English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 17/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him
John 08:40-48/As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the works of your own father.”“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.””

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 16-17/2021
Lebanon: Aoun Says Keen on Best Ties With 'Brotherly Arab Countries'
U.S. Delivers Six Attack Helicopters to Lebanese Army
Report: Kuwait Won't Renew Residency Permits of Dozens of Lebanese
Shea Hails 'Progress' in Getting Gas, Electricity into Lebanon
Aoun to Visit Qatar amid Row with Gulf Countries
Miqati Says No Link Between Port Probe, Cabinet Sessions Resumption
Bassil Says Amendments Appeal Shouldn’t Affect Elections
UK Advises against Non-Essential Travel to Lebanon
Report: Salameh to Make Shellshock Monetary-Judicial Revelation
U.S. Ambassador Inaugurates American Corner Tripoli
Report: 4 Proposals Mulled to End Govt. Crisis as Hizbullah Talks to Franjieh
Luxembourg opens ‘criminal case’ into Lebanon Central Bank governor
Lebanese Researcher 'Imad Rizq: We Are The Cradle Of Civilization, Whereas Saudis Are Bedouins Who Produce Suicide Bombers And Do Not Use Toilet Paper; We Wish Them All The Best In Their Vast Desert
Turkey offers to mediate row with Gulf countries/Nicholas Frakes/Now Lebanon/November 16/2021
Do Not Simplify the Problem of the Hezbollah Militia/Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/November, 16/2021
Lebanon was famed for its medical care. Now, doctors and nurses are fleeing in droves./Sarah Dadouch and Nader Durgham/The Washington Post/November 16/ 2021
Plotting like a revolutionary: The need for growing like-minded humanistic networks of Iranians and Arabs/Alberto M. Fernandez/MEI@75 site/November 16/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 16-17/2021
Biden, Xi discuss how to ‘align’ stances on Iran nuclear issue
Iran, Turkey try to synchronise regional agendas in Tehran talks
Raisi Says Iran 'Absolutely Serious' about Nuclear Talks
Iran shows less excitement about talks with Saudi Arabia
Russia Admits Destroying Satellite with Space Missile Strike
UN calls for new talks on Yemen’s Hodeidah as frontlines shift
Teenage Syrian Laid to Rest by Poland-Belarus Border
Israeli Defense Chief Gantz to Visit Morocco
UN Condemns Attempts to Discredit Iraq’s Recent Election
Libyan Politicians Call for Int’l Sanctions against Obstructionists in Upcoming Elections
Electoral Offices Closed to Prevent Haftar, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi’s Candidacy for Libyan Elections
Libya: Haftar Announces Candidacy for President
Egypt, EU to Boost Cooperation on Migration
Sudan's Ambassadors Urge Western Governments to Reject 'Coup'
Palestinians Say Man Killed by Israeli Fire in West Bank
Yemen Human Rights Center Documents 70 Abuses Against Civilians in Taiz Last Month

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 16-17/2021
Will Islam Survive Islamism?/More Muslims fear and reject a radical version of Islam/Daniel Pipes/Washington Times/November 16/2021
Honouring Sheikh Zayed, founder of the UAE/Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/November 16/2021
Last Iraqi elections are a harbinger of change/Ibrahim al-Zobeidi/The Arab Weekly/November 16/2021
US special envoy’s mission impossible to restore Iran nuclear deal/Osama Al-Sharif/t Arab News/November 16/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 16-17/2021
Lebanon: Aoun Says Keen on Best Ties With 'Brotherly Arab Countries'
Beirut –Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 16 November, 2021
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun said that efforts were underway to solve the crisis with the Gulf states out of keenness on “establishing the best relations with the brotherly Arab countries.”Aoun's remarks came on Monday during his meeting with Lebanon’s Ambassadors to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Fawzi Kabbara and Milad Nammour and the chargé d’affaires of the Lebanese Embassy in Kuwait, Hadi Hashem. The Lebanese presidency stated that efforts exerted by Aoun are “underway to address the situation that has arisen out of Lebanon’s keenness to establish the best relations with the brotherly Arab nations, especially Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.”In parallel, the Lebanese-Saudi Business Council expressed surprise at the “lack of initiatives by Lebanese officials to find solutions” to the crisis. The Council warned that Lebanon and the Lebanese communities residing in the Gulf will not be able to bear the “economic, financial and social repercussions” of such an approach. In a special meeting held at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, the Council criticized “the failure of Lebanon's information minister to assume responsibility and resign, in order to pave the way for constructive and responsible dialogue with the Kingdom.”In a statement recited by the Council head, Raouf Abu Zaki, it “regretted the persisting campaigns and negative stances.” It also criticized attempts to portray the concerned minister’s resignation as a derogation from sovereignty and national dignity, adding that “an apology and the cessation of hostile campaigns against it, as well as the restoration of the state’s sovereignty,” are all what the Gulf states demand. The Council stressed that preserving national dignity is achieved “by ending corruption” and alleviating the sufferings of the citizens at the doors of hospitals, pharmacies, banks and gas stations, and addressing the economic collapse.” It also reminded of “the contribution of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to the reconstruction of Lebanon after the war, and to the role it played in saving it from successive crises.”

U.S. Delivers Six Attack Helicopters to Lebanese Army
Naharnet/November 16/2021
The U.S. ambassy in Lebanon on Tuesday delivered six MD-530F+ Light Attack Helicopters to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) Air Force.
"Since 2017, the U.S. military teams have worked closely with the LAF to ensure the capabilities of these aircrafts would fill mission requirements and enhance the operational capacity of the LAF in providing for Lebanon’s security. Today, we are not only formally inaugurating these helicopters, valued at over $40 million dollars, but we are welcoming them as the newest additions of the LAF’s air fleet," U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea said at a ceremony at Hamat Airbase. "This helicopter is the first light attack helicopter of its kind to integrate APKWS missiles and live downlink of targeting data," Shea stressed, adding that "this technology showcases the LAF’s increasing levels of combat capabilities.""We are also recognizing the LAF pilots and technicians who completed training on these aircraft in preparation for their deployment in the field. These officers join a cadre of top performing LAF personnel, who have benefitted from U.S.-sponsored training and education, and this is such an important part of our bilateral cooperation. Bravo for the performance," Shea went on to say. The U.S. ambassador emphasized that both the helicopter delivery and training graduation, represent "the enduring partnership between Lebanon and the United States."She said that the United States recently announced an additional $67 million in annual Foreign Military Financing support for this year 2021. "This is in addition to the $120 million that we had already set aside for Lebanon bringing the total to $187 million for this year."
Shea also expressed her country's commitment to pursuing additional ways to help the LAF. "We know your country is going through difficult times, your people are experiencing very difficult economic circumstances and many of you yourselves are. We are working aggressively to help find solutions to those problems, and I would include in that also our friends and colleagues in the Internal Security Forces. We recognize the vital role that you play in securing and protecting Lebanon," Shea said.

Report: Kuwait Won't Renew Residency Permits of Dozens of Lebanese
Naharnet/November 16/2021
Kuwait’s State Security agency has placed 100 expats of various nationalities on the lists of those barred from renewing their residency permits, Kuwait’s al-Qabas newspaper reported. “The vast majority of them are Lebanese and the rest are Iranians, Yemenis, Syrians, Iraqis, Pakistanis, Afghans, Bangladeshis and Egyptians,” the daily quoted informed security sources as saying. “Some of these Lebanese expats are suspected of belonging to Hizbullah or having first or second degree relatives who belong to Hizbullah,” the sources added. “Some of those barred from renewing their residency permits discovered that upon visiting the residency affairs administrations in the six governorates (of Kuwait), and they were asked to immediately leave the country along with their families,” the sources went on to say.

Shea Hails 'Progress' in Getting Gas, Electricity into Lebanon
Naharnet/November 16/2021
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea held a meeting Tuesday afternoon with Energy Minister Walid Fayyad and Electricité du Liban Director General Kamal Hayek. “Jointly, we really feel that we're making very good progress on the regional energy deals that the United States has been keen to see move forward. We're trying to get humanitarian relief and real day-to-day relief for the Lebanese people, who have been suffering for far too long from energy shortages and electricity outages,” Shea said after the meeting.“We're pleased that today we were able to make further progress toward getting gas into Lebanon from Egypt and electricity into Lebanon from excess electricity on the Jordanian grid. We're very pleased with the progress that we're making and I'm thankful for the hard work that my counterparts have been engaging in,” she added.

Aoun to Visit Qatar amid Row with Gulf Countries
Naharnet/November 16/2021
President Michel Aoun will visit Qatar on November 30 at the head of a Lebanese delegation to take part in the opening ceremony of a sport event, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday. “Aoun is expected to hold political meetings on the sidelines of the visit, which carries significant indications amid the diplomatic crisis between Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and some Gulf countries, although the visit’s nature is sport-linked,” the daily added. The diplomatic spat erupted over comments made by George Kordahi over Yemen’s war before he became Lebanon’s information minister. In response, KSA withdrew its ambassador from Beirut, expelled Lebanon’s envoy and banned Lebanese imports. Bahrain, the UAE and Kuwait also pulled their top diplomats from Lebanon, deepening the discord.

Miqati Says No Link Between Port Probe, Cabinet Sessions Resumption
Naharnet/November 16/2021
The press office of Prime Minister Najib Miqati denied Tuesday news about solving the political crisis by dismissing port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar in order to resume the Cabinet sessions in return.
“The prime minister refutes these news,” the statement said, adding that Miqati’s solution map stresses that “there shouldn’t be any political interference with the judiciary’s work.”The statement emphasized that “there is no link between the resumption of Cabinet sessions and the judicial investigation into the Beirut port blast.”

Bassil Says Amendments Appeal Shouldn’t Affect Elections
Naharnet/November 16/2021
Free Patriotic Movement head Jebran Bassil said Tuesday that his bloc insists on holding the elections on time. Bassil said after the Strong Lebanon bloc’s weekly meeting that the bloc will file an appeal “against the amendments” and not against the entire electoral law. “There is no problem with the deadlines,” Bassil said, asking the Lebanese parties to stop “the blame game, every time a party wants to exercise its right.”Bassil added that the appeal “will not affect the administrative procedures for the elections’ preparations.”

UK Advises against Non-Essential Travel to Lebanon
Naharnet/November 16/2021
Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on Tuesday advised against all but essential travel to Lebanon over “ongoing instability.”“Lebanon is experiencing a prolonged and severe economic crisis. The situation is unpredictable and could deteriorate without warning,” the FCDO cautioned in a notice to British citizens. “Basic commodities (fuel, medicines, food) have become increasingly scarce. Electricity in Lebanon is also very limited. The availability and quality of medical treatment is affected by the economic crisis and fuel shortages,” it added. It cautioned that “crime, including bag theft, property crime and sexual harassment in public spaces, has increased as a result of the economic decline in Lebanon,” including “in Beirut.” “A conflict with Israel could spark with little warning and lead to a rapid escalation in violence,” the FCDO noted.

Report: Salameh to Make Shellshock Monetary-Judicial Revelation
Naharnet/November 16/2021
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh will make a shellshock monetary-judicial revelation in the next few days that will change the course of the legal disputes, LBCI television reported. A judicial spokesman in Luxembourg meanwhile said that judicial authorities these have launched a “criminal lawsuit” related to Salameh and his companies and assets. A spokesman for Salameh for his part said that the governor has not been notified of any lawsuit against him in Luxembourg, declining to give further comments. At least two investigations into Salameh’s activities are meanwhile underway in Switzerland and France. The governor has denied committing any violations in connection with the two probes.

U.S. Ambassador Inaugurates American Corner Tripoli
Naharnet/November 16/2021
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea has attended the inauguration of American Corner Tripoli in partnership with Safadi Foundation. "This American Space at the Safadi Foundation Center will empower youth, women, and professionals through capacity building, cultural, and educational programs," the U.S. Embassy said in a statement. During the event, Shea remarked that the American Corner in Tripoli will provide skills-building tools and training to individuals who represent "the future of this country and who have the desire to make a difference in their communities," the Embassy added. "Beneficiaries will participate in a wide array of programming ranging from media literacy and civic engagement to economic sustainment, entrepreneurship, and employability skills," it said. Shea meanwhile stated: “We want to see Lebanon prosper, and initiatives like the American Corner in Tripoli offer the knowledge and skills necessary for the people of North Lebanon to bolster their economies, support those in need, and impact their communities.”

Report: 4 Proposals Mulled to End Govt. Crisis as Hizbullah Talks to Franjieh
Naharnet/November 16/2021
Intensive efforts are being made to reach a solution for the suspension of Cabinet sessions and the results might appear in the next few days, informed sources said. “There are four proposals that are being discussed to agree on a solution that would lead to resuming Cabinet’s sessions,” the sources told MTV. “The four proposals are based on re-arranging the judiciary and are based on steps that the judiciary should do, not the government, seeing as the government cannot resolve anything and cannot be party to the conflict because this is not its role,” the sources added.
MTV also reported that “Hizbullah is leading contacts with its ally Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh in a bid to find an exit for the issue of Information Minister George Kordahi’s resignation as well as a complete solution for the crisis.”“What’s meant by a complete solution is the dismissal of the investigative judge into the port case Tarek Bitar and the subsequent resignation of Kordahi,” the TV network added.

Luxembourg opens ‘criminal case’ into Lebanon Central Bank governor
The Arab Weekly/November 16/2021
BEIRUT--Luxembourg judicial authorities have opened “a criminal case” in relation to Lebanese Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and his companies and assets, a judicial spokesperson in the small European Union country said on Monday. The spokesperson, who disclosed the inquiry in an email to Reuters, gave no further details on the investigation. A spokesperson for Lebanon’s central bank said Salameh had not been informed of any case against him in Luxembourg and declined further comment.Salameh is already under at least two European investigations, including a Swiss inquiry opened in January over alleged “aggravated money laundering” at the central bank involving $300 million in gains by a company owned by Salameh’s brother. French prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into money laundering allegations against Salameh in late May. Salameh’s lawyer denied the allegations, calling them politically-motivated. Salameh has previously denied any wrongdoing in connection with the investigations. He has faced increased scrutiny of his 28-year tenure as central bank governor due to the collapse of Lebanon’s financial system.
The findings of European probes could shed light into the origins of the 70-year-old former Merrill Lynch banker’s wealth. In post since 1993 and once hailed by political and business leaders, Salameh has been repeatedly accused by the former government of caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab of being responsible for the collapse of the Lebanese pound. The Lebanese public suspect him and other high officials of transferring money abroad during a 2019 uprising, when ordinary people were prevented from doing so. Lebanon has since been hit by an economic crisis which the World Bank says is one of the worst anywhere since the 19th century. Close to the powerful Hariri family, Salameh owns several properties in Europe and may have transferred money abroad. Based especially on reports by Lebanese website Daraj.com and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, many believe that Salameh’s worldwide total wealth amounts to more than $2 billion. He contests that figure, saying his holdings stem from inheritances, his banking career and legitimate investments since taking office in 1993.

Lebanese Researcher 'Imad Rizq: We Are The Cradle Of Civilization, Whereas Saudis Are Bedouins Who Produce Suicide Bombers And Do Not Use Toilet Paper; We Wish Them All The Best In Their Vast Desert
MEMRI/November 16/2021
Source: Etejah TV (Iraq)
In a November 9, 2021 interview on Etejah TV, Lebanese researcher 'Imad Rizq, the head of the Isticharia Center for Strategic Research, said of Saudi Arabia: "We [in Lebanon] are accused of having become toilet paper [but] I don't think that those Bedouins use toilet paper... We wish them the best of luck in that huge desert [while] we remain [the] cradle of civilizations, culture, and the future." He said that Lebanese civilization has been around for thousands of years and has contributed to science and innovation, unlike the Saudis, whom he claimed have only produced suicide bombers, like the 9/11 hijackers. Rizq made his statements in the context of recent tensions between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. For more about 'Imad Rizq, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 4298.
Imad Rizq: "We witnessed thousands of suicide bombers destroying cities and villages in the region. That was some great 'aid' from Saudi Arabia, and we thank them for that. Of course, this is not the true essence of the KSA or of the Saudi people. As you said, Saudi Arabia and its people have been hijacked. When someone is capable of rounding up all the princes in a hotel, extorting them, pressuring them, and accusing them of corruption, and when that someone can chop a journalist to pieces in an embassy abroad..."
Interviewer: "In Turkey."
Imad Rizq: "Yes, in Turkey. When someone can kidnap [Saad Hariri] when he was still prime minister... When someone can do all this... Obviously, he thinks he is providing aid to Lebanon. We thank Saudi Arabia for all that it has given us. We – the Lebanese people – thank them. As politicians in Lebanon, we are accused of having become toilet paper – although I don’t think that those Bedouins use toilet paper to begin with – so we thank them, and we wish them all the best in their vast desert. They can return to their roots and we will remain the way we were – the cradle of civilizations, culture, and the future.
"I do not believe that the Lebanese nation deserves to be called 'toilet paper.' The civilization of the Lebanese goes back thousands of years. The Lebanese people around the world have contributed to science and devised inventions. They did not produce suicide bombers like the ones who carried out 9/11 and similar attacks. I think that the Lebanese are a worthy people. The important thing is that the Kingdom of Sand continues to live in the sands."

Turkey offers to mediate row with Gulf countries
Nicholas Frakes/Now Lebanon/November 16/2021
On a visit to Beirut on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey is ready to help solve the diplomatic row between Lebanon and the Gulf states and invited Lebanese PM Najib Mikati to Ankara. Turkey is ready to help Lebanon overcome its differences with the Gulf countries, the country’s foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, told journalists in Beirut on Tuesday, after meetings with several Lebanese dignitaries. “We are saddened by the crisis between Lebanon and the Gulf Arab countries,” the Turkish foreign minister stated. “We hope that this issue will be resolved through negotiations and Turkey is ready to do its part.”Çavuşoğlu invited Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to visit Turkey and said that Ankara was making preparations. No date was announced. The Turkish FM and his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib, signed a memorandum of understanding to improve trade relations between Lebanon and Turkey, which would help Lebanon following the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in exports to the Gulf. “We discussed how to develop tourism and energy fields, and the first destination for the Lebanese people is Turkey, and the Turkish people’s love for Lebanon is well known,” Çavuşoğlu said. The crisis with the Gulf began after an interview that Information Minister George Kordahi gave prior to his appointment resurfaced where he defended the Iran-backed Houthis, saying that they were protecting themselves against Saudi aggression.
Since then, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Yemen have broken off diplomatic relations with Lebanon with Kuwait saying that it will no longer issue visas to Lebanese citizens.
Turkey also emphasized the importance of maintaining security and stability in Lebanon and that Turkey supports “the army and security forces for the sake of Lebanon’s stability and security.”The topic of rebuilding Beirut’s port following the August 4 explosion also came up in their discussions with Turkey offering to assist in its reconstruction as well as helping in Lebanon’s waning infrastructure. “We talked about the reconstruction of the port, and we affirmed that we are ready to contribute to the issue of infrastructure and superstructures,” Oglu said. Following the Beirut blast, Turkey provided Lebanon with medical and food support, sending 20 physicians and around 400 tons of wheat, along with $5 million. As thousands of Lebanese have left the country in 2021 due to the ongoing financial crash that lead to increased shortages, especially in medicine, fuel and electricity, many chose to relocate to Turkey, one of the few countries where they do not need a visa. They also discussed the problems surrounding Lebanon and Turkey supporting Syrian refugees who fled their homes due to the civil war that has engulfed the country for 10 years. There are around 3.6 million Syrians in Turkey either under temporary protection or international protection and an estimated 1.5 million Syrians in Lebanon. “Lebanon and Turkey are suffering from the burden of Syrian displacement, so efforts must be unified and approached to the issue of displacement, and demand from the international community a fair sharing of the burden or work to return the displaced to their country,” Bou Habib stated in a press conference following the meeting.
*Nicholas Frakes is a multimedia journalist with @NOW_leb. He tweets @nicfrakesjourno.

Do Not Simplify the Problem of the Hezbollah Militia
Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/November, 16/2021
Two opinions emerge from the recent Lebanese crisis with the Gulf States.
The first, which is generally that of the concerned Gulf governments, says that the Lebanese must confront the hegemony of the Hezbollah militia, which is hijacking the government’s decision and using the country within a political, security and military policy hostile to the Gulf.
The second opinion - a broader Lebanese view supported by Arab capitals friendly to the Gulf - believes that Hezbollah is a regional problem greater than the ability of the Lebanese alone to confront or address. It also rules out the government’s capacity to bring about meaningful changes in the balance of power in Lebanon.
The two opinions, which appear to be diametrically opposed, constitute in fact one comprehensive view of Hezbollah’s complex problem. Both are right and their validity is based on the objective interests of the opinion holders and the circumstances surrounding their opinion.
The least that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States can demand is that the Lebanese state, and the active Lebanese political parties, bear the responsibility of a militia in their country that does everything possible, with great perseverance, to attack the security, people and interests of the Gulf.
Moreover, any objective proposal to the Lebanese about the necessity of confronting Hezbollah must take into consideration the severe imbalance of power between the party and its opponents.
Hezbollah is a complex product of many of Lebanon’s social, political and regional crises. It is also the result of a massive earthquake in regional politics, with the rise of the first sectarian state in the modern Middle East, which constitutionally embraced the idea of exporting this sectarian revolution to its neighborhood and the world. This is not a simple phenomenon that can be addressed with simplistic suggestions as if it were just a criminal group that can be contained by imposing the law or adopting the self-evident rules of international relations.
The dialectical relationship between these two views, and the resulting tense dynamic that governs the problem of Hezbollah, has in fact produced nothing but policies that brought all kinds of harm to those seeking a solution or settlement.
Saudi Arabia, rightfully angry, is leading a Gulf path towards boycotting Lebanon, although this policy has so far been faced with French opposition, which is still giving life to Najib Mikati’s government, without enabling it to convene or secure its long stay…
The majority of those who say that Hezbollah’s problem is regional and international pretend to be prudent in this assessment, in order to justify their subordination and their work for a terrorist militia that invades the country, and to conceal what they are doing to empower Hezbollah and consolidate its strategy, which is based on the Iranian project.
Any proposal that does not strive to bypass the trap of the illusory contradiction between these two views is doomed to failure, and has every reason to become one of the tributaries of support for Hezbollah.
There are no easy solutions to a complex problem, no matter how some politicians try to simplify it in their statements or provide justifications for it.
It is necessary to set up a strategy that leads to isolating and criminalizing Hezbollah and those who deal with it. Such a strategy must be based on the conviction that we are dealing with two “Lebanons”, not one.
I believe that it is important not to impose a comprehensive boycott on Lebanon. In fact, a political team and a popular environment in the country has a firm stance and a clear vision about the strategic nature of the Lebanese-Arab relations, especially with the Gulf. There is no interest in losing this team, in the context of the comprehensive boycott of Lebanon.
There is another Lebanon that exists, other than “Hezbollah’s Lebanon”. It won’t be useful to include it in the boycott.
Similarly, there are two communities in the Gulf. It is illogical to keep them both safe from accountability and refrain from holding them responsible for the consequences of Hezbollah’s occupation of Lebanon. There shouldn’t be a single recipe for isolation, nor a single recipe for protection.
Protection is required for the friendly Lebanese community in the Gulf, which is of all sects, as much as punishment is needed for those who support Hezbollah or contribute to its empowerment, and they are of all sects, in light of proven objective facts and evidence. Otherwise, the matter ends with punishing the Lebanese resident in his homeland and protecting the expatriate Lebanese without any objective differentiation.
Let’s not be misled. There are many examples of the “bad Lebanese,” and among them were those who were senior businessmen in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and then became ministers, deputies, ambassadors, or actors in Lebanon under the auspices of the wide political group led by Hezbollah. This model must be eradicated, so that the Lebanese do not maintain the idea that you can be with the Gulf in the Gulf and an opponent of the Gulf once outside it.
As for the relationship with the Lebanese state, there is no simpler solution than to criminalize any relationship with Hezbollah in order to tighten its isolation. The Lebanese must understand that any relationship with Hezbollah means that they are part of the party, without any significant distinctions.
Many Lebanese personalities and political parties have abused the illegal investment in civil peace. Those who infiltrate under the pretext of political realism, national unity and others, to form the most dangerous political levers for Hezbollah and professionally whitewash its reputation, are the ones who should be targeted by the public boycott.
Finally, the problem of Hezbollah is also a regional and international problem. It seems to me that there is an Arab responsibility to form an international lobby that works diligently and employs all its capabilities, to intensify Arab, European and international pressure on Hezbollah, such as listing the entire party on terrorist lists, and disrupting European opportunism, which still distinguishes between Hezbollah and its military wing. We are faced with a complex problem that requires complex solutions. Simplifying complex matters will have very dangerous repercussions.

سارة دادوش ونادر درغام/واشنطن بوست: اشتهر لبنان برعايته الطبية، الآن، الأطباء والممرضات يفرون بأعداد كبيرة.
Lebanon was famed for its medical care. Now, doctors and nurses are fleeing in droves.
Sarah Dadouch and Nader Durgham/The Washington Post/November 16/ 2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/104157/sarah-dadouch-and-nader-durgham-the-washington-post-lebanon-was-famed-for-its-medical-care-now-doctors-and-nurses-are-fleeing-in-droves-%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%88%d8%b4/
BEIRUT — Lebanon was long known for producing some of the Middle East’s best health-care workers and became a popular destination for foreigners seeking medical treatment. But over the past two years, life has become unbearable for many Lebanese, prompting doctors and nurses to leave the crisis-stricken country in droves.
The World Health Organization estimated in September that nearly 40 percent of Lebanon’s doctors and 30 percent of nurses had departed since October 2019. The majority of the nurses who left did so this year, according to Lebanon’s Order of Nurses. And Charaf Abou Charaf, head of Lebanon’s Order of Physicians — which, like the nurses group, is a national organization of medical professionals — said that nearly all recent medical school graduates have taken jobs abroad. Compounding the medical meltdown, Lebanon is running desperately short on drugs and other supplies. Instagram stories are awash with pleas for blood for transfusions and basic medications, such as painkillers. The shortage is so pronounced that the DHL shipping company has offered 40 percent off medical shipments, and Emirates Airlines has granted travelers to Beirut an extra baggage allowance so they can carry more medicine back to Lebanon on their own.The country has been rocked by cascading crises, with an economy in collapse and a currency rapidly becoming worthless. But it was the massive explosion on Lebanon’s waterfront in August 2020 — which killed more than 200 people and wrecked large parts of the capital — that was the final straw for many medical professionals.
“The level of risk we endured by living in Lebanon was beyond my ability to tolerate for my family,” said a doctor who left for Qatar this summer. “The winds coming [in] through the shattered glass windows after August 4th woke me up to a cold reality. I took my daughter and fled.”
The doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his personal safety, said he had come to realize that Lebanon’s leaders were putting a higher priority on getting rich than on people’s well-being.
Many doctors and nurses have been moving to Egypt, Iraq and Gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates, and accepting salaries that would have been considered laughably low two years ago. One hospital in Dubai took 50 nurses just from the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), one of Lebanon’s biggest hospitals.
Older medical professionals, who lived through the country’s civil war four decades ago and the political turmoil that followed it, are finally leaving, hoping for a better life for their families.
Lebanon’s troubles began accelerating in 2019, when a financial crisis led banks to limit the number of dollars depositors could withdraw. (Dollars and the Lebanese pound traditionally have been used interchangeably.) But the crisis worsened and protests erupted. Then came the coronavirus pandemic.
Just when it seemed Lebanon couldn’t get worse, it did
After the economy began its slide, medical professionals avoided panicking and tightened their belts, believing daily life would recover eventually, said Joseph Otayek, the director of the AUBMC.
Aug. 4, 2020, changed all of that, he said. The failure of Lebanese investigators to uncover who was responsible for the explosion of 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate, which was negligently stored for years on the edge of downtown, moved many health-care workers to despair.
“We know this from the psychology of the staff,” said Hisham Bawadi, the AUBMC’s nursing director. “After the blast, they changed. When they saw that nothing happened, it made them become hopeless.”
At the same time, the AUBMC has been running perilously short of medical supplies, lacking more than 500 critical items, Otayek said. The hospital now rations chemotherapy tubes, antibiotics, catheters, gauze, antiseptics and CT-scan dye, according to Otayek and Badawi. At one point, there were only three available pacemakers in all of Lebanon.
As a result, many Lebanese are delaying treatment, leading to a higher risk of infections and prolonged hospital stays once patients are admitted. The lack of antibiotics in the market means patients often cannot be discharged. And overnight electricity cuts are so routine due to fuel shortages that patients on ventilators cannot use them at home.In Beirut, pharmacy shelves are nearly empty, the few medicine boxes no longer stacked but spread out to cover as much of the shelves as possible. In one pharmacy, near a major hospital, a sign is stuck on the glass: “Our dear customers, in order to continue to serve you, please do not ask for more than one box.”
When asked what medicine is in high demand and low supply, the two pharmacists behind the glass defeatedly repeated, “Everything.” One wrote down names of medications missing, filling page after page in tiny pink cursive.
Demonstrators protest Lebanon’s shortage of medicine outside the headquarters of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in Beirut on Aug. 26. (Anwar Amro/AFP/Getty Images)
The situation is so bleak that patients are washing and reusing colostomy bags, said Hani Nassar, head of the Barbara Nassar Association for Cancer Patient Support.
“In the future, they will say of cancer patients dying at home one after the other, ‘Oh, poor them, they died because they had cancer,’ ” Nassar said. “No. They died because you did not give them their cancer treatment.”
Alain Abu Suleiman, a cancer patient on his final round of chemotherapy, has been planning to receive a bone-marrow transplant — if he can find the lifesaving vials. He said he worries about their cost and how to cover the $100,000 surgery. But right now, he is focused on finding the final three vials he needs.
“This treatment has a 100 percent recovery rate,” he said, “but there is no medication.”
He holds the country’s leaders responsible for failing to address Lebanon’s many crises.
“They are telling us, ‘Go, die, you’re better off that way.’ ”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/lebanon-crisis-healthcare-doctors-nurses/2021/11/12/6bf79674-3e33-11ec-bd6f-da376f47304e_story.html?fbclid=IwAR0Dc84-92EF8LQKP2i10FZelop0OWvAUfIq1rPWjlQPei4th9yeWlBEOQ4

Plotting like a revolutionary: The need for growing like-minded humanistic networks of Iranians and Arabs
Alberto M. Fernandez/MEI@75 site/November 16/2021
It is a mistake to view Iran’s regional aggression and hegemony as purely a result of violence and terrorism. Certainly, a major impetus of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and of its local militias in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere is the projection of violence of every sort. But Iran’s powerplay also has important media, political, economic, and cultural aspects. Its scope is not limited to Shi’a Muslims alone. In Iraq and Lebanon, Iran empowers certain Christian proxies, as it does with Sunni Muslims elsewhere.
These thick, layered networks of influence, encompassing politics, greed, fear, and violence, give Iran’s political ambitions lasting power, even though a specific correlation of groups may wax and wane. In the recent Iraqi elections, the most openly pro-Iranian militias/parties did poorly. But other Iranian collaborators among the Iraqi political class did better than in the previous elections.
If Iran and its allies and friends cast their nets widely, those forces — political, economic, social, cultural — opposing them are all too often atomized and scattered. There seems to be little patience or will to make the effort to build durable, on-the-ground networks of like-minded people, drawing together Arabs and Iranians, who represent a different, more humanistic vision of what the region should look like, in opposition to the concept of Velayat-e-Faqih (guardianship of the Islamic jurist) espoused by the Iranian regime. Perhaps the West and others in the region need to think more like subversives and revolutionaries than regimes but in any case, there is a vacuum that exists in the anti-Iranian ground game in the Middle East. And in this vacuum, there is opportunity for growth.
One Arab who saw that bigger picture was Lebanese anti-Hezbollah activist and publisher Lokman Slim, cruelly gunned down earlier this year with impunity, like so many other prominent anti-Hezbollah figures in Lebanon during the past decade. Lokman didn’t have one project or initiative, he had many. He was a publisher (along with his sister, the acclaimed novelist Rasha al-Ameer), an activist, a researcher, a documentary film maker, a media personality and pundit, and a builder of networks and loose like-minded communities of interest among Lebanese, especially his own Lebanese Shi’a community. Among the books translated and disseminated by his publishing house, Dar al-Jadeed, were the works of free thinking and secular Iranians and Iraqis, Lebanese and Syrians.
His aspirations were that this type of anti-Iranian regime dynamism could one day be regionalized. And his anti-Iranian regime views were coupled with a deep respect for Iran as a people and a civilization. He knew the danger, we see it in the region today still, of opposition to the regime in Iran degrading into a type of generalized anti-Iranian or anti-Shi’a bigotry by Arabs who lacked a deeper understanding and appreciation of Iranian-Arab relations.
Lokman’s work was intensive and important but in the larger scheme of things, compared to the organization and push coming from Tehran, it was modest. Despite the claims of the pro-Hezbollah propaganda network in Lebanon, his tangible support among foreign embassies and Western donors was also modest. He was able to reach out to Shi’a communities in the towns of Southern Lebanon but the idea of broader, regional informal networks, collaborations, and initiatives remained a dream.
While Iran thinks regionally — Lebanese Hezbollah provided key media support, from Beirut, for the Houthis in Yemen and organizational help to the Iraqi militias in Baghdad — the West and its allies in the region all too often seem to suffer from a lack of imagination or daring to envision a region different than what it is today.
Bringing together like-minded individuals and groups, promoting local initiatives and activities along a spectrum of humanistic, free thinking, enlightened, and liberal worldviews in the “Greater MENA” region was once quite fashionable in Washington. It was one element in the Bush administration’s so-called Freedom Agenda after 9/11 and one of the offshoots of such an effort, the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), still exists in the U.S. Department of State. Like much that was done in that administration, there was an important element of truth in such a broad-brush agenda, one that was overdone — the region as a whole was never on the verge of Jeffersonian democracy — poorly done, or not done at all. But while the region was not on the edge of a democratic transformation, that is not to say that there is no dynamism toward reform and humanism. The heroic demonstrators in recent years in Lebanon, Iraq, and Sudan are testimony to the very real vitality of people and inchoate movements on the ground. There is more than a whiff of George W. Bush’s Freedom Agenda in President Joe Biden’s Democracy Summit and a risk that it will be either another exercise in government overreach or mere propaganda.
Rather than the fanfare of another government program, what makes more sense — away from the official limelight — are private initiatives aimed at bringing people together, people that share certain values and interests but who don’t know each other and their work, initiatives that eschew the hype, superficiality, and the overblown rhetoric of past years, that work quietly, more like patient revolutionaries seized with a vision and a passion for the future and less like showmen for another flashy, but ultimately empty, American political campaign reimagined for Middle East lands.
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). The views expressed in this piece are his own.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 16-17/2021
Biden, Xi discuss how to ‘align’ stances on Iran nuclear issue
Reuters/November 16, 2021
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping talked about how they might harmonize their positions ahead of the Nov. 29 resumption of indirect US-Iranian talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a top US official said on Tuesday. Officials from Iran and the six nations that struck the pact — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States — will meet in Vienna to see if Tehran and Washington can agree to resume compliance with the deal under which Iran curbed its nuclear program to gain relief from US, EU and UN sanctions. In 2018 then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the pact among the major powers known as the P5+1 and Iran and restored harsh US sanctions, prompting Tehran to begin violating its nuclear restrictions about a year later. “The two presidents had the chance to talk about how we can align our perspectives heading into that (Nov. 29) meeting so that the P5+1 is united in dealing with Iran and trying to pave the way for a return to the (deal),” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a virtual think tank appearance. The US-Iranian talks are indirect, with officials from the other nations shuttling between them, because Iran refuses direct contact with US officials. While China favors reviving the agreement, it has tended to place the onus on the United States, rather than Iran, blaming Washington for having abandoned the deal and giving Tehran an economic lifeline by buying Iranian oil despite US sanctions.

Iran, Turkey try to synchronise regional agendas in Tehran talks
The Arab Weekly/November 16/2021
TEHRAN--United by regional ambitions but divided by different agendas, Iran and Turkey on Monday expressed a willingness to step up ties, as Ankara’s foreign minister visited. The neighbours have historically close economic relations but occasionally find themselves on opposite sides of regional conflicts, including in Syria. Both have expansionist agendas in the region reflected by military roles in many Middle East battlegrounds. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after talks with his counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
The two sides “should be ready to increase their relations from the current level to an overall cooperation,” a statement from Iran’s presidency said. This should be done “by finalising the roadmap for strengthening collaborations, which is on the agenda of both countries,” it said. On Twitter, Cavusoglu said he and Raisi “discussed our bilateral relations, including trade, investments and (the) fight against terrorism” as well as the “latest developments in our region”. They “reaffirmed our mutual will to further develop our relations,” the minister added. Earlier in the day Cavusoglu and Amir-Abdollahian held a joint press conference after they met for more than an hour. “Developments in Afghanistan, the necessity of developing stability, security and tranquility in western Asia, the attention brought to the regional policy of the two countries,” were among the topics, Amir-Abdollahian told reporters.Ankara is building a wall along its eastern border with Iran. One function will be to keep out Afghans trying to use the route to enter Europe. From Tehran, the foreign minister of Sunni Turkey travelled to politically and economically fragile Lebanon, where the powerful Shia movement Hezbollah is backed by Iran. The minister said the two visits were not planned at the same time. The US administration of President Joe Biden has had rocky relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while Iran is under economically crippling American sanctions imposed after former US president Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. “Unilateral sanctions targeting Iran should be lifted,” Cavusoglu told reporters. Talks on restoring that 2015 nuclear deal are to resume in Vienna on November 29, after a suspension since June.

Raisi Says Iran 'Absolutely Serious' about Nuclear Talks
Agence France Presse/November 16/2021
Iran is "absolutely serious" about nuclear talks expected to resume late this month, its President Ebrahim Raisi told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call Tuesday. "The Islamic Republic of Iran is absolutely serious about the negotiations and we are equally serious about our people's rights to have sanctions lifted," Raisi said, according to a statement published on the presidency's website. His remarks come one day after Tehran invited the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, to visit and meet Iran's foreign minister, after the UN official expressed concern over lack of contact with Iranian officials. Nuclear talks, which have been on hold since Raisi's election in June, are set to resume in Vienna on November 29 in a bid to revive a 2015 deal that offered Tehran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear activity. The deal was torpedoed when the U.S. unilaterally pulled out of it in 2018 under the administration of president Donald Trump. The other parties to the deal -- Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France -- will participate in the Vienna talks in the presence of European negotiator Enrique Mora. The U.S. will meanwhile take part in the negotiations indirectly. According to a Kremlin statement, Putin expressed hopes "that the talks scheduled for late November will be constructive."Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had called on the West not to make "excessive demands" on Tehran in the talks, in a call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov earlier this month. In September, Lavrov called on the U.S. to be "more active" in its approach to help resume the stalled nuclear talks, criticizing the sanctions on Iran.

Iran shows less excitement about talks with Saudi Arabia
The Arab Weekly/November 16/2021
TEHRAN--The enthusiasm of Iranian officials’ about talks with Saudi Arabia has waned in recent weeks, in a significant shift from the past few months that were marked by Tehran’s keenness to leak news of meetings with their Saudi counterparts. Observers attributed this shift to the fact that Iran had achieved what it wanted through these talks, which were held to show that Saudi Arabia was looking for a settlement on regional issues, after refusing for years to even discuss such matters. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that talks between Riyadh and Tehran have not progressed.
He added in a press statement, “There is no development in the talks with Saudi Arabi and we are waiting to see if there is a will for dialogue to progress,” stressing that his country will not negotiate with neighbouring countries over the nuclear agreement. Khatibzadeh’s statements came a day after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said talks with Iran would continue and that an additional round of negotiations between the regional rivals was expected soon. In an interview with the English service of France 24, Prince Faisal pointed out that the four previous rounds of talks were merely “exploratory” rather than substantive, but said both sides were committed to engagement. “The talks so far have been exploratory in nature. They have been casual but not substantive. We are committed to a substantive discussion with Iran on addressing the concerns that we and other countries in the region have, that would allow us to come to a normal relationship with our neighbours Iran,” Prince Faisal said. He voiced strong reservations, however, on Iran nuclear negotiations, which are set to resume in a few weeks, citing Tehran’s past deception about its nuclear activities.
After years of rivalry and lack of diplomatic relations, Saudi Arabia and Iran have been moving towards mending ties thanks to at least four rounds of behind-closed-doors talks mediated and hosted by the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Tehran and Riyadh have been involved in security-oriented talks in Baghdad ever since April when Tehran also resumed talks with major world powers over reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). But the next round of talks is yet to be scheduled according to press reports. Some Gulf media outlets reported that the two sides had been expected to hold a meeting in Baghdad on November 2. But the encounter was postponed until an unspecified date. The postponement of the new round of talks took place before the assassination attempt on Kadhimi, media sources said. In late October Khatibzadeh said that Iran and Saudi Arabia have made initial agreements on certain issues but “we are waiting for their finalisation.” Observers linked the waning of Iranian enthusiasm to the election of hard-line President Ibrahim Raisi, who had often held positions hostile to the kingdom and is not ready to make any concessions for a rapprochement with Saudi Arabia.
Despite his statements in which he said that he supports “the opening of the Saudi embassy in Tehran” and that “strengthening relations with all countries of the world and neighbouring countries is our top priority,” the reality shows that Tehran’s official position towards dialogue has begun to change since Raisi’s victory in the elections last June. Observers told The Arab Weekly that Iran dealt with the issue of talks as a way to show that its relationship with the regional environment is not bad after many countries in the Arab Gulf region voiced their concerns about the Iranian nuclear programme and demanded that Iran commits to ending its threats to regional security in any future agreement. The Iranians rejected any Saudi involvement in nuclear negotiations, considering that “Saudi Arabia must return to regional dialogue,” which contradicts Riyadh’s main goal in holding comprehensive talks; obtaining international guarantees to limit the Iranian nuclear threats, notably restricting Iran’s growing ambitions in the field of missile armament. In an interview with the American network CNN, Prince Faisal had earlier said that “the countries that are most at risk from a nuclear armed Iran, are other countries in the region, including, of course, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the GCC states.”“So it’s entirely logical that we should be part of the discussion and part of the dialogue. And we hear from our European and American partners that they understand that the concerns of the countries of the region must be addressed and must we must have a role in those discussions and in those negotiations,” he added. Riyadh views negotiations with Tehran as essential for a solution in Yemen, a view based on the conviction that the Houthis have so far been intransigent in order to serve a broader strategy that Iran is pursuing to score wins on different fronts, whether in its disputes with Saudi Arabia, or differences with other countries in the region or in nuclear negotiations. With this in mind, observers consider that the kingdom has become increasingly convinced that dialogue with Iran is the best way to resolve current crises, including the Yemeni conflict. Since 2015, Riyadh has led a military coalition to support the government against the Houthi militias after they seized the capital Sana’a.Riyadh accuses Iran of supporting the Houthis with weapons and drones, but Tehran says it only provides the militias with political support.

Russia Admits Destroying Satellite with Space Missile Strike
Agence France Presse/November 16/2021
Russia's defense ministry on Tuesday admitted to destroying one of its satellites during a missile test but rejected U.S. accusations that it had endangered the International Space Station. U.S. officials on Monday accused Russia of a "dangerous and irresponsible" strike on a satellite that had created a cloud of debris and forced the ISS crew to take evasive action. The move reignited concerns about an escalating arms race in space, encompassing everything from laser weapons to satellites capable of shunting others out of orbit. "The Russian defense ministry successfully conducted a test, as a result of which the Russian spacecraft 'Tselina-D', which had been in orbit since 1982, was destroyed," the military said in a statement. U.S. officials said they were not informed in advance of the anti-satellite missile test -- only the fourth ever to hit a spacecraft from the ground -- which generated over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Monday that the danger was far from over and the debris would continue to threaten satellites and activities on the ISS. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday described the test as a "reckless" and "concerning" act.
"It demonstrates that Russia is now developing new weapon systems that can shoot down satellites," he said at a meeting with EU defense ministers.
'Hypocrisy' jibe
The Russian military said it was carrying out planned activities to strengthen its defense capabilities but denied that the test was dangerous. "The United States knows for certain that the resulting fragments, in terms of test time and orbital parameters, did not and will not pose a threat to orbital stations, spacecraft and space activities," it said. The confirmation of the U.S. claims came moments after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had denied that Moscow had endangered the ISS. "To declare that the Russian Federation creates risks for the peaceful use of space is, at the very least, hypocrisy," Lavrov told a press conference in Moscow, adding that "there are no facts" behind the claims. NASA said the crew aboard the orbital outpost -- currently four Americans, a German and two Russians -- were woken up and forced to take shelter in their return ships. The satellite was a Soviet signals intelligence satellite that has been defunct for several decades. Earlier on Tuesday, Russia's Roscosmos space agency said its "automated warning system for dangerous situations" was continuing "to monitor the situation in order to prevent and counter all possible threats to the safety of the International Space Station and its crew."
"For us, the main priority has been and remains to ensure the unconditional safety of the crew," Roscosmos said in a statement.
'Destabilizing'
Russian state news agencies reported that Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin was expected to meet NASA officials on Tuesday. NASA chief Bill Nelson said on Monday he was "outraged" by the "irresponsible and destabilizing action." Yury Shvytkin, deputy chairman of the Russian lower house of parliament's defense committee, denied Russia was militarizing space. "We have been and are against the militarization of space," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. But Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer told AFP the country had "long been known that we have anti-missile and anti-space weapons and that we are deploying them."Anti-satellite weapons (ASATs) are high-tech missiles possessed by only a handful of nations. India was the last to carry out a test on a target in 2019, an incident criticized by the U.S. and others after hundreds of pieces of "space junk" were created. The U.S. shot down a satellite in 2008 in response to China demonstrating a similar knockout in 2007. Last year, Britain and the U.S. accused Russia of testing a "nesting doll" satellite that opened up and released a smaller craft to stalk an American satellite. Despite the tension, the U.S. and Russia have maintained strong space ties since the end of the Cold War, cooperating closely on the ISS, which they built together.

UN calls for new talks on Yemen’s Hodeidah as frontlines shift
The Arab Weekly/November 16/2021
ADEN--A UN monitoring mission on Monday called on Yemen’s warring parties to hold new talks over Hodeidah as the Saudi-led coalition strafed areas south of the port city, where Houthi militiamen advanced in the wake of withdrawing coalition forces. The air strikes, which began on Sunday, were the first in the area since late 2018 when the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthis agreed a UN-sponsored pact for a truce in Hodeidah and a troop redeployment by both sides that never materialised. Coalition spokesman General Turki al-Malki, in the first clarification on the abrupt withdrawal from around Houthi-held Hodeidah City, said the redeployment was ordered to support other fronts and in line with the coalition’s “future plans.” The UN mission overseeing the Hodeidah deal, UNMHA and the Yemeni government team involved in it, had said they had no advance notice, while some Yemeni coalition units have criticised the withdrawal, including Red Sea coast fighters. UNMHA on Monday said the departure of joint Yemeni forces from Hodeidah city, al-Durayhimi, Bayt al Faqih and parts of al-Tahita and subsequent Houthi takeover was “a major shift” in frontlines that warranted discussions between the parties. The coalition earlier said it carried out 11 air strikes “outside the areas covered under the Stockholm pact.” Houthi fighters on Monday clashed with Yemeni coalition forces in Hays district, south of Hodeidah city, two military sources said, following fighting in Al Faza on Sunday. The United Nations said the shifting frontlines led some 700 families to leave for Al-Khokhah and some 180 families head further south to Al-Mokha, both under coalition control. It was not clear if the Hodeidah pullback was linked to what the coalition has described as a redeployment in the south, where sources said the Saudi military had left a main base in Aden, the interim seat of government. Yemen has been mired in violence since the Houthis ousted the internationally-recognised government from the capital, Sana’a, in late 2014, prompting the coalition to intervene in a conflict seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. UN and US efforts to engineer a nationwide ceasefire have stalled as the Houthis insist the coalition first lift a blockade on their areas, while Riyadh wants a simultaneous deal.

Teenage Syrian Laid to Rest by Poland-Belarus Border
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 16 November, 2021
A Syrian teenager who drowned last month while trying to cross a river into the EU from Belarus was laid to rest on Monday in a forest cemetery for Poland's tiny ethnic Muslim community. Following a prayer in front of the wooden mosque in the eastern village of Bohoniki, a handful of people attended the migrant's burial -- the first in Poland since the border crisis erupted this summer. The family of 19-year-old Ahmad Al Hasan was able to watch as well, thanks to a telephone livestream from a Syrian doctor who has lived in the area for years. "It's a human being, so we have to give him a proper burial. You feel for them all," local Muslim leader Maciej Szczesnowicz told AFP. "It's a Muslim, a young person. We have to help," said Szczesnowicz, the chairman of the Muslim community in Bohoniki. One of at least 11 migrants who have lost their lives at the border, Al Hasan was given a final farewell more than 2,300 kilometres (1,400 miles) from his devastated hometown of Homs, Syria.
- Pushed into the river -
Szczesnowicz said the teenager died while trying to cross the Bug river from Belarus. A fellow migrant who survived the river crossing told Polish authorities last month that Belarusian guards had pushed them into the river, even though they did not know how to swim. Al Hasan "had hoped to continue his studies, which he began at a center for refugees in Jordan," said Kasim Shady, the Syrian doctor who livestreamed the burial for the family. "He was seeking the same thing as every young man with dreams, but it didn't work out. Death was too quick for him," he told AFP. Thousands of migrants, many of them desperately fleeing war and poverty-wracked countries in the Middle East, have tried to cross the border in often freezing conditions. They say they are stuck between a rock and a hard place, with the Belarusian side refusing to allow them to return to Minsk and fly home and Poland not letting them cross and make asylum claims. The EU accuses Belarus of luring the migrants to Belarus to send them across the border, in revenge for sanctions imposed last year after a heavy crackdown on the opposition. Poland has responded to the influx by sending thousands of soldiers to the border and implementing a state of emergency there, as well as hastily building a razor-wire fence.
'We help everyone'
The Muslim community led by Szczesnowicz numbers more than 300 people, descendants of the Muslim Tatars who came to the area hundreds of years ago. There have been Tatars in Poland since at least the 14th century. Local rulers employed them due to their reputation as fearsome horseback warriors. In 1679, Poland's King Jan Sobieski, lacking money to pay his Tatar troops, awarded them land. Today, only some 30,000 Muslims -- including 5,000 Tatars -- live in the overwhelmingly Catholic country of 38 million people. The community in Bohoniki has been helping the migrants on the border by collecting clothes and food and raising funds.They have also been lending a hand to the troops in the area, making fresh batches of soup every day for the uniformed services. "So we help both. No matter their faith or skin colour or nationality, we help everyone," said Szczesnowicz. "If they're on Polish territory, we have to help."

Israeli Defense Chief Gantz to Visit Morocco
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 16 November, 2021
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz will pay an official visit to Morocco on Nov. 24 and sign security cooperation agreements with the North African kingdom, Israel's Defense Ministry said on Monday. Morocco was one of four Arab countries - along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan - to normalize relations with Israel last year under US-engineered accords. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid travelled to Morocco in August for the first visit by Israel's top diplomat to that country since 2003. Morocco was home to one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities in North Africa and the Middle East for centuries until Israel's founding in 1948. An estimated quarter of a million left Morocco for Israel from 1948 to 1964, according to Reuters. Today only about 3,000 Jews remain in Morocco, while hundreds of thousands of Israelis claim some Moroccan ancestry. Officials in Morocco have described the diplomatic deal with Israel, including the opening of liaison offices and the launching of flights between the two countries, as a restoration of mid-level ties that Rabat cooled in 2000 in solidarity with the Palestinians.

UN Condemns Attempts to Discredit Iraq’s Recent Election
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 16 November, 2021
The UN Security Council on Monday condemned attempts to discredit Iraq´s election and deplored the use of violence to settle election-related grievances. The UN´s most powerful body congratulated the Iraqi government and the Independent High Electoral Commission for conducting "a technically well-managed and generally peaceful election" on Oct. 10. It welcomed the findings of the commission and the UN political mission in Iraq that partial manual recounts of votes in polling stations matched the reported electronic results. In the press statement approved by all 15 members, the Security Council reiterated its condemnation of the Nov. 7 assassination attempt on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and "the persistent threats of violence" against the UN mission, the electoral commission and others. Al-Kadhimi was lightly injured and seven of his security guards were wounded in the attack on his Baghdad home using at least two armed drones. There was no claim of responsibility, but suspicion immediately fell on Iran-backed militias that were the biggest losers in last month´s parliamentary elections. Supporters of the militias have protested to demand a vote recount, and at least one was killed in clashes with security forces. Many of the faction leaders blame the prime minister for the violence. Some analysts said the attack aimed to cut off the path to a second term for al-Kadhimi. Iranian militias had been blamed for previous attacks on the Green Zone where the prime minister lives and which also houses foreign embassies. The Security Council reiterated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres´ call to all political parties, candidates and other stakeholders "to exercise patience and address any outstanding concerns through established legal channels, and to create a post-electoral environment that fosters mutual understanding and national unity through peaceful and constructive dialogue." Council members called for "a peaceful and independent judicial review of electoral appeals," saying UN personnel "will continue to monitor any unlawful attempts to undermine the election process."Members said they "look forward to the peaceful formation of an inclusive government which would deliver meaningful reforms to address the needs and aspiration of all Iraqis, including women, youth and marginalized communities."In the election, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who set himself apart from the Iran-backed militias by taking a more nationalistic approach, picked up to 20 additional seats, consolidating its status as the single largest bloc in the 329-member parliament. A Sunni faction headed by Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi came in second - a spot the Iranian-backed militias gained in 2018. Months of negotiations are expected before a coalition representing at least 165 members of parliament can be formed and elect a prime minister. The elections were held a year early, in line with a promise by al-Kadhimi when he assumed office in 2020 following anti-government protests by tens of thousands of Iraqi youths who rose up in October 2019 in Baghdad and Iraq´s south to decry rampant corruption, poor services and unemployment. Hundreds died as security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse crowds. The protests dwindled following restrictive measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Libyan Politicians Call for Int’l Sanctions against Obstructionists in Upcoming Elections
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 16 November, 2021
A number of politicians in Libya are demanding that those obstructing elections face international sanctions, while others are calling for election resistors to be held accountable by local law. “The international community is required to intervene and punish anyone who wants to violate the right of the Libyan people to express their will to hold elections,” said Libyan lawmaker Mohammed Amer al-Abbani. Abbani pointed out “it may be difficult to prosecute obstructionists locally, so the international community must be called upon to intervene to impose appropriate penalties.”The Libyan conference in Paris on Friday had voiced its support for upcoming elections in Libya. “We affirm that individuals or entities, inside or outside of Libya, who might attempt to obstruct, undermine, manipulate or falsify the electoral process and the political transition will be held accountable and may be designated by the UNSC Sanctions Committee in accordance with UNSC resolution 2571 (2021),” said the conference’s final communique. Abbani considered that “reliance on the role of the international community in protecting the elections comes within the framework of its legal and moral commitment.”He stressed that the international community needs to help Libyans in “establishing their political system and building their state.’Abbani pointed out that “the real bet is for a widely influential popular movement to secure the elections from any targeting attempt.”For his part, Khaled al-Meshri, the head of the Tripoli-based Supreme Council of State, had called all Libyans to demonstrate before the Electoral Commission to voice their rejection of upcoming elections. He also urged voters and candidates not to participate in the electoral process. Meanwhile, Libyan lawmaker Ziad Daghim considered that it is better to subjugate “those obstructing Libyan elections to the national judiciary.”Reminding that Libya is a sovereign country, Daghim refused relying “on any external party, whether the UN or any other party to punish those accused of obstructing the elections.”

Electoral Offices Closed to Prevent Haftar, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi’s Candidacy for Libyan Elections
Cairo – Khaled Mahmmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 16 November, 2021
Chairman of Libya's Presidential Council Mohamed al-Menfi said that serious steps were being taken towards finding a settlement regarding the elections scheduled for December 24. His statements followed the mounting rejection of the candidacy of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar by armed groups based in western Libya. Gaddafi, the son of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi who was toppled in 2011, announced his candidacy on Sunday. Eastern commander Khalifa Haftar is also running in the elections, as is the parliament speaker, Aguila Saleh. In an interview with Reuters, Menfi expressed his aspirations for the elections to be held on time with the consensus of all Libyans, as he put it, indicating that they are trying to achieve this process in a democratic manner, acceptable to the Libyans to hand over power to an elected party. Menfi stressed the necessity for there to be no disputes over the candidates, to whom the terms of the electoral laws apply once their candidacy is approved. On Monday, an armed group affiliated with the Government of National Unity’s Defense Ministry attacked the Electoral Commission headquarters in the cities of Zliten and Al-Khums. The gunmen dismissed employees on-site.The attack followed Khaled al-Meshri, the head of the Tripoli-based Supreme Council of State, calling on all Libyans to demonstrate before the Commission to voice their rejection of the upcoming elections. Eyewitnesses in Zliten confirmed the closure of the Commission’s headquarters in the city after some citizens gathered in front of it. Moreover, Libyans demonstrated in front of the Commission’s offices in Misrata, where city council members are threatening to escalate the situation against the Commission. Work at the electoral management office (Jabal-1) in the city of Garyan was also temporarily suspended on Monday after some Libyan youths opposed to Gaddafi’s candidacy for the presidency held a protest in front of the office building.

Libya: Haftar Announces Candidacy for President
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 16 November, 2021
Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar filed Tuesday as a candidate in the country’s presidential elections next month. Haftar submitted his candidacy papers Tuesday in the eastern city of Benghazi and announced the move in a video. He said he's seeking the country's highest post to “lead our people in a fateful stage,” The Associated Press reported. The announcement comes after Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, the son of slain longtime ruler Moammar Gaddafi, submitted candidacy papers Sunday in the southern town of Sabha. Seif al-Islam, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity, has spent years largely in hiding. He was tried in absentia in 2015 by a Tripoli court at which he appeared via videolink from Zintan, and which sentenced him to death for war crimes including killing protesters during the 2011 revolt. He would likely face arrest or other dangers if he appeared publicly in the capital Tripoli. He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court. If accepted, both Haftar and Seif al-Islam would be among front-runners in the Dec. 24 vote.

Egypt, EU to Boost Cooperation on Migration
Cairo/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 16 November, 2021
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met on Monday in Cairo with EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Ahmed Hafez said that the two sides discussed means of pushing forward cooperation between Egypt and the European Union on migration. Hafez said that Shoukry stressed the importance of creating routes for legitimate immigration to Europe as one of the solutions to illegal migration. For her part, Johansson expressed appreciation for Egypt’s efforts to fight illegal immigration. Shoukry meets with with Johansson in Cairo (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)

Sudan's Ambassadors Urge Western Governments to Reject 'Coup'
Washington - Muath Alamri/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 16 November, 2021
A statement by a number of Sudanese ambassadors denounced the use of violence against peaceful protests, calling for the release of all detainees and civil officials, namely Prime Minister Abdala Hamdok.
The diplomats call comes as the US governmental and legislative institutions continue to support the popular demands for the return of the civilian rule and the rejection of the military coup. The US Embassy in Khartoum tweeted a statement expressing its "deep regrets" over the loss of life and injuries of dozens of Sudanese citizens demonstrating for "freedom and democracy" and condemned the "excessive use of force."
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) also expressed its regret at the continued blackout of internet services in Sudan, which marked Monday its third week since the army took power in Sudan against the "will of the people," saying "internet blackout continues for the 22nd day, further exacerbating economic hardships and stifling the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly." A statement from the "Committee of Sudanese Ambassadors and Diplomats Against the Coup 25" denounced the "unilateral decisions" taken by the country's military leadership by forming a new Sovereignty Council to lead the country, saying, they are "void" in form and content. The statement, which Asharq Al-Awsat obtained a copy of, demanded the release of the "legitimate" prime minister and all detained prisoners, asserting support to the Sudanese people in their struggle for "freedom, peace, and justice."
"We stand with our Sudanese people" in their protests against the coup to "restore constitutional legitimacy and democratic civil rule in the country."
In their statement, the diplomats, led by the ambassador to Washington Nureldin Satti, warned against violence and bullets during peaceful protests. They asserted that the right to peaceful demonstration is guaranteed in all national and international constitutions and laws, noting that all previous "marches of millions" were exemplary behavior. In an interview with the Voice of America (VOA), Satti said he continues to engage with the US administration and Congress to explain the Sudanese position rejecting the coup. The ambassador asserted that there is overwhelming support to his position and that of his colleagues who have taken the same position. Satti, who was appointed after Sudan was removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in 2019, indicated that he held meetings with the diaspora representatives in the US.
"It was a very good meeting, and we agreed to work together. And I believe that my colleagues also in other embassies, like the one in Brussels, and Paris, Geneva, Beijing, South Africa, and New York are doing the same thing."The Sudanese ambassador, who was asked by the junta to comply with the new decisions or to resign, declared that he is working with the US officials "to put pressure on the coup perpetrators in order to reverse the action that they have taken, and to take the country back to where it was." He added that they should accept to "engage wholeheartedly with the civilian component in order to take the country out of this crisis. A military coup has never resolved problems. […] The United States [has] to put pressure on the coup plotters in order to change. We have nothing against the military, but our problem is certain people in the military who do not want this revolution to move forward."
Meanwhile, the regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, Hala al-Karib, said in an article in Newsweek magazine that "innocent and unarmed" Sudanese protesters are again demanding their right to live in a peaceful democracy. "Once again they paid for their demands with their lives."She said that one week after the military arrested Hamdok and dissolved the country's civilian leadership, tens of thousands rallied in Khartoum and across the country. She explained that after the security forces fired tear gas and live rounds at least 11 peaceful demonstrators were killed and over 100 injured. Karib criticized Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's thin excuse that the coup was "necessary to maintain stability," noting that he is exposed by his refusal to transfer leadership of the joint sovereign council to civilian control, which is demanded by most Sudanese. She held Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagolo accountable for their historic crimes and threatened their illicit economic networks. "The latest military coup in Sudan is another attempt to draw the country back into a dark corner. It will ultimately fail."

Palestinians Say Man Killed by Israeli Fire in West Bank
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 16 November, 2021
A Palestinian man on Tuesday was shot and killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said. The Palestinian Health Ministry said Saddam Hussein Beni Odeh, 26, was shot by Israeli soldiers at the entrance to Tammun, a town near the northern city of Nablus. The circumstances of the shooting were unclear, and the Israeli military had no immediate comment, The Associated Press reported. The Israeli military often conducts arrest raids in the occupied West Bank, even in areas that are under control of the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized entity that has limited autonomy in parts of the area. Palestinians often throw stones or firebombs at Israeli patrols, drawing live fire in return. In recent months, the West Bank has seen an increase in violence. Last week, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli fire during clashes with stone-throwing Palestinians. There also have been a string of attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians. Nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers live in more than 130 settlements scattered across the West Bank. The Palestinians view the settlements as the main obstacle to the creation of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel, which is still seen internationally as the only way to resolve the conflict. Most of the international community views the settlements as illegal. Israel considers the West Bank to be the biblical and historical heartland of the Jewish people. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is a strong supporter of settlements who is opposed to a Palestinian state and has shown no interest in reviving the long-dormant peace process. But he has called for steps to reduce friction and improve economic conditions for Palestinians.

Yemen Human Rights Center Documents 70 Abuses Against Civilians in Taiz Last Month
Aden - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 16 November, 2021
In its latest report, the Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC) has documented 70 violations committed by Iran-backed Houthi militia against civilians in Taiz in the country’s south, during the month of October. The center said that its field team was able to document the killing of 20 civilians, including two women and 6 children. The Houthi militia alone caused the deaths of 12 civilians, including two women and 5 children, it noted. Also, six civilians were killed by the militia’s artillery shells. One civilian was killed by direct fire, another civilian was killed by a landmine explosion, and two civilians were killed by an explosive device explosion. HRITC added that one woman was killed by a sniper’s bullets, while a child was executed by members of the Houthi militia. The report said two civilians were killed by direct fire, and two others, one of whom was a child, were killed in the explosion of an explosive device planted by gunmen outside the framework of the state. Four civilians were killed by direct bullets by unknown gunmen. The field center team was able to monitor the injury of 15 civilians, including two women and three children. The Houthi militia directly injured 10 civilians, including a woman and two children. Four civilians, including two children, were wounded by various artillery shells, while three civilians, including a woman, were wounded by a militia sniper, a civilian was injured by a landmine explosion, and two civilians were injured by an explosive device explosion.
The report highlighted the levies imposed by Houthi leaders under various pretexts and names. It also pointed to the constant assassination attempts of military figures in the liberated areas.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 16-17/2021
Will Islam Survive Islamism?/More Muslims fear and reject a radical version of Islam
Daniel Pipes/Washington Times/November 16/2021
https://www.danielpipes.org/20775/will-islam-survive-islamism
The Islamist movement, which seeks to apply medieval Islamic laws and build a worldwide caliphate, has expanded massively in the past half-century. But it now faces a significant and growing counter-movement, especially in Muslim-majority countries. Growing numbers of Muslims, spurred by shocks like the fall of Kabul, fear and reject this radical version of Islam. Awareness of the anti-Islamist surge has been largely limited to those directly involved but it deserves to be much better known.
Anti-Islamism comprises four complementary trends. Going from quietest to most radical, they are: moderate Islam, irreligiosity, apostasy, and conversion to other religions. All have an international presence but, for illustrative purposes, I shall focus in each case on a key Middle Eastern country: moderate Islam in Egypt, irreligiosity in Turkey, atheism in Saudi Arabia, and conversion in Iran.
Moderation: Husni Mubarak's 30-year police state so consistently accommodated Islamists that Egyptians dared not oppose them. His fall from power in 2011 finally permitted an open expression of views, which the one-year Islamist rule of Mohamed Morsi further galvanized. The results have been hyperbolically anti-Islamist, as seen by street attacks on Muslim Brotherhood-appearing men, by women discarding the hijab, and the immense popularity of scathingly anti-Islamist figures such as Islam al-Behairy, Ibrahim Issa, Mukhtar Jom'ah, Khaled Montaser, and Abdallah Nasr. Even President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a former Islamist sympathizer, has accommodated these moderate sentiments.
Irreligiosity: Turkey's Islamist president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has dominated the country's politics since 2002 with the goal of raising a "pious generation." But younger Turks are adopting non-Islamic ways. Survey research by Volkan Ertit found the sacred having less influence regarding such matters as belief in supernatural beings, clothing that reveals body shape, premarital flirtation, non-marital sex, and homosexuality. A government report documented the appeal of deism among religious school students. A 2012 WIN/Gallup survey found that "Not religious" persons make up 73 percent of Turkey's population (the highest of 57 countries surveyed).
Apostasy: In Saudi Arabia, flat-out rejection of Islam "is spreading like wildfire" says a Saudi refugee. The WIN/Gallup survey found that "convinced atheists" make up 5 percent of the population in Saudi Arabia, the same as in the United States. The monarchy has responded in two ways. First, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman partially acquiesced to such sentiments by opening the country to many modern ways. Second, he promulgated anti-terrorist regulations that punish "calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based." Yes, the monarchy fights atheism with anti-terrorist regulations.
Conversion: Shay Khatiri, an analyst, writes about Iran that "Islam is the fastest shrinking religion..., while Christianity is growing the fastest." The Christian Broadcast Network goes further, asserting that "Christianity is growing faster in the Islamic Republic of Iran than in any other country in the world." David Yeghnazar of Elam Ministries finds that "Iranians have become the most open people to the gospel." According to a former Muslim, now an Evangelical priest, "We find ourselves facing what is more than a conversion to the Christian faith," he said. "It's a mass exodus from Islam." Lela Gilbert and Arielle Del Turco report that the mullahs consider Christianity "an existential threat" to their rule. Reza Safa predicts Iran will become the first Muslim-majority country to convert to Christianity. Confirming these trends, the Iranian intelligence minister, Mahmoud Alavi, publicly expressed fears about Muslims converting to Christianity.
Some observations about this anti-Islamist surge:
It appears limited to Muslim-majority countries; among Muslims minorities, especially in the West, Islamism continues to grow.
Conspiracy theories to the contrary, it results almost entirely from internal developments among Muslims; non-Muslim have but a limited supporting role. As ever, Muslims determine their own destiny.
Anti-Islamists almost diametrically oppose Islamists on matters of faith, family, social relations, politics, and beyond. Among other implications, free-thinkers and ex-Muslims tend to be intensely pro-West, pro-America, and pro-Israel.
Expect to see anti-Islamist surges to appear in Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, for Islamic trends historically begin in the Middle East and migrate outwards.
Thus does Islamism inadvertently drive Muslims away from Islam and potentially shake the very foundations of the faith. One Christian broadcaster even maintains that "the hold of Islam on the Muslim people has crumbled." Radical utopianism has pushed the world's second largest religious community into a concealed but severe crisis with volatile results.
*Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org, @DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum. © 2021 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.

Honouring Sheikh Zayed, founder of the UAE
Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/November 16/2021
The 42nd International Cultural Moussim, held in small Moroccan city of Assilah on the Atlantic coast, has chosen to honour Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late leader and founder of the United Arab Emirates.
As usual, former Foreign Minister Mohammed Ben Issa, now the mayor of the city besides being the secretary-general of the Assilah Forum Foundation, has once again given new impetus to this cultural and political event, in its 2021 edition. The long years have not affected what Assilah has to offer nor the ability of Ben Issa, to ensure the perpetual renewal of the event.
It was not surprising that Sheikh Zayed was honoured in Morocco. The UAE founder was an exceptional Arab leader who was made possible the only successful unification experience in the Arab world, while all other projects failed, including the Egyptian-Syrian union between 1958 and 1961. That union collapsed because it was nothing but an arbitrary move. It established a security regime in Syria, which gradually destroyed Syria until it reached its current situation after an 11-year civil war, under an illegitimate minority regime subjecting the country to five forms of occupation.
Opening the symposium, entitled “Sheikh Zayed: Vision of an insightful leader.” Mohammed Ben Issa highlighted the close relationship between Morocco and the UAE, noting that the United Arab Emirates had from the beginning supported Morocco’s right to recover its Saharan territory from Spanish colonisation and had backed the kingdom’s “Green March” in 1975. What’s important about Sheikh Zayed’s legacy? The UAE’s founder carried out the modernisation project in the Emirates by preparing men and women to play their role in society through sound education. He initiated the building of an integrated and resilient infrastructure that served as a solid base for a comprehensive development effort and the modernisation of the societal and institutional structures of the state.
Sheikh Zayed fought many battles. He used soft power to serve his country and unify it amid regional conditions that were difficult and complex, to say the least. He fought all his battles as a politician and a human being first.
Dr Zaki Nusseibeh, who worked with Sheikh Zayed as a translator and cultural advisor for four decades, spoke during the symposium about Sheikh Zayed’s belief in education and culture.
He described Sheikh Zayed as a remarkable leader who believed in the common destiny of all nations and was committed to the values of tolerance and equality of all peoples. Sheikh Zayed, he said, placed a premium on honesty and frankness, wisdom and moderation. He would tell political leaders he met, “Your friend is whoever is sincere with you.”
Dr Haitham al-Zobaidi, publisher and editor-in-chief of the London-based Al-Arab newspaper, delved into the details of the period before the foundation of the UAE and the role of Sheikh Zayed during that stage.
He said the project began with the joint statement between Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai on February 18, 1968. This joint statement was the result of Sheikh Zayed’s commitment to unity as he joined hands with a believing partner. He added that the name, the Trucial States, reflected the reality of the region. Abu Dhabi’s moral and material investment in the Trucial States began early, before Britain voiced its plan to withdraw. The belief in the union was present in Sheikh Zayed’s thinking. He was aware that a historical window had opened in which various factors were combined.
What were those factors? There was the realisation that a vacuum could arise from the British departure, that large or mid-size countries would seize the opportunity and that the Trucial States were at the centre of regional and international conflicts. Major Arab countries look at the region from an ideological perspective and do not have enough grasp of the depth of tribal cohesion in this part of the Gulf.
For a politician in the classical sense, all factors may be a source of concern. A leader with a vision sees instead the opportunities they offer.
In the end, the numbers speak for themselves. They highlight the Emirati success the foundations of which were laid by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who believed in the UAE project and turned it into a reality.
The figures show that the UAE economy is among the thirty most important in the world. The seven Emirates have turned into a real country that looks forward to the next fifty years, thanks to the foundations laid by Sheikh Zayed. This is a country reconciled with itself, in which people of two hundred different nationalities live without discrimination. This is a country that is thinking of the post-oil era rather than being held hostage by the past.

Last Iraqi elections are a harbinger of change
Ibrahim al-Zobeidi/The Arab Weekly/November 16/2021
There is no doubt that the results of the recent elections caused unexpected cracks in the quota system, which has remained unchanged since the establishment of the Iraqi political process under the American occupation and its heir, the Iranian occupation which was tailored-made for pro-Iran parties and the two Kurdish formations. This has wrought only chaos, destitution and isolation, endured patiently by Iraqi citizens until they had finally had enough.
This is a well known story. The Iranian regime, with the deliberate help, stupidity or indifference of the Americans, managed to turn Iraq into a rest and supply zone. The Iraqi state, with its presidents, ministers, deputies, commanders of its armies and security forces and even with its judiciary, became a purely Iranian property, managed directly or by its authorised agents, with no place for the interests of the Iraqi people.
Whoever followed the jockeying that preceded the elections of October 10 will have seen the understandings and arrangements by which leaders and senior officials and even their lower ranking staff, were chosen as needed, especially the games of the largest bloc. Such observers must have believed that Iran has a higher interest in demeaning official positions and humiliating office holders to the extent that the Iraqi citizen lose their respect for the government, parliament, army, security and judiciary.
The principle invented by Iraqi politicians and their Iranian allies, which the Americans embraced and blessed, was the principle of majoritarian legitimacy (the numerical majority), which says that Shia constitute 60 percent of the population of Iraq, Sunnis 20, and Kurds 20, after their separation from the Iraqi Sunni sect.
On the basis of this legitimacy, the presidency of the government and the general command of the armed forces, with all their powers, capabilities, wealth and energies, became exclusively the share of the Shia factions that are loyal to Iran, while the presidency of the parliament became an entitlement of the Sunni minority. The presidency went to the ruling minority in Kurdistan, bound also by an understanding with the Iranian camp.
The doors of the political process were thus closed to any personality, organisation or group that demanded the adoption of parliamentary legitimacy. This would be system by which the party that obtains, in free, transparent and fair elections, the largest number of seats in parliament chooses the prime minister, the president and the speaker of parliament on the basis of competence, experience, integrity and patriotism, regardless of the sect, nationality, or religion to which he belongs.
And because the intentions of Iraqi politicians were not patriotic, they granted themselves, under this fake legitimacy, absolute dictatorship. They indulged themselves, believing that the foreign countries they serve would protect them from the wrath of citizens when the hour of reckoning comes.
Although they, all of them, sing the praises of democracy, national reconciliation and the rule of law, down deep in their hearts they abhor democracy, hate reconciliation and fear the rule of law.
But then the recent election, which can be described as being less fraudulent than the previous ballots, came to undermine the principle of numerical majority and replace it with the principle of parliamentary majority. Even so, the winners of this majority are also from the numerical majority and the positions of prime minister and armed forces commander-in-chief remain the monopoly of the Shia. Even when we are talking about an Iraqi of another sect or nationality, he is loyal to the Iranian regime.
Whatever the disagreement over the results of the recent elections, the ballot boxes have produced a different majority, which despite its flaws, has become a new reality and a manifestation of a new form of democracy, which will be virtually impossible to reverse.
Yes, for the next four years, Iran will continue steering the Iraqi ship of state and it may force Muqtada al-Sadr to agree with the losers, under the guardianship of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Everything is possible.
However, the widespread popular enthusiasm with which millions of Iraqis welcomed the defeat of Iranian proxies in the recent ballot is significant. It predicts that the upcoming elections, if they take place in 2025 and if they are held with the new popular awareness and with a full national turnout, as did not happen in October, they would lead to the emergence of parliamentary legitimacy. This would produce new representatives from new, enlightened generations, believing that Iraq is for the Iraqis, without discrimination between one citizen and another based solely on competence, patriotism and integrity.
Whatever the nature of events in the coming weeks, the elections, may complete the correction of the nascent democratic process in Iraq. This could be a source of optimism for the foreseeable future.

US special envoy’s mission impossible to restore Iran nuclear deal
Osama Al-Sharif/t Arab News/November 16/2021
Robert Malley, the US special envoy on Iran, may well be on a wild goose chase as he tours the region for the second time in the space of a few weeks, seeking to consult with regional allies on the prospects of bringing Iran, as well as the US, back into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — the 2015 nuclear agreement of which he was a lead negotiator and architect.
After months of dithering, a new Iranian negotiating team — formed after hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi became the country’s president — agreed on a date to resume talks in Vienna. On Nov. 29, the interlocutors will meet again to restart negotiations, but there is little hope that the gap that separates the two sides — mainly the US and its European allies versus Iran with backing from Russia and China — can be closed.
But there is another dimension to the stalled talks: Israel. Just like his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is, in principle, opposed to the JCPOA and any understanding with Tehran. In fact, he has refused to meet with Malley, who instead saw Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and top security officials. Lapid reportedly told the US envoy that Tehran was not interested in rejoining the agreement and was only trying to buy time.
Ironically, Malley may hear the same words from other regional allies. The reality is that Tehran’s credibility is close to zero. It has problems with all its neighbors. From Yemen to Iraq and from Lebanon to Syria, its proxies are disrupting attempts to settle regional conflicts. It is not only Iran’s unchecked nuclear activities that are worrying its neighbors, but also its long-range missile program and its drone attack system, which has been used in the targeting of Saudi airports and oil facilities, as well as the recent attempt on the life of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.
Iran’s hard-line stance has been emboldened by the belief in Tehran, and the rest of the region, that the US is slowly abandoning the Middle East. The so-called pivot to Asia mantra of President Barack Obama has reached its climax with the recent and embarrassing US withdrawal from Afghanistan. America’s allies — and foes — have read this withdrawal as a sign that Washington is no longer a reliable ally and that countries in the region must now chart their own foreign policy line in a way that protects their immediate interests.
The reality is that Tehran’s credibility is close to zero. It has problems with all its neighbors.
Israel and a number of Gulf countries now see their national security interests aligned. Iran, with its nefarious regional agenda, is a common threat to all. Restoring the JCPOA may not be a goal that will safeguard the long-term national interests of the region. Malley will have a tough time arguing to the contrary.
Since Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, Tehran had breached most articles in the nuclear deal. Iran is now boasting that it has produced 210 kg of uranium enriched to 20 percent and 25 kg to 60 percent, a level that no country, apart from those with nuclear weapons, is able to produce. The burning question is: If Tehran continues to claim that its nuclear program is peaceful, why does it breach red lines to reach enrichment levels that make it capable of producing military-grade nuclear weapons?
The original JCPOA, which a number of countries want to expand and amend, was a good interim agreement despite Netanyahu’s complaints. And Trump made a big mistake by unilaterally walking away from the deal without consulting his allies. But now we find ourselves at this vague juncture where Iran insists on complete unconditional removal of all US sanctions, while the Biden administration hopes to expand the deal — anathema to Iran’s hard-liners.
Malley’s challenge is a complex one. On the face of it, it is the restoration of the deal at any cost. But, in reality, little can be achieved when the issue is part of a larger problem; that is, Iran’s regional agenda and its proxies. Restoring the deal should lead to a wider relief and progress on other issues, such as the war in Yemen, and Iran’s involvement in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. But that is easier said than done. For Malley, the conflict resolution expert, the task is huge. The US has talked about other options, but that too is risky when Washington hopes to limit its involvement in the region’s conflicts. A military option is a dire and an unpredictable one for the US.
Iran’s leaders must get the message that they have a choice: Either be accepted by the region as a normal country that is willing to respect its neighbors or be treated as a pariah state for many years. The second option will only make the lives of millions of Iranians more difficult. Tehran’s nuclear ambitions will be challenged eventually and the price that will be paid will be hefty indeed.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @plato010