English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 17/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.november17.22.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not
hear them is that you are not from God
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
John 08/46-50: “Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you
not believe me? Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do
not hear them is that you are not from God.’The Jews answered him, ‘Are we not
right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?’Jesus answered, ‘I do
not have a demon; but I honour my Father, and you dishonour me. Yet I do not
seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on November
16-17/2022
Report: US, France, KSA, Egypt seek framework agreement on Lebanon
Report: Paris leading endeavor to facilitate Lebanon's presidential election
Report: Hezbollah says no veto on army chief but remarks over performance
13 MPs file partial appeal against banking secrecy law
Geagea rejects president-PM deal, says confrontation with Hezbollah political
MSF Lebanon starts cholera vaccination amid threat of full-blown spread
Berri calls House Committees to hold joint session upcoming Monday, sends
congratulatory cable to his Jordanian counterpart on his election
Mikati broaches developments with Grand Serail itinerants, discusses with UNDP’s
Bouzar launch of Arab Human Development Report
Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee convenes over Lebanese Sovereign Fund
Free Patriotic Movement political commission’s statement in wake of periodic
meeting
'Strong Republic' delegation visits Wronecka
Mashq 2022 held at the American University of Beirut contributes to the
integration of Arabic script in the region
Iran thinks Hezbollah will guarantee Lebanon maritime accord -analysis/Seth J.
Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/Posted on November 15/2022
The Secret Behind this Animosity for October 17/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/November
16/2022
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on November
16-17/2022
PRESS RELEASES/Treasury Targets Actors Involved in Production and
Transfer of Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Russia for Use in Ukraine
Israel blames Iran as 'drone strike' hits tanker off Oman
Israel deploys remote-controlled robotic guns in West Bank
Iran Hands Down Second Death Sentence Over 'Riots'
Robert Malley Says No Coordinated Western Strategy On Iran ‘Hostage-Taking’
Resolution Censuring Iran Submitted to IAEA
Iran Arrests 'French Intelligence Agents'...Summons Australian Ambassador
US defense chief suggests Russia ultimately to blame for Poland blast
Poland says blast likely caused by Ukraine missile in accident
The IDF is Holding Hamas Responsible for Rocket Attacks
Anger Among Likud Leaders Over Netanyahu's Ministerial Concessions
Egypt’s Presidential Pardon Committee Releases 30 Prisoners
UN Warns Against Dangers of Libya’s Partition
Algeria Jails Ex-Sonatrach Head for 15 Years for Graft
Kuwait executions could impact visa-free EU travel
Titles For The
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on November
16-17/2022
Egyptians: We Do Not Want the Islamists to Return to Power/Khaled Abu
Toameh/Gatestone Institute/November 16, 2022
Iran and the Revolution of the Grandchildren/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/November
16/2022
Iranian National Renaissance is Coming/Camelia Entekhabifard/Asharq Al Awsat/November
16/2022
America Undermines Human Rights the Most/Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al Awsat/November
16/2022
Israel Has a Role to Play in Helping Iran’s Protesters/Jacob Nagel and Mark
Dubowitz/Newsweek/November 16/2022
Iran, the Unraveling of a Murderous Dystopia /Charles Elias Chartouni/November
16/2022
Kuwaiti Journalist, Ahmad Al-Sarraf l: The Islamic Nation, Which Claims To Be
The Best Nation On Earth, Is Failing In Almost Every Area/MEMRI/November 16,
2022
Two Reasons Why American-Muslims Are So Islamophobic/Raymond Ibrahim/November
16, 2022
Why Israel Is Hesitant About Supplying Ukraine with Air Defense Systems/Anna
Borshchevskaya/The Washington Institute/November 16/2022
New EU Sanctions Indicate More Willingness to Hold Tehran Accountable/Henry Rome
and Louis Dugit-Gros/The Washington/Institute/November 16/2022
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on November
16-17/2022
Report: US, France, KSA, Egypt seek framework
agreement on Lebanon
Naharnet/November 16/2022
Consultations are ongoing between the U.S., France and Saudi Arabia to reach a
“framework agreement” over the new Lebanese president, in coordination with
Egypt and a number of regional countries, highly informed sources said.
“Meetings were held on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia to
review what needs to be done in order not to prolong the presidential void,” the
sources told al-Liwaa newspaper in remarks published Wednesday, noting that
French President Emmanuel Macron is coordinating with Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman in this regard. The presidential file was meanwhile
discussed during a visit to Bkirki by Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Yasser Elwy,
who said that his talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi tackled “the
importance of completing the constitutional junctures and resuming the formation
of the political authority in Lebanon by immediately electing a president,
forming a government and launching a workshop that Lebanon direly needs.”
Report: Paris leading endeavor to facilitate Lebanon's
presidential election
NaharnetNovember 16/2022
Although France does not have a comprehensive initiative concerning the Lebanese
presidential elections, it is exploring the stances of the various parties in a
bid to secure consensus among them, media reports said. In remarks published
Wednesday, Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that France is keen on reaching an
agreement with Saudi Arabia that would facilitate the election of a president.
Al-Akhbar said that French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo will also be
briefed on the results of the call between French President Emmanuel Macron and
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman regarding Lebanon. Grillo had arrived in
Paris a few days ago to prepare for Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran
Bassil's visit to France and to brief the French leadership on the results of
her talks with Lebanese parties over the presidential file, governmental
challenges and economic issues, the report said.
Grillo had held meetings, in the past few days, away from the spotlight, with
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid
Jumblat, and with figures from the opposition forces backing MP Michel Mouawad,
al-Akhbar said.
The daily added that Grillo had also met with a senior Hezbollah official and
with Bassil.
Report: Hezbollah says no veto on army chief but remarks
over performance
Naharnet/November 16/2022
Hezbollah has informed Bkirki that it has no veto over Army chief General Joseph
Aoun’s presidential nomination but rather remarks over his performance, MTV
said. The head of the Democratic Gathering bloc MP Taymour Jumblat meanwhile met
in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and said that his bloc will
continue to vote for MP Michel Mouawad in the presidential election. “We’re with
Mouawad, but if the other camp has any name for consensus we will discuss the
matter,” Jumblat added.
13 MPs file partial appeal against banking secrecy law
NaharnetNovember 16/2022
Thirteen MPs have filed a partial appeal before the Constitutional Council
against the new banking secrecy law. The appeal was lodged with the Council by
MP Elias Jradeh, who was accompanied by the head of the legal dept. of the
People Want to Reform the System group, Najib Farhat, who drafted the appeal,
legal dept. member Ranine Awwad, and the head of the legal dept. of the Popular
Observatory for Combating Corruption, Jad Tohme. The appeal was submitted by the
MPs Jradeh, Firas Hamdan, Osama Saad, Abdul Rahman al-Bizri, Paula Yacoubian,
Charbel Masaad, Cynthia Zarazir, Yassine Yassine, Halima Qaaqour, Nabil Bader,
Ibrahim Mneimneh, Waddah al-Sadek and Rami Fanj.
Geagea rejects president-PM deal, says confrontation with
Hezbollah political
Naharnet/November 16/2022
Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on Wednesday said he rejects the “equation”
of electing a president who is “close to Hezbollah” and designating “a PM who is
close to the other camp.”“The Hezbollah camp and our camp represent two parallel
lines that will not meet until further notice. I hope Hezbollah will tomorrow
change its political project and give up its ideology, which would allow us to
meet within five minutes, but as things are now, there are totally opposite
political projects,” Geagea said in an interview with the Akhbar al-Yawm news
agency. “Away from the March 14 and March 8 classifications, we support the
election of a president who can engage in the needed rescue process along with a
premier who can also engage in it, and accordingly the government should be in
the same direction,” Geagea added. As for Hezbollah’s controversial arsenal of
weapons, which it argues is necessary for deterring Israel, the LF leader said
“mistaken are those who think that because Hezbollah is armed, the battle or the
confrontation with it should be through arms.” “To the contrary, the
confrontation with Hezbollah is political and it should only take place through
politics,” Geagea added, noting that “Hezbollah has currently left everything
and dedicated itself to fighting the political battle in Lebanon.” He
accordingly warned that electing a president who conforms to “Hezbollah’s
specifications” would simply lead to “extending and deepening the current
crisis.”
MSF Lebanon starts cholera vaccination amid threat
of full-blown spread
Naharnet/November 16/2022
Médecins Sans Frontières /Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is contributing to the
national vaccination campaign against cholera launched by the Lebanese Ministry
of Public Health’s by vaccinating people in Arsal, Akkar, Tripoli and
Baalbek-Hermel in the north and northeast of Lebanon where most cholera cases
are registered in the country, a statement said. “600,000 cholera vaccines
received by Lebanon, as first phase procurement, are to be administered in
coordination with various international and local actors,” MSF said in a
statement. “MSF has started vaccinating since five days and, so far, we have
managed to vaccinate 6,677 people,” says Marcelo Fernandez, MSF Head of Mission
in Lebanon. “Our teams are going from door to door in all neighborhoods,
visiting homes, shops, and camps actively seeking out people to get vaccinated
and to raise awareness on the importance of vaccination of a rapidly spread
disease,” he added. Since Lebanon recorded its first cholera case in almost
three decades on October 6, 18 people have died as a result of the disease, with
the number of confirmed and suspected cases rising to 3,395 as of 14 November
2022. MSF’s vaccination efforts are targeting Lebanese and refugees living in
poor and/or overcrowded areas in the country, conditions that put people at
heightened risk of contracting infectious diseases. “To be able to effectively
curb the outbreak, it is crucial to enhance cholera prevention measures, of
which vaccination is one of the critical elements,” explains Marcelo Fernandez.
“However, if no meaningful actions are taken to ensure people have proper access
to safe drinking water and sanitation services in the country, we can expect
cholera and/or other waterborne infectious diseases to resurface regularly in
Lebanon,” adds Fernandez. In addition to administering cholera vaccines, MSF is
also providing patient care. In the Bekaa’s Bar Elias and Arsal MSF is running
two cholera treatment centers with a total capacity of seventy beds. In Tripoli,
north of Lebanon, and Arsal, oral rehydration points are being set up for people
who do not require hospitalization. Five medical kits were procured by MSF to
treat up to 3,125 cholera patients. MSF is also providing technical training to
Lebanese health workers on the treatment of cholera patients, mobilized teams to
raise awareness about the disease and distributed hygiene kits to help people
maintain essential household and personal hygiene in the Bekaa Valley, north,
and northeast of Lebanon (Bar Elias, Akkar, Baalbek-Hermel, and Arsal).
Berri calls House Committees to hold joint session upcoming
Monday, sends congratulatory cable to his Jordanian counterpart on his election
NNANovember 16/2022
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Wednesday cabled his Jordanian counterpart, Ahmad
Safadi, congratulating him on his election as Jordan's House of Representatives
Speaker. On the other hand, Speaker Berri has called the parliamentary
committees of Finance and Budget, Administration and Justice, National economy,
Trade, Industry and Planning, to meet in a joint session at 10:30 am next
Monday, November 21, to continue the discussion of the expedited draft law aimed
at setting exceptional and temporary controls on bank transfers and cash
withdrawals.
Mikati broaches developments with Grand Serail itinerants,
discusses with UNDP’s Bouzar launch of Arab Human Development Report
NNA /November 16/2022
Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Wednesday welcomed UN Assistant
Secretary-General and Director of the United Nations Development Programme
Regional Bureau for Arab States,Khalida Bouzar, in the presence of UNDP Resident
Representative in Lebanon, Melanie Hauenstein.
In the wake of the meeting, Bouzar made it clear that “the first and most
important objective of the visit” was to discuss the launch of the Arab Human
Development Report, noting that this report will be launched for “the first time
in the Arab region.”Bouzar added that the second aim of her visit to Mikati was
to get a closer look at the status of the support that the UNDP had been
extending to the Lebanese government and people. “We’ve also discussed the
United Nations Development Program’s new strategy (2023-2025), which aims to
support reforms, renewable energy, and crises mitigation. This strategy will be
presented to the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Program next
January,” Bouzar explained, adding that the strategy’s annual budget is
approximately $80 million. “We’ve also seized the opportunity to discuss how the
United Nations Development Program can support the reforms that Lebanon has been
carrying out alongside the International Monetary Fund, as well as the means to
support renewable energy projects, which shall improve the environment, provide
job opportunities for the youth, and reduce migration,” Bouzar concluded.
Caretaker Premier Mikati then received Russian Ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander
Rudakov, who conveyed to him the greetings of the Russian leadership, and handed
him a personal letter from Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin,
congratulating him on Lebanon’s Independence Day. The Prime Minister also held a
meeting with Deputy Prime Minister, Saade Al-Shami, with whom he followed up on
the cooperation dossiers with the International Monetary Fund. Mikati also
welcomed at the Grand Serail, the President of the World Union of Arab Bankers,
Dr. Joseph Tarabay, and the Secretary General of the Union of Arab Banks, Wissam
Fattouh.
After the meeting, Tarabay said that they met with the Premier to invite him to
inaugurate a conference that will be held next week in Beirut, on the occasion
of the convening of the Executive Committee of the Union of Arab Banks and the
holding of a conference dealing with economic reforms in some Arab countries.
Mikati then met with Director-General of State Security, Major General Tony
Saliba, and Gen. Saliba's Deputy Brigadier General Hassan Choucair, in the
presence of the Secretary General of the Supreme Defense Council, Major General
Staff Muhammad Al-Mustafa. Among the PM's itinerant visitors for today had been
MP Camille Dory Chamoun.
Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee convenes over
Lebanese Sovereign Fund
NNA /November 16/2022
The Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee convened on Wednesday under the
chairmanship of MP Ibrahim Kanaan, and the presence of Caretaker Minister of
Finance, Youssef Khalil. The session will be devoted to discussing law proposals
involving the Lebanese Sovereign Fund.
Free Patriotic Movement political commission’s statement in
wake of periodic meeting
NNA /November 16/2022
The political commission of the Free Patriotic Party held its periodic meeting
on Tuesday 15 of November, chaired by the President of the party, the deputy
Gebran Bassil; after discussing its agenda, the commission released the
following statement:
1- The political commission welcomes the new dynamism initiated by the
Parliament which has regained its role of accountability, and has reviewed in
this context, through the deputy Nicolas Sehnaoui, the communications file,
subject of a parliamentary petition which is in the process of being signed, in
order for a parliamentary commission to be formed to investigate this matter.
The Political Committee decided to fully support this path and came out in favor
of the signature of the petition by the party.
2 – The political commission has reviewed, through the leader of the party, the
political contacts that are in progress to ensure a suitable environment for the
execution of the imperative constitutional obligations. It declared its support
for the policy of dialogue and building internal and external bridges, which
will make it possible to provide Lebanon with the necessary stability criteria
and to avoid the negative repercussions emanating from regional and
international conflicts.
3 - The Commission discussed the internal elections within the party, ranging
from the election of the National Council to the Political Council. It was
stressed that practical measures will be taken to facilitate the democratic path
that characterizes the party and to encourage partisans of all ages to
participate in the elections by presenting their candidacy and by voting.
'Strong Republic' delegation visits Wronecka
NNA /November 16/2022
A delegation of the "Strong Republic" parliamentary bloc on Wednesday visited UN
Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka. Talks reportedly touched on
the latest developments regarding the discussions inside the House committees.
The delegation asked Wronecka to urge the international community to press for
the election of the Lebanese president. The delegation included MPs Ghada Ayoub,
Ghassan Hasbani and Razi Hajj, as well as former minister Richard Qouyoumjian.
Mashq 2022 held at the American University of Beirut contributes to the
integration of Arabic script in the region
NNA /November 16/2022
On October 20 and 21, the department of Architecture and Design at the Maroun
Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (MSFEA) at the American
University of Beirut hosted its first conference on Arabic type and typography,
Mashq 2022, organized by the Arabic Type Unit. It was a landmark event which
brought together professionals, scholars, and students from Lebanon and beyond
to explore historical developments, research studies, technology updates, and
emerging trends in the field of Arabic typography, type design, lettering, and
regional visual communication in particular.
The event coincided with the 30-year anniversary of the graphic design program
at the university. The American University of Beirut was the first higher
education institution in the Arab world to provide a program dedicated to
graphic design, and it was also the first to incorporate the graphic application
of the Arabic script into its core curriculum. The Mashq 2022 conference
gathered 400+ attendees and hosted 15 renowned speakers from 7 countries
including the UAE, Egypt, Germany, Turkey, Spain, and the Netherlands. Among the
invited speakers are a list of long-standing designers, practitioners,
researchers, and educators in regional graphic design. “What I could feel in my
presence was pure greatness,” commented designer Emile Minhem, one of the
speakers at the Mashq 2022 conference, in regards to the event. “It is my duty
in this dark and painful time for many to say thank you to the American -- AUB
سيث ج.فرانتزمان/جيروزاليم بوست: إيران تعتقد أن ذراعها العسكري والإرهابي، حزب
الله قادر على ضمان الاتفاق البحري بين لبنان وإسرائيل
Iran thinks Hezbollah will guarantee Lebanon maritime accord -analysis
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/Posted on November 15/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/113394/113394/
Iran thinks that it can deter Israel from any changes off the coast by relying
on Hezbollah’s threats as well as the US concerns.
An article published in Iranian media, quoting Lebanese media, appears to
indicate a larger Iranian regime view regarding the recent Israel-Lebanon
maritime agreement.
The agreement was brokered by the US and it ostensibly enables some kind of
peace on the northern border, guaranteed through a deal regarding resources off
the coast. Israel can exploit the energy resources at Karish on its side of the
agreed-upon border; while Lebanon can now explore the Qana gas field to see if
anything is there.
So far so good. However, Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah appear concerned
that the incoming Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu may cancel the deal.
In this respect, they are keen observers of some western commentators and also
Netanyahu’s own comments about the deal.
Voices in the US who tend to be critical of Iran were also critical of the deal.
In their view, Israel caved to Lebanese demands and rushed into the deal before
the elections.
Iran is wary of Israel's next move
In essence, the Iranian regime is trying to analyze what Israel might do next.
“The general structure of the Zionist regime is such that the army and military
institutions always influence the public opinion of the Zionists and their
positions more than the political institution of Israel,” Tasnim News said.
That means that Iran thinks that it can count on institutional pressure to keep
Israel’s politicians from doing anything unexpected.
Iran doesn’t trust the US or Israel. However, Iran thinks that it can deter
Israel from any changes off the coast by relying on Hezbollah’s threats as well
as the US concerns about “the consequences of a military confrontation on energy
security in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
Iran now points to an “equation” created by Hezbollah. In this analysis,
Hezbollah is presented as dictating Lebanon’s foreign and military affairs.
Iran's proxy in Lebanon
Hezbollah is quoted as saying that if Lebanon cannot extract oil and gas then
“no other party” can extract the resources. “In general, all those who are
familiar with the case of determining the maritime borders of Lebanon and
occupied Palestine agree on the point that if the resistance [Hezbollah] did not
enter the said case and America and Israel were not afraid of the consequences
of trespassing on Lebanon's wealth, this country would never have been able to
access the oil resources,” the report said.
On the one hand, the report can be read as bragging and bravado and trying to
explain why Hezbollah exists. This means that Iran is feeding its own propaganda
in a feedback loop. The loop begins with creating Hezbollah and then threatening
Israel and then claiming the threats forced Israel into a deal and Hezbollah
guarantees the deal. This ignores the reality that without Hezbollah it’s
entirely plausible a deal would have been made many years ago and Lebanon would
today already be exporting gas. So Iran both creates the problem and then
creates the solution to its own problem and then celebrates having solved the
thing it did in the first place.
On the other hand, the report indicates a clear message from Iran that Hezbollah
will determine Lebanon’s foreign policy and that Lebanon is the main hand
negotiating with Israel. This shows that the deal has a fundamental weakness,
which is that Israel signed a deal with Lebanon but in fact the whole thing is
controlled behind the scenes by Hezbollah. This gives Hezbollah a “right” to
make trouble in the future. This means Iran has expanded its influence to the
coast of Lebanon.
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-722431
The Secret Behind this Animosity for October 17
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/November 16/2022
Lebanon’s October 17 revolution was not victorious, and it failed to change the
course of governance in the country or prevent the aggravation of its collapse.
It also was unable to elect a substantial parliamentary bloc that could turn the
tables and impose a new way of doing things. Moreover, in the final analysis, it
ceased to exist a little more than three years ago. Why, then, did Hezbollah
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah show so much animosity towards it in his
latest speech?
The explanation is no minor detail. For the first time, we saw Nasrallah discuss
the revolution bluntly and boastfully: The United States brought this chaos and
vandalism to Lebanon. As for him and his party, they were on the front lines in
repressing it.
Why did Nasrallah issue this belated verdict, which, at first glance, he seems
to have volunteered to make though no real reason called for doing so?
In all likelihood, Hezbollah and co seek to turn the defeat of October 17 into a
major turning point that establishes a “new” Lebanon- just as crushing the 1968
revolution in Czechoslovakia was made into a foundational moment that introduced
the second chapter of that communist state’s life.
As for those who defeated October 17, they are the saviors of the people, whom
they rescued from the clutches of conspiracy. And so, Hezbollah pins a new medal
on its chest, putting alongside its many others: liberating the country,
resistance, fighting terrorism, demarcating the country’s borders, ensuring the
people dignity etc…
The presidential elections render this task more pressing. Indeed, those with
the lion’s share of the credit for saving us from the conspiracy ought to
receive the lion’s share of the vote that decides the new president of the
republic.
While it was relatively watered down in his speech, this is what Nasrallah had
effectively been saying. He spoke of a president that would not stab the
resistance in the back and reminded us of the “successful” tenures of Emile
Lahoud and Michel Aoun, tasking the head of his parliamentary bloc, Mohammad
Raad, with the vulgar and blunt statements: “In the confrontation over who will
become president, we know who we want and are taking action to ensure that the
figure we want becomes president.” As for whom “we want,” he is a “president
worthy of our resisting people".
All of this makes clear that Hezbollah, armed with its “victories,” the most
recent of which was the border demarcation agreement, does not want to make any
concessions to anyone. It wants to impose a “president worthy of our resisting
people,” betting on the desperation of the others and their exhaustion to repeat
what happened when they agreed to make Aoun president on that inauspicious day
in 2016.
These are some of the things he warned us of in his speech slandering October
17: those who defended the regime and ensured its survival will become this
regime’s exclusive kingmakers.
However, if defending this regime was the direct, practical reason for much of
what was said, done, and threatened, it came against a backdrop that explains
the deeper reasons why there is no love lost between Hezbollah’s resistance and
the October revolution. This background, which could perhaps be called the
theoretical underpinnings of the party’s position, is based on the following:
- The resistance of Hezbollah is an act of perpetual violence; weapons are its
cause, goal, and tool. The October 17 revolution presented itself as a civic,
peaceful and reformist act.
- Hezbollah’s resistance represents the armament of one community in the face of
others. The October 17 revolution sought to establish a popular and national
movement that cut across sects and communities.
- Hezbollah’s resistance presents itself as targeting a foreign enemy, hostility
to which, in Lebanon and elsewhere, is often used to reinforce the status quo.
The October 17 revolution was born in response to the way in which the country
is governed and its rampant corruption.
- The resistance of Hezbollah, as the faction deciding questions of war and
peace, undermines the state. The October 17 revolution strengthens the state by
developing democracy and stressing the values of transparency and
accountability.
-The resistance of Hezbollah necessarily implies linking Lebanon to the Iranian
and Syrian regimes. The October 17 revolution rallied against the idea of
turning the country into an “arena” where regional conflicts play out.
- The resistance of Hezbollah seeks to have ideology decide political questions,
while the October 17 revolution seeks to transform Lebanon into a normal country
whose policies are determined by its interests.
The two, in the end, are polar opposites. One wants to keep things as they are,
guarding this status quo with guns, for which it deserves its label as the
defender of the status quo that “has the resistance’s back.” The second wants
things to change and make defending the status quo and the catastrophic rates of
corruption, which are justified under the pretext of fighting the enemy,
impossible.
The two theories collided before, in 2005. The response to the emergence of a
new national agenda in the wake of Rafik Hariri’s assassination was to provoke
the war of 2006, inflame tensions, and burden political life with the same old
agenda.
The two theories also clashed in Syria, and so the fighters of Hezbollah headed
there to repress those who had been demanding freedom, change, and human
dignity, and to solidify the position of Bashar al-Assad and his regime.
It is a perpetual clash stemming from the essence of things. It goes up and
down, but it will not end unless one side suffers an obliterating defeat.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on November
16-17/2022
PRESS RELEASES/Treasury Targets Actors Involved in Production and
Transfer of Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Russia for Use in Ukraine
OFAC/November 15, 2022
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1104
WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign
Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning firms involved in the production or ongoing
transfer to Russia of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which Russia has
used in devastating attacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. OFAC is
designating Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center, the firm responsible for
the design and production of Shahed-series UAVs being used by Russian forces in
Ukraine. OFAC is also targeting Success Aviation Services FZC and i Jet Global
DMCC for facilitating the transfer of Iranian UAVs to Russia. The U.S.
Department of State is concurrently designating Russian Private Military Company
“Wagner” (PMC Wagner) and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace
Force (IRGC ASF) and Qods Aviation Industries pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.)
14024. To supplement the U.S. Department of State’s designation of PMC Wagner,
OFAC is also designating two individuals for facilitating PMC Wagner’s
acquisition of UAVs from Iran, Abbas Djuma and Tigran Khristoforovich Srabionov.
“As we have demonstrated repeatedly, the United States is determined to sanction
people and companies, no matter where they are located, that support Russia’s
unjustified invasion of Ukraine. Today’s action exposes and holds accountable
companies and individuals that have enabled Russia’s use of Iranian-built UAVs
to brutalize Ukrainian civilians,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L.
Yellen. “This is part of our larger effort to disrupt Russia’s war effort and
deny the equipment it needs through sanctions and export controls.”
Today’s action is being taken pursuant to E.O. 13382 and E.O. 14024 and follows
OFAC’s September 8, 2022 designation of an Iranian air transportation service
provider involved in the shipment of Iranian UAVs to Russia, as well as three
companies and one individual involved in the research, development, production,
and procurement of Iranian UAVs and UAV components for Iran’s IRGC and its
Aerospace Force (IRGC ASF) and Navy. This also follows the October 20, 2022
decision by the European Union to impose sanctions on three Iranian military
leaders and Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center for their role in the
development and delivery of UAVs used by Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Today’s actions implement commitments to target international actors involved in
supporting Russia’s war machine, as highlighted by OFAC Frequently Asked
Questions 1091 and 1092 and reinforced by an October 14, 2022 meeting of senior
officials in Washington representing ministries of finance and other government
agencies from 33 countries, in which the participants acknowledged the
significance of sanctions actions taken so far and discussed additional steps to
further impair Russia’s military-industrial complex and critical defense supply
chains. The Departments of the Treasury, Commerce, and State released an alert
on that same day detailing the impact of international sanctions and export
controls to date. Read the joint alert here.
IRANIAN UAV PRODUCER
Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center (SAIRC), subordinate to the IRGC ASF,
has designed and manufactured several Shahed-series UAV variants, including the
Shahed-136 one-way attack UAV that Russian forces have used in recent attacks
targeting civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, Odesa, and the Kharkiv region of
Ukraine. SAIRC also developed the Shahed-129 medium-altitude reconnaissance and
strike UAV for the IRGC ASF, and it is the lead contractor for the IRGC ASF’s
Shahed-171 project.
SAIRC is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for having provided, or
attempted to provide, financial, material, technological or other support for,
or goods or services in support of, the IRGC ASF. The IRGC ASF, also known as
the IRGC Air Force, was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 on June 16, 2010 as a
key element in the operational deployment of Iran’s ballistic missile
capability.
SHIPMENT OF IRANIAN UAVS TO RUSSIA
UAE-based air transportation firms Success Aviation Services FZC (Success
Aviation) and i Jet Global DMCC (iJet) collaborated with U.S.-sanctioned Iranian
firm Safiran Airport Services (Safiran) to coordinate flights between Iran and
Russia, including those associated with transporting Iranian UAVs, personnel,
and related equipment from Iran to Russia. The actions against the UAE-based
targets are being taken in cooperation with the UAE government.
Success Aviation continues to cooperate with Safiran even after the latter’s
designation, including to facilitate travel between Russia and Iran. iJet also
continues to work with Safiran to coordinate Russian Air Force flights between
Iran and Russia despite Safiran’s designation and exposure.
Safiran was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 on September 8, 2022 for being
owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of,
directly or indirectly, the Government of the Russian Federation (GoR).
iJet has also worked with U.S.-sanctioned, Syria-based Cham Wings Airlines (Cham
Wings). iJet has allegedly used its branch in Syria, known as Trade Med Middle
East, to assist Cham Wings in facilitating the transport of Syrian fighters to
Russia. Cham Wings was designated pursuant to E.O. 13582 on December 23, 2016
for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material or
technological support for, or goods or services in support of, the Government of
Syria and Syrian Arab Airlines, a U.S.-designated airline that Iran’s IRGC-Qods
Force has used to transfer illicit cargo to Syria.
Success Aviation and iJet are being designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being
owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf
of, directly or indirectly, the GoR.
PMC WAGNER FACILITATORS
PMC Wagner is a Russian private military company with ties to the Russian
government that has been used to engage in conflicts on the Russian government’s
behalf around the world. PMC Wagner was previously designated pursuant to E.O.
13660 in 2017 for being responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in,
directly or indirectly, actions or policies that threaten the peace, security,
stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine. The European Union,
the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Japan have also sanctioned PMC
Wagner.
The State Department today is concurrently designating PMC Wagner pursuant to
E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel
sector of the Russian Federation economy. In coordination with the State
Department’s redesignation of PMC Wagner, OFAC is taking action against
individuals facilitating the movement of Iranian UAVs to Russia. Abbas Djuma (Djuma)
and Tigran Khristoforovich Srabionov (Srabionov) were involved in PMC Wagner’s
acquisition of Iranian UAVs to support combat operations in Ukraine.
Djuma is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for having materially assisted,
sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or
goods and services to or in support of, PMC Wagner. Srabionov is being
designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for having acted or purported to act for or on
behalf of, directly or indirectly, PMC Wagner.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the
individuals and entities that are in the United States or in the possession or
control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC sanctions
generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within the United States
(including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property
or interests in property of blocked or designated persons.
In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the individuals or
entities designated today may themselves be exposed to sanctions. Furthermore,
any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant
transaction or provides significant financial services for any of the
individuals or entities designated today pursuant to E.O. 13382 could be subject
to U.S. sanctions.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to
designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked
Persons List (SDN List) but also from its willingness to remove persons from the
SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to
punish but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information
concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN
List, please refer to OFAC’s FAQ 897.
Click here for identifying information on the individuals and entities
designated today.
https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20221115
Israel blames Iran as 'drone strike' hits tanker off
Oman
Agence France Presse/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
Israel blamed Iran on Wednesday after what it said was a drone strike hit a
tanker operated by an Israeli-owned firm carrying gas oil off the coast of Oman.
The Pacific Zircon was "hit by a projectile approximately 150 miles off the
coast of Oman ... on 15 November," Singapore-based firm Eastern Pacific Shipping
which operates the vessel said in a statement, adding that there were no reports
of casualties or any leakage of the cargo. "There is some minor damage to the
vessel's hull but no spillage of cargo or water ingress," said the company which
is owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer -- one of two sons of shipping magnate
Sammy Ofer, who died in 2011. The tanker was carrying 42,000 tons of gas oil and
bound for Buenos Aires, according to Samir Madani, co-founder of website
TankerTrackers.com, an oil shipping online research firm. The Bahrain-based
United States Fifth Fleet said it was "aware of the incident". UK Maritime Trade
Operations, a British monitor, also said it knew of the incident.
- 'Iranian provocation' -
An Israeli official told AFP that the strike on the tanker was "an Iranian
provocation" that aimed to "disrupt the environment" before the football World
Cup opens in Qatar on Sunday. The official, who requested anonymity, said the
attack was carried out with the "same drones that the Iranians are selling to
the Russians for use in Ukraine... the Shahed 136," an unmanned aircraft
equipped with a warhead. The Israeli official dismissed suggestions that the
strike on the vessel partly owned by Idan Ofer amounted to "an Iranian victory"
against Israel. "It is not an Israeli tanker," the official said. Iran and
Israel are bitter foes and a "shadow war" between the two powers has seen a
spate of attacks on ships from both sides that they have blamed on each other.
Iran was blamed for a July 29, 2021 drone strike on an Israel-linked tanker
sailing off the coast of Oman, the MV Mercer Street, that killed a former
British soldier and a Romanian national. Tehran denied responsibility for that
strike.
- Iran-U.S. tensions -
Heightened tensions between arch foes Washington and Tehran in recent years have
also seen incidents between their navies, including in August, when Washington
said it prevented an Iranian ship from capturing a U.S. maritime drone in Gulf
waters that are vital for world energy supplies.
Iran and world powers have engaged in on-off talks to revive a landmark 2015
deal that sought to curb Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions
relief. The United States, Britain, France and Germany have submitted a motion
to the UN nuclear watchdog censuring Iran for lack of cooperation with the
agency, diplomats told AFP this week. "The risk of attacks against shipping and
energy infrastructure in the wider region is rising mainly due to the lack of
progress in US-Iranian nuclear diplomacy," said Torbjorn Soltvedt, Middle East
analyst with the Verisk Maplecroft risk intelligence company. A decision by
Washington to apply further sanctions pressure on Tehran has exacerbated the
risk of further attacks, Soltvedt said. Iran has been rocked by two months
of mass protests -- the biggest in years -- following the death in September of
22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by Iran's notorious morality
police for an alleged breach of its strict dress code for women. "Ongoing mass
protests against the Iranian government also make it more likely that Tehran
will seek to stoke unrest in the broader region as a diversionary tactic,"
Soltvedt said.
Israel deploys remote-controlled robotic guns in West
Bank
Associated Press/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
In two volatile spots in the occupied West Bank, Israel has installed robotic
weapons that can fire tear gas, stun grenades and sponge-tipped bullets at
Palestinian protesters. The weapons, perched over a crowded Palestinian refugee
camp and in a flashpoint West Bank city, use artificial intelligence to track
targets. Israel says the technology saves lives — both Israeli and Palestinian.
But critics see another step toward a dystopian reality in which Israel
fine-tunes its open-ended occupation of the Palestinians while keeping its
soldiers out of harm's way. The new weapon comes at a time of heightened
tensions in the occupied West Bank, where unrest has risen sharply during what
has been the deadliest year since 2006. The victory by former Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line alliance, which includes an extreme right-wing
party with close ties to the settler movement, has raised concerns of more
violence. Twin turrets, each equipped with a watchful lens and a gun barrel,
were recently installed atop a guard tower bristling with surveillance cameras
overlooking the Al-Aroub refugee camp in the southern West Bank. When young
Palestinian protesters pour into the streets hurling stones and firebombs at
Israeli soldiers, the robotic weapons unleash tear gas or sponge-tipped bullets
on them, witnesses say. About a month ago, the military also placed the robots
in the nearby city of Hebron, where soldiers often clash with stone-throwing
Palestinian residents. The army declined to comment on its plans to deploy the
system elsewhere in the West Bank. Palestinian activist Issa Amro said Hebron
residents fear the new weapon might be misused or hacked with no accountability
in potentially lethal situations. People also resent what they say is a weapons
test on civilians, he added.
"We are not a training and simulation for Israeli companies," he said. "This is
something new that must be stopped."There are no soldiers next to the machines.
Instead, the weapons are operated by remote control. At a touch of a button,
soldiers nestled inside a guard tower can fire at selected targets.
The army says the system is being tested at this stage and fires only
"non-lethal" weapons used for crowd control, such as sponge-tipped bullets and
tear gas. Residents of Al-Aroub say the turrets have repeatedly drenched the
hillside camp in gas. "We don't open the window, we don't open the door. We know
not to open anything," said shopkeeper Hussein al-Muzyeen. Robotic weapons are
increasingly in operation around the world, with militaries expanding their use
of drones to carry out lethal strikes from Ukraine to Ethiopia.
Remote-controlled guns like the Israeli system in the West Bank have been used
by the United States in Iraq, by South Korea along the border with North Korea,
and by various Syrian rebel groups. Israel, known for its advanced military
technologies, is among the world's top producers of drones capable of launching
precision-guided missiles. It has built a fence along its boundary with the Gaza
Strip equipped with radar and underground and underwater sensors. Above ground,
it uses a robotic vehicle, equipped with cameras and machine guns, to patrol
volatile borders. The military also tests and utilizes state-of-the-art
surveillance technology such as face recognition and biometric data collection
on Palestinians navigating the routines of the occupation, such as applying for
Israeli travel permits. "Israel is using technology as a means to control the
civil population," said Dror Sadot, spokeswoman for Israeli rights group
B'Tselem. She said that even supposedly non-lethal weapons like sponge bullets
can cause extreme pain and even be deadly. The turrets in Al-Aroub were built by
Smart Shooter, a company that makes "fire control systems" that it says
"significantly increase the accuracy, lethality, and situational awareness of
small arms." The company boasts contracts with dozens of militaries around the
world, including the U.S. Army. Speaking at the company's headquarters in
Kibbutz Yagur in northern Israel, Chief Executive Michal Mor said the gun
requires human selection of targets and munitions.
"They always have a man in the loop making the decision regarding the legitimate
target," she said.
She said the system minimizes casualties by distancing soldiers from violence
and limits collateral damage by making shots more accurate. In a densely
populated area like Al-Aroub, she said soldiers can monitor specific people in a
crowd and lock the turret onto specific body parts. The system fires only after
algorithms assess complex factors like wind speed, distance, and velocity. The
military said such safeguards minimize the risk to soldiers and improve
supervision over their activities. It also said the technology allows soldiers
to target "less sensitive" areas of the body to minimize harm and avoid shooting
bystanders. "In this way, the system reduces the likelihood of inaccurate fire,"
it said. But Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights
Watch, said Israel is on a "slide toward the digital dehumanization of weapons
systems." By using such technologies, Shakir said Israel is creating "a powder
keg for human rights abuse."Violence in the West Bank has surged over the past
several months as Israel has ramped up arrest raids after a spate of Palestinian
attacks within Israel killed 19 people last spring. The violence has killed more
than 130 Palestinians this year and at least another 10 Israelis have been
killed in recent attacks. Israel says the raids aim to dismantle militant
infrastructure and and that it has been forced to act because of the inaction of
Palestinian security forces. For Palestinians, the nightly incursions into their
towns have weakened their own security forces and tightened Israel's grip over
lands they want for their hoped-for state. Israel captured the West Bank, east
Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war.
In Al-Aroub, residents say the machines fire without warning. "It is very fast,
even faster than the soldiers," said Kamel Abu Hishesh, a 19-year-old student.
He described almost nightly clashes where soldiers storm the camp as the
automated gun fires tear gas up and down the hill. Paul Scharre, vice president
of the Washington think tank Center for a New American Security and a former
U.S. Army sniper, said that without emotion and with better aim, automated
systems can potentially reduce violence. But he said the absence of
international norms for "killer robots" is problematic. Otherwise, he said, it's
just a matter of time before these automated systems are equipped to use deadly
force.
Iran Hands Down Second Death Sentence Over 'Riots'
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
An Iranian court has issued a second death sentence in three days against a
"rioter" for violence linked to protests that flared over Mahsa Amini's death,
the judiciary said. "A revolutionary court sentenced to death another defendant
accused of terrorizing people in the street using a bladed weapon, setting fire
to the motorcycle of a citizen, and attacking a person with a knife," the
judiciary's Mizan Online website said late Tuesday. "The accused is an enemy of
God for using bladed weapons that caused terror," it reported. Iran on Sunday
handed down the first death sentence over the protests that erupted on September
16, when Amini died in custody after her arrest for an alleged breach of the
Islamic republic's dress code for women. Among the charges issued against the
first convict were "setting fire to a government building, disturbing public
order, assembly and conspiracy to commit a crime against national security," as
well as for being "an enemy of God and corruption on earth", Mizan said at the
time. Five others were sentenced to prison terms of between five to 10 years for
"gathering and conspiring to commit crimes against national security and
disturbing public order", Mizan said.
Robert Malley Says No Coordinated Western Strategy On Iran
‘Hostage-Taking’
Paris - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
Western countries have no coordinated strategy on how to bring home nationals
held by Iranian authorities in a policy of “hostage-taking,” the US envoy for
Iran, Robert Malley, said in Paris on Monday. The issue of foreign detainees in
Iran is “a tragedy shared by the United States, Europe, and other countries
around the world,” Malley told reporters, AFP reported. “Obviously, it would be
good if we had a common policy... not only for Iran but all the countries which
practice hostage-taking as a bargaining chip and for political reasons,” he
said. “This is not the case at the moment, and it is true that many countries
are dealing individually with Iran,” Malley added. “I hope that one day,
hopefully in the not too distant future, we agree on a coordinated response.
This really needs to stop,” Malley said. He stressed that there were three
American “hostages” and the US wanted to bring them back “as soon as possible.”
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps have arrested dozens of dual nationals and
foreigners in recent years, mostly on espionage and security-related charges.
Meanwhile, activists believe some two dozen Westerners are currently being held
by Iran in what they allege is a strategy of hostage-taking aimed at extracting
money or the release of Iranian prisoners from the West. Malley was speaking
after two months of unprecedented anti-regime protests in Iran over the death of
22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police. Amini
was detained for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.
Although the protests first focused on Iran’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab,
they have since transformed into one of the greatest challenges to the ruling
clerics since the chaotic years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. French
Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna had revealed over the weekend that seven
French nationals are being held in Iran. The protests sweeping Iran have been
characterized by French President Emmanuel Macron as a “revolution” but Malley
replied cautiously that “it is not my role to find the term to characterize what
is happening in Iran”. “There is a popular movement, deep, persistent,
courageous, which does not seem to be weakening. On the other side there is a
regime which uses brutal violence which we condemn, which we sanction.” “This
page of Iranian history, will be written by the Iranians themselves. It will not
be written in Washington or Brussels or Paris or London,” he said.
Malley came under fire on Twitter in October after tweeting that protesters in
Iran have been demonstrating for “respect” from the Iranian regime. He later
apologized and said: “It was a mistake, and I owned up to the mistake. It’s not
something that I should do, particularly because it was viewed as diminishing
the demands of the protesters.”
Resolution Censuring Iran Submitted to IAEA
Vienna - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
The United States, Britain, France and Germany have submitted a motion to the UN
nuclear watchdog's board censuring Iran over its lack of cooperation with the
agency, two diplomats said Tuesday. The resolution calling on Iran to cooperate
fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) comes after a report by
the agency concluded there had been "no progress" in a long-standing probe into
undeclared nuclear material in Iran, AFP reported. Traces of undeclared uranium
of man-made origin had been discovered at three Iranian sites in the past. The
issue has been a point of contention during on-off talks between Tehran and
world powers to revive a 2015 landmark deal that sought to curb Iran's nuclear
program in exchange for sanctions relief. The "resolution has been submitted
tonight", a European diplomat told AFP on Tuesday. A second diplomat confirmed
the move. The draft text seen by AFP underscored that it was "essential and
urgent" for Iran to "act to fulfil its legal obligations". A similar resolution
criticizing Iran was adopted at the IAEA's June meeting, with only China and
Russia voting against it. At the time, Tehran denounced the motion as
"political" and responded to it by removing surveillance cameras and other
equipment from its nuclear facilities. The text must be discussed and voted on
during this week's quarterly meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors
that starts on Wednesday. A simple majority of board members is sufficient to
pass the resolution. A visit by an IAEA delegation in Tehran has been scheduled
for the end of the month in an attempt to make progress on the investigation.
The IAEA has kept demanding "technically credible explanations" for the traces,
including "access to locations and material", as well as the collection of
samples. Talks have been under way since April last year to revive the 2015
nuclear deal, which started to unravel when the United States withdrew from it
in 2018.
Iran Arrests 'French Intelligence Agents'...Summons
Australian Ambassador
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
Several French intelligence agents were arrested in relation to protests in
Iran, the country's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV on Wednesday,
as anti-government demonstrations persist throughout the country. Tehran has
accused Western foes of stoking nationwide protests ignited by the death of
Iranian Kurdish young woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 in the custody of the
morality police. "People of other nationalities were arrested in the riots, some
of whom played a big role. There were elements from the French intelligence
agency and they will be dealt with according to the law," Vahidi said, AFP
reported. France's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. Last week, France's Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said a total of
seven French nationals were detained in Iran. Meanwhile, Australia's ambassador
was summoned by Tehran over comments made by the Australian prime minister
regarding Iran's internal developments. "It seems that the prime minister of
Australia has taken a wrong approach based on false information, which does not
help the relations between the two countries," Iran's foreign ministry
spokesperson : Nasser Kanaani said on Wednesday. The country has summoned
several foreign ambassadors over comments regarding protests made by their
officials.
US defense chief suggests Russia ultimately to blame for
Poland blast
Agence France Presse/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin suggested Wednesday that Russia is
ultimately responsible for a deadly blast in Poland, saying it occurred as
Moscow's forces target Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure. Initial reports
blamed Russian missiles for the explosion, which killed two people and raised
fears of a major escalation of the Ukraine conflict, but Poland later said it
was likely caused by a stray surface-to-air missile fired by Kyiv's forces.
"We'll continue to work closely with our ally Poland and others to gather more
information, and we'll continue to consult closely with our NATO allies and our
valued partners," Austin said as he opened a virtual meeting of the Ukraine
Defense Contact Group, which is made up of dozens of countries that back Kyiv.
"What we do know is the context in which this is unfolding. Russia is facing
setback after setback on the battlefield, and Russia is putting Ukrainian
civilians and Ukrainian infrastructure in its gunsights," he added. NATO chief
Jens Stoltenberg, who was also to take part in the Ukraine contact group
meeting, was more direct in blaming Russia, saying: "This is not Ukraine's
fault." "Russia bears ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war
against Ukraine," he said after chairing a meeting of NATO ambassadors. The
explosion in eastern Poland came as Russia launched dozens of missile strikes
across Ukraine on Tuesday, which Kyiv said knocked out power to millions of
people. Building multilayer air defenses to protect against such strikes is a
key goal of Ukraine's allies, who have provided various missile systems to Kyiv.
Austin on Wednesday said the advanced NASAMS systems Washington has sent are now
in operation in Ukraine. "Our NASAMS air defense systems are now operational,
and they have had 100 percent success rate in interrupting Russian missiles as
the Kremlin continues its ruthless bombardment of Ukraine, including yesterday's
attacks," he said.
Poland says blast likely caused by Ukraine missile in
accident
Agence France Presse/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
Poland on Wednesday said a deadly blast that killed two people in a village near
the border with Ukraine was likely caused by a stray Ukrainian air defense
missile launched against a Russian barrage. Polish President Andrzej Duda played
down international fears of a further escalation in the war in Ukraine saying
there was "no indication that this was an intentional attack on Poland."Duda
said it was "very likely" the Soviet-era missile was launched by Ukraine in what
he called an "unfortunate accident" but he said the blame lay with Russia
because of its attacks on Ukraine.
After emergency talks of the NATO military alliance, its chief Jens Stoltenberg
also said there was "no indication of a deliberate attack" on Poland. The blast
occurred in the village of Przewodow in eastern Poland at 1440 GMT on Tuesday,
killing two farm workers. "I'm scared. I didn't sleep all night," Anna Magus, a
60-year-old teacher at the local elementary school, told AFP. "I hope it was a
stray missile because otherwise we're helpless," she said. An image released by
police showed investigators working inside a large crater next to an overturned
vehicle. NATO member Poland put its military on heightened alert and summoned
Russia's ambassador late Tuesday but had cautioned against reaching any hasty
conclusions as to the origin of the Soviet-era missile.
- 'Nothing to do with' Russia -
Western powers voiced solidarity with Poland in intensive rounds of diplomacy,
including on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia's Bali. NATO
ambassadors held emergency talks in Brussels, while the Kremlin said it had
"nothing to do with" the missile blast. "Photographs of the wreckage... were
unequivocally identified by Russian military experts as fragments of a guided
anti-aircraft missile of a Ukrainian S-300 air defense system," the Russian
defense ministry said in a statement. It added that its own strikes "were
carried out on targets only on the territory of Ukraine and at a distance of no
closer than 35 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Polish border." Ex-president Dmitry
Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's security council, said on Twitter that the
incident "proves just one thing: waging a hybrid war against Russia, the West
moves closer to the world war." Poland is protected by NATO's commitment to
collective defense -- enshrined in Article 5 of its founding treaty -- but the
alliance's response will likely be heavily influenced by whether the incident
was accidental or intentional. Warsaw has said it may invoke Article 4 of the
treaty under which any member can call urgent talks when it feels its
"territorial integrity, political independence or security" are at risk.
- 'Consequence of Russia's actions' -
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and still holds swathes of territory
despite a series of recent battlefield defeats. The conflict has caused deep
unease in neighboring Poland where memories of Soviet domination are still very
raw. Poland shares a 530-kilometre (329-mile) border with Ukraine and has taken
a lead in providing military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and sanctioning
Russia. Despite the likelihood a Ukrainian missile was involved, the Polish
government was clear it still held Russia responsible. Polish Deputy Foreign
Minister Pawel Jablonski told RMF radio that "in all likelihood, we are dealing
with a consequence of Russia's actions."He also responded to criticism of
Poland's own air defenses. "Missile defense systems around the world are never
one hundred percent effective systems that protect each millimeter of every
country's territory," he said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had on
Tuesday rejected as a "conspiracy theory" the idea that it may have been a
Ukrainian missile.
- 'Slap in the face' of G20 -
President Volodymyr Zelensky sent "condolences over the death of Polish citizens
from Russian missile terror". The explosion came after a wave of Russian
missiles hit cities across Ukraine on Tuesday, including Lviv, near the border
with Poland. Zelensky said the strikes cut power to some 10 million people,
though it was later restored to eight million of them, and also triggered
automatic shutdowns at two nuclear power plants. He said Russia had fired 85
missiles at energy facilities across the country, condemning the strikes as an
"act of genocide" and a "cynical slap in the face" of the G20.
The IDF is Holding Hamas Responsible for Rocket Attacks
FDD/November 16/2022
Latest Developments
On November 3, four rockets were launched from Gaza towards southern Israel.
Three fell inside Gaza, and one was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome aerial
defense system. The rockets were the first fired from the coastal enclave since
this past August’s Operation Breaking Dawn, during which the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) sought to degrade Islamic Jihad in Gaza. While Palestinian factions
denied responsibility, the IDF responded to the attack by targeting a Hamas
weapons facility in Gaza, saying, “We hold Hamas responsible for all terrorist
activity emanating from Gaza.”
Expert Analysis
“The minimal amount of Hamas rocket fire coming out of Gaza reflects a shift to
attacking Israel from the West Bank and supporting militant organizations there,
particularly in Jenin and Nablus. While Hamas foments violence in the West Bank,
it is keeping the Gaza front quiet as it rebuilds military infrastructure lost
during the 2021 conflict.” – Joe Truzman, Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War
Journal
Islamic Jihad Likely Responsible for Rocket Attack
Islamic Jihad likely launched the rockets in retaliation for an Israeli
operation in Jenin earlier this month that resulted in the death of Farouk
Salameh, a senior member of Islamic Jihad’s branch in the West Bank. Following
the rocket attack, Hamas’ internal security services reportedly arrested two
militants from the Salafist-jihadi group Army of Islam. The Army of Islam has
been operationally inactive for more than a year and has not claimed
responsibility for the attack, so the arrests may be a diversion.
IDF is Holding Hamas Accountable for Rocket Fire from Gaza
Given that Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2006, the IDF is holding the group
responsible. The IDF responded to the indiscriminate rocket fire on November 3
by destroying an underground weapons facility in Gaza described as a Hamas
“rocket development & manufacturing complex.” The IDF stated that Hamas would be
held responsible for all terrorist activity emanating from Gaza.
Hamas Has Sights Set on the West Bank Hamas fought a 10-day war with Israel in
May 2021, which depleted the terror organization’s weapons cache and funds.
Since then, Hamas in Gaza has shown little appetite for a similar conflict with
Israel. However, over the past year, Hamas has focused on inciting and fomenting
unrest in the West Bank by directing its operatives to plan and execute attacks
against Israeli targets. For example, Israeli security forces arrested Hamas
member Imran Salman, who was suspected of carrying out an armed attack on an
Israeli bus. Hamas is also suspected of aiding smaller militant groups that
carry out attacks against Israelis.
Anger Among Likud Leaders Over Netanyahu's Ministerial
Concessions
Ramallah - Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
Likud party leaders expressed anger over an expected lineup of a new cabinet led
by Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu after realizing that major
ministerial portfolios could not be allocated to their party members. Israeli
media said that the party's leadership was infuriated after reports that Shas
party leader Aryeh Deri could be named finance minister, and head of the
Religious Zionism party Bezalel Smotrich as defense minister, and leader of the
Jewish Power party Itamar Ben-Gvir as the internal security minister. Netanyahu
also reportedly plans to appoint the former ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, as
Foreign Minister, which further exacerbated the situation. Likud leaders knew
that their coalition partners must eventually be given influential portfolios.
Still, they need to understand why Netanyahu will appoint Dermer as foreign
minister, even though he is not a member of the party or the Knesset.
Netanyahu is yet to form his cabinet. However, his associates are testing out
several names to see the reaction of the political parties, which angered the
Likud. Several senior party officials said that Dermer's appointment would be an
insult to party members. Likud leaders know that the coalition parties do not
demand the foreign affairs ministry and are not interested in it. This has
increased their anger considering that Netanyahu proposed the position to Dermer
only because he is his close friend. Dermer has been the Prime Minister's
advisor since his return to political life in 2003 when he was named the
Minister of Finance. When Netanyahu became prime minister from 2009 until 2013,
he chose Dermer as a political advisor and ambassador in Washington. However, it
is still undetermined whether the Likud leaders rejecting Dermer’s appointment
will be able to stop it. Netanyahu wants to name Dermer as a minister because he
claims there are other important positions that Likud officials can occupy. He
may also prefer to refrain from handing this post to one of his potential
opponents within the party.
Netanyahu and his team continue their negotiations with the right-wing parties
to reach an agreement to form the new government and present it to the Knesset.
On Sunday, he received an official letter from President Isaac Herzog to form a
government that was supposed to be announced this week. Still, it was postponed
following disputes over the ministerial positions, the judiciary, the Supreme
Court, budgets, and religious schools.
Egypt’s Presidential Pardon Committee Releases 30 Prisoners
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022 -
The Egyptian authorities have released a new group of 30 pretrial detainees
pending investigation, members of the Presidential Pardon Committee said on
Tuesday. The committee asserted that it would continue its work to release more
prisoners and reintegrate them into society. It also noted that coordination is
underway with various state bodies, topped by Prosecution and the Interior
Ministry, to release prisoners. Since its formation, the committee announced the
release of hundreds of prisoners detained over various cases, which comes in
line with the national dialogue called for by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. MP
Tarek El Khouli, a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee, reported the
news on his Facebook page along with photos of the released detainees. The
committee affirmed earlier that it is looking into all the cases and excluding
those linked to “acts of violence.” Separately, Sisi tasked on April 26 the
Youth National Conference with coordinating with political parties, movements,
and youth groups to hold political dialogue. All political forces were invited,
except for the Muslim Brotherhood.
UN Warns Against Dangers of Libya’s Partition
Washington - Ali Barada/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
UN Special Representative Abdoulaye Bathily has warned against prolonging the
interim period in Libya, saying it could become even more vulnerable to
instability, as well as risk of partition. He urged on Tuesday Libyan
politicians to hold the elections “as soon as possible,” telling the Security
Council that the UN should “send an unequivocal message to
obstructionists.”Bathily, who is also the head of the United Nations Support
Mission in Libya, briefed ambassadors on the ongoing impasse and other obstacles
to the vote, which was postponed last December. “There is an increasing
recognition that some institutional players are actively hindering progress
towards elections,” he said, noting that nearly a year has passed since the
polls were postponed. Bathily warned against “prolonging the interim period as
Libya could become even more vulnerable to political, economic and security
instability, as well as risk of partition.”He called for joining hands “in
encouraging Libyan leaders to work with resolve towards the holding of elections
as soon as possible.”He also urged the Council “to send an unequivocal message
to obstructionists that their actions will not remain without consequences.”
Bathily reported some progress on the security track through the meeting of the
5+5 Joint Military Commission, which brought its activities back on track.
“During this first joint meeting in many months, the JMC agreed to establish a
sub-committee for the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of armed
groups, which is expected to focus on the mapping and classification of the
armed groups in Libya,” he said. He urged the Council “to impress upon all
actors that recourse to violence and intimidation will not be accepted and that
there is no military solution to the Libya crisis.”Bathily also expressed
concern “with the lack of progress in the implementation of the JMC's action
plan on the withdrawal of mercenaries, foreign fighters, and foreign forces.”“On
the economic front, the lack of accountability, transparency, and equity in the
allocation of resources remains a key cause of tensions.”The envoy welcomed the
Council’s emphasis in Resolution 2656 “on the importance of establishing a
Libyan-led mechanism that brings together stakeholders from across the country
to set spending priorities and ensure that oil and gas revenues are managed in a
transparent and equitable manner, with effective Libyan oversight.”
Algeria Jails Ex-Sonatrach Head for 15 Years for Graft
Algiers - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
An Algerian court on Tuesday handed a 15-year prison sentence to the former head
of state energy giant Sonatrach in a corruption case. Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour
had been on trial over the 2018 purchase of the Sicilian Augusta oil refinery.
According to Algerian media, the state oil and gas firm had paid ExxonMobil
subsidiary Esso Italiana $720 million for the site and associated
infrastructure, seen as overpriced for a refinery in operation since the 1950s.
The deal aimed at reducing the bill for importing refined petroleum materials
from abroad. However, after sacking Ould Kaddour in 2019, the company borrowed
$250 million from foreign banks to repair the refinery. Upon its conclusion,
Ould Kaddour hailed the “profitable project,” which he claimed would provide the
public treasury with large sums of money to be spent on importing oil-derived
products in a short period of time. Ould Kaddour, accused of squandering public
funds, abuse of office and conflict of interest, was “sentenced to 15 years in
prison without parole,” his lawyer said. The court also sentenced his wife to
two years in prison and his son in absentia to ten years in prison and issued an
international arrest warrant against him.Sonatrach's former deputy chief Ahmed
Mazighi, who oversaw the purchase, was jailed for seven years. Another former
Sonatrach official indicted in the case was jailed for three years and a fourth
was released. The indictment list also includes “concluding deals in violation
of legislative and regulatory provisions to enable others to enjoy unjustified
privileges, illegal use of public and private funds for the benefit of others,
as well as abuse of power to benefit from exemptions and reductions in taxes and
fees.” The purchase price, initially set at 733 million dollars, had amounted to
$2 billion to the actual session of the property. Ould Kaddour affirmed that the
refinery had indeed cost the initial amount and that the difference, namely more
than 1.1 billion dollars, included customs bonds, maintenance and renovation
costs, as well as environmental compliance. It is noteworthy that the United
Arab Emirates extradited Ould Kaddour in early August. It had arrested him in
Dubai after a court in Algiers earlier issued an international arrest warrant
against him.
Kuwait executions could impact visa-free EU travel
Agence France Presse/Wednesday, 16 November, 2022
An Algerian court on Tuesday handed a 15-year prison sentence to the former head
The EU on Wednesday summoned Kuwait's ambassador and warned the Gulf country's
bid to get visa-free travel to the bloc was at risk because of its execution of
seven people. EU commissioner Margaritis Schinas said "consequences" will be
drawn from the executions, which he alleged took place despite him receiving
"assurances to the contrary" from Kuwaiti officials. Schinas, who is tasked with
"promoting our European way of life", was in Kuwait to discuss that issue and
others when the executions were carried out. "We will draw the consequences that
this will have on the discussions... to put Kuwait on the visa free list,"
Schinas said in a statement. He said the EU's foreign service arm had summoned
Kuwait's ambassador to the EU in Brussels over the development. Schinas noted
that the European Parliament was to vote Thursday on a European Commission
proposal to put Kuwait on the EU's visa-free list. If adopted the measure, long
sought by the Gulf country, would allow Kuwaiti citizens to enter the European
Union for short stays of up to three months without the need for a Schengen visa
which is currently required. Qatar, which is hosting the World Cup football
tournament from this weekend, is also part of the commission proposal. Schinas
also said the executions would color a previously arranged "human rights
dialogue" between the EU and Kuwait next week. Schinas and the EU's European
External Action Service both strongly condemned the executions, which were
Kuwait's first since 2017 and imposed for murder convictions. One Ethiopian
woman and one Kuwaiti woman were among those hanged, along with three Kuwaiti
men, a Syrian and a Pakistani. "Human rights issues are at the core of (the)
EU's internal and external relations, directly affecting all our policies," a
spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on November
16-17/2022
خالد أبو طعمة من كايتستون: شعب مصر يصر على رفضه الشديد لعودة الإسلاميين
والإخوان المسلمين إلى مواقع الحكم
Egyptians: We Do Not Want the Islamists to Return to Power
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/November 16, 2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/113389/113389/
The Islamists, in other words, failed in their latest attempt to instigate
unrest and violence in Egypt with the hope of returning to power. President
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and many other Egyptians seem to prefer less democracy and
freedom of speech to the return of the Islamists to power. "The Muslim
Brotherhood's eyes are on [wanting] the authority to control the people who
rejected them." — Moneer Adib, Egyptian counter-terrorism expert, Al-Ain,
November 14, 2022.
"They lied to the Egyptians when they said that they were good for Egypt and
when they claimed that they had magical solutions to the economic, social and
religious problems." — Ahmed El-Messiri, Egyptian former Muslim Brotherhood
member, Al-Ain, November 11, 2022.
Habusha warned that the Islamists' "desperate attempts" to undermine Egypt and
its people are not accepted because the Egyptians said no to the organization
2013.
The collective sigh of relief expressed by Egyptians over the failure of the
Islamists to ruin their country and return to power is a refreshing approach in
Egypt and other Arab countries. It is good to see that the Egyptians are eager
to keep the Muslim Brotherhood away from their lives and centers of power.
It now remains to be seen whether the Palestinians will follow suit and get rid
of the Iranian-backed Islamists in the Gaza Strip, where they have destroyed the
lives of tens of thousands of Palestinians. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad
continue to hold the two million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip hostage,
offering them terror attack tunnels and weapons instead of schools and
hospitals.
It also remains to be seen whether the apologists in the West who continue to
search for ways to appease Iran's mullahs and other Islamists will learn from
the Egyptians' horrific experiences and distance themselves from the terrorists.
Islamists have failed in their latest attempt to instigate unrest and violence
in Egypt with the hope of returning to power. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and
many other Egyptians seem to prefer less democracy and freedom of speech to the
return of the Islamists to power. Pictured: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
delivers a speech at the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on
November 7, 2022. (Photo by Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images)
Is the banned Muslim Brotherhood organization trying to return to power in
Egypt?
Many Egyptians believe that the Muslim Brotherhood was behind calls to Egyptians
to hold nationwide protests during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27),
which is now in progress at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh. The
Islamists, they say, justified their call by arguing that the planned
demonstrations were designed to protest human rights violations and bad economic
conditions in Egypt.
Fortunately for the majority of the Egyptians, only a few people heeded the
Muslim Brotherhood supporters' call to take to the streets on November 11. The
Islamists, in other words, failed in their latest attempt to instigate unrest
and violence in Egypt with the hope of returning to power.
The Muslim Brotherhood regime of former President Mohammed Morsi ended in 2013,
when the Egyptian army stepped in to prevent the country from being engulfed in
anarchy.
The current regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is undoubtedly not an ideal
model for Western-style democracy and public freedoms. Yet, al-Sisi and many
other Egyptians seem to prefer less democracy and freedom of speech to the
return of the Islamists to power. Moreover, many Egyptians know that without the
tough security measures imposed by the authorities, the Muslim Brotherhood would
have succeeded in sowing sedition and re-seizing power.
Egypt remains a key and stable ally to both Israel and the US in the Middle
East. The regime of al-Sisi has outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, arrested
hundreds of its leaders and members, and waged a relentless war on Islamist
terror groups, especially in the Sinai Peninsula.
The regime has also been more forthcoming towards Israel and has not shied away
from hosting Israeli leaders and senior officials in Egypt over the past few
years — in addition to the Egyptian regime continuing to adhere to its peace
treaty with Israel.
The Muslim Brotherhood's efforts to make a comeback worry many Egyptians. For
now, these Egyptians are pleased to see that the Islamists failed in their
attempt to send people to the streets during the COP27 conference. The reactions
and comments of many reflect the widespread concern over the Islamists' attempts
to spread chaos and violence. They also demonstrate the extent of the contempt
and wariness that a good number of Egyptians continue to hold towards the Muslim
Brotherhood.
"The failure of the November 11 protests show that the Muslim Brotherhood is
emotionally and mentally isolated from the Egyptian people," remarked prominent
TV host Ibrahim Eissa. "The quiet, peaceful streets on Friday, November 11 were
a slap in the face of the Muslim Brotherhood."
Eissa added that the Muslim Brotherhood's failure to attract most people
"reinforces the political stupidity that has dominated the organization since
its inception in 1928."
"The Muslim Brotherhood is addicted to failure," Eissa stated. "The Egyptians
have buried their dream of instigating chaos in Egypt."
Egyptian counter-terrorism expert Moneer Adib emphasized that the Muslim
Brotherhood was one of the most dangerous religious organizations of all time.
"Its role was not limited to the practice of terrorism, but it has become the
main instigator of violence everywhere," Adib wrote, expressing satisfaction
that the organization had failed in its attempt to send Egyptians to the streets
during the climate conference.
"The people responded only to the conscience of their state and its stability,
while the instigators sat outside in front of the screens, following the
illusions they had planned over the past weeks... The Egyptians will remain in a
state of revolution, but it is a revolution against the organizations of
political Islam, and the Muslim Brotherhood is the first, until this malicious
tree is cut down."
Adib recalled that it was the Egyptian people who removed the rule of the Muslim
Brotherhood in the June 30, 2013 revolution and since then, have not allowed
this terrorist entity to return to power. "The terrorist Muslim Brotherhood did
everything possible to succeed in its chaos scheme on November 11, but not a
single Egyptian came out," he said.
"The Islamists claim that they are not competing for power, all the while they
are working to bring down the regime and cause chaos in Egypt. The Muslim
Brotherhood's eyes are on [wanting] the authority to control the people who
rejected them. They pursue any lie to achieve their dreams of ruling, even if
the price is the demolition of entire countries. Therefore, it is important for
Egyptians to remain alert to the Muslim Brotherhood's devices, and not to listen
to their poisonous speech."
Tareq Al-Bashbeshi, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, said that one of
the organization's most common weapons is spreading rumors and lies. "This
organization, since its establishment, has been in permanent bias against the
interests of the nation," al-Bashbeshi said.
"The terrorist organization's betrayal of Egypt does not need evidence, but
rather needs continuous and permanent exposure to reveal their means, which
include the use of rumors. The Muslim Brotherhood has a large and extended
organization that can repeat rumors on a daily basis until ordinary people think
that they are real."
He added that the lies and rumors spread by the Islamists are often based on the
pretext of human rights. "They play the human rights card and claim that they
are detainees and prisoners of conscience who don't receive any care," Al-Bashbeshi
said.
"There's a need to eliminate the effectiveness of these means by increasing the
people's awareness and revealing the danger of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose
goal is to destroy the minds and consciences of the people before it destroys
institutions and the state."
Another former Muslim Brotherhood member, Ahmed El-Messiri, said he shared the
view that the organization relies on lies and rumors to advance its goals. "The
terrorist group hates Egypt and the Arab world," El-Messiri said.
"They used to lie until it became their way of life. They lied to the Egyptians
when they said that they were good for Egypt and when they claimed that they had
magical solutions to the economic, social and religious problems."
Egyptian author Mohammed Habusha denounced the Muslim Brotherhood and its
leaders as "liars playing with fire." Habusha too said that the organization
regularly resorts to lies and rumors to confront its opponents.
He said that the Muslim Brotherhood has recently increased its use of lies and
rumors, especially after the political leadership in Egypt "refused to cooperate
with those whose hands were stained with the blood of Egyptians."
"Whenever the political leadership and the government inaugurate new projects
and inspect projects that are being implemented, the flames of hatred and malice
of this organization start burning."
Habusha warned that the Islamists' "desperate attempts" to undermine Egypt and
its people are not accepted because the Egyptians said no to the organization
2013.
"Nevertheless, the group has been practicing all kinds of wars to strike the
stability of Egypt by spreading lies and falsifying facts and using methods of
incitement against the Egyptian state."
Egyptian political analyst Tareq Abu Al-Saed wrote that in the past decade, the
Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group has devoted all its efforts to painting the
achievements of the Egyptian state with distortion, lies and rumors.
"What is the secret behind the Muslim Brotherhood's determination to target the
climate conference on the land of Egypt in this intense way?" Abu Al-Saed asked.
"Why did the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood exploit the conference as a platform
to attack the Egyptian state? The nature of the Brotherhood's mentality is not
subject to the nature of logical thinking, simply because the individual's mind
and conscience are formulated to be a tool in the hands of the leaders of the
terrorist group. The individual has nothing but hearing and obedience. The
intellectual and psychological formation of all members of the group is based on
obedience to the leadership and hatred of society and arrogance over it."
The collective sigh of relief expressed by Egyptians over the failure of the
Islamists to ruin their country and return to power is a refreshing approach in
Egypt and other Arab countries. It shows that an increasing number of Arabs are
growing disillusioned with Islamists, who have brought disaster upon them. It is
good to see that the Egyptians are eager to keep the Muslim Brotherhood away
from their lives and centers of power.
It now remains to be seen whether the Palestinians will follow suit and get rid
of the Iranian-backed Islamists in the Gaza Strip, where they have destroyed the
lives of tens of thousands of Palestinians. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad
continue to hold the two million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip hostage,
offering them terror attack tunnels and weapons instead of schools and
hospitals.
It also remains to be seen whether the apologists in the West who continue to
search for ways to appease Iran's mullahs and other Islamists will learn from
the Egyptians' horrific experiences and distance themselves from the terrorists.
*Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19124/egypt-islamists
Iran and the Revolution of the Grandchildren
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/November 16/2022
French President Emmanuel Macron called the protests in Iran a “revolution,”
adding that the regime’s clampdown makes reviving the nuclear deal less likely.
He also declared his support for sanctions against Iranian officials for their
role in repressing the protests.
In an interview with "Radio France Inter," he described what is happening as
“unprecedented.” “The grandchildren of the revolution are making a revolution,”
he added. He also met with four female activists recently.
France’s position on Iran deserves our attention and scrutiny. Is it a strategic
shift? Or are these statements intended to exert pressure on Iran? And what can
France do to help this “revolution?”
Is there a plan B in case the nuclear deal talks fail?
Paris is among the countries most keen on reviving the nuclear deal with Iran.
It is true that the Biden administration was “trotting” towards reviving it
before the Midterms. however, France and the EU were the most lenient in their
proposals.
The Midterms are now behind us, and the Democrats are in a better position than
had been envisioned. It remains unclear whether the American administration will
pursue a revival of the agreement, especially since the Midterms demonstrated
deep polarization on this issue.
Nevertheless, the stance taken by the French president on Iran, with him having
said that “the grandchildren of the revolution are making a revolution,” is an
escalation. The US has yet to escalate to this degree.
Thus, Macron’s statements mean that French Iranian relations have now taken a
different dimension. It is unclear whether the Iranian regime will realize the
gravity of these French statements and make concessions on two fronts:
The first question is whether they will now rush to revive the nuclear deal or
show greater flexibility, i.e., make concessions. The other question is whether
they will top their violence and butchery against the Iranian people. I doubt
that the regime can make such concessions now, as they would shake its control.
The fact is the Iranian regime has put itself in a tight spot. It has done this
to itself, as the regime’s hardline makeup has made the way it conducts foreign
relations irrational and unpragmatic. This is especially clear in how they have
dealt with the protests domestically and in their approach to reviving the
nuclear deal.
Everything that has happened shows that the regime is its own worst enemy. It
cannot be reformed or changed. It cannot understand domestic needs. That is why
the French president’s remarks are noteworthy, and it is unclear whether they
have a clear framework for how to deal with Iran behind them. Calling the events
in Iran a “revolution” demands international recognition, greater pressure on
the regime, and genuine support for this “revolution.” That implies explicit
hostility to the terrorist regime that has not hesitated to commit crimes
against its people.
Considering what is happening in Iran to be a “revolution” makes reviving the
nuclear deal more complicated. With Benjamin Netanyahu returning to power, it
means we will see an escalation. The critical question is: How will the Biden
administration deal with all of this?
Iranian National Renaissance is Coming
Camelia Entekhabifard/Asharq Al Awsat/November 16/2022
Hossein Ronaghi’s life is endangered. Elham Afkari is in hunger strike. Dozens
and hundreds of Iranians, well-known and unknown, are in detention, solitary
confinement or hunger strikes.
In the eight weeks that have passed, hundreds of Iranians have been killed with
straight hits while demonstrating; shockingly, some were mere bystanders. The
Iranian uprising started eight weeks ago. Unlike what the Islamic Republic
regime and the foreign states expected, people of Iran have not gone back home
despite murders, arrests and threats of execution against those arrested. The
Iranians have decided to put an end to this dark government of fear, threats and
intimidation. They want the reluctant West to join them.
Forty-four years ago, the West decided to change the government in Iran. They
silently guided the Islamic Revolution of Iran. A conspiracy took shape against
the nation and country of Iran which started with Ayatollah Khomeini’s migration
to France from Iraq. This transition made his connection with religious
revolutionary students in the US and Europe easier and thus the central core of
planning for the downfall of the Pahlavi regime was formed.
BBC Persian’s radio station broadcast statements by Khomeini and anti-government
calls for demonstrations. European radio stations were united in their support
for Khomeini. The Western ambassadors in Tehran told the late Shah that it was
time for him to leave Iran. The fate of the Iranian nation was decided in those
days by the US, England and France. But today it is being decided by the Iranian
nation and that’s why the West, with much delay and reluctance, is slowly
joining this massive movement.
The persistence of Iranian presence on the streets and people’s exposition of
the crimes of the government against unarmed protesters helped to open the
Élysée Palace to Iranian human rights activists on Friday. Previously, American
statesmen had met with Iranian political and human rights activists in
Washington DC and now it was Europe’s turn to make a move.
Eight weeks have passed and the European Union, after assessing the situation,
has decided that the tide is turning in favor of the Iranian nation.
In Iran, the criminal rulers believe that, like previous counts of repression,
people will go home after the regime beats up protesting women and men on
streets and forces the arrestees to confession. But this time people didn’t go
home. They didn’t flee the country in fear of the regime. Those who had been
forced to leave their homeland became a voice for fighters inside the country.
Iranians won’t leave their country this time. It is the unwanted and oppressive
regime that needs to go.
Previous protests were on specific topics: election results, rise in petrol
prices, poverty, cost of living, administrative corruption, air pollution,
rivers and lakes going dry, unjust executions and lack of a normal life for
citizens. But the current uprising combines hundreds of national demands. The
main thing people want today is to not have a government whose statesmen don’t
look like Iranians, don’t talk like Iranians, don’t act like Iranians and don’t
believe in Iranian beliefs and traditions.
The ruling clique is Iranian but it’s a minority that doesn’t look like the
majority. For 40 years, it has survived with crimes and hostage-taking. Its
programs of brainwashing of children started at the outset of the revolution and
failed. They then went on an anti-Iranian agenda, fighting the honors of this
country and opposing all that was related to Iran and Iranians. They started by
destroying and banning music, dance, poetry, songs and beauty which is a big
part of the Iranian heritage. They then went on to destroy cultural heritage,
environment and works of history and art.
To overcome a freedom-loving people with identity and history, they had to
destroy their background. But the historical memory of Iranians remained. This
very historical memory became the biggest enemy of this criminal clique.
We can now see signs of the downfall of the regime all over Iran: From the music
that Khodanoor was dancing with to the cries of the little Bavan who called for
his mother. Now the voice of Khodanoor and the cries of Bavan and the tears of
Siavash’s mother have been heard all over Iran; by those very people who saw
what happened to Mahsa Amini and rose up. Iran opened its arms to all its
offspring. Love spreads from one corner of Iran to everywhere.
Forty-three years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini and his associates repressed and
executed opponents and freedom-lovers to establish a government of dictatorship
and terror.
In November 2022, Iranians will remember not only those killed in the last eight
weeks but all those Iranians who were executed, killed or disappeared unjustly,
just because they were patriots. Iranians seek justice for all those killed:
from those executed in the dark days of the revolution and years after to all
the victims of the past 43 years.
The arms we have opened for each other are based on the miracle of the name of
Iran and a nation that’s a cradle of civilization for humanity. We are one
family who have stood with each other in a historical conjuncture to defend our
territory, home, honor and nation. They killed our daughter and we rose up for
her blood; and now everybody in this house has come to defend the rights of
women as a nation and to restore national sovereignty.
In these days, I look at the history of Iran more than ever, especially the
events of the 1979 revolution. It is relevant for me to now quote a few lines
from the will of the late Shah; lines that are all too relevant to recent events
and show his care and his wisdom.
“We should remember that the pages of the history of our homeland have recorded
many ups and downs,” the Shah wrote in his will, “But just like the invasion by
Alexander, the aggression by the Mongols, the sedition by the Afghans and
multiple invasions by the alien forces were not able to put out the light of
Iran’s ancient culture and civilization, I am sure that the burning flames of
this civilization and culture will overcome this depressing darkness with their
glow and a national renaissance will register the honor of the present
generation in Iran’s glorious history. I leave the fate of my country to the
constitution. This constitution is a valuable legacy, given to the nation by the
constitutional revolution. Its safeguard and respecting of its principles —
which are the foundations for the territorial integrity of our nation and the
independence of our homeland and also the basis for national sovereignty based
on historical peoplehood and religious beliefs of the people of the land — is a
national obligation for all Iranians. I urge my son to safeguard it.”
America Undermines Human Rights the Most
Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al Awsat/November 16/2022
Because of the degree to which the United States’ behavior on human rights is
politicized, it often seems like no other country has dealt more blows to this
matter. It does so firstly through its excessive moralistic and public emphasis
on the issue. Secondly, it makes too many deals with violators of human rights
and is obliged to overlook violations because of its many complex interests.
These two excesses- that is, the moralistic and idealistic stringency (sometimes
disingenuous) of successive American administrations and cold hard pragmatism,
even towards “evildoers-” undermine the credibility of human rights advocacy
more than anything else. Let us admit that the United States is the beacon of
freedom in the world, regardless of the valid criticism of the American liberal
project’s pitfalls or the crises facing democracies around the world today.
It seems that human rights, at least as it is now being discussed, is a
political issue before being a question of rights. I discuss it here as a matter
that is first and foremost political. As for the occasion that compelled me to
write about it, it is the discrepancy I saw in the way that two leaders were
treated at the COP 27 Climate Change Conference. National Security Advisor Jake
Sullivan said “intensive consultations” regarding human rights were held between
his president Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Sharm
El-Sheikh. Meanwhile, the cameras at COP 27 recorded former US Special Envoy for
Climate and former Secretary of State John Kerry and Venezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro shaking hands, making jokes, and having a laugh.
Mr. Maduro is on the worst US lists. He is accused of an array of crimes that
have pushed America to offer up to 15 million dollars to anyone with information
that could help capture him. The “unplanned interaction” between the two men, as
the US State Department put it, was undoubtedly more than a coincidence. This is
clear once we account for the fact that the White House has sent all kinds of
messages to Venezuela in its attempt to turn the page between Washington and
Caracas.
We are looking at an exemplary case in point of how the US compromises at the
expense of human rights to further its political interests. Venezuela impacts
two critical items on the agenda of the White House. Firstly, the White House
wants Venezuelan oil sold on global markets after loosening the sanctions
imposed on Madura in light of the global energy crisis. Secondly, it wants to
reboot Venezuela's economy in order to contain the mass exodus from the country,
as most of the 700,000 people fleeing Venezuela on average each year end up in
America!
We are looking at two contradictions then, as well as remarkable leniency and
appeasement. The fates and rights of those Washington accuses Maduro of having
killed, imprisoned, or displaced are met with laughter!
Here, an obvious question comes to mind.
Where are the zealots excited about inflated human rights bubbles being blown
here and there in the Arab world? What have they said and done about Mahsa
Amini’s right to life, not just freedom of speech, since the young woman was
murdered by the morality police in Iran, igniting the ongoing popular revolt?
What did we hear from Congress, the White House, and the agencies of the
American administrations more broadly regarding Masih Alinejad, the young
Iranian woman whom the IRGC followed to the window of her apartment in New York?
In fact, Mrs. Alinejad has been informed that the FBI would stop protecting her
because of rising costs, and no human rights organization was recruited to
advocate her human rights or raise awareness about what she has gone through.
All of this can be placed under the category of undermining the question of
human rights to achieve political ends. This is done either through playing up
some matters or systematically overlooking documented violations. These
decisions always end up undermining the credibility of the noble goal of
advocating human rights. It also pushes the targeted governments to double down,
especially since the enemies of stability immediately pounce on the opportunity
to exploit this issue in order to further their own agendas.
The opportunism with which human rights are addressed internationally are a gift
to all the enemies of stability in our region. This explains the skepticism with
which this matter is addressed, not as a question of rights, but of national
security. The Muslim Brotherhood's 11/11 went by peacefully. But the future is
less certain. It is a long battle. In it, Washington has taken clashing with
allies lightly because it is reassured of the strength of its relationships with
them. Meanwhile, it takes overlooking the actions of its adversaries lightly
when it wants to win them over.
The first victim of this behavior is the progress it seeks, whether genuinely or
not, regarding human rights.
Israel Has a Role to Play in Helping Iran’s Protesters
Jacob Nagel and Mark Dubowitz/Newsweek/November 16/2022
There is an Iranian revolution underway targeting the Islamic Republic. After
more than eight weeks of protests, Iranians, especially courageous young women,
are signaling that they want to end the radical Islamist regime that has ruled,
and ruined, their lives. While the Biden administration equivocates, Israel
should seize the greatest opportunity since the 1979 Islamic Revolution for
regime change. Israeli intelligence services should be the tip of the spear:
using their power to severely weaken, coercively deter, and, if fortunate,
collapse the regime.
While we are hopeful the Biden administration will throw its support behind this
Iranian revolution, we are not naïve. The administration’s top priority is still
the return to a weakened version of the deeply flawed 2015 nuclear deal. Even
the president’s recent commitment to helping bring about a “free Iran” has been
quickly walked back by some of his aides, who flooded the airwaves to make it
clear that there has been no change in U.S. policy.
Israel should seize the initiative. No country is more threatened by the Islamic
Republic. And no security establishment has better capabilities inside Iran to
practically support the protests. Some will argue that protesters will be
accused of working with Israeli intelligence services. But the regime is
leveling these charges anyway and it’s the worst of both worlds: the regime is
accusing Iranians of working with Mossad and the CIA, while they’re getting too
little support. The regime is brutal, but its resilience is overestimated, as we
now see from its difficulties in stopping the demonstrations that have spread to
all of Iran’s 31 provinces.
Here’s a plan to weaken the regime, and perhaps intensify the conditions that
could, one day, lead to a free Iran.
First, Israel should intensify the economic pressure through a campaign of
influence operations inside Iran.The rial’s exchange rate is at its lowest point
ever. On the eve of the Islamic Revolution, the exchange rate was about 70 rials
to the dollar. Today, it’s 350,000 rials to the dollar. The goal of this
influence campaign should be creating a massive currency crisis that forces the
regime to spend down its foreign currency reserves and increases the number of
angry Iranians who take to the streets. The efforts should include truthful
messages to Iranians that the corrupt regime has stolen their money, and
suggestions that Iranian banks do not have enough funds to cover their deposits.
In Lebanon, where the Islamic Republic and its terrorist proxy Hezbollah
destroyed the country, those Lebanese who left their money in the banks lost it,
when banks collapsed. Iranians should withdraw their savings before they
disappear. The Islamist regime will be forced to issue statements like: “your
money is safe with us,” which will only intensify the banking and currency
crisis, given Iranian distrust of their leaders.
At the same time, a labor strike fund should be established to support strikers
and demonstrators who are risking their lives while losing their paychecks.
Massive strikes helped bring down the shah in the 1970s and the beginnings of
strikes in key Iranian sectors have rattled the current regime. The Israeli
security establishment should lead a sustained campaign targeting key
industries, while supporting tens of thousands of angry Iranian students and
teachers. There undoubtedly will be countries threatened by Tehran that will be
happy to participate in the financing of strike funds. At the low rial-dollar
exchange rate, the cost to support thousands of striking workers will be low.
Israel also should disclose information about the members of the security forces
responsible for repressing Iranians. In this way, they cannot hide from their
crimes. Whoever released the information about the killers of Mahsa Amini, whose
murder at the hands of the regime’s security forces ignited the protests, the
medical records that refuted regime lies about how she had died, and the images
of regime forces beating and killing helpless protesters on the ground,
demonstrated how valuable intelligence can fuel the demonstrations. Israel can
do more of this.
Someone already demonstrated how cyberwarfare capabilities can help
Iranians.They took over Iranian media channels during a broadcast of a meeting
involving the supreme leader and displayed images of murdered Iranians. They
penetrated remote learning platforms in universities, when studies on campuses
were banned because of the demonstrations, and leveraged them to train students
to evade regime security services and increase demonstrations.
Building on this training, Israel should provide materials on how Iranians can
best organize themselves into small groups in each neighborhood, release
information about the movements of security forces, and disrupt the regime’s
command-and-control systems, logistics and surveillance capabilities.
The Biden administration can help: It should bolster access to the internet,
impose sanctions on human rights abusers, including on Iran’s supreme leader as
well as President Ebrahim Raisi, impose a full trade and economic embargo to
weaken the regime’s resources, and target the clandestine financial network that
the regime has used to earn billions of dollars. Tehran is now providing
Vladimir Putin the use of this clandestine network to bust Western sanctions.
Washington also can leverage the global outrage over regime oppression to remove
the Islamic Republic from international organizations and encourage its allies
to expel the regime’s ambassadors.
Israel can wait for an American administration to support the Iranian revolution
and be outraged when Biden, instead, returns to the fatally flawed 2015 nuclear
agreement. Alternatively, Israel should focus its efforts on planning for war
against the regime in the coming years, when it may be forced to strike Iran’s
nuclear weapons program, while dealing with thousands of Iranian rockets raining
down on its civilians from Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza. But, while opposing the
return to the nuclear deal, and planning for these dangerous operations, Israel
should not miss the opportunity to support the hundreds of thousands of Iranians
battling to bring down the Islamic Republic.
*Brigadier General (res.) Professor Jacob Nagel is a senior fellow at the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a visiting professor at the Technion
Aerospace faculty. He previously served as acting national security adviser to
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and as head of the National Security Council.
Mark Dubowitz is FDD’s chief executive. An expert on Iran’s nuclear program and
sanctions, he was sanctioned by Iran in 2019. Follow Mark on Twitter: @mdubowitz.
FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on
national security and foreign policy.
https://www.newsweek.com/israel-has-role-play-helping-irans-protesters-opinion-1759482
Iran, the Unraveling of a Murderous Dystopia
Charles Elias Chartouni/November 16/2022
Iran on the Path to Freedom ...Women, Life, Freedom
زن،زندگی،آزادی
Demonstrations are continuing their course unabated, three months after the
spark of the civil rebellion led by Iranian women. When Iranian women were
forced to wear black tchadors as a sign of the Islamic revolution power and
their subordinate status, the women-led protests, nowadays, are cutting at the
heart of the forced Islamic identity, and the challenging of the veil has become
the symbol of the clashing visions of Iran’s future. The revolutionary tenor of
the disparate movements cutting across ethnic, class, regional, professional and
gender divides far from subsiding is doubling down, and reaching new heights
that challenge the very survival of the Islamist dictatorship. The chasm is
growing by the day and the chances of containment are decreasing, since the
legitimacy of the Islamic regime is systematically at stake: Iranians all across
the ethnic and societal spectrums express their unmitigated rejection of the
Islamic regime, and the Mullahs have nothing but violence to confront their
undermined political and moral legitimacy. The reliance on violence doesn’t seem
to sway the determination of Iranians, or help restore the status quo ante. The
crisis of legitimacy seems not to have an internal solution and promotes the
imperial policy of the regime, the militarization of nuclear production, and the
destabilization policy line adopted regionally and internationally, as the
functional equivalent of a discredited legitimacy.
Dealing with Iran, at the moment, cannot overlook the interlocking dynamics and
their impact on nuclear negotiations, rallying of authoritarian coalitions, and
furthering military entanglements in diverse intercontinental conflict theaters.
I can hardly see a chance for a moderating negotiating course ,at a time, when
demarcation lines are solidifying and steadying the course of a rekindled Cold
War. One wonders how the Vienna negotiations may pursue their track with a
segmented approach based on the separation between the different domestic,
regional and international variables and their colliding trails, since the
Iranian regime cannot buy itself out, outmaneuver its nemeses and normalize self
defeating engagements. The heightening domestic opposition and its irreversible
unfolding, requires a throrough reconsideration of strategic priorities, on the
intersection between the open support of domestic oppositions, the strict
enforcement of economic sanctions, the multiplication of military containment
scenarios, and the hardening of nuclear conditionalities. The legitimate
political aspirations of Iranians, and the imperatives of international and
regional security are luckily on a converging trajectory, and we should make the
best out of them.
Kuwaiti Journalist, Ahmad Al-Sarraf l: The Islamic Nation,
Which Claims To Be The Best Nation On Earth, Is Failing In Almost Every Area
MEMRI/November 16, 2022
Kuwait | Special Dispatch No. 10319
In his October 13, 2022 column in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas, liberal journalist
Ahmad Al-Sarraf listed a long list of problems from which the Islamic countries
suffer, including the absence of democracy and justice and of respect for human
rights and minority rights, lack of freedom of religion, as well as corruption
and dishonesty, and high birth rates despite rampant poverty, unemployment and
low living standards. He stated that Muslim countries send their young people to
study abroad, and use the inventions of other countries, yet curse the inventors
and the products of those countries based on a false sense of moral superiority.
Furthermore, he said, wherever Muslims live their situation is always the worst,
yet they continue to call themselves the best nation on earth.
The following are translated excerpts from Al-Sarraf's column:[1]
"The great thinker Taha Hussein [an Egyptian writer and intellectual, d. 1973]
is credited with saying that 'a nation that fights poverty with prayer,
ignorance with religious studies, backwardness with fatwas, corruption with
mosque sermons, social disunity with sectarianism and takfir [accusations of
heresy] and unemployment by [encouraging] marriage and childbirth is a dead
nation, and the dead must be buried to preserve their honor.' The nation of
poverty has children without thought or planning. It brings more and more
victims and wretches into the world, and everyone arms himself with the saying
'[babies] bring their own livelihood.' But I see only vagrancy and unemployment,
hunger and homelessness, [people] naked and barefoot, droves of released
prisoners and millions of [prisoners still] in jail. Therefore, it is not hard
to understand why the nation of 1.5. billion [Muslims] fails in almost every
area.
"We have… ancient, well-rooted universities like Al-Zaytouna [in Tunis], Al-Azhar
[in Cairo], the Shi'ite religious seminaries in Al-Najaf, Qom and Karbala, and
dozens of similar religious institutions, in addition to thousands of religious
schools in which hundreds of thousands of teachers teach Islamic culture to
billions of students every year. In addition, there are billions of hours of
religious programs on radio and television, as well as mosque sermons, and
lessons of [religious] preaching and guidance. Yet despite all this, there are
no successful Islamic states – except for a few cases [that are different] for
well-known reasons – and no democratic Islamic countries, with two or three
exceptions. Most of the [Islamic] countries lack a fair judiciary and human
rights, but are known for having countless prisons and for degrading human
dignity.
"Of all the countries in the world, only we, all of us, refused to ratify the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights without reservations. Moreover, none of
our countries are known as havens for asylum seekers… Not a single one of our
countries has abolished the death penalty, grants minorities all their rights or
gives them freedom of religion. Nor do we have any international influence,
except when the world is experiencing an oil crisis.
"Conversely, we are the countries most tolerant of lies, which we fondly call
'human nature,' and even the man selling watermelons [in the market] is willing
to swear that his watermelons are red, when they are not. Moreover, no Islamic
country manufactures its own food, clothes and medicines, and there is no real
[Islamic] nuclear state, except for Pakistan, which experiences anxiety and is a
source of anxiety for the world. Most of the foreign students in non-Muslim
countries come from Muslim countries, yet they curse their teachers' countries.
Moreover, the Muslim states are all sectarian, racist and bigoted, and none of
their peoples live calmly and happily… All of them use the inventions of other
countries yet curse their inventors and their products, based on a false sense
of 'moral superiority.' This is despite the fact that [the Muslim countries]
have plenty of child labor and corruption, and lack mechanisms of [public]
health insurance and social security. They pride themselves on the fact that
their people do not eat pork, even though they know that hundreds of the
products they use and consume contain plenty [of pork].
"When you wake up at dawn you hear the muezzin calling from dozens of mosques
around you, and think you are in a city characterized by virtue – yet you cannot
buy a pound of meat without being cheated!
"Finally, we are the only nation in which the situation of minorities, which are
non-Muslim, is better than the situation of the [Muslim] majority, whereas the
situation of Muslims living as minorities in other countries is worse than the
situation of others [in those countries]!
"Some say that we are not the only ones suffering from these problems, and that
is true – yet none of the other [nations] ever bragged about its ancient history
and its glorious achievements or claimed to be the cradle of religion or the
best nation [on earth]."
[1] Al-Qabas (Kuwait), October 13, 2022.
https://www.memri.org/reports/kuwaiti-journalist-islamic-nation-which-claims-be-best-nation-earth-failing-almost-every
Two Reasons Why American-Muslims Are So Islamophobic
Raymond Ibrahim/November 16, 2022
Muslims in America are more Islamophobic than any other demographic in the
United States. According to a recent poll, American Muslims saw fellow Muslims
as being more uncivilized, more prone to violence, and more hostile to the
United States than any other group, and often by very large margins. For
example, whereas 19% of Muslims polled believed that fellow Muslims were
uncivilized, only 5% of the general American population agreed. What does one
make of these unexpected findings? Remember, ever since the strikes of 9/11, the
unwavering, “mainstream” narrative has been that Islamophobia—defined as
“unfounded fear of and hostility towards Islam”—has been the root of all
problems between Americans and Muslims. According to this narrative, because
xenophobic Americans, in their ignorance of “true Islam,” dislike and suspect
Muslims, the latter, out of frustration and resentment, only naturally lash out.
Now, however, we find that it is American Muslims themselves who are by far the
ones most prone to exhibiting “unfounded fear of and hostility towards Islam.”
How does one explain this seeming conundrum? According to the Institute for
Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), the Dearborn Muslim think tank that
conducted this poll, even this finding, that Muslims are more prone to
exhibiting symptoms of Islamophobia than non-Muslims, is still, not only the
fault of American society in general but—you guessed it—racism.
For example, ISPU asserts that
[I]nternalized Islamophobia is more prevalent among younger Muslims than older
members of the community, Americans who have lived the majority of their lives
after 9/11/2001 in a country that has demonized their identity in popular
culture, news media, political rhetoric, and in policy. Research suggests that
this kind of steady drumbeat of bigoted ideas and state actions have a
detrimental impact on the target group’s self-image and mental health.
As proof, ISPU quotes one of its own fellows, Dr. Muniba Saleem, saying
“minorities can internalize the negative stereotypes of their group,” which “can
influence their self-esteem, psychological distress, motivation, and
performance.”
Moreover, for ISPU, “another noteworthy and alarming finding” was that “white
Muslims” tend to exhibit more Islamophobia than non-white Muslims. The
assumptive idea here is that, apparently because racial identity always trumps
religious identity (many would argue the reverse), white Muslims are becoming
racists against even themselves?
While such psychoanalytical appeals and rationalizations—or in layman’s terms,
mumbo jumbo—might be expected from ISPU, whose bread and butter has long been to
present Islamophobia as the leading cause of injustice for Muslims in America,
two other unspoken but plausible reasons make more sense of this seeming
oxymoron of Muslim-Islamophobia.
First, is the obvious: because no one understands Islam better than Muslims, it
is only to be expected that it is they who most “fear” (phobia) Islam. This
especially makes sense for American Muslims: torn between two antithetical
cultures and norms, more “Americanized” Muslims have had brushes with their more
“purist” coreligionists which have made them conclude that fellow Muslims are
more prone to violence, anti-Americanism, and incivility—or, in a word, that has
made them more Islamophobic than non-Muslim Americans, most of whom have little
direct experience of Muslims.
Think of, for example, the negative encounters that many born Muslims in
America, who otherwise behave like most Americans, must have experienced
vis-à-vis their more “radical” coreligionists: they have been castigated, if not
worse, for dressing like Americans (especially non-hijab wearing women),
drinking the occasional alcoholic beverage, freely consorting with the opposite
(and infidel!) sex, and, worst of all, harboring liberal beliefs (e.g., that
homosexuality is natural, etc.).
Remember, Islam punishes by, at the very least, ostracizing those Muslims
perceived as “apostatizing” from, including by being indifferent to, Islam—when
not killing them altogether.
This, as opposed to ISPU’s reasoning—that Muslims are “internalizing the
negative stereotypes of their group”—would seem to better explain why those
Muslims, as ISPU found, who have spent most of their lives in America are
especially Islamophobic.
The second, more subtle, reason that American Muslims might have responded “yes”
to questions on whether Muslims are more prone to violence, anti-Americanism,
and being uncivilized, is, believe it or not, because those Muslims are actually
proud of being and want others to see them as such.
It is almost futile here quoting Muslims boasting of how they embrace violence
and hate America in the name of their religion—they are everywhere (even if
hidden by Google algorithms) especially Arabic media—but even the curious notion
that some Muslims wish to be seen as uncivilized has a long pedigree.
When, for example, the Islamic State made proclamations that “American blood is
best and we will taste it soon,” or “We love death as you love life,” they were
merely quoting the uncivilized words of Muhammad’s earliest companions.
After an Eastern Roman general offered gold to Khalid bin al-Walid (the “Sword
of Allah”), in exchange for the Muslims’ withdrawal from then Christian Syria,
where they had been slaughtering and terrorizing the infidels, Khalid responded
by saying that they had not come for money, but rather, “we Arabs are in the
habit of drinking blood, and we are told the blood of the Romans is the sweetest
of its kind, so we came to shed your blood and drink it.”
In short, for many Muslims in America, it’s rather “cool” to be thought of as
violent, anti-American, and, yes, even uncivilized—since civilization, as Ibn
Khaldun laid out centuries ago, is for the weak and feeble, not the virile, uber-lions
of Islam.
Here, then, are two more logical reasons—one with negative, the other somewhat
positive, implications—as to why Muslims in America are more Islamophobic than
everyone else.
https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2022/11/16/two-reasons-why-american-muslims-are-so-islamophobic/
Why Israel Is Hesitant About Supplying Ukraine with Air
Defense Systems
Anna Borshchevskaya/The Washington Institute/November 16/2022
Jerusalem remains concerned that angering the Russians could jeopardize its
crucial national security interests in Syria, though domestic elements and U.S.
officials are still pressing it to do more.
Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is returning to power. For a
politician who took pride in his long-term relationship with Putin, Ukraine will
be a test of his strategic stance. Since the early days of Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine, the Israeli government has been trying to balance the two parties’
interests. Condemning the Russian aggression and offering humanitarian aid to
Ukraine, Israel has nonetheless refrained from providing Kyiv with air defense
systems. Israeli officials explain their refusal to supply lethal weapons
primarily by the dependence of their national security on the freedom of
military action in Syria. Moscow leverages this circumstance, exerting pressure
on Israel by limiting its military operations in the country. In addition,
Moscow threatens to curb Israel’s ability to receive immigrants of Jewish
descent and advances its relations with Iran. In the new reality, Netanyahu will
not be able to exploit his friendship with Putin and will eventually have to
pick a side.
Last month at the United Nations, Ukraine voted with 152 countries—including
Russia—in support of a General Assembly resolution calling on Israel to get rid
of its nuclear weapons. As a result, Russia and Ukraine symbolically ended up on
one side. As Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky continues to plead for more
aid from Israel, Kyiv’s vote highlights the complexity of the
Israel-Ukraine-Russia triangle.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Israel has balanced
different interests. To be sure, Israel condemned the invasion and provided
significant humanitarian aid, but refused to join the Western-led sanctions
against Russia. Israel has also rejected Kyiv’s request for lethal military aid.
Indeed, the Jewish state is among very few countries that could provide Ukraine
with air defense systems—including the Iron Dome system—which Ukraine needs to
counter Russian missiles targeting its civilian population. And yet Israel has
declined to provide this equipment.
At the initial stage of the invasion, the Israeli government had been ambiguous
rather than directly condemning the Russian invasion, and only issued this
condemnation after a rebuke from Washington. Naftali Bennett, the Israeli prime
minister from June 2021 to June 2022, barely mentioned Russia or Putin in
public, while Yair Lapid, the then foreign minister, regularly condemned the
invasion. In this sense, the Israeli government engaged in rhetorical ballet as
it walked a diplomatic tightrope. More recently, when Yair Lapid took over as
prime minister, he publicly condemned Moscow directly for its actions in Ukraine
in October, a first such statement that came only seven months after the
invasion. Still, Israel will not send lethal aid to Ukraine.
To be fair, Israeli officials have stressed since the start of the Russian
invasion, both publicly and privately, that their security depends on the
freedom of military action in Syria, i.e., the ability to target Iranian-backed
forces and assets in a state where Russia controls the airspace and retains
military and political leverage. In other words, containing Iran in Syria
depends on Israel maintaining a good relationship with Russia. As Israeli
ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky said, “The security threats to Israel, the
threats to the lives of both Israeli soldiers and Israeli citizens, are
enormous...We think first of all about our own interests and have to be
careful.”
However, Zelensky reportedly spoke to Lapid and Bennett about purchasing Israeli
air defense systems and was given a different excuse—that Israel needed the
batteries for its own protection. “I understand they [Israelis] need to defend
their land, but then I got information from my intelligence services that Israel
provides [the air defenses] in other countries. They can sell, they can export,
which is why I am shocked,” said Zelensky.
The US, for its part, has acknowledged Israel’s security concerns since the
start of the Russian invasion but believes Israel should do more to help
Ukraine. Indeed, in early March, shortly after the Russian invasion, US
Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland warned Israel about taking “dirty
money” from Russian oligarchs and encouraged Israel to join sanctions against
Russia.
Approximately fifteen percent of Israel’s population are either immigrants from
the former Soviet Union—mostly Russia and Ukraine—or their descendants. Polls
have shown that a large majority of Israelis support Ukraine, though a sizable
minority oppose arming it, while thousands of peaceful protesters demanded that
the Israeli government take a stronger stand for Ukraine in the war.
Moreover, former cabinet minister, chairman of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial
Center board, and former Soviet prisoner Natan Sharansky has been a vocal
booster of Ukraine from the beginning of the war. “The people of Ukraine need
this [support], but we also need it as part of the free world, because [Russian
President Vladimir] Putin has encroached on the foundations of the free world
and wants to deprive us of this freedom,” he said. Sharansky isn’t alone. Alon
Liel, the former director-general of Israel’s foreign ministry, said in a recent
interview, “If the war ends up with the West having the upper hand, everyone
will remember that Israel declined to be part of the effort. In fact, with this
policy, we are betraying the West.”
To be sure, Israeli security concerns are legitimate. Most recently, Moscow has
appeared to pressure Israel on its ability to remain a safe haven for Jewish
immigrants by threatening to shut down the Jewish Agency, while soon after a
report indicated that an Israeli defense contractor has been supplying
anti-drone systems to Ukraine through Poland. More to the point, Moscow could
indeed complicate life for Israel not only by pressing its Jews or limiting
Israeli military operations in Syria, but also by its growing relationship with
Iran overall. Russia increasingly relies on Iranian drones in Ukraine, while the
relationship between Moscow and Tehran is moving towards a strategic
partnership.
For years, Israeli officials believed that Russia could help deter Iranian
aggression by limiting the forces Tehran deploys in Syria. It is now clear that
Russia has little choice but to rely more on Iran, including in Syria. The
motivation of the Israeli government is clear: for Israel, it is much better to
have Russia in Syria than Iran. But now more than ever, Russia and Iran are
integral parts of the same strategic set. And yes, Russia could complicate life
for Israel, but Israel has power too. It is doubtful that Russia needs another
full-blown bilateral crisis as it continues to suffer massive losses in Ukraine.
From this perspective, Israel’s and Ukraine’s interests intersect.
In 2015 it was President Obama’s naivete—his ill-advised belief that Russia
would experience a military quagmire in Syria—that allowed Russia to come to
Israel’s doorstep in Syria in the first place. At the end of the day, everyone
understands that Israel now is in a difficult position. But this is a state
founded on certain values, a family member of free liberal nations.
This month, Israel has had another change in leadership, with Benjamin Netanyahu
taking over as prime minister once more. Netanyahu, who over the years boasted
of his relationship with Putin, will be even less likely to provide substantial
support to the Ukrainians. Thus Ukraine will be an important test of Netanyahu’s
strategic posture. He could work with the Biden administration more on Ukraine,
especially since there will be other points of friction. The US for its part
could look for ways to help Israel to provide substantial assistance to Ukraine.
Eight months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin remains committed to this
country’s destruction. And while Ukrainians have had important successes in
recent weeks, the war is not yet over. The future of the liberal global order
remains at stake.
*Anna Borshchevskaya is a senior fellow in The Washington Institute’s Diane and
Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle
East. This article was originally published on The Insider website.
New EU Sanctions Indicate More Willingness to Hold
Tehran Accountable
Henry Rome and Louis Dugit-Gros/The Washington Institute/November 16/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/113401/henry-rome-and-louis-dugit-gros-the-washington-institute-new-eu-sanctions-indicate-more-willingness-to-hold-tehran-accountable-%d9%87%d9%86%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d8%b1%d9%88%d9%85-%d9%88-%d9%84%d9%88%d9%8a/
Although their ultimate effects are uncertain, the new sanctions are a powerful
signal that European governments are readier than ever to confront the regime’s
human rights violations, drone deliveries to Russia, and nuclear stalling.
On November 14, the European Union adopted its third sanctions package of the
year against the Iranian regime. The biggest batch to date, it comprised
thirty-two human rights-based designations and four related to the Ukraine war,
indicating that European capitals are more comfortable with expanding pressure
on Tehran for its ongoing efforts to crack down on protesters, stall nuclear
negotiations, and provide weapons to Russia.
Europe’s Frustrations
Since the EU adopted its first round of human rights sanctions against Tehran on
October 17, protests have continued around the country, and the regime has
responded with force. According to the NGO Iran Human Rights, at least 326
people have been killed, including 43 children. Authorities have also tried to
suppress the demonstrations by shutting down the internet and arresting some
15,000 people.
Meanwhile, the regime has sought to counter the resultant Western backlash
through an orchestrated policy of hostage taking, primarily targeting European
nationals. Citizens from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden are currently in the Islamic Republic’s custody
under false pretenses, as are several U.S. citizens. Despite the arrests,
European governments appear undeterred in pursuing sanctions.
EU officials seem to be similarly disenchanted with Iran’s uncooperative stance
on negotiating the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and
complying with its safeguards obligations. Tehran has tried to portray itself as
the constructive party on both files, a point that Foreign Minister Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian emphasized following a call with EU High Representative Josep
Borrell earlier this month. In reality, however, it has failed to cooperate on
numerous fronts, fueling frustration in European capitals and likely spurring
the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors to censure the
regime at a meeting that begins on November 16.
European capitals are also concerned that Iran will provide Russia with
additional combat drones for use against Ukraine, and perhaps even short-range
ballistic missiles to help rebuild the Kremlin’s stockpile of precision-guided
munitions. On November 5, after weeks of denials, Tehran finally acknowledged
that it had provided some drones—but then claimed that all of the deliveries had
taken place before the Ukraine invasion. In addition to concerns about arms
deliveries, the G7 foreign ministers recently condemned the presence of Iranian
trainers in Ukraine.
Latest Sanctions
The November 14 human rights sanctions targeted Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi
and various figures in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Basij
militia, Law Enforcement Command, national army (Artesh), and cyber police.
These included:
Local and regional commanders involved in specific abuses such as the massacre
of civilians in Zahedan (known as “Bloody Friday”), incidents of violence in
Kurdistan Province, and the killing of a teenage girl who refused to sing a
pro-regime song
Four members of the morality police responsible for arresting Mahsa Amini, the
young woman whose torture and death sparked the current protest movement
Bonyad Taavon Basij, a foundation that provides social welfare services to Basij
members and has an economic footprint in key Iranian industries
Press TV, a state television network that may now have trouble operating or
broadcasting in Europe
ArvanCloud, a technology firm linked to the regime’s efforts to establish a
separate Iranian intranet.
The EU also imposed sanctions on individuals and entities involved in supplying
drones to Russia: IRGC chief Hossein Salami; the IRGC Aerospace Force and its
commander, Amir Ali Hajizadeh; and Qods Aviation Industries. These four targets
are notable because each was already designated under a separate EU authority
linked to weapons of mass destruction, meaning the new sanctions will have no
additional effect. Yet the WMD-related sanctions are set to be lifted in October
2023 under the terms of the JCPOA, so the drone-related designations will ensure
that some sanctions remain in place past that date if necessary. (Salami faces
human rights sanctions as well, so some of this layering is superfluous and a
political signal in his case.)
The timing of the EU announcements appeared to be closely coordinated with the
British and U.S. governments. London issued its own sanctions concurrently,
while Washington released a statement of support within several hours and
announced U.S. drone sanctions earlier today. The increased pace is noteworthy
as well—in the previous nine years, the EU had issued only two human
rights-based sanctions packages against Iran.
Yet the ultimate impact of these measures is unclear. By designating a wide
range of Iranian security personnel—with ranks from sergeant up to
brigadier-general—European authorities may have sought to warn that even
low-level officers will be held responsible for any violence they commit. The
question is whether that will significantly affect the loyalty of any individual
security personnel or the political calculations of regime leaders. This seems
unlikely at the moment.
Next Steps
In the coming weeks and months, the EU should keep up the momentum by imposing
further costs on the Iranian regime. On November 14, French president Emmanuel
Macron announced that he would support the establishment of an international
fact-finding mission to investigate Iranian human rights violations at the Human
Rights Council in Geneva, and pursuing this measure multilaterally would be a
good start. Even without triggering the snapback of UN sanctions, the EU could
escalate pressure on Iran’s energy sector, which provides critical resources to
its military. Finally, the EU could strengthen restrictions on—and share more
information about—the way Iran utilizes dual-use technology in its drone
program.
*Henry Rome is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute. Louis Dugit-Gros is
a visiting fellow with the Institute and a diplomat with the French Ministry for
Europe and Foreign Affairs; the views expressed herein are strictly personal.