English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 26/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.november26.22.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets
and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you
hear, but did not hear it.
Saint Luke 10/21-24:”At that same hour Jesus
rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent
and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the
Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom
the Son chooses to reveal him.’ Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to
them privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to
hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”’
Question: “What does the Bible say about family
problems?”
GotQuestions.org/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Answer: Family problems are nothing new. In a fallen world, those we should love
the most—our families—often become the ones we fight with the most. The Bible
doesn’t gloss over sin, and it records a number of family problems, starting
with Adam’s blame-shifting, with his wife as the target (Genesis 3:12). Sibling
rivalry crops up in the stories of Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and
his brothers. Jealousy among wives—one of the negative consequences of
polygamy—is found in the stories of Hannah, and Leah and Rachel. Eli and Samuel
dealt with wayward children. Jonathan was almost murdered by his father, Saul.
David was brokenhearted by his son Absalom’s rebellion. Hosea experienced
marital difficulties. In each of these cases, relationships were damaged by sin.
The Bible has a lot to say about relationships, including family dynamics. The
first institution God established for human interaction was a family (Genesis
2:22–24). He created a wife for Adam and joined them in marriage. Citing this
event, Jesus later said, “What God has joined together, let no man separate”
(Matthew 19:6). God’s plan was for one man and one woman to remain married until
one of them dies. He desires to bless that union with children who are to be
raised “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4; see also
Psalm 127:3). Most family problems emerge when we rebel against God’s
design—polygamy, adultery, and divorce all cause problems because they deviate
from God’s original plan. The Bible gives clear
instructions about how family members are to treat each other. God’s plan is
that husbands love their wives in the same way that Christ loves His church
(Ephesians 5:25, 33). Wives are to respect their husbands and submit to their
leadership (Ephesians 5:22–24, 33; 1 Peter 3:1). Children are to obey their
parents (Ephesians 6:1–4; Exodus 20:12). How many family problems would be
solved if husbands, wives, and children simply followed those basic rules?
First Timothy 5:8 says that families are to take care of their own. Jesus had
harsh words for those who evaded their financial responsibilities to their aging
parents by claiming they gave all their money to the temple (Matthew 15:5–6).
The key to harmony in families is not one we naturally want to apply. Ephesians
5:21 says to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Submission is
in direct opposition to our flesh’s desire to rule and have its way. We defend
our rights, champion our causes, defend our opinions, and assert our own agendas
whenever possible. God’s way is to crucify our flesh (Galatians 5:24; Romans
6:11) and submit to the needs and wishes of others whenever we can. Jesus is our
model for that kind of submission to God’s will. First Peter 2:23 says, “When
they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he
made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”Most
family problems could be lessened if we all followed the instructions found in
Philippians 2:3–4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather,
in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but
each of you to the interests of the others.” When we adopt the spirit of
humility and treat others as Jesus would treat them, we can resolve many of our
family and relationship problems.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on November
25-26/2022
Lebanon’s Central Bank Says Audit of Gold Reserves Completed
‘Successfully’
Lebanon: World Bank Rules out Economic Recovery if Political Paralysis Continues
Rahi arrives in Rome to partake in preparations for Continental Synodal Assembly
of Middle East Churches
Mikati, Berri meet over latest political developments
Report: France 'close to' voicing support for Army chief as president
Karami extends hands 'to all except LF' as Rifi slams constitutional council
ruling
Qassem stresses that not only Hezbollah is responsible for president election
France, US mulling to expedite gas, electricity supply to Lebanon
Mikati discusses various issues with Berri, including electricity
Marada Minister: Hezbollah to endorse Franjieh even without FPM approval
French-Lebanese architect seeks pro-climate construction transformation
UNRWA commissioner-general visits Lebanon
Salam discusses food security cooperation with German delegation
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on November
25-26/2022
Iranian forces 'shoot protesters after Friday prayers'
Iran Bolsters Border Security to Prevent ‘Infiltration’
Iran Players Sing National Anthem at World Cup Match
Iran 'Defends' Strikes on Northern Iraq, in Letter to UN
Kurdish Parties Welcome Baghdad’s Decision to Redeploy Forces on Border with
Türkiye, Iran
Will the Course of Egyptian-Turkish Relations Lead to ‘Bigger Steps’ against the
Muslim Brotherhood?
Israeli Far Right’s Ben-Gvir to Be Police Minister in Coalition Deal
NATO vows to aid Ukraine ‘for as long as it takes’
Ukraine's Zelenskiy Says Europe Must Avoid Division, Set Low Price for Russia's
Oil
Azerbaijan Cancels Armenia Talks, Says Macron Cannot Take Part
Titles For The
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on November
25-26/2022
The Undermined Dictatorships and their Stratagems/Charles Elias Chartouni/November
25, 2022
Inside the US: Muslim Brotherhood Member Calls for Jihadist Terrorism
Worldwide/Cynthia Farahat/Gatestone Institute/November 25, 2022
Tehran Dangles the Samson Option Again/Amir Taheri/ Asharq Al-Awsat/November,
25/2022
Bibi wants peace with Saudi Arabia. The Saudis probably want it, too. But the
White House has other ideas/Toni Badran/The Tablet/November 25/2022
on November
25-26/2022
Lebanon’s Central Bank Says Audit of
Gold Reserves Completed ‘Successfully’
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Lebanon’s Central Bank announced on Friday that the audit of the bank’s gold
reserves- coins and ingots- which came at the request of the International
Monetary Fund, has been completed “successfully.”The bank said that the amount
of gold bullions declared corresponded exactly with the quantity of gold in its
vaults. In a statement issued by BDL, it said that the audit was carried out by
an “international and specialized audit firm,” chosen and mandated by a
delegated consultant, and at the request of the IMF. The long-awaited audit was
one of the reforms requested by the IMF to access $3 billion in loans to lift
Lebanon out of the continuing financial crisis that has plunged almost
three-quarters of its population into poverty. “After completing the audit of
Banque du Liban’s gold reserves, the company found they completely correspond to
the entries recorded in the accounting records,” BDL’s statement said. According
to its latest figures, Banque du Liban's gold reserves were worth $16.4bn in
mid-November 2022. Lebanon’s gold reserves amount to 286.8 tons, 60 percent of
which is in the vaults of the Central Bank, and the rest is in the United States
of America. In 1986, Lebanon issued law number 42 prohibiting the sale of all
Bank of Lebanon’s gold reserves, only by a legislative text of the Parliament.
Lebanon: World Bank Rules out Economic Recovery if
Political Paralysis Continues
Beirut – Ali Zeineddine/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 November, 2022
The World Bank has refuted the anticipations of Banque du Liban (The Central
Bank of Lebanon) of a 2 percent growth in GDP in 2022, expecting Lebanon to
“contract by 5.4 percent in 2022 amid political paralysis and delays in
implementing an economic recovery plan.”“The depth and duration of the
protracted crisis are reducing Lebanon’s potential for growth as its physical,
human, social, institutional, and environmental capital is rapidly and
potentially irreparably being depleted,” said Jean-Christophe Carret, World Bank
Mashreq Country Director. “As repeatedly called for, Lebanon needs to urgently
adopt an equitable, and comprehensive solution that restores the stability of
the financial sector and sets the economy on a recovery path,” he added. The
Lebanon Economic Monitor (LEM) Fall 2022 “Time for an Equitable Banking
Resolution” provides an update on recent developments and examines the country’s
economic outlook and risks. The LEM also includes the section “Global
Comparators: The Hole is Greater than the Sum of the Parts”, which concludes
that Lebanon’s macroeconomic performance is worse—or—at best—on par, with those
of this specific group of countries (Zimbabwe, Yemen, Venezuela, and Somalia).
“An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement
on crisis resolution and critical reform ratification, deepening the woes of the
Lebanese people,” according to the report. “More than three years into the worst
economic and financial crisis in Lebanon’s history, discord among key
stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main
bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform plan to salvage
the country.” The real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Lebanon is set to
contract by 5.4 percent in 2022 amid political paralysis and delays in
implementing an economic recovery plan. The World Bank said it had revised its
estimate for Lebanon's economic contraction in 2021 to 7 percent from a previous
estimate of 10.4 percent. Lebanon’s total contraction of 37.3 percent in real
GDP since 2018 -among the worst the world has seen- is scarring the country’s
potential for recovery. Despite the interventions of the Banque du Liban to try
to stabilize the exchange rate in the parallel market at the expense of
declining foreign currency reserves, the sharp decline in the value of the
Lebanese lira continues, the report noted. Lebanon is one of the countries most
affected by the recent food price inflation, which particularly affects poor and
needy households, who make up a large part of their spending due to the sharp
erosion of their purchasing power. The LEM argues that with financial losses
exceeding $72 billion, equivalent to more than three times of GDP in 2021, a
financial sector bailout is unviable as there are simply no sufficient public
funds: public assets are worth only a fraction of the estimated financial losses
and potential revenues from oil and gas are still uncertain and years away.
Rahi arrives in Rome to partake in preparations for
Continental Synodal Assembly of Middle East Churches
NNA/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, on Friday arrived with
an accompanied delegation at Fiumicino Airport in the Italian capital of Rome,
in preparation for the synodal assembly on the continental level. The
Continental Synodal Assembly of the Churches of the Middle East will be held
from February 12 to 18, 2023, in Bethany Harissa, with the participation of
clergy from Arab countries and seven Eastern Catholic Churches. During his
visit, the Maronite Patriarch will meet parishioners during a mass that he will
officiate next Sunday at Saint Maron Church of the Maronite Institute.
Mikati, Berri meet over latest political developments
NNA/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Prime Minister Najib Mikati has arrived at the headquarters of the second
Lebanese presidency in Ain al-Tineh, where he was received by Parliament
Speaker, Nabih Berri. Both men are expected to hold a meeting over the country’s
latest political developments.
Report: France 'close to' voicing support for Army chief as
president
Naharnet/Friday, 25 November, 2022
France, supported by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, is coming close to announcing
its support for Army chief Joseph Aoun as a presidential candidate, al-Akhbar
newspaper reported Friday. It said that a high-level French official might visit
Beirut soon as France is preparing for new talks led by Ambassador Anne Grillo,
after it failed to agree with Washington and Riyadh on a solution initiative.
Riyadh has expressed it is not concerned with the Lebanese presidential file
unless an anti-Hezbollah president is elected, the daily added, claiming that
the French-Saudi relations are not stable, which prevented any progress in the
French initiative to reach a compromise solution. Al-Akhbar added that there is
an attempt to submit a new plan to crown prince Mohammed bin Salman suggesting a
comprehensive reevaluation of the Saudi policies in Lebanon.
Karami extends hands 'to all except LF' as Rifi slams
constitutional council ruling
Naharnet/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Former minister and Tripoli MP Faisal Karami has said that his hand is extended
to all parties, except for the Lebanese Forces. A close ally of Hezbollah and
Syrian President Bashar Assad, Karami had regained on Thursday his seat in
parliament from dentist and pro-democracy activist Rami Fanj, following an
appeal claiming the initial vote count in Fanj's favor was inaccurate. "In these
difficult circumstances, my hand is extended to everyone, except to the Lebanese
forces," Karami said, as he voiced his support to the people of his "oppressed
city", Tripoli. Faisal Karami is the nephew of former Prime Minister Rashid
Karami, who was assassinated in 1987. In 1999, LF chief Samir Geagea and ten
other members of the party were found guilty of the assassination. A long-time
critic of Hezbollah, Tripoli MP and former Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi slammed
Friday the constitutional council's decision. "There is an attempt to change the
balance in parliament and to limit the representation of the opposition and
change forces," Rifi said, urging these forces to unite against what he called
"a targeted attack on every free voice."
Qassem stresses that not only Hezbollah is responsible for
president election
Naharnet/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Friday emphasized that the election
of a new president for the country is not solely the responsibility of
Hezbollah. “The obligatory path for the beginning of reforms and the beginning
of working for rescuing Lebanon is the election of the president, that’s why all
blocs are responsible for the election of the president and let no one hold
Hezbollah alone responsible,” Qassem said. “We have a specific number of MPs in
parliament and we can influence the president’s election based on this number
and each of the other blocs can influence it based on its size,” Hezbollah
number two added. “If the resistance is a point of contention, refer it to
dialogue, and let’s bring a president who has the ability for economic rescue
with the participation of all Lebanese,” Qassem went on to say. He also said
that the new president should have the ability to “oversee a dialogue table that
can bring the Lebanese together to discuss the issue of the defense
strategy.”“Seeing as we agree on the priority of the economy and combating
corruption, let’s refer the controversial issues to dialogue,” Qassem added.
France, US mulling to expedite gas, electricity supply to
Lebanon
Naharnet/Friday, 25 November, 2022
The French are studying with the Americans the possibility of speeding up the
importation of gas and electricity from Egypt and Jordan to Lebanon, a media
report said on Friday. Paris, Washington and “Arab capitals, including Cairo and
Amman, are mulling to settle the debate within a few weeks and eliminate the
obstacles that are preventing the implementation of the plan,” al-Akhbar
newspaper quoted informed sources as saying. “The French are preparing for a
conference that will be soon held in Jordan and will be similar to the one that
was previously held for Iraq, and they want Lebanese steps that contribute to
facilitating the issuance of an approval from the World Bank and a U.S.
exemption of any sanctions, which would allow Lebanon to receive what it needs
of gas and electricity soon,” the sources added.
Mikati discusses various issues with Berri, including electricity
Naharnet/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday held a meeting in Ain el-Tineh
with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. State-run National News Agency said the
talks tackled “the general situations and the latest political
developments.”Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mikati said: “We
discussed various political and economic topics.”Asked whether the electricity
file was discussed, the PM answered: “Including the electricity issue.”
Marada Minister: Hezbollah to endorse Franjieh even without
FPM approval
Naharnet/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Hezbollah might endorse the presidential nomination of al-Marada chief Suleiman
Franjieh without the approval of the Free Patriotic Movement, caretaker Minister
of information Ziad Makari said. "I can confirm that Hezbollah will endorse
Franjieh," Makari told al-Jadeed TV on Friday. He said that FPM chief Jebran
Bassil cannot say "there is no president without us", accusing him of believing
that he can impose his conditions on Hezbollah, because he has been subjected to
sanctions because of his relation with the group. Makari added that there is a
French and international keenness on electing a president before the end of the
year. "If it does not happen, we may face sanctions and greater pressure,"
Makari said, adding that when he met with French President Emmanuel Macron, he
was surprised with the latter's deep knowledge of the details regarding the
Lebanese file.
French-Lebanese architect seeks pro-climate construction
transformation
Agence France Presse/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Lina Ghotmeh has pegged her career on sustainable construction.
The French-Lebanese architect wants to see her industry transformed by
drastically reducing the use of concrete -- a major CO2 contributor -- using
more local materials and reusing existing buildings and materials. "We need to
change our value system," the 42-year-old told AFP last month. The aim is to
reduce the carbon footprint of the construction industry and create buildings
that can better resist the impacts of climate change. But it's not an easy
battle. The industry accounts for almost 40 percent of global greenhouse gas
emissions, according to the United Nations. Ghotmeh, who designed the Estonian
National Museum and taught at Yale University, doesn't advocate for fewer
buildings -- she knows that's an unrealistic goal in a world with a growing
population. "That would be like saying 'stop eating,'" she said.
'Don't demolish' -
Instead, we should "keep what already exists, don't demolish," but refurbish and
retrofit old buildings in a sustainable way where possible. Building a new
detached house consumes 40 times more resources than renovating an existing
property, and for a new apartment complex that rises to 80 times more, according
to the French Agency for Ecological Transition (Ademe).And where new
constructions are needed, local materials and design should be used in a way
that incorporates natural surroundings and saves energy. Ghotmeh used more than
500,000 bricks made from local dirt for a new Hermes building in France,
expected to open early next year. The bricks also regulate the building's
temperature and reduce energy needs.The building will produce as much energy as
it consumes, by being made energy efficient and using geothermal power.
'Circular thinking' -
Architects must, early in the project process, "think in a circular way,"
Ghotmeh said, choosing reusable organic or natural materials like wood, hemp,
linen or stone. This shouldn't stymie the design process either, she insists.
"In Canada, we build wooden towers, in Japan too. It's a material that is quite
capable of being used for tall buildings," added Ghotmeh, who will build a
wooden tower in Paris in 2023. Another key approach is to build lighter, using
less material and fewer toxins. And then there's concrete, the main material in
so many modern buildings and perhaps the most challenging to move away from. "We
must drastically reduce the use of concrete", she said, insisting it should only
be used for essential purposes, such as foundations and building in
earthquake-prone areas. Some 14 billion cubic metres of concrete are used every
year, according to the Global Cement and Concrete Association. It emits more CO2
than the aviation industry, largely because of the intense heat required to make
it. Alternatives to concrete already exist, such as stone, or making
cement -- a component of concrete -- from calcium carbonate. There are also
pushes for low-carbon cement made from iron and steel industry waste.
Beirut inspiration -
Building more sustainably often comes with a higher price tag -- it costs more
to double or triple glaze windows and properly insulate a house -- but the
long-term payoff is lower energy costs. For Ghotmeh, it's an imperative
investment in our future. It was her birthplace of Beirut that inspired
her to become an architect, spurring a desire to rebuild the so-called
"collapsed city" ravaged by war. In 2020, she completed the "Stone Garden"
apartment tower in the city, built with concrete covered with a combed coating,
a technique often used by local craftsmen. She used concrete in the construction
because of earthquake risks. The building was strong enough to survive the port
explosion in 2020 that destroyed a large part of the city. And the city
continues to inspire her today, even when it comes to climate sustainability.
"Since there is practically only an hour of electricity per day, all the
buildings have solar panels now. There is a kind of energy independence which is
beginning to take place, by force," she said. "Does it take a catastrophe like
the one in Lebanon to make this transition?"
UNRWA commissioner-general visits Lebanon
Naharnet/Friday, 25 November, 2022
People in Lebanon, among them Palestine refugees, are “suffering and paying the
price for something not of their making,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe
Lazzarini said during a visit to the country. “I met with Palestine refugees
during my visit who are completely ravished by poverty, despair and lack of
prospect. The humanitarian situation of Palestine refugees in Lebanon is
extremely alarming. People are dying a slow death as many are unable to afford
medicines or co-share the cost of treatment especially for chronic diseases and
cancer. Levels of poverty and unemployment are unprecedented due to one of the
worst economic crises in recent history. The spread of cholera is the latest
tragic layer that adds to acute hardship and helplessness,” Lazzarini added.
“While I walked on dark streets due to long power cuts, I wondered if Lebanon
was at a point of no return,” he said. “In the Beddawi Palestine refugee camp,
north of Lebanon, I met Salim, who asked that I relay his call for help so that
his family can survive this dark episode of the country’s economic freefall,”
Lazzarini went on to say. “Last month, I put out a plea on behalf of Palestine
refugees highlighting the levels of despair they are living in. I asked the
world to ‘Hear Their Voices’ and act to help UNRWA help Palestine refugees with
the bear minimum, to make ends meet and live in dignity,” he added. Heeding
UNRWA’s call for urgent assistance, the Government of Germany “generously
contributed US$ 6 million for Palestine refugees in Lebanon,” Lazzarini said.
“With this support, UNRWA will be able to do a round of cash assistance
distribution to the most vulnerable as they prepare for winter. This cash
assistance also includes Palestine refugees from Syria who depend on monthly
assistance from UNRWA to survive,” he added.
“While this is very welcome, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. People in Lebanon
need and deserve to have a better life far from dependence on humanitarian and
cash assistance. It is a nation known for its creativity, generosity and love of
life against all odds,” Lazzarini said. “However, and until a more sustainable
solution is found, UNRWA will continue to do everything possible to help
Palestine refugees have a life of dignity. I call for further support to UNRWA
so that we continue to assist families in need.”
Salam discusses food security cooperation with German
delegation
NNA/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Caretaker Minister of Economy and Trade, Amin Salam, on Friday welcomed a
delegation representing the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development, to follow up on cooperation prospects between Lebanon and Germany,
especially following Minister Salam’s meeting with his German counterpart,
Svenja Schulze, in Rome in back in June 2022. The meeting touched on the
importance of developing a sustainable plan, especially in the field of food
security and food industries, taking into account strengthening the capabilities
of farmers, stimulating exports, and transforming agricultural products.
Moreover, the German delegation welcomed Minister Salam's initiative in terms of
presenting a comprehensive and sustainable plan that provides full support for
the agricultural, commercial, alternative energy, as well as irrigation sectors,
in cooperation with the public sector. The German delegation also expressed its
readiness to assist and support this plan.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on November
25-26/2022
Iranian forces 'shoot protesters
after Friday prayers'
The National and agencies/Friday, 25
November, 2022
Dozens of protesters have been killed or wounded after Iranian security forces
opened fire following Friday prayers in the country's south-east, activists
said. The demonstrators were part of an anti-government movement raging since
September, which was sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini — a
22-year-old Iranian woman of Kurdish origin — and has now snowballed into wider
issues around women's freedoms. Campaigners had called for nationwide
demonstrations this week in solidarity with Kurdistan, which along with
Sistan-Baluchistan, where Friday's shooting took place, has borne the brunt of
Iran's deadly protest crackdown. “Kurdistan, Kurdistan, we will support you,”
protesters were heard chanting on Friday in a video from the Sistan-Baluchistan
capital Zahedan, one of the few Sunni-majority cities in predominantly Shiite
Iran. “Kurds and Baluchs are brothers, thirsting for the leader's blood,” they
sang in other unverified footage posted on social media, in reference to Iran's
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Activists said later that security forces
had opened fire on protesters in the city. “Dozens have been killed or injured,”
the London-based Baloch Activists Campaign (BAC) said on its Telegram channel.
AFP was unable to confirm the toll. BAC shared a video showing a group carrying
a man who appeared to be wounded out of what it said was Zahedan's Makki mosque,
Iran's largest Sunni house of worship. Demonstrators also took to the streets of
the Sistan-Baluchistan cities of Iranshahr, Khash and Saravan, said BAC and the
1500tasvir social media monitor. Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had used military equipment, including
heavy machineguns, to suppress the people. The Kurdish-populated provinces of
western and north-western Iran have been hubs of protest since the death of Ms
Amini after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country's strict
dress code for women. On Tuesday, IHR said Iranian security forces had killed at
least 416, including 51 children and 27 women, since the protests began. Its
toll included at least 126 killed in Sistan-Baluchistan and 48 in Kurdistan
province. More than 90 were killed during a mass shooting in Zahedan on
September 30. Friday's protests came a day after the United Nations Human Rights
Council voted to create a high-level investigation into Iran's bloody crackdown.
Iran condemned the move, saying it was “useless and represents a violation of
the country's national sovereignty”.
*Agencies contributed to this report
Iran Bolsters Border Security to Prevent ‘Infiltration’
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Iran has sent additional units of special forces to fortify its northern border
with Iraq and clamp down on what it says is infiltration by Kurdish opposition
groups, Iranian state media reported on Friday. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, chief of
ground forces of the paramilitary Iranian Revolutionary Guard, said “armored and
special forces” units had been deployed to west and north-west provinces to
bolster existing border security, the official IRNA news agency reported. The
deployment aims to prevent infiltration and the smuggling of weapons in the
north by Kurdish opposition groups exiled in Iraq that Tehran claims is
orchestrating country-wide anti-government protests. It is a claim the Kurdish
groups deny and to date Iran has not provided any evidence to support it. Iran
has several military bases near the Iraqi border and forces have been present
there on a rotating basis for decades. The troop movement also comes after Iraq
issued directives for boosting security along its side of the border to prevent
further bombardment by Iran, according to a statement issued by Iraq's military
spokesman Maj. Gen. Yahya Rasool. Kurdish opposition groups have bases in Iraq's
Kurdish-run northern region. Earlier this week, Iranian officials were quoted in
state-run media as saying they did not have plans to conduct a ground military
operation to root out opposition groups from the bases. Country-wide protests
engulfed Iran in September following the death of a young woman in police
custody for violating the republic's strict dress code for women. The protests
have become one the greatest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the chaotic
years after its 1979 revolution. Mahsa Amini, 22, died Sept. 16, three days
after her arrest by Iran’s morality police. Iran’s government insists Amini was
not mistreated in police custody, but her family says her body showed bruises
and other signs of beating after she was detained.
Iran Players Sing National Anthem at World Cup Match
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Iran's national football team sang during the playing of their national anthem
at their second World Cup match against Wales on Friday having refrained from
doing so in their opening game earlier this week in apparent support of
protesters back home.
Loud jeers were heard from Iranian supporters as the anthem played, with the
team singing quietly as it played. Iranian authorities have responded with
deadly force to suppress protests that have marked one of the boldest challenges
to its clerical rulers since the 1979 revolution. Inside the stadium ahead of
the match, a number of supporters had shown support for the protests. A woman
with dark red tears painted from her eyes held aloft a football jersey with "Mahsa
Amini - 22" printed on the back - a reference to the 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish
woman whose death while in the custody of morality police two months ago ignited
the nationwide protests, a Reuters photo showed. A man standing next to her held
a shirt printed with the words "WOMEN, LIFE, FREEDOM", one of the main chants of
the protests. Ahead of the World Cup, protesters had taken heart from apparent
shows of support from a number of Iran's national teams which refrained from
singing the national anthem, such as the basketball team. Team Melli, as the
soccer team is known, have traditionally been a huge source of national pride in
Iran, but they have found themselves caught up in politics in the World Cup
run-up, with anticipation over whether they would use soccer's showpiece event
as a platform to get behind the protesters.Asked on Thursday about the unrest at
home Iran national team striker Mehdi Taremi said they were in Qatar to play
football. "We are not under pressure," he added after players refused to sing
the national anthem in their first match at the World Cup against England.
Before travelling to Doha, the team met with hardline Iranian President Ebrahim
Raisi. Photos of the players with Raisi, one of them bowing in front of him,
went viral and prompted an outcry on social media.
Iran 'Defends' Strikes on Northern Iraq, in Letter to UN
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Iran told the UN on Thursday that it had no choice but to act in self-defense by
striking Kurdish rebel groups in northern Iraq, state media reported. The
Iranian republic has launched a series of cross-border missile and drone strikes
on Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups, based in Iraq, which it blames for stoking
protests back home over the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. "Iran recently
carried out operations against terrorist groups in northern Iraq as it had no
other choice than to use its natural right to defend itself in the framework of
international law to protect its national security," Tehran's permanent
representative to the UN wrote to the United Nations Security Council. "The
terrorist groups have recently intensified their activities and have illegally
transferred large quantities of arms to Iran with the intention of staging
terrorist operations," the letter read, according to state news agency IRNA.
Iranian-Kurdish groups have long inhabited areas of northern Iraq's autonomous
Kurdistan region, previously waging an armed insurrection against Tehran. Iran
has repeatedly accused them of fomenting unrest in the country since Amini's
death in September. "They use Iraqi territory to plan, support, organize and
carry out actions" against Iran, the letter said. Tehran demands that "the
perpetrators of terrorist crimes be tried by Iranian courts, the closure of
command centers of terrorist groups and their training camps, and the
disarmament of armed elements in northern Iraq," the letter said. On Tuesday,
Tasnim news agency reported that Iran's Revolutionary Guards carried out their
latest cross-border missile and drone strikes, this time targeting the Kurdistan
Freedom Party, one of the groups based in northern Iraq. More than a dozen
people were killed in similar strikes on Iraq's Kurdistan region in September.
In the letter, Iran's UN representative pointed to the need for an Iraqi
military presence at the border with Iran, whilst affirming "full respect for
Iraq's security and stability and commitment to its territorial integrity and
sovereignty". Iraq had said Wednesday it planned to redeploy federal guards
along its border with Iran and Türkiye.
Kurdish Parties Welcome Baghdad’s Decision to Redeploy
Forces on Border with Türkiye, Iran
Baghdad - Fadhel al-Nashmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 November, 2022
The decision of the federal government in Baghdad to redeploy Iraqi forces on
the borders between Iraq, Iran and Türkiye was welcomed by Kurdish parties, in
particular the Kurdistan Patriotic Union, which enjoys wide influence in the
Sulaymaniyah province bordering Iran. The federal decisions were taken during a
meeting of the Ministerial Council for National Security on Wednesday evening.
The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed
Forces Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani and attended by members of the Council and the
Chief of Staff of the Kurdish Peshmerga Forces.
Participants discussed “the Turkish and Iranian attacks and violations on the
Iraqi borders, and the bombing that targeted a number of areas in the Kurdistan
region of Iraq, and terrorized the people and damaged their property.”According
to a statement, the council took four decisions, including developing a plan to
redeploy the Iraqi forces along the borders with Iran and Türkiye, securing
logistical support requirements for the border forces command, enhancing human
capabilities and providing them with equipment to enable them to accomplish
their tasks, as well as employing the human resources available at the Ministry
of Interior to strengthen border posts. The meeting also emphasized the
necessity of coordination with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq and the
Ministry of Peshmerga to implement the approved procedures, with the aim of
unifying national efforts to protect the Iraqi borders. Earlier this week, Iran
and Türkiye launched a series of attacks inside Iraqi territory targeting the
positions of Kurdish parties, killing and wounding at least 15 people. This
prompted the Kurdistan Region, the Federal Government, the United Nations, the
United States and some Western countries to condemn the attacks and call on
Ankara and Tehran to stop the hostilities that violate the sovereignty of Iraq.
The Kurdistan Patriotic Union Party welcomed the federal government’s decision
to redeploy its forces to protect the borders. The leader of the party, Ghayath
al-Sorji, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “We welcome any step taken by the federal
government to protect the borders and deter Turkish and Iranian aggression.”He
continued: “It is natural that the federal border forces take over the task in
coordination with the Peshmerga. The move will be widely welcomed by most
Kurdish parties. We adhere to the federal constitution, which entrusts the
federal government with security and border protection.”
Will the Course of Egyptian-Turkish Relations Lead to
‘Bigger Steps’ against the Muslim Brotherhood?
Cairo - Waleed Abdulrahman/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Reports about the developments in the Egyptian-Turkish relations raised
questions about whether the new path would lead to “bigger steps” against the
Muslim Brotherhood organization in Türkiye during the coming period. In recent
remarks, Turkish Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, Sardar Cam, criticized
the Muslim Brotherhood, saying: “The organization has lost its position due to
divisions and affinity with violent groups.”He added: “Now there are Brotherhood
groups”, referring to the organization’s division into three conflicting fronts,
namely the London and Istanbul fronts and the Change Movement.
Egyptian expert in fundamentalist affairs, Amr Abdel Moneim, told Asharq Al-Awsat
that the statement of the Turkish deputy minister was “the first and the most
dangerous official Turkish comment against the Muslim Brotherhood.”
On the sidelines of the opening of the World Cup hosted by Qatar, Egyptian
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi shook hands with his Turkish counterpart.
Egyptian presidential spokesman, Bassam Rady, stated that Sisi shook hands with
Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan in Doha, and that both have affirmed “the
depth of the historical ties linking the two countries and the Egyptian and
Turkish peoples… and agreed that this would be a beginning of the development of
bilateral relations.”Press reports quoted the Turkish president as saying on his
return flight from Qatar that his encounter with his Egyptian counterpart was a
“first step towards further normalization of relations between the two
countries.”He added: “Other moves will follow.”The Egyptian researcher
specializing in fundamentalist affairs said that the Muslim Brotherhood
organization and its various factions in Türkiye, were examining the Turkish
reaction after the imprisonment of pro-organization journalist Hossam Al-Ghamry,
and accusations against him related to Turkish national security. “It seems
there is a specific directive from the Turkish authorities to control the
Brotherhood’s media discourse over Egypt, paralleled with a turn to change some
names of entities and associations affiliated with the organization in Türkiye,"
he stated. During the past months, Ankara took steps that Cairo described as
“positive,” pertaining to stopping the Muslim Brotherhood’s “incitement”
campaigns and political activities in its territory, and preventing the
organization’s media professionals from criticizing Egypt.
Israeli Far Right’s Ben-Gvir to Be Police Minister in
Coalition Deal
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative Likud party
signed its first coalition deal with Itamar Ben-Gvir's far-right Jewish Power
party, Likud said in a statement on Friday. The agreement, which does not
account for a full and final new government in Israel, gives Ben-Gvir the police
ministry and a seat in the security cabinet. "We took a big step tonight toward
a full coalition agreement, toward forming a fully, fully right-wing
government," Ben-Gvir said in the statement. Netanyahu's Likud and its religious
and far-right allies marked a clear victory in Israel's Nov. 1 election, ending
nearly four years of political instability. His efforts to quickly form a
government have hit roadblocks, however, as negotiations with coalition partners
drag on. The incoming government looks to be the most right-wing in Israel's
history, forcing Netanyahu into a diplomatic balancing act between his coalition
and Western allies.
Ben-Gvir's record includes a 2007 conviction for racist incitement against Arabs
and support for terrorism. He says he no longer advocates expulsion of all
Palestinians - only those he deems traitors or terrorists. A settler living in
the West Bank, which Israel occupied in a 1967 Middle East war, Ben-Gvir is
opposed to Palestinian statehood. He also supports Jewish prayer on a flashpoint
Jerusalem holy site that houses al-Aqsa Mosque and which is a vestige of ancient
Jewish temples.
NATO vows to aid Ukraine ‘for as long as it takes’
AP/November 25, 2022
BRUSSELS: NATO is determined to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia for
“as long as it takes” and will help the war-wracked country transform its armed
forces into a modern army up to Western standards, the alliance’s
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg vowed on Friday.Speaking to reporters ahead
of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Romania next week, Stoltenberg urged
countries that want to, either individually or in groups, to keep providing air
defense systems and other weapons to Ukraine. NATO as an organization does not
supply weapons. “NATO will continue to stand with
Ukraine for as long as it takes. We will not back down,” the former Norwegian
prime minister said. “Allies are providing unprecedented military support, and I
expect foreign ministers will also agree to step up non-lethal support.”
Stoltenberg said that members of the 30-nation security organization have
been delivering fuel, generators, medical supplies, winter equipment and drone
jamming devices, but that more will be needed as winter closes in, particularly
as Russia attacks Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. “At
our meeting in Bucharest, I will call for more,” he said. “Over the longer term
we will help Ukraine transition from Soviet era equipment to modern NATO
standards, doctrine and training.”Stoltenberg said Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba would join the ministers to discuss his country’s most pressing
needs but also what kind of long-term support that NATO can provide. NATO’s top
civilian official said the support will help Ukraine move toward joining the
alliance one day. The Nov 29-30 meeting in Bucharest
is being held almost 15 years after NATO promised that Ukraine and Georgia would
one day become members of the organization, a pledge that deeply angered Russia.
Also attending the meeting will be the foreign ministers of Bosnia, Georgia and
Moldova – three partners that NATO says are coming under increasing Russian
pressure. Stoltenberg said the meeting would see NATO “take further steps to
help them protect their independence, and strengthen their ability to defend
themselves.”Since President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion 10 months ago,
NATO has bolstered the defenses of allies neighboring Ukraine and Russia but has
carefully sought to avoid being dragged into a wider war with a major nuclear
power. But Stoltenberg put no pressure on Ukraine to
enter peace talks with Russia, and indeed NATO and European diplomats have said
that Putin does not appear willing to come to the table.
“Most wars end with negotiations,” he said. “But what happens at the
negotiating table depends on what happens on the battlefield. Therefore, the
best way to increase the chances for a peaceful solution is to support Ukraine.”
Ukraine's Zelenskiy Says Europe Must Avoid Division, Set
Low Price for Russia's Oil
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 November, 2022
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday called on Europeans to remain
united against Russia's war and to severely limit the price for Russian oil.
"There is no split, there is no schism among Europeans and we have to preserve
this. This is our mission number one this year," Zelenskiy said in an address
via a live video link to a conference in Lithuania. "Europe is helping itself.
It's not helping Ukraine to stand against Russia, this is helping Europe to
stand against Russian aggression", he added. Much of Ukraine remained without
heat or power after the most devastating Russian air strikes on its energy grid
so far, and in Kyiv residents were warned to brace for further attacks and stock
up on water, food and warm clothing, Reuters said. European Union governments
remained split on Thursday over what level to cap Russian oil prices at to curb
Moscow's ability to pay for the war, and Zelenskiy called on the EU leaders to
settle on the lowest proposal of $30. "The price cuts are very important. We
hear about (proposals to set the cap per barrel at) $60 or $70. Such words sound
more like a concession (to Russia)", Zelesnkiy said. "But I'm very grateful to
our Baltic and Polish colleagues for their proposals, quite reasonable ones, to
set this camp at $30 per barrel. It's a much better idea", he added. The EU
states failed to reach a deal on the price level for Russian sea-borne oil on
Wednesday because a Group of Seven nations (G7) proposal for a cap of $65-70 per
barrel was seen as far too high by some and too low by others.
Poland wants the cap to be set at $30, arguing that with Russian production
costs that some estimate at $20 per barrel, the G7 proposal would allow Moscow
too much profit. Lithuania and Estonia back Poland.
Azerbaijan Cancels Armenia Talks, Says Macron Cannot Take
Part
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 November, 2022 - 12:45
President Ilham Aliyev said on Friday that Azerbaijan did not want France to
take part in its peace talks with Armenia, and called off a four-way meeting
with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council head Charles Michel
in Brussels on Dec. 7.
Aliyev said Macron had "attacked" and "insulted" Baku and should not act as a
go-between. Fighting flared in September between the two former ex-Soviet
countries in their decades-old dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave -
internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but largely controlled by
ethnic Armenians, with backing from Yerevan. Each side accused the other of
triggering the latest bout of fighting, in which Armenia said Azerbaijan had
seized settlements inside its borders. A ceasefire was agreed in late September
and last month in Prague the two countries agreed to allow a civilian EU mission
to be set up on their border. But speaking on Friday, Aliyev accused Armenian
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of trying to undercut the next stage of talks by
insisting France must be a broker. "Macron ... attacked Azerbaijan and accused
us in what we haven't done," Aliyev said, speaking in English at a conference
with international representatives in Baku. He said the French leader had
adopted an "anti-Azerbaijan position" and was "insulting" Baku. "It is clear
that under these circumstances, with this attitude, France cannot be part of the
peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia."Armenia's foreign ministry said it
wanted to maintain the "Prague format" of discussions, which involved Macron and
Michel. A spokesperson said Azerbaijan's assertion that Yerevan was trying to
disrupt peace talks "has nothing to do with reality," the Interfax news agency
reported. Macron has accused Russia of stoking tensions between Baku and
Yerevan, and has also affirmed his support for Armenia's sovereignty in phone
calls with Pashinyan. Armenia also said on Friday that Azerbaijan had not yet
responded to its latest proposals for a peace agreement, which it presented at a
meeting between their foreign ministers in Washington at the start of November.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow - which deployed
5,000 peacekeepers to the region in 2020 to manage a ceasefire after a six-week
war - was ready to help broker further agreements, but that there was no
concrete plan for the leaders to meet in Moscow. Russia is a formal ally of
Armenia but also seeks to maintain good relations with Baku, and resisted calls
to deploy forces to help Yerevan under a mutual defense pact after fighting
broke out in September.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on November
25-26/2022
The Undermined Dictatorships and their Stratagems
Charles Elias Chartouni/November 25, 2022
“Carthago Delenda Est”, Cato, 149 BC
Iran, Russia and Turkey, the three dictatorships with a totalitarian scope have
been cultivating conflicts throughout the last decades as a functional
alternative to their chronic crisis of legitimacy, while failing concurrently to
uphold their destabilization strategy with a coherent narrative, since their
conventional ideological scripts have been alternatively debunked.The Iranian
Islamic saga is overturned, the Russian lamentation over a lost imperial legacy,
and the rejuvenated Islamic Ottomanism, are threadbare reminiscences that find
poor echoes in their respective countries. The Iranian expansionism and its
destabilization strategies throughout the Middle East have proven to be merely
destructive and failed to provide working alternatives, the Russian resuscitated
imperial playbook turned out to be anachronistic and with dismal military
records highlighted in the Ukrainian war, and the Islamist framing of Erdogan
has no other plea to his unfolding conflict simulations, but concocted
conspiracies that failed to uphold his incremental crisis of legitimacy.
The three partake of the same model: domestic survival requires
conspiracy schemes to justify repression on the inside and warmongering on the
outside, and the three cases have, consecutively, failed to gain track, convince
political constituencies and rally public opinions that remained totally
impervious to State propaganda, dictators cynicism and blatant mendacity. In
none of the three cases, the autocrats in power were able to build a deliberate
supportive political environment, and had to fall back on what they know best,
repression, political assassination and exponential militarization of conflicts,
while reneging on diplomacy and doing whatever possible to undermine
international institutions, conventions and mediations. A mere review of the
conflict scenarios in the Larger Middle East ( Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Libya,
Iraq …), Ukraine, and their interfaces, is enough to testify their unwillingness
to work on negotiated solutions, uphold international institutions, avoid zero
sum games and protracted conflicts diegesis, and their intertwining
relationships with domestic repression and the survival of largely discredited
regimes.
The military containment of these dictatorships, the enforcement of political
and economic sanctions (the late statement of the European Parliament on the
Russian State as a sponsor of terrorism, the condemnation of war in Ukraine by
Pope Francis, the blatant denunciation of the Iranian regime’s blind repression
of civil movements, and the manufactured terrorist plots trumped up by Erdogan
to justify his aggression on Kurdish territories on the Syrian-Iraqi borders,
and its correlate schemes invented by the Iranian Mollahs…) are ultimately
required to stymie the disruptive dynamics, create homeostatic stability within
and without, and shield the democratic oppositions from political criminality
and State terror. Demilitarization scenarios (Iran, Ukraine, Yemen …),
diplomatic mediation (Ukraine, Iraqi-Turkish-Iranian interfaces…) and
democratization scenarios within the three respective countries are unlikely,
unless power relationships are redressed, the autocracies contained as a
necessary prelude to political liberalization and negotiated conflict
resolution.
Inside the US: Muslim Brotherhood Member Calls for Jihadist Terrorism Worldwide
Cynthia Farahat/Gatestone Institute/November 25, 2022
Bahgat Saber, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, operates from his New York
apartment and often streams live videos from Times Square. During his multi-hour
videos, Saber routinely incites terrorism, assassinations, kidnapping and
torture in an extremely graphic manner. The calls for violence in his videos are
viewed by millions of people across the world.
In October, when Saber called for bloodshed, he broadcast a code used by
al-Qaeda to activate their cells for open warfare... this time, he specified
targeting opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood's Islamist project anywhere in the
world.
When fatwas -- religious opinions or edicts -- entail orders for assassination,
they are called "blood fatwas." Basically, they are contract killings
masquerading as religious pronouncements.
Akram Kassab, a New York City-based Muslim Brotherhood theologian and member of
the Muslim Brotherhood's International Union of Muslim Scholars — designated by
the UAE as a terror group — issued an assassination fatwa from a Muslim
Brotherhood television channel, Al-Ann, on May 18, 2015.
Ahmed Abdel-Basit Mohamed, also known as "Basit," was sentenced to death in
Egypt for his role in deadly terrorist attacks there. He now lives freely in the
US. Basit confirmed the Egyptian government's accusations when he publicly
bragged about his involvement in a terrorist attack in Egypt in which 506 people
were wounded or killed.
According to Basit's LinkedIn profile, he is currently an Adjunct Professor of
Astronomy at Manhattan College.
The Muslim Brotherhood is directly connected to al-Qaeda and other terrorist
groups. Muslim Brotherhood members such as Saber and Basit operate inside the US
and openly support jihad.
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan turned that country into a transnational
jihadist training camp under the oversight of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated
regime in Qatar, now hiding behind the US airbase there while acting against
America's interests.
How long will the US continue to ignore its self-declared enemies who, while
enjoying the hospitality of the US, plot to destroy her?
In videos posted to YouTube and social media, Bahgat Saber, a Muslim Brotherhood
propagandist based in New York City, routinely incites terrorism,
assassinations, kidnapping and torture in an extremely graphic manner. The calls
for violence in his videos are viewed by millions of people across the world.
(Image source: MEMRI)
A Muslim Brotherhood propagandist based in New York City has called for jihad
both in the United States and internationally.
Bahgat Saber, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, operates from his New York
apartment and often streams live videos from Times Square. During his multi-hour
videos, Saber routinely incites terrorism, assassinations, kidnapping and
torture in an extremely graphic manner. The calls for violence in his videos are
viewed by millions of people across the world.
In October, when Saber called for bloodshed, he used a code-phrase employed by
al-Qaeda to activate their terrorist cells for open warfare. In a video titled,
"Ride, O horses of Allah." Saber started his video with, "We are working in the
upcoming phase on Ride, O horses of Allah" — which is al-Qaeda's call for
activating terrorism.
Usually Saber incites terrorism against Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates; this time, he specified targeting opponents of the Muslim
Brotherhood's Islamist project anywhere in the world.
The code-phrase first appeared in 2005 in the leaked diary of al-Qaeda's former
chief scholar, Abu Anas al-Shami. He wrote that he utilized the historic Islamic
statement, "Ride, O horses of Allah, and preach the good news of Paradise," to
call for jihadist action, and that the phrase "had the effect of a thunder bolt,
and it became the call for jihad."
On October 18, on his YouTube channel, Saber released another video , titled, "Bahgat
Saber Announces War Against Everyone." That blanket statement confirms his
intention to instigate indiscriminate warfare not just in the Middle East but
around the world.
To this day, al-Qaeda utilizes the code-phrase, "Ride, O horses of Allah," in
its media channels to order jihadist action. What is particularly threatening is
that this statement requires an order of nafir, the Islamist order for total and
indiscriminate war. The call entails jihadist action in the US against all
Muslim Brotherhood opponents and infidels, as Saber clearly states in his video.
"We are approaching work to bring down the Egyptian regime and turn its military
into an army of God," Saber said. He later explained that his idea of a
revolution was not "an online post," or a "protest," but an "armed war against
the infidel army" of Egypt. "The time has come," he stated, "for revenge for the
regime... the aim is to cleans the nation of every traitor, everyone who
disobeys God and His Prophet, and their orders."
Saber further noted that "Ride, O horses of Allah" means "the battle has begun."
I, Bahgat Saber, announce that my battle with the military and those who support
them, and [including] all infidels, if they are the descendants of infidels; it
[war] has begun from this hour... Ride, O horses of Allah, our war is on social
media, on the ground, using our words, our arms, using tools whether it was a
pen or a sword, or a rifle....Birth is always accompanied by blood.... blood to
cleans the nation."
Saber later stressed that his terrorist orders targe anyone who opposes the
Muslim Brotherhood: "Listen carefully... I will destroy you, no matter who you
are." He emphasized that he is not simply an opponent of the Egyptian government
and that he will "chop off the heads of all those who betrayed Allah and His
Prophet."
Saber also shared with his listeners thoughts such as: "If you want to kill
yourself, why die alone? Take four or five people down with you."
Afterwards, he announced that he was opening recruitment for what he calls the
"Egypt Liberation Front." Saber, whose group utilizes the Clubhouse mobile
application to connect jihadists worldwide, also mentioned that he had attempted
to travel to Turkey to train Islamists in refugee camps but that the Turkish
government had declined his offer.
Saber's use of the al-Qaeda code, perhaps coincidentally, came just two weeks
after the release of my book, The Secret Apparatus: The Muslim Brotherhood's
Industry of Death, which discussed Saber's activities. It is hard to not take
such threats personally.
Candles, Flowers and Work
The Muslim Brotherhood, like many jihadists and criminal enterprises, relies
heavily on coded language. In 2009, for instance. mass murderer and Taliban
leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, said:
"Rely on guerrilla tactics whenever possible. Plant 'flowers' — improvised
explosive devices — on trails and dirt roads. Concentrate on small-unit
ambushes, with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades."
The term Saber often uses for improvised explosive devices is "Light a candle."
In his video to activate al-Qaeda, Saber recommended: "Light a candle in a
police vehicle." He criticized Islamists who call for jihadist action without
being adequately armed, and stated that he was beginning his terror operation
"through creating cells," that will coordinate with one other.
"One group will be responsible for funding, another for identifying individuals
to be targeted, others for [propaganda] to break the barrier of fear."
He later urged that there should be a plan for taking care of the families of
the jihadists who die or get arrested:
"If a fallen [jihadist] is supporting his parents, his parents become my own...
I will provide for them from mine and my children's livelihood. When they see
you do this, what else would a [jihadist] worry about?"
In addition , he affirmed that he would be financially responsible for the
families of fallen terrorists: "It will be as if you are there for your family
and even better."
Saber in his videos often uses the word, "work," or "revolutionary work." In
April, 2020, he defined what he means by "revolutionary work": to dominate.
"We have a clear mission, and it is revolutionary work, and the definition of
revolutionary work is violent work, and the definition of violent work, is work
that sheds blood. So, you Bahgat wish for bloodshed? Yes, I wish for the
bloodshed of the unjust, the debauchees."
This video has been deleted from the internet, but the author sent its contents
to the New York Police Department on April 26, 2020.
Deadly Assassination Fatwas Issued in NYC
When fatwas -- religious opinions or edicts -- entail orders for assassination,
they are called "blood fatwas." Basically, they are contract killings
masquerading as religious pronouncements.
Akram Kassab, a New York City-based Muslim Brotherhood theologian and member of
the Muslim Brotherhood's International Union of Muslim Scholars — designated by
the UAE as a terror group — issued an assassination fatwa from a Muslim
Brotherhood television channel, Al-Ann, on May 18, 2015. The fatwa stated that
it is a "religious duty, a necessity, and revolutionary dream" to "get rid" of
judges and officials who support the Egyptian government in its war against the
Muslim Brotherhood. Kassab said that it is important to execute "retribution
against them." When the interviewer asked him if his statements could influence
youths to take action, he replied, "Do you mean that they might kill a judge or
a criminal from the police or the military? There has to be an act of vengeance
against them."
After Kassab's fatwa, Egypt's leading prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, was
assassinated on June 29, 2015 by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
The murder was carried out by the Muslim Brotherhood's lijan al-amaliyat al-mutaqadima
("Progressive Operations Committee" or "Special Operations Committee") — a
terror cell operated by the group's "Secret Apparatus." A year before Barakat's
murder, Kassab had targeted Barakat on an official Facebook page, posted
pictures of him with horns, and had asked people to spit in Barakat's face.
Kassab, after issuing his fatwa, similar to the one broadcast by Saber,
continued his work in the US and frequently delivered sermons at the Muslim
American Society Youth Center in Brooklyn.
At least Saber's latest use of al-Qaeda's coded call to jihad has prompted the
Egyptian government to be on high security alert, according to Ahmed Moussa, a
prominent Egyptian commentator and former officer in Egypt's State Security
Intelligence. On October 24, Moussa stated on Elbalad TV:
"This terrorist [Saber] is residing in America, has armed militias, and is
operating them from America.... Our American friends, you claim as a great
nation that you are countering terrorism, yet he is discussing armed terrorist
action and you are harboring him in America. I would like to see how our
American friends will deal with this."
Moussa, announcing that Egypt's military was on high alert, asked what "American
intelligence agencies and the FBI" are going to do about these threats.
Saber's History of Jihadist Propaganda
For years, Saber has operated with impunity inside the US. During a video in
April 2020, he gave a lengthy Islamist religious sermon drawing parallels
between early jihadists who attacked infidel caravans and those of today.
Today's jihadists, Saber said, now have "plenty of caravans." He ordered his
listeners to go to Ramses Square, the busiest public plaza in Cairo, Egypt, and
to target everyone there, "from the cart selling pickles in the market," to "the
trucks carrying vegetables," and even street food vendors selling "selling liver
[sandwiches]." Saber went on to name targets such as police vehicles, military
buildings, government buildings, power lines, gas lines, the Egyptian Media
Production City compound, and even hospitals. He urged his listeners to not
"view ourselves as weak and use our minds and science; what you do not know is
all available on our teacher Google, that can teach you everything, everything."
In the same video, he appealed to so-called "lone wolves" to carry out terror
operations.
In July 2020, Saber demonstrated how to murder opponents of the Muslim
Brotherhood, using household appliances as weapons. He also held a small stick
during the video and said:
"If you stab someone with it, you [can] kill him. You do not really need a
knife, you do not need a missile, you do not need a tank, all you need is to
listen to the word of God."
In an August 2020 video, Saber pressed his listeners to search the internet for
manuals on how to manufacture explosives. Jihadists often call Saber during his
live broadcasts and discuss terrorist activities. During this video, he spoke
with a self-confessed ISIS-affiliated terrorist; they discussed the logistics of
carrying out terrorist attacks.
Saber first advocated for terrorism on US soil during the early months of the
COVID-19 crisis. In March, 2020, during a Facebook live-stream video, he urged
listeners to engage in bioterrorism both in the US and Egypt. "If you are a
soldier," he said, "you can go into the Defense Ministry and shake hands with
all the generals of the military and the police."
"The same is true with the justice system... If you have contracted coronavirus,
you should exact revenge. Avenge yourself, avenge the honor of your women,
avenge the people who are in prison, and avenge the oppressed people."
In the same video, he urged his listeners to spread COVID in the Egyptian
Embassy in Washington, DC.
At one point, Saber even boasted that he does not care about US laws and
ridiculed those who say, "We are living a country and should respect its laws,
and respect this and that..." He said, "What laws, darling?" He then bragged
about his ability to get away with breaking the law: "Bahgat Saber is sitting in
the street saying chop heads off." Law enforcement in the US, he later said
"will neither scare nor shake us."
Saber and his Associates Operate with Impunity in the US
Saber is also seems widely connected to Muslim Brotherhood activists across the
US. One of his New York City-based associates is the self-confessed Muslim
Brotherhood operative, Ahmed Abdel-Basit Mohamed, also known as "Basit."
Sentenced to death in Egypt for his role in deadly terrorist attacks there, he
now lives freely in the US. Basit confirmed the Egyptian government's
accusations when he publicly bragged about his involvement in a terrorist attack
in Egypt in which 506 people were wounded or killed.
In a Facebook post from August 16, 2015, Basit admitted his involvement in
jihadist riots in Cairo in 2013 that led to the deaths of 210 people and the
wounding of 296 others. Jihadists had marched from al-Fateh Mosque in downtown
Cairo to a bridge and reportedly fired automatic weapons at civilians and police
officers. Basit praised a gunman in the deadly riot: "Due to Allah's blessing
and generosity, an armed man appeared from the end of the bridge; seeking God,
the man started shooting at thugs." According to Basit's LinkedIn profile, he is
currently an Adjunct Professor of Astronomy at Manhattan College.
The Muslim Brotherhood is directly connected to al-Qaeda and other terrorist
groups. Muslim Brotherhood members such as Saber and Basit operate inside the US
and openly support jihad.
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan turned that country into a transnational
jihadist training camp under the oversight of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated
regime in Qatar, now hiding behind the US airbase there while acting against
America's interests.
How long will the US continue to ignore its self-declared enemies who, while
enjoying the hospitality of the US, plot to destroy her?
**Cynthia Farahat is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum and author of The Secret
Apparatus: The Muslim Brotherhood's Industry of Death.
© 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.
Tehran Dangles the Samson Option Again
Amir Taheri/ Asharq Al-Awsat/November, 25/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/113632/%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1-%d8%b7%d8%a7%d9%87%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%b7%d9%87%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%aa%d9%84%d9%88%d9%91%d8%ad-%d8%a8%d8%ae%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d8%b4%d9%85%d8%b4%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%ac/
Like a one-trick pony, Iran’s ruling mullahs have played unpredictable so often
that they have become predictable in their unpredictability.
Facing a nationwide uprising that seems to continue despite massive repression
and shaken by the International Atomic Energy’s unexpectedly tough stance on the
never-ending nuclear dispute, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered fresh use of an
old recipe, which has two ingredients.
The first ingredient is an announcement that the Islamic Republic has started
enriching uranium UF6 up to 60 percent instead of the 3/67 percent allowed under
the moribund Obama “nuke deal”. This means that the mullahs intend to speed up
enrichment to 90 percent, which would give them the material needed for
producing nuclear weapons.
The new enrichment program is taking place in the Fordo nuclear center which,
built deep underground, is supposed to be immune from possible air strikes.
As on the eight previous occasions when this trick was used, Tehran’s message is
addressed to Western powers, notably the United States: resume the nuke talks or
else!
Over the years Tehran accumulated over 10,000 kilograms of enriched uranium for
which it had no use except for diplomatic blackmail.
The mullahs played that trick with presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush,
Barack Obama and Donald Trump. In every case, except that of Trump, the trick
worked.
It didn’t work with Trump because he wanted a photo-op with the top mullah as he
had clinched from North Korean despot Kim Jong-un. My guess is that had they
given Trump the photo-op he wanted, they would have received much more than his
predecessors gave.
The mullahs need the process of talking about the nuke deal” to counter charges
that their regime is a global pariah.
Endless talks also enable them to pose as a major power dealing with other major
powers. The daily Kayhan boasts that “all big powers need to talk to Islamic
Republic” because “they know that our revolution can bring down their palaces on
their heads.”
The official FARSNEWS reports that Tehran now has enough advanced missiles to
set the whole West Asia, as Tehran now calls the Middle East, ablaze.
In other words, the mullahs contemplate the Samson option.
At the same time, Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian plays reluctant
debutante by claiming that the US “is begging us to resume talks.” Over the past
two weeks he has been pestering Omani and Qatari foreign ministers with phone
calls demanding they persuade Washington to return to the stalled talks.
The second ingredient in the Khomeinist recipe is the seizure of hostages,
something that the mullahs have practiced since Day-1 in their 43-year control
of Iran.
On Tuesday Tehran announced that 41 foreign nationals have been seized as
hostage and charged with helping the current protests across the country. That
brings the number of hostages now held by the mullahs to 81, the highest since
they seized 52 US diplomats in 1979.
Will the trick work again? I am almost certain that, had it not been for the
current uprising against the Islamic Republic, the Biden administration would
have fallen for the trick with a big smile if only to save Obama’s only legacy
while settling scores with Trump.
It is not hard to expose Tehran’s game as a cheap trick. For years Tehran,
through its lobbyists and useful idiots in Washington, has been selling the
bundle that Khamenei has issued a fatwa banning the production of nuclear
weapons under Islamic law.
To be sure, no one has ever seen that fatwa except Obama, who claimed he had
some knowledge of it. But if there is such a fatwa and the mullahs don’t intend
to build a bomb, why would they need to enrich uranium up to 60 percent? That
degree of enrichment has no obvious use either as fuel for Iran’s non-existent
nuclear power plants or research reactors that need only 20 percent enriched
uranium.
In any case, it is now plutonium that is used for building nuclear bombs rather
than enriched uranium Thus, the enrichment Tehran boasts about is meant as
diplomatic blackmail.
As for seizing hostages as a tool in diplomacy, the past four decades must have
taught everyone not to be impressed. We have been there, seen that and bought
the T-shirt a dozen times.
When it comes to the Samson option that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC)
propaganda is musing about, it would do the mullahs much good to reread the
Bible story.
Samson is the Bible’s Hercules who kills a lion with his bare hands and
dispatches 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. He has the body of a
giant but the brain of a pygmy and lets himself fall for a woman, a symbolic way
of saying he fell for his own folie de grandeur and lost the divine grace that
had given him such strength.
The mullahs’ game worked for as long as it concerned only themselves and the
cynical or lily-livered Western politicians.
This time round, however, a third player is in the field: a good chunk of
Iranian people who feel they cannot take it anymore.
The myth of the Khomeinist despotism as a people-based regime, peddled by
characters like Noam Chomsky, has been punctured. Even Bill Clinton who once
apologized for “the wrong that my civilization has done to Islam” is now
tweeting support for young Iranians calling for regime change in Tehran.
The Khomeinist regime reminds one of the ancient Greek parable about the
hedgehog who knows only one thing and the fox who knows many. The hedgehog could
protect himself for as long as the fox was not willing to use its wider
knowledge against it.
In dealing with a despotic regime such as the one the mullahs have imposed on
Iran the choice is not limited to either surrender to invade as Tehran’s
lobbyists in Washington claim. The best option, perhaps, would be to let the
mullahs stew in their own juice, thus exposing their anachronism while Iran’s
younger generations wish to be part of the modern world warts and all.
For the first time since the mullahs seized power the real battle over the
future of Iran is being fought inside Iran itself. Even assuming that the
Khomeinst regime ever enjoyed divine grace, it is now becoming increasingly
clear that it has now lost it, becoming a caricature of the biblical Samson.
طوني بدران من موقع ذي تابلت: نيتنياهو يريد تحقيق السلام مع السعودية، ولكن لدى
البيت الأبيض أفكار أخرى
Bibi wants peace with Saudi Arabia. The Saudis probably want it, too. But the
White House has other ideas.
Toni Badran/The Tablet/November 25/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/113639/113639/
In an interview a week before his victory in Israel’s general election, Benjamin
Netanyahu stated his intention to achieve peace with Saudi Arabia if he returned
to the prime minister’s office. “I think there’s a chance I will achieve it,
because I think Saudi Arabia … know[s] that I’m absolutely committed to
preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu added.
The administration’s response to Netanyahu’s declared priority of seeking a
peace agreement with Saudi Arabia took a page out of a familiar playbook: use
the Palestinians to throw Israel on the defensive, this time in the form of an
impending FBI investigation into the accidental death of reporter Shireen Abu
Akleh. The fact that the U.S. had participated in Israel’s own investigation of
the incident, and approved its conclusions, meant nothing—as did the absence of
any clear grounding for such an investigation in U.S. law. The investigation was
a “values feint”—highlighting how Israeli policies under Netanyahu supposedly
clash with U.S. values, in order to make it harder for Israel to achieve its
goals in other areas.
The Biden administration’s policy is not driven by personal dislike for
Netanyahu, as reporters and columnists never tire of asserting, or by any
demonstrable interest in the welfare of Palestinians, but by the fact that its
regional priorities are starkly at odds with Israel’s. A couple of days after
Netanyahu’s interview, U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein pranced into Beirut to
receive the Lebanese signature on his maritime border deal, in which the White
House forced Israel to concede to all of Hezbollah’s demands. Standing next to
Hochstein at a press briefing was Elias Bou Saab, one of the Hezbollah cutouts
in the “Lebanese government” who serve as interlocutors with the U.S. “I have
heard about the Abraham Accord,” Bou Saab opined. “Today there is a new era. It
could be the Amos Hochstein accord.”
Even in his clownishness, the Lebanese functionary correctly telegraphed the
Biden administration’s desire to replace the Abraham Accords with a different
framework, representing a new set of priorities. Netanyahu’s vision, expressed
in terms of a regional alignment facing the Iranian threat, is one the
administration is actively working to bury.
The Biden administration’s discomfort with the Abraham Accords has been nothing
short of comical, including a near-pathological aversion to using the term
“Abraham Accords”—substituting instead the phrase “normalization agreements.”
The peak expression of that attitude came last year in a bizarre exchange
between a State Department reporter and spokesman Ned Price, in which Price
repeatedly refused to utter the words “Abraham Accords,” replying each time to
the reporter’s use of the term with the phrase “normalization agreements,” like
a zombified cult member or one half of a diplomatic version of Laurel and Hardy.
The reason for the administration’s hostility to the Abraham Accords goes beyond
jealousy or the desire to deny credit to a hated predecessor. There are
significant matters of substance and strategy at stake. The Abraham Accords
framework is fundamentally opposed to the Obama-Biden vision for the region.
Whereas the Abraham Accords framework draws a bright line separating the
U.S.-allied camp from Iran and its camp, the Obama-Biden vision turns the very
concept of friend and foe on its head, elevating Iran and downgrading allies
under the pretext of creating “equilibrium” or “balance.” The problem the White
House faces is that the accords are popular: The biblical name alone resonates
with the American public.
In the wake of Ned Price’s unintentionally comic attempt to disappear the term
“Abraham Accords,” the Biden administration made a tactical adjustment to its
presentation, if not to its policy. Drawing on the practice perfected during its
incarnation as the Obama administration, team Biden has manipulated language
associated with or adjacent to the Abraham Accords to torque it toward its own
alternative policy framework, thereby emptying the accords of their
meaning—while keeping the popular name.
The administration continued this shift by reemphasizing the importance of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a change in policy emphasis that it accompanied
with a shift in language. “While we support normalization between Israel and
countries in the Arab world,” Price explained, “it’s also not a substitute for
Israeli-Palestinian peace, and that’s very important.”
See how the shell game works? “Peace” is reserved for agreements between Israel
and the Palestinians. The Abraham Accords are therefore not “real” peace
agreements, but “normalization” agreements—which are meaningful only insofar as
they lead back to the Palestinians, thereby reaffirming Obama’s UNSCR 2334
parameters as the only meaningful avenue for U.S. regional policy.
Behind this lexical shift, of course, is something more than the desire to put
Palestinians at the center of the region once more. An Israeli-Gulf agreement
that might also include Saudi Arabia isn’t a “peace agreement” because, whatever
the economic and cultural benefits of closer relations might be, it is also an
alliance of regional states against Iran. The administration’s linguistic
reshuffling is therefore needed to introduce its Iran-centric worldview into the
vocabulary used for the Abraham Accords, imbuing it with new meaning that fits
the administration’s alternative vision for the region, which is centered around
an American alliance with Iran.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement on the second anniversary of the
Abraham Accords provides an example of how the Abraham Accords are being
rewritten and reframed to fit a new regional agenda driven by the United States
and not by any of the parties to the accords. Blinken’s statement made sure to
append the term “normalization agreements,” thereby changing “the Abraham
Accords” into “the Abraham Accords and normalization agreements.”
More importantly, Blinken inserted the term “regional integration” in explaining
the policy approach that the administration is promoting through the accords. A
casual listener is thereby encouraged to imagine that “regional integration”
means strengthening Israeli-Arab relations within the Abraham Accords framework,
while the administration is in fact rewriting that framework to fit team
Obama-Biden’s focus on strengthening U.S. relations with Iran.
That disguising this policy switcheroo is indeed the function of “regional
integration” is evident from an op-ed under President Biden’s name that was
published in The Washington Post a couple of months before Blinken’s statement.
The occasion for the op-ed was Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia in July, following a
visit to Israel. The piece used that association as camouflage to promote the
“regional integration” alternative framework, which was unmistakably about
pressing U.S. allies to prop up—“integrate”—Iran and its regional holdings.
Hence, when offering an example of such “integration,” the op-ed did not discuss
advancing a Saudi-Israeli agreement. Rather, it pointed to the role one of
Tehran’s regional equities—Iraq—played in furthering Saudi dialogue ... with
Iran.
A month after Blinken’s statement, the administration announced it had
successfully brokered the maritime agreement between Israel and Lebanon. When
making the announcement, a senior White House official explained to reporters
how the deal should be understood as a manifestation of the Biden
administration’s vision of “a more stable, prosperous, integrated region.” The
examples the official offered involved other Iranian puppet states: Yemen and
Iraq. Peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia was notably absent from the
“regional integration” agenda.
The Lebanon maritime deal, which the Biden team puffed up as “historic,”
consisted of a package of Israeli concessions to Iran’s foremost regional
equity, Hezbollah. The administration’s messaging infrastructure, in both D.C.
and Israel, promptly classified the deal as more meaningful than the Abraham
Accords—since it was an agreement with an Iranian asset, which is what the
Obama-Biden framework defines as “peace.” The Obama-Biden echo chamber amplified
the “depressurizing/deescalating” message to magnify the importance of the
maritime deal as one that actually “prevents conflict,” as opposed to the
Abraham Accords, which were “out of conflict zone” agreements—a riff on their
initial derision of the Abraham Accords as not being “real” peace agreements,
since those Arab states were never at war with Israel.
Taken together with the Biden administration’s sustained information campaign
against the Saudis over “values” as well as energy policy, the offer America is
making its two leading regional allies is clear: Forget the anti-Iran Abraham
Accords framework. The path to team Obama-Biden’s approval is through “regional
integration” with Iran.
**Tony Badran is Tablet magazine’s Levant analyst and a research fellow at the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He tweets @AcrossTheBay.
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/biden-trashes-abraham-accords