iron Beam" system will secure its
skies. While not yet operational, the military
hardware was described as a "game-changer" in April by then-prime minister
Naftali Bennett. On Wednesday, the Israeli army showed
Biden footage of drones being intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system
already in place, and the Iron Beam system which uses laser technology. "It
(Iron Beam) will be operational in very few years, it will be on the ground,
integrated with Iron Dome," Daniel Gold, head of research at Israel's defense
ministry, told AFP. He said the two systems will "complement each other". "They
will work together, the brain of Iron Dome -- the command and control -- will
decide in real time who is going to shoot -- the laser or the missile," he said.
Presenting such technology to Biden is a strategic move for Israel, which saw
Washington approve a billion-dollar package in September for the Iron Dome
system.
Low-cost warfare
Iron Dome has been used countless times to intercept rockets fired by militants
from the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Iran's ally Hamas.
The defense system costs roughly $50,000 per launch, while Bennett priced
the Iron Beam at $3.50 per deployment. He said the new defense system was
"silent" and could "intercept incoming UAVs, mortars, rockets and anti-tank
missiles". Uzi Rubin, a former Israeli defense
ministry specialist in anti-missile systems, said intercepting drones was a
significant challenge. "The laser technology will have more capacity against
drones than rockets and missiles," said Rubin, who is based at the Jerusalem
Institute for Strategy and Security. "It is going to help if we get some
American financing" for the Iron Beam, he added.
Integrating Israel into region
For Israel, a priority of Biden's Middle East tour is broadening US-backed
security cooperation among regional countries with shared hostility towards
Iran. The US president will fly Friday to Saudi
Arabia, following meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials. Saudi Arabia
and its neighbor the United Arab Emirates have both come under drone attack by
Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi militias since 2019. The Wall Street Journal reported
last month that senior Israeli and US military officials had visited Egypt to
discuss Iranian drones. Upon arriving in Israel on Wednesday, Biden said "we'll
continue to advance Israel's integration into the region".
'Significant platform'
According to Eyal Pinko, a former Israeli navy intelligence officer, Israel has
been anticipating the rising threat of drones from Iran and its regional
proxies. "Since 2009, there was an understanding among
Israeli naval intelligence that Hezbollah's UAVs would be a threat to Israeli
rigs," said Pinko, a specialist at Tel Aviv's Bar-Ilan University. "Iran
understood many years ago that drones were force multipliers, a significant
platform and relatively cheap," he told AFP. The
Israeli military has said that it had intercepted in March 2021 two Iranian
drones laden with weapons for Gaza fighters. On Monday, the White House revealed
intelligence that Tehran was "preparing to provide Russia with up to several
hundred UAVs... on an expedited timeline" for use in the war in Ukraine.
While Israel aims to counter Iranian UAVs with new technology and
regional alliances, it may also be going on the offensive. In March, Israeli
media said the army had launched an attack on an Iranian site storing dozens of
armed drones. But weeks later, Iranian state
television broadcast footage of a facility hidden in the mountains: an
underground base for scores of military UAVs.
US, Israel Announce New Tech Partnership
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 July, 2022
The United States and Israel announced on Wednesday a new advanced technology
partnership ahead of President Joe Biden's trip to the region. "A Strategic
High-Level Dialogue on Technology will be established by the countries' national
security advisers that will focus on strategic technologies artificial
intelligence, quantum and solutions to global challenges such as climate change
and improving pandemic preparedness," said a joint statement from Biden and
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid. The leaders pledged to work together to
“advance and protect critical and emerging technologies in accordance with our
national interests, democratic principles and human rights, and to address
geostrategic challenges.”On Wednesday, Biden begins his trip to the region in
Israel and the occupied West Bank. He is scheduled to fly to Saudi Arabia on
Friday.
Biden Greeted as Old Friend in Israel at Start of Middle
East Tour
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 July, 2022
US President Joe Biden arrived on Wednesday in Israel, which embraced him as an
old friend on the first leg of a high-stakes trip dominated by tensions with
Iran. Landing at Ben Gurion Airport, whose tarmac he
first trod in 1973 as a senator, Biden bumped fists with Israeli Prime Minister
Yair Lapid and President Isaac Herzog and, in a speech, described the connection
between the two nations as "bone-deep". "You do not
need to be a Jew to be a Zionist," Biden added, voicing support for the ideology
behind Israel's foundation on lands with ancient Jewish roots, and which is
deeply resented by many Palestinians. Biden also
reiterated US desire for negotiations, stalled since 2014, to create a
Palestinian state on Israeli-occupied territory, calling this two state solution
"the best hope" for both peoples. Biden's first visit
to Israel as president is his tenth of a long political career. Israel has
stepped carefully around disputes with Washington over Iranian nuclear diplomacy
and long-stalled Palestinian statehood negotiations.
"Your relationship with Israel has always been personal," Lapid said in a
speech, calling Biden "one of the best friends Israel has ever known".
Biden will spend two days in Jerusalem before meeting Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas on Friday in the occupied West Bank.
He will then fly directly from Israel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for talks with
Saudi officials and to attend a summit of Gulf allies.
In a similar vein, Herzog played on Biden's first name, deeming him "both a
visionary and a leader" like the biblical Joseph. Biden was "truly amongst
family" in Israel, Herzog said.
Biden's trip aims to promote regional stability, deepen Israel's integration in
the region and counter Iranian influence and aggression by Russia and China.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated Washington's desire
for the reopening of a Jerusalem consulate shut down by the former US
administration of President Donald Trump. The consulate had served the
Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as capital of a future state.
"Obviously that requires engagement with the Israeli government,"
Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force 1. Israel deems all of Jerusalem its
capital - a status not recognized abroad - and does not consent to the consulate
reopening. Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the umbrella
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said he saw nothing new from Biden on
Palestinian issues."Biden’s visit aims to integrate the occupation state in the
Arab region and build a new alliance against Iran. When it comes to the promises
President Biden made during his electoral campaign and early in office, we don’t
see any practical formula to reflect that on the ground,” he added.
Saudi visit
Biden, under pressure at home to bring down soaring gasoline prices that have
damaged his standing in public opinion polls, is expected to press Gulf allies
to expand oil production. He said details about a
price cap on oil from Russia were still being worked out with European partners
and said signs of a deepening relationship between Russia and Iran should be
seen as a threat. A centerpiece of Biden's visit will
be talks in Jeddah where he will attend a Gulf summit that will also include the
leaders of Jordan and Iraq. Biden's talks with Abbas
will be the first between a US president and a Palestinian leader since the
Obama administration. The Palestinians boycotted the Trump administration over a
peace plan they saw as biased against them. Tensions
are high between Israel and the Palestinians over the killing of
Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May during an Israeli army
raid in the West Bank.
Palestinians say she was killed by Israeli troops deliberately; Israel denies
this. Washington has concluded she was killed by a bullet from the direction of
an Israeli position but it has no evidence it was intentional.
Her family had accused the Biden administration of providing impunity for
Israel over her killing, and asked to meet Biden during his trip to the region
this week. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken with the family,
Sullivan said, and invited them to a meeting.
The Palestinians, while appreciating the resumption of ties under Biden, want
him to make good on pledges to reopen the Jerusalem consulate.
They also want the United States to remove the PLO from the US list of
terrorist organizations, block changes to rules for worship at Jerusalem sites
revered by Muslims and Jews, and curb Jewish settlement expansion in the West
Bank. Israeli officials said Biden's visit would work
towards what they called a Jerusalem Declaration on the US-Israel Strategic
Partnership. One official said the joint declaration
"takes a very clear and united stand against Iran, its nuclear program and its
aggression across the region and commits both countries to using all elements of
their national power against the Iranian nuclear threat."Biden is likely to face
questions from Israel and from Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates about the wisdom of his attempts to revive a nuclear deal with
Iran that was abandoned by his predecessor Trump. At
Ben Gurion Airport, Biden received a briefing on Israel's US-supported Iron Dome
defense system and a new laser-enabled system called Iron Beam. He will also pay
his respects at Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to Holocaust victims in World War
Two. Israel has been jolted by internal political strife with previous prime
minister Naftali Bennett's coalition collapsing in June. This has left Lapid as
caretaker prime minister until a new election in November, the fifth in less
than four years. He and Biden will give a joint news conference on Thursday.
Biden will also meet past prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, now the opposition
leader. Netanyahu was a close ally of Trump and a critic of the Obama
administration when Biden served as vice president.
Biden to ‘Minimize Contact’ on Middle East Visit Due to COVID-19
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 July, 2022
The White House said Wednesday that President Joe Biden would limit physical
contact during his Middle East tour, citing coronavirus concerns, as he landed
in Israel ahead of a trip to Saudi Arabia. Biden, 79, began his first regional
visit as president by landing at Ben Gurion airport near the Israeli coastal
city of Tel Aviv and he will fly to the Saudi city of Jeddah later this week.
Citing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, Biden's press
secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said "it's reasonable to expect (Biden) to take
some additional precautions. "We're trying to minimize contact as much as
possible," she told reporters on Air Force One. "I wouldn't say there's a
change" in health protocols, she added. Biden refrained from shaking hands with
Israeli dignitaries who greeted him on the tarmac at Israel's Ben Gurion airport
on Wednesday. He did hold brief, but close and
mask-less, face-to-face discussions with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime
Minister Yair Lapid and alternate premier Naftali Bennett. They all exchanged
fistbumps. Biden however did shake hands with an old
acquaintance who greeted him at the airport -- former Israeli prime minister and
current opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu had a fraught
relationship with former US president Barack Obama's administration, in which
Biden served as vice president, amid a bitter dispute over how to contain Iran's
nuclear ambitions. According to Netanyahu's office,
Biden told the ex-premier: "You know I love you," as they met on Wednesday.
Biden, known for his warmth, was also seen shaking hands during an event with
lawmakers at the White House just ahead of his trip.
Security ties between Israel and Gulf states strengthen,
changing face of region
The Media Line|/Ynetnews/13 July/2022
Regional cooperation following signing of Abraham Accords only tightens as all
sides stand to benefit greatly, with Iranian threat looming large in minds of
all parties
When Israel normalized relations with several Arab countries in August 2020 as
part of the Abraham Accords, there was great surprise. Cooperation which was
once only practiced behind the scenes was suddenly in the spotlight. Previously
unthinkable, ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and
Morocco were now out in the open. Surpassing
expectations, ties between the countries have strengthened significantly in a
short period. With Israeli leaders hosting U.S. President Joe Biden this week,
the issue of regional security cooperation will take center stage. The mere
anticipation of a statement on possible progress toward normalization between
Israel and Saudi Arabia during President Biden’s visit is a testament to the
great change in the region. The Biden White House has
repeatedly said it wants to further promote Israel’s integration into the Middle
East. The surge in security cooperation in a wide
range of fields, especially between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain, is
unprecedented and will likely deepen, experts say.
Further pushing the cooperation is the American move to switch its military
coordination with Israel from its European command center to CENTCOM, the United
States Central Command, whose area of responsibility includes the Middle East,
as well as Egypt in Africa, and Central Asia and parts of South Asia. This means
that Israeli military representatives are working together with the country’s
newly found allies and existing adversaries which do not even recognize the
Jewish state, including Saudi Arabia. Since ties were
established, Israel has held several military drills with the armies of Arab
states. Last year, Israel, the U.S., the UAE and Bahrain held a naval drill in
the Red Sea. Maritime security is a mutual interest that brings the sides closer
together. The signal to Iran was clear.
Amidst a tumultuous period in the region, the benefits of cooperation for both
sides are great. “The Gulf states have small and
relatively inexperienced militaries. Israel can contribute a lot of know-how,”
said Dr. Moran Zaga, an expert on the Gulf region at Mitvim – The Israeli
Institute for Regional Foreign Policies. “For Israel, it means getting
geographically closer to Iran. For both sides, the partnership can help against
regional threats that are not Iran, such as Iranian proxies or even ISIS and
other elements.”
While a pre-emptive Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities hinges on many
complex factors, alliances with Tehran’s neighbors certainly enhance its
abilities.
“For Israel, as soon as it is not isolated in terms of security, this completely
changes its position,” Zaga added. Still, the open
nature of the relations is new and both sides are cautious.
“There are a lot of obstacles,” said Prof. Joshua Teitelbaum from the
department of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar-Ilan University, “There is sharing
of intelligence, sources and methods. For both sides, they will want to be
cautious about what they are sharing. However, the Iranian threat makes them
more willing to undertake the risk that is involved in security cooperation.”
Israel sees Iran as its arch enemy. While the threat may be perceived
differently in the Gulf, there is also a concern in those countries about Iran’s
intentions. Since ties have been made official, there have been scores of mutual
visits, both of military and other security bodies. Israel is reportedly set to
send a military attaché to Bahrain. The ambiguity regarding the appointment is a
testament to the delicate nature of the new relations.
But in a testament to their strength, figures released by Israel’s Defense
Ministry earlier this year show that the Abraham Accords countries made up 7% of
Israel’s defense exports in 2021.
Biden lays wreath at Yad Vashem, meets Holocaust
survivors
Gilad Cohen/Ynetnews/13 July/2022
Wearing a black yarmulke, U.S. president rekindles the Eternal Flame and lays a
wreath in Jerusalem memorial's Hall of Remembrance, talks with Holocaust
survivors at length, inscribes guestbook 'never forget'
U.S. President Joe Biden opened his trip to Israel with a visit to the
Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem Wednesday where he laid a wreath in
memory of the six million Jewish victims of Nazi Germany and met with Holocaust
survivors.
After a reception ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport upon landing in the Jewish and
watching Israeli air defense systems on display, the U.S. president headed to
the Holocaust museum in the Israeli capital. Wearing a
black yarmulke on his head, Biden met and shook hands with Holocaust survivors
Rena Quint and Giselle (Gita) Cycowicz. The president got down on one knee to
kiss both seated women and spoke with them for several minutes. Quint was born
in 1935 in Piotrkow Tribunalski, Poland. Her mother and two brothers were
murdered in October 1942 after being deported to Treblinka. Quint was also
deported with her father who later died, and she had to pretend to be a boy to
survive. Cycowicz was born in 1927 in the town of
Chust on the Carpathian Mountains in Czechoslovakia (present-day Ukraine).
In March 1944, the Germans rounded up Cycowicz and her family and
confined them in a ghetto before deporting them to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and later
to forced labor camps. "He got down on his knees and gave us a kiss. I told him
how excited I was being in Israel and that I live in America for 46 years."
Quint said they were told they couldn't come into contact with Biden due to
COVID-19 risks, but the president was the one who kissed both women when he
approached them. "This was something. It was so fun. We talked about his first
wife and daughter who were killed in a car crash," Quint said. "He knows what is
pain, and he knows our pain. I told him that I was really glad he came here, he
knows what it means to get on with life. He told me I am young and beautiful.
The president is a very cordial person." Biden then
took part in a ceremony in the museum's Hall of Remembrance where rekindles the
Eternal Flame and laid a wreath on the slab under which ashes of extermination
camp victims are interred.
After the ceremony, Biden signed Yad Vashem's visitor's book and stressed how
honored he felt being back in Israel, and the importance of remembering the
Holocaust. "It is a great honor to be back - back to my emotional home. We must
never, ever forget because hate is never defeated - it only hides. We must teach
every emerging generation that it can happen again unless we remember. That is
what I teach my children and grandchildren – never forget," he wrote.
Russia’s Deepening Ties with Iran Represents a ‘Profound
Threat’, Says White House
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 July, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin's attempts to deepen ties with Iran amid the
Ukraine conflict represents a "profound threat," US National Security Adviser
Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday. Sullivan's comments come as US officials have
said Iran is preparing to help supply Russia several hundred drones, including
some that are weapons-capable, to use in Ukraine. Putin is expected to visit
Tehran next week. Sullivan called the timing of the Putin trip
"interesting.""Russia deepening an alliance with Iran to kill Ukrainians is
something that the whole world should look at and see as a profound threat,"
Sullivan said.
Iran Slams Biden’s Vow to Pile Pressure on it to Revive
Nuclear Deal
London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 July, 2022
Tehran hit out on Tuesday at what it called Washington’s “contradictory”
policies, after President Joe Biden vowed to pile pressure on Iran ahead of a
visit to the Middle East. In an opinion piece for the Washington Post ahead of
his visit this week to Israel and Saudi Arabia, Biden said his administration
will continue to increase diplomatic and economic pressure until Iran is ready
to return to compliance with the nuclear deal. Biden’s emphasis on pursuing the
policy of economic and diplomatic pressure against Iran is “contradictory” to
Washington's continued statements on reviving the agreement, foreign ministry
spokesman Nasser Kanaani said. He dismissed Biden’s remarks as “a one-sided and
unrealistic account of the US government’s policies in the West Asia
region.”Biden made reviving the Iran nuclear deal, brokered by President Barack
Obama in 2015 and abandoned by Donald Trump in 2018, a key priority as he
entered office. However, he has refused to lift sanctions on Tehran until it
returns to compliance with the accord. In his opinion piece, Biden wrote that
his trip also aimed to “work for greater stability in a consequential region of
the world.”The Iranian spokesman stressed that if the US officials wanted
“stability and security in the West Asia region... they should understand the
new realities of the world and avoid trying to impose American values and
unilateralism.” The US needs to “allow the countries
of the region to act based on their values, interests and realities and within
the framework of regional cooperation to ensure their security and collective
interests,” Kanaani said. Biden is scheduled to hold a two-day visit to Israel
and the occupied West Bank on July 13 and will heed afterward to Saudi Arabia,
in the first regional tour since he assumed his post in early 2021. The Biden
administration has been engaged in talks since April 2021 aimed at returning the
US to the nuclear deal, including through the lifting of sanctions on Iran and
ensuring Tehran’s full compliance with its commitments.
But the on-off negotiations held in the Austrian capital Vienna have
stalled since March with several different unresolved issues remaining between
the US and Iran. In late June, Qatar hosted indirect talks between the US and
Iran in a bid to get the Vienna process back on track, but those discussions
broke up after two days without a breakthrough.
France Sees Weeks to Save Iran Nuclear Deal, but US Sets No
Deadline
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 July, 2022
France's new foreign minister said on Tuesday there were only a few weeks to
revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, although a senior US official
made clear Washington had set no such deadline, Reuters reported.
Catherine Colonna told lawmakers the situation was no longer tenable. She
accused Iran of using delaying tactics and, during talks in Doha two weeks ago,
of going back on previously agreed positions while forging ahead with its
uranium enrichment program. "There is still a window
of opportunity ... for Iran to finally decide to accept an accord which it
worked to build, but time is passing," Colonna said, warning that if Iran kept
on its current trajectory it would be a threshold nuclear arms state.
"Time is passing. Tehran must realize this," she said, adding that the US
mid-term elections would make it even harder to seal a deal.
"The window of opportunity will close in a few weeks. There will not be a
better accord to the one which is on the table."Asked if the United States
concurred with Colonna's view, a senior US official pointed to Monday's comment
by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan to reporters that "we
have not marked a date on the calendar."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the senior US official acknowledged that the
chances of reaching a deal were dwindling and said Washington had not heard
anything new from Tehran since the indirect talks in Doha.
"Every day that goes by without a deal makes reaching a deal less
likely," the official said. "We have not heard anything since Doha that is a
change from Doha." Last week, the US envoy for the
talks said Iran had added unrelated demands during the latest indirect
discussions and had made alarming progress on enriching uranium. Under the 2015
nuclear pact, Iran limited its uranium enrichment program, a potential pathway
to nuclear weapons, though Tehran says it seeks only civilian atomic energy, in
return for a lifting of international sanctions. In
2018, then-US President Donald Trump abandoned the deal, calling it too soft on
Iran, and reimposed harsh US sanctions, prompting Tehran to breach the nuclear
limits in the pact about a year later.Western officials have repeatedly said
that the talks between world powers and Iran only had a few weeks to conclude a
deal, with Colonna's predecessor Jean-Yves Le Drian saying in February it was a
question of days.
Iran Vows to Stick To ‘Rightful and Logical’ Stance in
Nuclear Talks
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 July, 2022
Iran will not retreat from its "rightful and logical" stance in its nuclear
impasse with the United States, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Wednesday, a day
after France warned there were only a few weeks left to revive a 2015 nuclear
deal. The pact seemed near revival in March but 11
months of talks between Tehran and major powers in Vienna were thrown into
disarray chiefly over Iran's insistence that Washington remove its security
force, the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), from the US Foreign Terrorist
Organizations list. In an effort to overcome the
impasse and narrow the remaining gaps, Tehran and Washington held indirect talks
in Qatar last month but they ended without progress. "Iran will not back down
from its rightful and logical stance...I advise the Americans to...see the facts
and learn from their past mistakes," Raisi said, according to state TV. Since
the Doha talks, Iran has questioned US resolve to save the pact while Washington
has said Tehran has added new demands unrelated to discussions on its nuclear
program during the latest talks. On Tuesday, France
said there were only a few weeks before the window of opportunity to salvage the
2015 pact would close, accusing Tehran of using delaying tactics while forging
ahead with its uranium enrichment program. A senior US official made clear
Washington had set no such deadline. When asked about
French foreign minister's comment on the talks, Iranian Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Nasser Kanaani told reporters: "Had it not been for Iran’s efforts,
the diplomacy window wouldn’t be open now."Under the 2015 nuclear pact with
world powers, Iran limited its uranium enrichment program, a potential pathway
to nuclear weapons - though Tehran says it seeks only civilian atomic energy -
in return for a lifting of international sanctions. In 2018, then-US President
Donald Trump reneged on the agreement reached before he took office, calling it
soft on Tehran, and reinstated harsh US sanctions on Iran. That spurred Tehran
to start violating the deal's curbs on its nuclear activity. Western countries
say the longer Iran flouts the deal and produces larger quantities of enriched
uranium, the harder it becomes to restore the nonproliferation-oriented pact.
Iran Vows to Stick To ‘Rightful and Logical’ Stance in
Nuclear Talks
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 July, 2022
Iran will not retreat from its "rightful and logical" stance in its nuclear
impasse with the United States, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Wednesday, a day
after France warned there were only a few weeks left to revive a 2015 nuclear
deal. The pact seemed near revival in March but 11
months of talks between Tehran and major powers in Vienna were thrown into
disarray chiefly over Iran's insistence that Washington remove its security
force, the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), from the US Foreign Terrorist
Organizations list. In an effort to overcome the impasse and narrow the
remaining gaps, Tehran and Washington held indirect talks in Qatar last month
but they ended without progress. "Iran will not back
down from its rightful and logical stance...I advise the Americans to...see the
facts and learn from their past mistakes," Raisi said, according to state TV.
Since the Doha talks, Iran has questioned US resolve to save the pact while
Washington has said Tehran has added new demands unrelated to discussions on its
nuclear program during the latest talks. On Tuesday,
France said there were only a few weeks before the window of opportunity to
salvage the 2015 pact would close, accusing Tehran of using delaying tactics
while forging ahead with its uranium enrichment program. A senior US official
made clear Washington had set no such deadline. When
asked about French foreign minister's comment on the talks, Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani told reporters: "Had it not been for Iran’s
efforts, the diplomacy window wouldn’t be open now."Under the 2015 nuclear pact
with world powers, Iran limited its uranium enrichment program, a potential
pathway to nuclear weapons - though Tehran says it seeks only civilian atomic
energy - in return for a lifting of international sanctions. In 2018, then-US
President Donald Trump reneged on the agreement reached before he took office,
calling it soft on Tehran, and reinstated harsh US sanctions on Iran. That
spurred Tehran to start violating the deal's curbs on its nuclear activity.
Western countries say the longer Iran flouts the deal and produces larger
quantities of enriched uranium, the harder it becomes to restore the
nonproliferation-oriented pact.
Iran Says it Arrests Members of Kurdish ‘Terror Network’
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 July, 2022
Iran’s intelligence ministry said its officers have arrested 10 members of a
“terror network” in the country’s northwest, affiliated with separatist groups
based in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. “All 10 members of this network, who were
entering the country through the border areas of West Azerbaijan province and
were supported by separatist terrorists in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, were
arrested,” the ministry said. It claimed those arrested were planning various
acts “ranging from destruction, explosions and attacks on vital and economic
centers and facilities of the country, to creating roadblocks and
extortion.”Communication equipment, weapons and ammunition have also been
seized, the ministry added. Iran has in the past blamed “counter-revolutionary”
groups based in northeastern Iraq for several attacks on its territory,
particularly the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the Kurdistan
Free Life Party (PJAK). The country’s western and northwestern regions have seen
sporadic clashes between its forces and Kurdish rebels over the years, and its
military has in the past targeted positions of Kurdish groups in neighboring
Iraq. The intelligence ministry reiterated calls for authorities in Iraq’s
autonomous Kurdistan region “to take appropriate action to evacuate terrorist
mercenaries, thugs and enemies of the people’s security and peace from that
region”.
Tightening Hijab Restrictions Sparks Debate between Civil Society, Iranian
Authorities
London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 13 July, 2022
Iran’s celebration of the “National Day of Hijab and Chastity” on Tuesday, as
part of a campaign launched by the authorities to restore strict rules on women,
has sparked a widespread popular debate. Iranian rights activists have urged
women to publicly remove their veils on the day, risking arrest for defying the
Islamic dress code as the country’s hardline rulers crack down on “immoral
behavior,” Reuters reported. After the 1979 revolution, Iranian authorities
forced women to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to
disguise their figures. Violators face public rebuke, fines or arrest. But
decades after the revolution, clerical rulers still struggle to enforce the law,
with many women of all ages and backgrounds wearing tight-fitting, thigh-length
coats and brightly colored scarves pushed back to expose plenty of hair.
Critics and activists see the establishment’s stepped-up efforts to
enforce hijab compliance as part of a wider clamp-down on dissent amid deepening
resentment over economic hardship at home and growing Western pressure on Iran
over its disputed nuclear program. “The National Day of Hijab and Chastity is
only an excuse to target women and launch a new wave of repression against
Iranian people and in particular women,” dozens of prominent women’s rights
activists said in a joint statement on Monday. In a display of civil
disobedience, the hashtag #No2Hijab was widely promoted for days on social media
by Iranians outside and inside the country. Videos of women removing their hijab
as they walked in the streets or resisting the morality police flooded social
media.
“I should have the right to decide what I want to wear and not be imprisoned
because of my choice. #No2Hijab,” tweeted a female user.
Some women who voluntarily wear the veil and men have also joined the
campaign. “I don’t have a veil to remove. But I will come to the street to
support and defend the women and girls of my land. #No2Hijab,” tweeted
@mashmolak. The New York-based International Campaign
for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) said on Monday there were “serious concerns
over more potential violence and detentions on July 12.”Several people were
arrested on Monday, Reuters reported, quoting Iran’s semi-official Fars news
agency. The #No2Hijab campaign coincided with months
of protests by teachers, retirees, workers and government employees over unpaid
wages, low pensions and sky-rocketing food prices that have hurt the
establishment. Protesters have called for political change. “This is like
pouring fuel on fire. People are already angry because of high inflation and
rising prices. They are very frustrated,” said a former Iranian government
official. “Coercion has never worked.”Hijab protests have hit the clerical
establishment in the past years. In 2014, rights activist Masih Alinejad started
a Facebook campaign “My Stealthy Freedom,” where she shared pictures of unveiled
Iranian women sent to her. It was followed by a
campaign in 2017 for women to wear white headscarves on Wednesdays and the hijab
protests in 2018 when women took to the streets holding their veils aloft.
Dozens of women have been jailed in Iran for their activism against forced
veiling, according to rights groups. “The establishment fears a revolution by
women that has already started today,” Alinejad told Reuters. On Friday,
representatives of Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, attacked the leniency
in imposing veil restrictions. Hardliner Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer
Imam of Mashhad and President Ebrahim Raisi’s father-in-law, praised the city’s
attorney general for issuing new orders on tightening the veil restrictions. The
official had ordered a ban on women entering the subway if they do not strictly
abide by hijab rules.
UN sees progress in talks to free up Ukraine grain
exports
Reuters/July 13, 2022
Talks tackle resumption of Ukrainian grain exports from the Black Sea port of
Odesa as a global food crisis worsens
ISTANBUL: The United Nations reported “positive” results Wednesday from the
first face-to-face talks in months between Russia and Ukraine on a UN plan to
ship millions of tons of grain blocked in Ukraine because of the war to world
markets and enable Russia to also send out grain and fertilizer.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was to brief reporters Wednesday afternoon
on the outcome of the grain meeting in Istanbul. His deputy spokesman, Farhan
Haq, said: “The important point is we believe this is something positive and he
will talk to you at some length about why that is.”
The war has trapped about 22 million tons of grain inside Ukraine, according to
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. UN, Turkish and other officials are
scrambling for a solution that would empty the silos in time for upcoming
harvest in Ukraine. Some grain is being transported through Europe by rail, road
and river, but the amount is small compared with the Black Sea routes.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says the war in Ukraine is endangering
food supplies for many developing nations, raising food prices globally and
could worsen hunger for up to 181 million people.
Russia said meanwhile, it had presented a package of proposals for a “practical
and quick solution” to unblock the export of Ukrainian grain but did not
elaborate.
The Russian and Ukrainian officials, dressed in civilian clothes, faced each
other around a large square table, along with Turkish military officials and UN
envoys.Turkey’s Defense Ministry announced the talks had ended about 90 minutes
after it confirmed that they had begun.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower
oil, but Russia’s invasion and war has disrupted production and halted shipments
across the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
Turkey has offered to provide safe Black Sea corridors and worked with the UN,
Russia and Ukraine to reach an agreement. The UN would establish a center in
Istanbul to control the shipments, Turkish officials have said.
Speaking before the talks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told The
Associated Press that grain exports from his country’s ports won’t resume
without security guarantees to ship owners, cargo owners and to keep Ukraine as
an independent nation.
Any agreement needs to ensure that Russia “will respect these corridors, they
will not sneak into the harbor and attack ports or that they will not attack
ports from the air with their missiles,” he said.
Russian and Ukrainian officials have traded accusations over the stuck grain
shipments.
Moscow claims Ukraine’s heavily mined ports are causing the delay. Russian
President Vladimir Putin has pledged that Moscow wouldn’t use the corridors to
launch an attack, if the sea mines were removed.
But Ukrainian officials have blamed a Russian naval blockade for holding up the
exports and causing the global food crisis. They are skeptical of Putin’s pledge
not to take advantage of cleared Black Sea corridors to mount attacks on
Ukrainian ports, noting that he insisted repeatedly this year that he had no
plans to invade Ukraine.
Ahead of the talks, a senior Russian diplomat said Moscow was willing to ensure
safe navigation for ships to carry grain from Ukrainian ports but would press
for its right to check the vessels for weapons.
Pyotr Ilyichev, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for ties with
international organizations, said Russia’s military had repeatedly declared its
willingness to allow safe shipping corridors in the Black Sea.
Seventy vessels from 16 countries have remained stuck in Ukrainian ports,
Ilyichev said, alleging that Ukrainian authorities had barred them from
departing.
“Our conditions are clear: We need to have a way to control and check the ships
to prevent any attempts to smuggle weapons in, and Kyiv must refrain from any
provocations,” Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted Ilyichev as saying.
Guterres has worked for months to secure a deal that would allow Ukraine to
export wheat and other commodities from Odesa, the country’s largest port, and
also enable Russia to export its grain and fertilizer to global markets.
Western sanctions on Russia do not ban exports of food or fertilizer. But Moscow
argues that Western sanctions on its banking and shipping industries make it
impossible for Russia to export those goods and are scaring off foreign shipping
companies.
Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Center think-tank, said a key
issue at the talks was what country would offer security guarantees and send
warships to escort vessels carrying grain.
Ukraine also wants to set up a control mechanism to ensure that Russia doesn’t
ship grain from the territories it seized in Ukraine to global markets, he said.
“Ukraine is demanding to work out a transparent and clear mechanism of
international control,” he said. “The Ukrainian authorities are using the talks
in Turkey to urge international partners not to buy what was stolen or pay to
Kyiv for it.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador last week after
Turkish authorities briefly detained a Russian ship suspected of transporting
stolen grain but allowed it to leave and return to a Russian port. A Turkish
official said authorities were not able to determine that the ship carried
stolen grain.
The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on July 13-14/2022
The Siege of Acre: When “Muslims Were Tried by an Unparalleled Disaster”
Raymond Ibrahim/July 13/2022
Richard vs. Saladin
Today in history, the important fortress city of Acre fell back to Crusader
hands, and in so doing ushered in the Third Crusade, arguably the most bloody
and violent of all Crusades.
Following the decisive battle of Hattin in 1187, Sultan Saladin went on to
conquer Jerusalem and most other Christian kingdoms, including coastal Acre.
Elated by his success, he vowed not only to eliminate all Crusaders from the
Holy Land, but to invade Europe and “pursue the Franks there, so as to free the
earth of anyone who does not believe in Allah, or die in the attempt.”
Before long, however, and due to its strategic location, Acre became the
rallying point for the remaining Crusaders. If only they could reclaim it, they
could reconsolidate their power base and spread out again, including to
Jerusalem. So they laid it to siege in the summer of 1189. Famine, plague, and
pestilence harried the Crusaders and countless thousands died while the Muslims
continued to hold out in Acre.
The mood changed in the summer of 1191, when Philip II of France and especially
Richard I of England—the Lionheart, whom most Crusaders looked to as the natural
leader—arrived with their men to aid in the siege.
Richard immediately ordered the construction of more war moveable towers; more
ditches around Acre were filled, thereby allowing these new engines of war to
encroach upon and bombard the city; and defensive trenches were dug around the
Crusaders’ camp, to prevent sorties from Saladin’s marauding troops. Soon all
the engines of war rained down death dealing destruction. Massive boulders—some
aflame and setting anything inside Acre not built of stone ablaze—rocked the
city. After the battle of Hattin, Saladin had ordered the ritual massacre of the
military orders of the Knights Templars and Hospitallers. Now their
brothers-in-arms made their presence felt: “the Templars’ stonethrower wreaked
impressive devastation,” wrote a contemporary, “while the Hospitallers’ also
never ceased hurling, to the terror of the Turks.”
In the words of Muslim chronicler Ibn al-Athir, after Richard’s arrival, “The
damage they did to the Muslims increased greatly. The king was the outstanding
man of his time for bravery, cunning, steadfastness and endurance. In him the
Muslims were tried by an unparalleled disaster.”
Before long, however, Muslim spies “reported the great fatigue they [the
Crusaders] endured on account of all the various tasks they had constantly to
put up with since the arrival of the accursed king of England. Then the latter
fell seriously ill and was on the verge of death.”
More robust than most men, even Richard had succumbed to the pestilent camp and
contracted a form of scurvy which caused hair and fingernails to fall out, and
in extreme cases, blindness. Even so, he continued inciting his men to war from
the sickbed.
A contemporary chronicle offers a snapshot of these times:
King Richard’s stonethrowers hurled constantly by day and night…. [O]ne of them
killed twelve men with a single stone. That stone was sent for Saladin to see,
with messengers who said that the diabolical king of England had…[come] to
punish the Saracens. Nothing could withstand their blows; everything was crushed
or reduced to dust. Yet the king was confined to bed suffering from a severe
fever, completely wretched because he saw the Turks insolently challenging and
attacking our people with increasing frequency but he could not engage them in
battle because he was ill.
This, the chronicler adds, is what truly “burned” him up—for Richard “suffered
more torture from the insolent Turkish raids than from the burning fever.”
All this time Saladin had also been resorting to terror tactics, for he
“enrolled 300 robbers from amongst the thieving Bedouin to infiltrate the
enemy.” Baha’ al-Din explains how, after a day of exhaustive fighting, these
cutthroats would slip into the Crusader camp during the thick of night. The
common soldier would be rudely awoken “by a dagger which was held at his
throat.” He and his belongings would then be spirited away or, if he resisted,
slaughtered on the spot.
In time, Richard, though still sick, had become even more sick of his impotence.
He ordered his moveable tower hauled into “the ditch outside the city wall”; he
then “had himself carried out” on his sick bed and placed near his “most skilled
crossbowmen” under the tower. The wounded warrior-king did this “to discourage
the Saracens with his presence and encourage his own people to fight. There he
used his crossbow, with which he was skilled, and killed many.”
Meanwhile, “the Christians’ stonethrowers kept up a constant battering of the
walls, day and night.” Acre was holding on by a thread. Although the Christian
chronicler praised the martial spirit of its Turkish garrison—they were “fit and
ready for anything” and “certainly not inferior to our people”—by now many
desperate Muslims “hurled themselves from the walls at night in a desperate
attempt to escape.” On being captured, a “great many of them begged to be given
the sacrament of the Christian baptism,” though, as the chronicle observes,
“they asked for this more as a means of escape.”
Finally, on July 12, 1191, and considering that large sections of Acre’s walls
had by now collapsed into and filled the moat, “the Franks—Allah curse
them!—conquered the city of Acre,” writes Ibn al-Athir, nearly two years since
the siege first began.
Now that they had re-established themselves in the Holy Land, and the Third
Crusade was off to a good start, would the Crusaders, under the Lionheart’s
leadership, be able to liberate Jerusalem from Islamic control? That is another,
even more fascinating story.
*This article was abstracted from Raymond Ibrahim’s new book, Defenders of the
West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood against Islam, which features a chapter on
Richard Lionheart.
Turkey Celebrates Barbaric Conquest of Constantinople,
Seeks to “Bury” the “Current Byzantines”
Raymond Ibrahim/July 13/2022
Last May 29, 2022 in Istanbul and other cities in Turkey, elaborate celebrations
were held to commemorate the 569th anniversary of the Islamic conquest of
Constantinople in 1453. During these neo-Ottoman celebrations, President Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan declared that “As our ancestors buried Byzantium, let us hope
that today, by building our vision for 2053, we also manage to put in the time
warp of history the current Byzantines who are plotting against us.”
In order to understand the troubling significance of this otherwise cryptic
remark—most Westerners are today totally unaware of the history between Muslim
Turkey and Christian Byzantium—some background is necessary.
Towards the end of the first millennium, the Turks, whose origins lay in the
steppes of Asia, had become Muslim and began to raid and conquer portions of
Asia Minor, which was then and had been for a millennium Greek and Christian. By
the end of the 14th century they had conquered it entirely and began eying
Constantinople, just across the Bosporus. Although generations of Turks
repeatedly besieged it, it would fall to Muhammad II (or “Mehmet”), Erdoğan’s
hero.
But why did Muhammad and his predecessors attack Constantinople in the first
place? What made it an enemy to the Turks? The same thing that made every
non-Muslim nation an enemy: it was “infidel”—in this case, Christian—and
therefore in need of subjugating. That was the sole justification and
pretext—the sole “grievance”—that propelled the Turks to besiege it (as their
Arab counterparts did in the seventh and eighth centuries).
From the start, deceit was part of Muhammad’s arsenal. When he first became
sultan and was too busy consolidating his authority, Muhammad “swore by the god
of their false prophet, by the prophet whose name he bore,” a bitter Christian
contemporary retrospectively wrote, that “he was their [the Christians’] friend,
and would remain for the whole of his life a friend and ally of Constantinople.”
Although they believed him, Muhammad was taking advantage of “the basest arts of
dissimulation and deceit,” wrote Edward Gibbon. “Peace was on his lips while war
was in his heart.”
Muhammad also exhorted his Muslim army with jihadist ideology once the siege
commenced, including by unleashing throngs of preachers who cried throughout the
Muslim camp,
Children of Muhammad, be of good heart, for tomorrow we shall have so many
Christians in our hands that we will sell them, two slaves for a ducat, and will
have such riches that we will all be of gold, and from the beards of the Greeks
we will make leads for our dogs, and their families will be our slaves. So be of
good heart and be ready to die cheerfully for the love of our [past and present]
Muhammad.
“Recall the promises of our Prophet concerning fallen warriors in the Koran,”
Muhammad himself exhorted: “the man who dies in combat shall be transported
bodily to paradise and shall dine with [prophet] Muhammad in the presence of
women, handsome boys, and virgins.”
The mention of “handsome boys” was not just an accurate reference to the Koran’s
promise (e.g., 52:24, 56:17, and 76:19); Muhammad was a notorious pedophile. His
enslavement and rape of Jacob Notaras—a handsome 14-year-old nobleman’s son in
Constantinople, whom Muhammad forced into becoming his personal catamite until
he escaped—was only one of the most infamous. The sultan stabbed to death
another Christian boy who “preferred death to infamy.”
Or consider the behavior of Muhammad’s army one they had penetrated inside
Constantinople:
When they had massacred and there was no longer any resistance, they were intent
on pillage and roamed through the town stealing, disrobing, pillaging, killing,
raping, taking captive men, women, children, old men, young men, monks, priests,
people of all sorts and conditions.… There were virgins who awoke from troubled
sleep to find those brigands standing over them with bloody hands and faces full
of abject fury.… [The Turks] dragged them, tore them, forced them, dishonored
them, raped them at the cross-roads and made them submit to the most terrible
outrages.… Tender children were brutally snatched from their mothers’ breasts
and girls were pitilessly given up to strange and horrible unions, and a
thousand other terrible things happened.
Because thousands of citizens had fled to and were holed up in Hagia Sophia—then
one of the Christian world’s greatest of cathedrals—the basilica offered an
excellent harvest of slaves once its doors were axed down:
One Turk would look for the captive who seemed the wealthiest, a second would
prefer a pretty face among the nuns. … Each rapacious Turk was eager to lead his
captive to a safe place, and then return to secure a second and a third prize. …
Then long chains of captives could be seen leaving the church and its shrines,
being herded along like cattle or flocks of sheep.
The slavers sometimes fought each other to the death over “any well-formed
girl,” even as many of the latter “preferred to cast themselves into the wells
and drown rather than fall into the hands of the Turks.”
Having taken possession of the Hagia Sophia—which at the time of its capture had
served as a cathedral for a thousand years— the invaders “engaged in every kind
of vileness within it, making of it a public brothel.” On “its holy altars” they
enacted “perversions with our women, virgins, and children,” including “the
Grand Duke’s daughter who was quite beautiful.” She was forced to “lie on the
great altar of Hagia Sophia with a crucifix under her head and then raped.”
Next “they paraded the [Hagia Sophia’s main] Crucifix in mocking procession
through their camp, beating drums before it, crucifying the Christ again with
spitting and blasphemies and curses. They placed a Turkish cap … upon His head,
and jeeringly cried, ‘Behold the god of the Christians!’”
Practically all other churches in the ancient city suffered the same fate. “The
crosses which had been placed on the roofs or the walls of churches were torn
down and trampled.” The Eucharist was “thrown to the ground and kicked.” Bibles
were stripped of their gold or silver illuminations before being burned. “Icons
were without exception given to the flames.” Patriarchal vestments were placed
on the haunches of dogs; priestly garments were placed on horses.
“Everywhere there was misfortune, everyone was touched by pain” when Sultan
Muhammad finally made his grand entry into the city. “There were lamentations
and weeping in every house, screaming in the crossroads, and sorrow in all
churches; the groaning of grown men and the shrieking of women accompanied
looting, enslavement, separation, and rape.”
Finally, Muhammad had the “wretched citizens of Constantinople” dragged before
his men during evening festivities and “ordered many of them to be hacked to
pieces, for the sake of entertainment.” The rest of the city’s population—as
many as 45,000—was hauled off in chains to be sold as slaves.
This is the man whom Turkey and its president honor—including by rededicating
the Hagia Sophia, which had been a museum for nearly a century, into a victory
mosque to him last year. Then, Erdoğan proclaimed in a speech:
The conquest of Istanbul [Constantinople] and the conversion of the Hagia Sophia
into a mosque are among the most glorious chapters of Turkish history.….The
resurrection of the Hagia Sophia represents our memory full of heydays in our
history.
From here one can better understand Erdoğan’s recent assertion, “As our
ancestors buried Byzantium, let us hope that today, by building our vision for
2053, we also manage to put in the time warp of history the current Byzantines
who are plotting against us.”
Of course, the Byzantines never “plotted” against the Turks’ ancestors; quite
the opposite—the Turks deceived and then attacked them for no other reason than
that they were “infidels” who rejected Islam and, as such, deserved to be
slaughtered, raped, and enslaved.
Nor, it’s worth noting, was Constantinople the only kingdom to be so utterly
ravaged by Erdoğan’s hero. For example, Muhammad II also slaughtered and
ritually beheaded thousands of Christians when his men landed in and captured
Otranto, Italy, in 1480, because they refused to convert to Islam; he ordered
their archbishop sawn in half.
During last May 29’s celebrations, Erdoğan himself seemingly confirmed his
approval of all the many unprovoked atrocities and conquests Muhammad committed:
“Do you know,” he boasted, “that Sultan Mehmet [Muhammad II] the Conqueror is
not only the conqueror of Constantinople but also the conqueror of Serbia, the
Peloponnese, Athens, Wallachia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina?”
This is true; but can any rational person believe that all of these European
nations, all of them hundreds of miles away from Asia Minor (Turkey), had
somehow also “grieved” the Turks into attacking and conquering them?
All of this makes clear that Erdoğan, instead of being a modern day president
who is interested in living in peace with his neighbors, sees himself as more of
a sultan, dedicated to advancing Islam and humiliating infidels through jihad.
The message could not be clearer: jihadist ideology dominates Turkey, certainly
its leadership. Invading and conquering neighboring peoples—not due to any
grievances but because they are non-Muslim—with all the attending atrocities,
rapes, destruction, and mass slavery is apparently the ideal, to resume once the
sunset of Western power is complete.
All historic quotes in this article were sourced from and are documented in the
author’s Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the
West.
America's Retreat by 1,000 Small Steps
Peter Schweizer/Gatestone Institute./July 13/2022
Thanks to a Treasury Department "interpretation," Americans can still own stock
in companies that were placed on a blacklist by the Trump administration because
of their direct ties to the Chinese military.
Thanks to the Biden administration, the "China Initiative" at the Department of
Justice to crack down on Chinese attempts to acquire or steal American
technology has been discontinued.
Thanks to the Biden administration's "green energy" enthusiasm, tariffs on solar
panels made by Asian countries who are assembling or repackaging solar panels
made in China were removed.
The Biden administration has also signaled its intention to remove or lift other
tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese products. It has also
been friendlier toward Chinese companies such as Huawei and ByteDance (owner of
TikTok) in recent weeks.
And all of this has been done with zero concessions from the Chinese government
on any of the outstanding diplomatic, military, strategic, health or trade
issues that so concern most Americans.
Because the Biden family has been so deeply involved and so vehemently denied
their involvement with Chinese business, the next question is as inescapable as
the first: Does the flow of money to the Biden family from China influence the
foreign policy of the United States?
Because the Biden family has been so deeply involved and so vehemently denied
their involvement with Chinese business, the next question is as inescapable as
the first: Does the flow of money to the Biden family from China influence the
foreign policy of the United States? (Image source: iStock)
President Joe Biden has been lying about his knowledge and likely his
involvement in his son's business dealings since at least 2018.
That is the inescapable conclusion to draw from a short voicemail recording
discovered on the laptop computer that belonged to his son, Hunter and reported
by The Daily Mail and The New York Post recently.
It begins innocently enough. "Hey pal, it's Dad," Joe Biden begins. "It's 8:15
on Wednesday night. If you get a chance, just give me a call. Nothing urgent. I
just wanted to talk to you."
The elder Biden then turns to a specific subject. That subject was the
publication of a New York Times article detailing how, in 2014, "Ye Jianming
courted the Biden family and networked with former United States security
officials." The article offers some details of Ye's efforts to lure Hunter Biden
into business deals that would enrich him and curry favor with his father, vice
president of the United States and the recently designated "point person" for
the administration of President Barack Obama on China.
Biden's voicemail to Hunter continues: "I thought the article released online,
it's going to be printed tomorrow in the Times, was good," Biden said. "I think
you're clear. And anyway if you get a chance, give me a call, I love you."
On its own, this is not dispositive. It could be explained as a politician's
take on a news story that implicates his own son in business dealings with a
Chinese investor whose commercial enterprises went into default. But placed into
proper context, against what had already been reported in my 2018 book, Secret
Empires, and reported on previously, it shows that Joe Biden in 2018 knew plenty
about his son's business dealings, all of which involved foreign nations in
which the elder Biden was simultaneously serving as the US's most important
diplomatic presence.
Moreover, it tracks with the words of an eyewitness, namely Hunter himself, who
told the New Yorker in 2019 that he discussed Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas
producer, with his father as far back as December 2015 while Hunter sat on
Burisma's board of directors, as USA TODAY reported in September of 2019.
Around the time of the 2015 conversation, Joe Biden was preparing for a trip to
Ukraine and the Obama administration special envoy had raised the issue with the
Vice President, according to the article. Hunter Biden told the New Yorker he
and his father spoke about Burisma just once.
"Dad said, 'I hope you know what you're doing,'" Hunter told the New Yorker.
"And I said, 'I do,'" Hunter said. His father's presidential campaign declined
to comment.
Joe Biden would go on, as candidate and then as president, to continue to deny,
then backpedal, on whether Joe had knowledge of what his son was doing overseas.
For those who would not be convinced by what I disclosed in Secret Empires,
published in April 2018 and five weeks on the New York Times bestseller list --
for those who would not be convinced by Hunter's own words that he had in fact
discussed his overseas business interests with his father -- there is now the
direct, recorded voice of Joe Biden himself, telling his son in 2018 that he was
"in the clear" on at least one of these deals.
He denied any of this, categorically, throughout the 2020 campaign. But, as
Gordon Chang agreed in a recent interview, there it is.
Some may be tempted to chalk this up to past indiscretions or even as a father's
natural protectiveness for his own son. But none of this is really "past," and
given the investigations ongoing into Hunter's business dealings it is hard to
see that it provided much protection to him at all. But the lies did protect Joe
Biden's "viability" as a candidate against President Donald Trump and defused an
issue that led to Trump's impeachment by the Democratic-controlled House of
Representatives over his efforts to coax Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy
into investigating the matter from his own perspective.
But the issue remains red-hot because there is still so much at stake in
US-China diplomatic and trade relations that requires a US president to
prioritize American interests above those of China... or of himself.
In an interview with Jason Chaffetz on the Fox News show "Sunday Futures," I
described the Biden administration's policy toward China as "A retreat by 1,000
small steps."
Thanks to a Treasury Department "interpretation," Americans can still own stock
in companies that were placed on a blacklist by the Trump administration because
of their direct ties to the Chinese military.
Thanks to the Biden administration, the "China Initiative" at the Department of
Justice to crack down on China's attempts to acquire or steal American
technology has been discontinued.
Thanks to the Biden administration's "green energy" enthusiasm, tariffs on solar
panels made by Asian countries who are assembling or repackaging solar panels
made in China were removed.
The Biden administration has also signaled its intention to remove or lift other
tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese products. It has also
been friendlier toward Chinese companies such as Huawei and ByteDance (owner of
TikTok) in recent weeks.
And all of this has been done with zero concessions from the Chinese government
on any of the outstanding diplomatic, military, strategic, health or trade
issues that so concern most Americans.
This story is shocking, threatens national security, and should dominate the
attention of the major newspapers and news networks because of the damning
implications. Because the Biden family has been so deeply involved and so
vehemently denied their involvement with Chinese business, the next question is
as inescapable as the first: Does the flow of money to the Biden family from
China influence the foreign policy of the United States?
Based on a mountain of documentary evidence topped with one short, intimate
voicemail message, the answer appears clearer than ever.
*Peter Schweizer, President of the Governmental Accountability Institute, is a
Gatestone Institute Distinguished Senior Fellow and author of the new book, Red
Handed: How American Elites are Helping China Win.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Are Democrats Rivals of Saudi Arabia?
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 13/2022
Many are under the impression that the relationship between the US Democratic
Party and Saudi Arabia differs from the one their Republican rivals enjoy with
the Kingdom. It is also widely believed that Democrat Presidents or Congressmen
have a principled anti-Riyadh stance. However, that is far from true: both
parties have an oft-positive stand vis-à-vis the Kingdom, stemming from the
historical ties and higher interests that bring the two countries together.
In fact, the first US President to truly foster and cement ties with Saudi
Arabia was a Democrat, not a Republican. As WWII was ending, Franklin Roosevelt
met King Abdulaziz in the Suez Canal in February 1945, against the backdrop of
shelling by Axis powers. This was possibly the most significant meeting held
between the leaders of the two countries, as it laid the foundations for
bilateral relations. Roosevelt’s interest was reaffirmed when he invited King
Abdulaziz to visit Washington and, breaking protocol, received the King’s
delegates – his sons, Faisal and Khalid – in the White House for a dinner
ceremony that was attended by the Vice President, State Secretary, and several
Congressmen at the time.
Similarly, the US and the Kingdom enjoyed good relations under Democratic
President John Kennedy, who also supported the Kingdom during the Yemen war.
Analysts believed Democratic President Bill Clinton would be less keen to
maintain the bilateral relations with the Kingdom in response to the exceptional
relations that linked his predecessor, George H. W. Bush, and Riyadh. However,
Clinton proved these assumptions wrong and went on to restructure and foster
ties and select the Kingdom as a partner in the Bosnian war peace process.
Under President Barack Obama, bilateral relations were strong in the first
presidential term, but Obama distanced himself during his second term as he
sought to reach the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran. He believed
the deal to be a historical achievement that would put an end to the nuclear
threat and was betting that the deal would turn Iran into a peaceful regime,
like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, that focuses on development rather than wars.
This naïve theory led to many cracks in the ties with Riyadh and was later
proven to have carried many flaws in the President’s political philosophy and
vision for the region. Soon enough, Iran began expanding its military operations
and sowing the seeds of chaos across the region, funded by an estimated $120
billion – the equivalent of Jordan’s budget for six years – in blocked Iranian
debts and funds it obtained from Washington.
The second mistake was when Obama concluded that the US must retreat from the
region and will not need Saudi Arabia for the nuclear deal, and more
importantly, for the shale oil approach that propelled his country from an
oil-importing state that depends on Middle Eastern oil to an oil exporter. This
conclusion was also proven wrong later: as the competition between the US and
China escalated and Russia’s influence and regional relations expanded, the
Middle East became all the more important. Then came the Ukraine War shock to
guide the White House back to its old considerations. Ever since the 1920s, this
oil and gas abundant region of strategic passageways known as the Middle East
has been critical for US foreign policy makers and will remain so for many years
to come.
What truly matters is the US President’s stances, not his party. Ties built on
strong foundations go a longer way than those built on personal relations,
contrary to what some believe.
The good relations with former President Donald Trump took a great deal of
diplomatic efforts on the part of Saudi Arabia during his first weeks in the
White House, but this special relation had negative repercussions in the
elections later, as both parties threw the Riyadh ball in each other’s courts.
Similar difficulties seem to be on the way for the Biden term. For instance,
when President Clinton entered the Oval Office, many believed the relations with
Saudi Arabia would decline given the extraordinary ties between the Kingdom and
his predecessor, George H. W. Bush, who played a major role in the alliance with
Saudi Arabia to defeat Saddam Hussein and drive him out of Kuwait. Yet, during
Clinton’s eight years in the White House, the relation with Saudi Arabia
remained good and cooperative.
No presidential term has gone by without minor storms between the two countries,
but both often successfully weather these storms discreetly. For instance,
during Republican President Ronald Reagan’s term, King Fahd expelled US
Ambassador Hume Horan for what he viewed to be an interference in the Kingdom’s
domestic policy. I imagine Biden, who still has a bit over two years – which is
not a short period – in the White House, will deal with US-Saudi ties with
realism and positivity, despite the currents pushing him in an opposite,
anti-Saudi direction.
In a quite unusual step, Biden wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post explaining
his vision for relations with the Kingdom. The piece is a good indicator that
the bilateral relations crisis is behind us. Now, we must wait and see how his
meeting with the Saudi leadership will unfold. It is also expected that Biden
will put an end to the anti-Saudi stances and decisions of the Trump era and his
early Presidency in relation to military cooperation in the Yemen war, the
blacklisting of Saudi persons, attempts to persecute Saudi sovereign
institutions in US courts, and other such actions that would prevent the
establishment of strong bilateral relations.
Will Efforts to Establish Grain Corridors from Ukraine
Succeed?
Omer Onhon/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 13/2022
By now, everyone is well aware that Russia and Ukraine are top global producers
and exporters of wheat, maize, barley and sunflower oil, as well as other
grains. Russia is also a basic provider for fertilizers.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing war disrupted their export. The
disruption stems from a combination of physical and security conditions and
Russia’s deliberate actions of preventing movement of grain from Ukraine. Twenty
to million tons of Ukrainian grain are said to be kept in silos and some on
board of vessels waiting to be exported.
The United Nations has raised the alarm regarding global food security. As
always, the poor are the worst hit and African countries are at the forefront.
Many countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region including
Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan also rely on Ukraine and Russia for their wheat
and other grain needs. Price increases in wheat in 2011 and the following
developments bring back grim memories in the region.
Traditionally, around 90 percent of Ukrainian grain passes through the Turkish
Straits, which is a unique system of waterways consisting of Istanbul, the
Marmara Sea and Canakkale Straits. This system connects the Black Sea to the
Mediterranean and stretches 30 kilometers (18 miles).
This strategic passage has been important for centuries. It was a major cause
for many wars involving Turks (Ottoman Empire), Russians and others throughout
history. Today, the passage of sea vessels (warships and merchant ships) through
the Straits is governed by the Montreux Convention signed in 1936 between Turkey
and a number of countries of that time. The Convention lays out the conditions
for passage through the Straits.
The general principle is that merchant vessels enjoy freedom of passage under
all conditions. On the other hand, the passage of warships is bound by
regulations and restrictions. So, merchant ships carrying grain can pass through
the Straits unhindered. The problem is being allowed to leave the port in
Ukraine and safe passage in the Black Sea. Everything man-made or man-managed
has an alternative and so do grain shipments from Ukraine (land route through
Poland, Romanian ports). But technical problems, such as mismatched railway
tracks and port capacities, make things difficult. In order to switch to
alternatives, re-organization is needed and this in turn requires time and
money.
As part of its efforts to prevent the present crisis from turning into something
even much worse, the United Nations is trying to come up with a plan to
establish safe corridors for grain exports in the Black Sea.
The general idea is to load from Ukrainian ports, move them unhindered in the
Black Sea through sea routes, called corridors, to their final destinations in
the Middle East, Africa and other regions. The same route needs to be
established for the return journey.
Turkey, which has maintained a level of relationship with Russia and Ukraine,
has assumed a role in these efforts.
Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and United Nations leaders and officials are in
contact. Turkish and Russian Foreign Ministers met on the sidelines of G20
Summit in Bali and President Recep Tayyib Erdoğan talked on the phone to Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 11.
They discussed the issue of safe corridors.
On Tuesday, Turkish and Russian authorities announced that Ukrainian, Russian
and Turkish officials are going to meet in Istanbul on July 13 to discuss grain
corridors. United Nations officials will also be present.
The major difficulty is that the two warring sides are extremely hostile and
completely distrust each other. It is not easy to have them agree to a set of
measures (including security, guarantees, guarantors, regulations and
inspections) which all involve extreme sensitivities.
To give just one example, one difficult issue at the negotiations has been what
to do with sea mines. The Ukrainians have laid mines in their territorial waters
against Russian attempts to invade from the sea and Russia has required that
these mines be cleared so that ships carrying grain can sail from their ports
and travel in safety. The Ukrainians, however, view this request as a trick so
that the Russians would use the grain corridor initiative to get rid of these
mines so that they can launch amphibious operations.
The European Union and United States are also working on the issue. I imagine
(or rather hope) that all the efforts are complementary and there is cooperation
and coordination among those involved. Since its invasion, reports have said
Russia is grabbing Ukrainian grain and shipping it from ports it controls.
Russia has rebuffed these claims as propaganda.
In effect, Russia regards whatever it has occupied as its own, together with
everything on it, including grain stocks. It is quite clear that Russia is
moving grain from Ukraine in a very organized manner.
Just recently, Ukraine made a diplomatic demarche in Ankara, requesting that
Turkey seize a Russian ship (Zhibeg Zholy) which it claimed was carrying stolen
Ukrainian grain. The ship was stopped and anchored outside the Turkish Black Sea
town of Karasu. After a few days of investigation (and surely intense contacts
between Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials), the ship was released on July
7 to go back to where it came from. Ukraine expressed its disappointment with
the Turkish government’s decision and the Turkish Ambassador in Kyiv was
summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Turkey’s principal policy is not to allow shipments of grain coming from
occupied Ukrainian territories, including Crimea, on its territory. It is
cooperating with Ukraine on its requests but several technical and judicial
difficulties have complicated matters and made them more difficult.
On the other hand, Turkey is keen to implement its policies without getting into
direct conflict with Russia, which would undermine its position as a party able
to talk to both sides and its efforts in contributing to finding solutions to
the problem.
Because of its geographic location in relation to Russia and Ukraine and its
proximity to the war zone, together with so many sensitivities in bilateral
relations and regional/international issues of common interest, Turkey is in a
position where it has to walk on very thin ice.
Then, there is Russia's usual behavior where it uses and abuses, whenever and
wherever it is possible. In this case, Russia is using food and energy as a
counter measure against US and European sanctions.
In fact, Russia is applying the same policy in Syria. It vetoed the extension of
the UN Security Council resolution for the continuation of cross border
humanitarian aid from Turkey into northern Syria. Only after difficult
negotiations - and no doubt certain giving and taking - did Russia accept an
extension for six months. We will see whether the issue of grain corridors in
the Black Sea was part of the bargain. The world continues to suffer the
consequences of Russia’s actions to realize its ambitions in an area (the near
abroad, including Ukraine) it regards as its own and as part of a competition to
prove “who is the greatest” among global powers.
Because it Is Saudi Arabia
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 13/2022
US President Joe Biden wrote an op-ed to the Washington Post, called “Why I’m
Going to Saudi Arabia”, explaining the reasons for his anticipated visit to the
Middle East, specifically Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
The first answer that comes to mind when reading the article is: because it is
Saudi Arabia, the land of the Two Mosques, moderation, and energy pacemaker, and
above all else, a country undergoing the most significant and important social
transformation.
It is no exaggeration to say that the transformation, under the leadership of
King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - the architect
of the vision and change - is the transformation that will have the greatest
impact in the region, politically, economically and socially.
The change overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed cannot be overlooked and has become
the best model for those seeking stability and prosperity in the region.
We can now loudly say that there is a model for life in the region and that is
the Saudi one. Returning to Biden’s article, it raises many unavoidable
questions. Was it addressed to the Saudis, Americans or even the international
community? Such articles are often written when American presidents embark on
foreign trips.The answer to the above question is “no”. The article was
addressed to a specific current in the United States, which is the left, not all
Americans, not even the Saudis or international community.
Very well. Is that a bad thing? The answer again is
“no”. The article is good, because its writer had previously vowed to shun Saudi
Arabia. Now, he is justifying his visit and demonstrating how Saudi Arabia is a
strategic country and has been a strategic ally to the US for nearly 80 years.
Moreover, the article was written for a publication that is the most hostile to
Riyadh.
Yes, moderate voices had emerged in the US demanding that Biden improve
relations with Saudi Arabia. But this time, it is the president himself who is
explaining the importance of Saudi Arabia and his visit.
The president who vowed during his electoral campaign to shun Saudi Arabia is
now defending his visit to Jeddah. The president, not the media or lobbies, is
the one explaining the importance of relations between Washington and Riyadh.
Most importantly, Saudi Arabia does not become affected by an article or
statements made here and there. This is constant and evident and has been
demonstrated by the circumstances. But here lies a message to meddlers in the
region and their pawns. We had heard throughout last year hollow statements and
childish gloating speaking of Saudi Arabia’s isolation because of the tensions
between Riyadh and Washington. Now, these childish voices are alleging that
Biden is headed to Saudi Arabia to give out orders.
We can only laugh at such suggestions, which remind us that the parties that had
incited Biden to take positions against Saudi Arabia are now aggrieved after
reading his article. To summarize, we can say that President Biden is visiting
Saudi Arabia because it is pivotal leading and pioneering state. It is a model
of reform and stability in the region. Riyadh is a model of rational policy.
Saudi Arabia is a not a nation of empty slogans, but of words because it is
simply Saudi Arabia.
Searching for an Honest Man"
Lawrence Kadish/ Gatestone Institute./July 13/2022
Legend has it that long ago the philosopher Diogenes walked the streets of
ancient Greece with a lamp held high in search of an "honest man." His street
theater suggested a quiet but dramatic protest against what he viewed as a
corrupt society that smirked at government ethics and ignored personal
responsibility. A millennium or two later, the world's greatest democracy has
need to follow in Diogenes' footsteps, as we collectively walk Washington, D.C.
"looking for an honest man."America comes to this crossroads at a perilous time.
There are those in our nation's capital and leaders around the world who quietly
believe our country is in a slow but deliberate decline, ceding global
leadership to China much the way Great Britain gave way to the United States at
the turn of the 20th Century. If that is the case, then our world needs to brace
itself for a dark, despotic era, for it was Abraham Lincoln who reminded all who
would listen that the United States was, ".... the last best hope of earth."
Despite all of our domestic bickering, it remains so today.
We are, however, going to need to collectively recognize the threat to
our future. Much of it comes from within: when a nation loses faith in itself,
it begins to abdicate its future to others. Consider the chilling results of a
recent a national poll that found pride in America is down.
The findings underscore our shared national skepticism about our
leadership and the emergence of a progressive movement that includes in its
manifesto the idea that non-citizens have a right to vote, open borders should
be embraced, and cashless bail for repeat felons is a perfectly acceptable
criminal justice policy. Add to this toxic brew the threat of ballot harvesting
to the integrity of elections, the role of untraceable dark money in political
campaigns, and the role of online overseas hackers seeking to set Americans
against each other and you have a vicious "perfect storm" that can threaten our
nation's future. America has the inherent strength to
recover from these assaults on our national will, but it must unite in a manner
not seen since World War II. To do so requires that we
first recognize these existential threats and for that, Diogenes may need a
bigger lamp. *Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of
Governors of Gatestone Institute.
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Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
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Biden’s Saudi visit is a return to the norm, not a
‘reorientation’
Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/July 13/2022
US President Biden Joe Biden arrives in Saudi Arabia this week at the invitation
of King Salman. In Jeddah on Friday he will meet the king and Crown Prince
Mohammad bin Salman, and attend an extraordinary meeting of the six GCC states
plus Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.
While it is obvious here in the Kingdom why this visit is of great mutual
importance, some of the president’s critics may not be as clear eyed as he or
his team. Perhaps that is why Biden wrote a carefully worded column published in
The Washington Post last week, entitled “Why I’m going to Saudi Arabia,” in
which he made clear that as US president his aim was never to “rupture” but to
“reorient” the relationship between our two countries.
The column’s tone was far more balanced, eloquent and reflective of Biden’s long
career as a seasoned politician than some of his previous rhetoric — for
example, his election campaign vow to turn Saudi Arabia into “a pariah.” Such a
statement is why the legendary former Saudi Ambassador to Washington, Prince
Bandar bin Sultan, used to describe US election periods as the “silly season,”
and there is no need to dwell on it. After all, who in their right mind would
want to rupture a strategic relationship with a country of the size and
importance of Saudi Arabia — the cradle of Islam, home to the holy sites of 2
billion people and the world’s most significant oil producing state?
However, it is the “reorient” part of Biden’s column with which I must
respectfully disagree. He argues that he is coming to Jeddah because the Kingdom
has helped restore Gulf unity, supported the truce in Yemen, is working to
stabilize oil markets, and has had an impact in keeping America strong and
secure. But none of that is a “reorientation” — it is the norm: indeed, it is
the very basis of our bilateral relationship. You could add to it cooperation to
end the Soviet invasion of Afganistan, fighting side by side to liberate Kuwait,
continued cooperation to combat terrorism, collaboration in space exploration,
and the formation of joint businesses to create hundreds of thousands of jobs
for both Saudis and Americans.
Who in their right mind would want to rupture a strategic relationship with a
country of the size and importance of Saudi Arabia?
In fact, any deviation from this norm has been — regrettably — by the US. On
Yemen, for example, the current administration’s initial policy was to
disengage, delist the Iran-backed Houthis as terrorists and withdraw Patriot
missile batteries from the Kingdom while Saudi civilians and oil infrastructure
were being attacked — civilians, let us not forget, in a country that Biden in
his own column describes as a “strategic partner for 80 years,” and oil
facilities that were targeted at a time when global energy prices were at an all
time high.
However, since his administration began to engage more, to accept the facts, and
to place blame where it belongs, we have together managed to achieve a truce in
Yemen that has been the longest lasting so far. One can only hope for more
progress with the help of Washington, and a final resolution for a war that
everyone wants to end sooner rather than later.
As has been documented in reports by the State Department and other US agencies,
human rights have always been discussed. Criticism was accepted when it was
legitimate, and dismissed when it was not.
I must also respectfully disagree with the suggestion that my country had
previously enjoyed a “blank-check policy,” which the current US administration
has reversed. If this is intended to mean that the Kingdom was given a pass on
human rights under any previous administration, then it is simply untrue. As has
been clearly documented in reports published by the State Department and other
US agencies, such topics have always been discussed. Criticism was accepted when
it was legitimate, and dismissed when it was not. Nor has the record always been
negative. On numerous occasions, our efforts and policies have received welcome
praise — most recently from Deborah Lipstadt, Biden’s own envoy to monitor and
combat antisemitism. On a visit to Riyadh, including our headquarters at Arab
News, she had only warm words for the social and religious reforms spearheaded
by the crown prince. No country is without its faults — a truism that applies
equally to the US, where growing racial and political divisions, police
brutality, and the continued existence of the Guantanamo prison camp are all
rather alarming to us as Arabs who expect better from a country as great as
America.
I, for one, am excited to see what emerges from the meetings on Friday. I am
even more excited to see what the next 80 years of Saudi-US relations can
achieve. At a time of great opportunity — such as the religious, economic and
social reforms in my country — as well as daunting global political, security,
health and nutrition challenges, the Riyadh-Washington relationship is as
important as ever for the peace, stability and prosperity of the whole planet.