English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 29/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.november29.22.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’”
Luke 10/38-42: “Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’””

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 28-29/2022
Helpless, But Hopeful/Elias Bejjani/November 27/2022
Lebanon’s courthouses suffer from judicial paralysis
Congress delegation meets Mikati, Berri, Bou Habib in Beirut
Report: Western, Arab officials to visit Beirut soon
Mikati says Berri, Franjieh would make 'a successful duo'
Over 10 MPs file appeal against 2022 state budget law
Kataeb denies alleged meeting with Hezbollah amid conflicting reports
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has pledged that Damascus will continue to back Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 28-29/2022
Qatar Forced to Allow Israelis at World Cup
Iranian General Acknowledges over 300 Dead in Unrest
Report: Austrian-Iranian Gets Medical Leave from Iran Prison
Iran Says It Has Proof that Western States Were Involved in Protests
Iran summons German envoy after Rights Council vote
Turkish Forces Nearly Ready for a Syria Ground Operation, Say Officials
Türkiye, Egypt to Re-Appoint Ambassadors ‘in Coming Months’, Says Cavusoglu
Ben-Gvir Says He Will Do ‘Everything’ to Change Situation in Al-Aqsa
Barzani Discusses Border Security in Baghdad
Who are the Iranian-Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq?
Somalia: 100 Shabab Militants Killed in Military Operation
14 years on, NATO to renew a vow to Ukraine
Russia will not halt strikes until it runs out of missiles, Ukraine's Zelenskiy says
Exclusive-U.S., Russia have used 'deconfliction' line once so far during Ukraine war -source

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 28-29/2022
Was San Francisco Election Official Not Rehired Because He Wasn't 'Diverse' Enough?/Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/November 28, 2022
Are Muslims “Invading” the United Kingdom?/Raymond Ibrahim/November 28, 2022
Rishi Sunak Is Trapped in a Tory Civil War/Martin Ivens/Bloomberg/November,28/2022
Between the fear of a failed state and Iranian popular hope/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/November 28, 2022
Iranian regime has already been morally defeated/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/November 28, 2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 28-29/2022
Helpless, But Hopeful
Elias Bejjani/November 27/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/10506/elias-bejjanii-am-weak-and-helpless-but-hopeful/
It is true I am helpless in seeing positives changes in the life of a person that I dearly love and care about.
It is true that I am helpless in giving this person a hand to pull him out from tons of his devastating self inflicted problems, because he does not want help, and does not seek it, and does not accept it.
It is true too that all other involved persons who love this individual and care much about him did all give up, and demand constantly that I do the same.
It is true that I might not be able to save this person from himself not now or in any time in the future.
But in spite of all these sad, traumatic, disappointing and unfortunate actual facts, I am still hopeful positive and solidly believe that Al Mighty God, our loving father is hearing my genuine prayers and He one day shall save this person and shower on him His generous graces of love, faith, forgiveness and wisdom.
The Holy Bible teaches us that when we pray with confidence, faith and believe in God’s mercy and love, He definitely hears our prayers and responds. But His response might be unseen or unidentified by us due to the fact His Wisdom and His ways are very different from ours.
I strongly believe that this sick person will be cured one day, and that Almighty God is listening to my prayers and to the prayers of all those who share my concerns, pains, agony and my heavy burden.
I am more than sure that Our Father, Almighty God shall help this sick person and take him out off the evil traps of temptation to which currently he a prey.
Jesus Christ teaches us that the righteous can not and must not lose hope no matter what the hardships are. How could they lose hope while they are still breathing and full of life?
The righteous live on hope even when they pass away and physically depart this earthly world and sleep on the hope of resurrection.
In God’s Love and Mercy I believe, on His shoulders I lay my burdens, and in His hand I leave all my problems.
Amen

Lebanon’s courthouses suffer from judicial paralysis
Najia Houssari/Arab News/November 28/2022
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s courthouses are paralysed after the country’s judges’ strike entered its fifth month.  This prolonged inactivity has had a severe impact on the daily lives of Lebanese people, with hundreds of pending files and detainees awaiting prosecution. More than 450 of the 560 judges in Lebanon have stopped working, with the rest continuing in military courts or for humanitarian reasons. The strike centers around demands for salary revisions after the collapse of the Lebanese pound, as well as improvements in working conditions. In addition to the collapse of the pound, political interference has caused significant displeasure among many in the judiciary, contributing to the desire to strike. “People are greatly affected,” said Imad Al-Masri, a lawyer specializing in criminal proceedings. “As lawyers, we must defend people’s interests, along with our personal interests, as we are on the verge of bankruptcy and our salary is zero.” He stated that lawyers in Lebanon are unable file complaints to release detainees, noting that preventive detention is limited to two months. “There are humanitarian cases where people have to be released. Some (of those who) were arrested due to misdemeanors … can be released in days at the stroke of a pen. However, they have been held for months in inappropriate conditions and no one is taking action.”Al-Masri added: “Had it not been for the security agencies that are taking action in prosecuting criminals, we would be governed by the law of the jungle.”Another lawyer, who did not reveal his name, said: “Court hearings in a criminal court (are taking place) without a representative of the Public Prosecution office. This court is considered illegal. “Some judges suddenly choose not to suspend their activity and decide to open files that are classified as having political coverage, such as in the bribery file of the directory of road traffic.” The lawyer added that he tried to file an urgent complaint last week before the Cassation Public Prosecution about an attempt to kill one of his clients. However, the complaint was rejected, and when he added that the suspect might kill his client, the prosecution responded that their hands were tied. The judges’ strike has led many citizens to lose trust in the judiciary, with some taking matters into their own hands.
A security source noted that cases of fraud and physical abuse had increased in the last months, and that offenders are no longer afraid since courthouses are not taking any action. Stories of public prosecutors not receiving people’s complaints or legal proceedings, and police stations not receiving directives to arrest suspects, meanwhile, are common. Judges who have suspended their activities have been receiving $1,500 for three months, in addition to their salary, while continuing their strike. However, this is covered by the Support Fund for Judges, a judicial source told Arab News, as a temporary aid while demands for a salary review continue. The Lebanese Judges Association declared last month that “responsibility, anger and blame should be directed at the political authorities. “The case of judges suspending their work was not given any importance, thus leaving the people and judges to suffer humiliation, as if justice is not, and never was a priority,” said the association. Arab News learnt that the Lebanese central bank, the Banque du Liban, had agreed to give judges their salary at the rate of 8,000 Lebanese pounds to the US dollar, subject to the approval of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. At current rates, though, judges’ monthly salaries are worth between 1.6 million pounds ($40) and 8.2 million dependent on rank and experience. These salaries ranged between $400 and $5,000 per month before the collapse of the pound. The increase of the public sector’s wages within the 2022 budget, meanwhile, did not include judges. A judicial source told Arab News: “There is no electricity, no paper and no pens (at the courts). We sometimes use both sides of a sheet of paper and a phone’s flashlight to search files due to the diesel shortage and the generators’ intermittent power. “Consequently, there is neither heating, nor cooling or maintenance, and garbage is piling up in some justice palaces. “There are attempts to interfere politically in judicial files. How can one work in such conditions, in addition to the extremely low salaries?”

Congress delegation meets Mikati, Berri, Bou Habib in Beirut
Naharnet/November 28, 2022
A delegation from the U.S. Congress headed by lawmaker Mark Takano, and Congressmen Colin Allred and Katie Porter, arrived Monday in Beirut. The American delegation met with Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. It will also meet with Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, in its one-day visit, media reports said.

Report: Western, Arab officials to visit Beirut soon
Naharnet/November 28, 2022
Senior western officials, as well as officials from the Gulf countries and the Arab League, may soon visit Beirut, al-Joumhouria newspaper said Monday. The daily reported that the western diplomatic drive would include visits from senior officials from France and the Vatican. Meanwhile, a delegation from the U.S. Congress arrived Monday in Beirut and met with Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.

Mikati says US yet to answer his inquiry about Iranian fuel grant
Naharnet/November 28, 2022
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said that he has “asked the Americans” about the issue of the Iranian fuel grant for Lebanon and that he is yet to receive an “official answer.”“I do not accept to subject Lebanon to any sanctions, whatever they may be,” Mikati added, in an interview on LBCI television.
Separately, Mikati said that Algerian company Sonatrach is willing to supply Lebanon with fuel but noted that “there are problems related to legal matters and work is ongoing to resolve them.”As for the issue of the electricity regulatory commission, Mikati said caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad has “surprised” him by “announcing the reception of applications from six candidates, whereas it was needed to announce five candidates for the regulatory commission (a president and four members).”“I sent a memo in this regard to Fayyad, because that entails a clear violation of the law, and I’m dealing with a political group whose concern is obstruction,” the PM added. He also warned that “without a regulatory commission for electricity there can be no funding from the World Bank for importing electricity from Jordan and gas from Egypt.”

Mikati says Berri, Franjieh would make 'a successful duo'
Naharnet/November 28, 2022
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has lauded presidential candidate Suleiman Franjieh. In an interview with LBCI, Mikati said that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and al-Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh would make "a successful duo," if the latter gets elected as president. "Franjieh is capable of repairing all matters and can be open to the Arab world," Mikati said, adding that he can also unite the Lebanese and protect the national interests.

Over 10 MPs file appeal against 2022 state budget law
Naharnet/November 28, 2022
MP Paula Yacoubian on Monday filed an appeal before the Constitutional Council against the 2022 state budget law. The appeal carried the signatures of more than ten lawmakers. “What’s being published (in the official gazette) is different than what is being ratified in parliament. This happened with the state budget and the course must be rectified,” Yacoubian said. “The hike in the salaries of the public sector must be accompanied by reforms, most importantly axing the illegal employments,” she added.

Report: Qatar suggests Army chief as presidential candidate
Naharnet/November 28, 2022
Qatari officials have suggested to Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil the name of Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun as a presidential candidate as France got closer to announcing its support for Aoun, al-Akhbar newspaper reported.
The daily said Monday that France's endorsement for Aoun has been confirmed. Backed by Riyadh and Washington, France is now close to announcing its support for the army chief's candidacy, al-Akhbar had previously said. Bassil had been officially invited to attend the World Cup in Qatar. He would also resume political meetings that he had started during his latest visit to the country, media reports said.

Kataeb denies alleged meeting with Hezbollah amid conflicting reports
Naharnet/November 28, 2022
Kataeb Secretary-General Serge Dagher denied Monday an alleged meeting with Hezbollah, after a local media report had claimed a meeting between representatives from Hezbollah and the Kataeb party in Beirut's southern suburb. A Hezbollah MP, Hezbollah political bureau member Mohammad Khansa, and Dagher have attended a meeting at the Kataeb's request, al-Akhbar newspaper said, in remarks published Monday. "We have no intention to have a dialogue with Hezbollah, so far," Dagher said, adding that "in case we wanted to communicate with them, we would announce it." Al-Akhbar claimed that although al-Kataeb sources have denied it, other sources have confirmed the meeting. "It happened, and it was not a bilateral nor a secret dialogue, but rather a communication in order to discuss the country's affairs, especially the presidential file," the daily quoted its sources as saying. Later on Monday, sources close to Hezbollah re-confirmed to al-Jadeed TV that the meeting took place around ten days ago at the Kataeb's request, specifying that it was held in the Hadath area. "The meeting between Khansa and Dagher was one of a series of meetings, some of which are being held in Beirut's southern suburb, with the aim of holding dialogue among the various Lebanese forces," the sources added.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has pledged that Damascus will continue to back Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Naharnet/November 27/2022
“We have supported Hezbollah, we are still supporting it and we will continue to support it, because it is a strategic ally for us,” Assad repotedly said in an interview with a number of journalists. Moreover, Assad voiced conern over Lebanon and its future amid the current situation, describing the neighboring country as “Syria’s main flank.” “Stability in it is very important for Syria,” Assad added. Hezbollah has sent thousands of fighters to bolster Assad’s forces in the face of the revolt that erupted in 2011. The Syrian leader’s remarks coincide with remarks by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said Saturday that “Iran’s active policy in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq led to foiling America’s plot in these countries.”“We will continue our support for the resistance forces in the region, Lebanon and Palestine,” Khamenei added.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 28-29/2022
Qatar Forced to Allow Israelis at World Cup
FDD/November 28/2022
Latest Developments
Thousands of Israelis are expected to visit Qatar this month as the Gulf nation hosts the World Cup. Despite the influx of visitors, there are strong indications that the tournament will not herald a diplomatic breakthrough between the two countries. Rather, the developments suggest a pragmatic Qatar willing to do what is required to host the world’s biggest sporting event.
Expert Analysis
“Qatar’s pragmatism vis-à-vis Israel should not be confused for tolerance or diplomatic outreach. Doha’s obsession with the prestige of hosting soccer’s biggest tournament has forced the Gulf country, which doesn’t have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, to be reasonable and allow Israeli visitors.” – David May, FDD Research Manager
Sporting Bodies Crack Down on Discrimination
In recent years, international sporting bodies have cracked down on discriminatory practices, especially as it pertains to Israel. The International Judo Federation has levied significant penalties on Iran for forcing its athletes to forfeit or lose intentionally rather than face Israeli opponents. FINA, swimming’s governing body, formally warned Qatar for refusing to display Israel’s flag or refer to Israel by its name during the 2013 Swimming World Cup. Since then, when hosting international sporting events, Qatar has played Israel’s national anthem and displayed its flag.
Increased Israeli-Qatari Cooperation
FIFA required Qatar to allow Israelis to visit the country as part of the terms for hosting the games. To accommodate the wave of Israeli tourists and deal with any possible emergencies, Qatar has allowed Israeli consular staff to be present during the tournament. And in a first, Qatar is allowing direct flights from Tel Aviv to Doha.
Continued Hostility to Israel
On a less promising note, Qatar reneged on its promise to allow Jewish prayer spaces, according to the World Jewish Congress. Meanwhile, Israeli officials are instructing their citizens not to openly display their nationality during the tournament for security concerns. While in Qatar, Israeli reporters have faced hostility from locals and visiting Arabs.
Qatari Support for Terrorists
Qatar contributes $360 million to $480 million annually to subsidize the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas, which remains committed to Israel’s destruction. Meanwhile, Doha has hosted top leaders of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hamas, and other extremist groups.
Qatar is a Controversial World Cup Host
Qatar allegedly secured the right to host the tournament through nearly $1 billion in bribes. Migrant workers, more than 6,500 of whom have died since Doha was awarded hosting rights, face an exploitative sponsorship system in the Gulf country. After paying a large sum to work in Qatar, impoverished workers are subject to deportation if they do not sign contracts with their employers. Additionally, homosexual acts can carry a seven-year prison sentence in Qatar. There have been several reports of fans having rainbow-colored items, signs of LGBT solidarity, seized by stadium security.

Iranian General Acknowledges over 300 Dead in Unrest
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 November, 2022
An Iranian general on Monday acknowledged that more than 300 people have been killed in the unrest surrounding nationwide protests, giving the first official word on casualties in two months. That estimate is considerably lower than the toll reported by Human Rights Activists in Iran, a US-based group that has been closely tracking the protests since they erupted after the Sept. 16 death of a young woman being held by the country's morality police. The activist group says 451 protesters and 60 security forces have been killed since the start of the unrest and that more than 18,000 people have been detained. The nationwide protests were sparked by the woman's death but rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the theocracy that has governed Iran since its 1979 revolution. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the aerospace division of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, was quoted by a website close to the Guard as saying that more than 300 people have been killed, including “martyrs,” an apparent reference to security forces. He also suggested that many of those killed were ordinary Iranians not involved in the protests. He did not provide an exact figure or say where his estimate came from.
Hajizadeh reiterated the official claim that the protests have been fomented by Iran's enemies, including Western countries, without providing evidence. The protesters say they are fed up after decades of social and political repression, and deny having any foreign agenda. The protests have spread across the country and drawn support from artists, athletes and other public figures. The niece of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently called on people to pressure their governments to cut ties with Tehran over its violent suppression of the demonstrations. In a video posted online by her France-based brother, Farideh Moradkhani urged “conscientious people of the world” to support Iranian protesters. The video was shared online this week after Moradkhani's reported arrest on Nov. 23, according to the activist group. Moradkhani is a long-time activist whose late father was an opposition figure married to Khamenei's sister and is the closest member of the supreme leader's family to be arrested. The branch of the family has opposed Khamenei for decades and Moradkhani has been imprisoned on previous occasions for her activism. “I ask the conscientious people of the world to stand by us and ask their governments not to react with empty words and slogans but with real action and stop any dealings with this regime,” she said in her video statement. The protests, now in their third month, have faced a brutal crackdown by Iranian security forces using live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas to suppress demonstrations. Despite the crackdown, demonstrations are ongoing and scattered across cities. The unrest was sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in Tehran for violating the country’s strict dress code. It has quickly morphed into one of the most serious challenges to Iran's establishment in more than four decades. Iran refuses to cooperate with a fact-finding mission that the UN Human Rights Council recently voted to establish. “Iran will not engage in any cooperation, whatsoever, with the political committee,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.

Report: Austrian-Iranian Gets Medical Leave from Iran Prison
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 November, 2022
Iran has released a 76-year-old dual Iranian-Austrian citizen from prison for health reasons, the Austria Press Agency reported Monday. APA quoted the Austrian foreign ministry confirming that Massud Mossaheb was given indefinite medical leave. The ministry said “intensive diplomatic efforts” had led to his release, which was first reported by Austrian daily Die Presse. APA reported that Mossaheb must remain in Iran and report to authorities every other week. Mossaheb was arrested on suspicion of espionage in early 2019 during a visit to Tehran. He was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison. Two other Austrians remain imprisoned in Iran, APA reported.

Iran Football Legend Daei Targeted by ‘Threats’ after Backing Protests
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 November, 2022
Iranian football legend Ali Daei on Monday said he had been targeted by threats after backing ongoing protests in Iran triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini. Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died on September 16, three days after her arrest by the notorious morality police while visiting Tehran with her younger brother. Daei, whose 109 goals at international level was long unsurpassed until he was overtaken by Cristiano Ronaldo, played in Iran's legendary 1998 2-1 World Cup victory against the United States. He decided not be go to the World Cup in Qatar due to the Iranian authorities' deadly crackdown on the protests. "I have received numerous threats against myself and my family in recent months and days from some organizations, medias and unknown individuals," Daei said in a statement on Instagram. "I was taught humanity, honor, patriotism and freedom.... What do you want to achieve with such threats?" he added. In the post, Daei also called for the "unconditional release" of prisoners arrested in the crackdown on the protests in Iran. Daei earlier this month said he would not be travelling to Qatar for the World Cup, despite having an invitation from the organizers, saying he wanted to be "with my compatriots and express sympathy with all those who have lost loved ones" in the ongoing crackdown. His comments come as Iran prepares to face the United States on Tuesday, in a repeat of the 1998 showdown, with Team Melli seeking to reach the final stages of a World Cup for the first time in its history. There has been intense scrutiny on football as the protests continue in Iran, posing the biggest challenge to the regime since the 1979 revolution. Daei himself reportedly had his passport confiscated when returning to Iran in the early phase of the protests but subsequently had it returned. Prominent Iranian footballer of Kurdish origin Voria Ghafouri, who has been outspoken in his support of the protests, was arrested last week. Iranian media reports said he had been released on bail. But Norway-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw denied this and said he had been transferred from the west of Iran to jail in Tehran.

Iran Says It Has Proof that Western States Were Involved in Protests
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 November, 2022
Iran has proof that Western nations were involved in protests that have swept the country, the foreign ministry said on Monday. The protests, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini after her arrest for "inappropriate attire", pose one of the strongest challenges to the country's clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Reuters reported. "We have specific information proving that the US, Western countries and some of the American allies have had a role in the protests," ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani added.

Iran summons German envoy after Rights Council vote
Agence France Presse/Monday, 28 November, 2022
Iran on Monday summoned the German ambassador to protest last week's U.N. Human Rights Council decision, based on a resolution co-sponsored by Berlin, to probe Iran's response to nationwide protests. It is the third time since the demonstrations started more than two months ago that Tehran has called in Berlin's representative to the Islamic republic. The nationwide protests followed the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, after her arrest by morality police for an alleged breach of Iran's strict dress rules for women. At an urgent session requested by Germany and Iceland, the United Nations' highest rights body voted on Thursday to create a high-level investigation into Iran's deadly crackdown. The state news agency IRNA said Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had called in Germany's ambassador, Hans-Udo Muzel, "following the initiative of Germany to hold a special session" of the U.N. rights council "about the recent events in our country."Iran on Friday said it "totally rejects" the "useless" resolution and would not recognise the fact-finding mission created by the rights council. The foreign ministry reiterated this argument on Monday. "The hasty and instrumentalized use of the human rights question and the adoption of political approaches to pressure independent countries should definitively be condemned," ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said at his weekly press conference. "These actions will not contribute to the promotion of human rights."In late October Iran's foreign ministry summoned Muzel to protest comments by German officials which "incite riots" in the Islamic republic, IRNA reported previously. Earlier this month, the ministry again called in Berlin's representative following remarks by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who asked: "What kind of government are you that shoots at its own citizens?"An Iranian foreign ministry official condemned those remarks and protested Germany's "destructive attitude". Iran labels the protests "riots" which it says were encouraged by Western countries. Other ambassadors, including from France and Britain, have also been called in over the past few weeks.
During Thursday's session in Geneva, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said more than 300 people had been killed since Amini's death.

Turkish Forces Nearly Ready for a Syria Ground Operation, Say Officials
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 November, 2022
Türkiye’s army needs just a few days to be ready for a ground incursion into northern Syria and such a decision may come at a cabinet meeting on Monday, Turkish officials said, as Turkish forces bombarded a Kurdish group across the border.
Howitzers fired daily from Türkiye have struck Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) targets for a week, while warplanes have carried out airstrikes. The escalation comes after a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul two weeks ago that Ankara blamed on the YPG. The YPG has denied involvement in the bombing and has responded at times to the cross-border attacks with mortar shelling. "The Turkish Armed Forces needs just a few days to become almost fully ready," one senior official said, adding that Türkiye-allied Syrian opposition fighters were ready for such an operation just a few days after the Nov. 13 Istanbul bomb."It won't take long for the operation to begin," he said. "It depends only on the president giving the word."Türkiye has previously launched military incursions in Syria against the YPG, regarding it as a wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Türkiye, the United States and European Union designate a terrorist group. The PKK has also denied carrying out the Istanbul attack, in which six people were killed on a busy pedestrian avenue. President Tayyip Erdogan has Türkiye would launch a land operation when convenient to secure its southern border. He will chair a cabinet meeting at 3:30 pm (1230 GMT). "All the preparations are complete. It's now a political decision," another Turkish official told Reuters, also requesting anonymity ahead of the meeting. Erdogan said back in May that Türkiye would soon launch a military operation against the YPG in Syria, but such an operation did not materialize at that time.
Operation ‘inevitable’
The first Turkish official said a ground operation, targeting the areas of Manbij, Kobani and Tel Rifat, was inevitable to link up the areas brought under the control of Türkiye and its Syrian allies with incursions since 2016. Ankara had been in contact with Moscow and Washington about its military activities, the person added. The United States has told NATO member Türkiye it has serious concerns that an escalation would affect the goal of fighting ISIS militants in Syria. Russia asked Türkiye to refrain from a full-scale ground offensive. It has supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's 11-year war, while Ankara has backed opposition factions fighting to topple him. On Monday, the defense ministry said Türkiye’s army had "neutralized" 14 YPG militants preparing to carry out attacks in Syrian areas under Türkiye’s control. It typically uses the term to describe casualties. The defense ministry said on Saturday three Turkish soldiers had been killed in northern Iraq, where the military has been conducting an operation against the PKK since April. Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, having travelled to the Iraqi border area, was quoted as telling military commanders on Sunday that Türkiye will "complete the tasks" of the mission.

Türkiye, Egypt to Re-Appoint Ambassadors ‘in Coming Months’, Says Cavusoglu
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 November, 2022 -
Türkiye and Egypt may restore full diplomatic ties and re-appoint ambassadors mutually "in coming months," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday. Ankara and Cairo may re-start diplomatic consultations led by deputy foreign ministers as part of a normalization process "soon," Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara. After years of tension, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan shook hands with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Qatar this month in what was described by the Egyptian presidency as a new start in bilateral relations.

Ben-Gvir Says He Will Do ‘Everything’ to Change Situation in Al-Aqsa
Ramallah – Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 November, 2022 -
Itamar Ben-Gvir, a leader in the Israeli far-right Otzma Yehudit party and who will be Israel's national security minister in the upcoming government, has vowed to change the status quo in Al-Aqsa mosque. Ben-Gvir also pledged changing shooting regulations against Palestinians and the legalization of settlements.
Speaking to a Hebrew radio station on Sunday, Ben-Gvir responded to a direct question on whether he would allow Jews to pray in the Temple Mount by saying that he would do everything to prevent “racist policies.”The racist policies Ben-Gvir was referring to are those that prevent Jews from performing public prayers in Al-Aqsa’s compound. Ben-Gvir moved on to reiterate that he would work to change regulations on shooting Palestinians, describing the current directives as “stupid,” because they leave Israeli soldiers and police vulnerable. He considered that attackers should be shot even when they do not pose a threat. “Instead of waiting, those carrying a Molotov cocktail should be shot on the spot,” said Ben-Gvir. He also stressed that he would work to change the reality of illegal settlements. “In a few months, we will witness improvement and change, and we will achieve several results,” said Ben-Gvir. Among other things, Ben-Gvir said he would examine whether a law would be passed in the Knesset to deport the families of those who attacked Israelis. Ben-Gvir's statements came two days after his party concluded a controversial agreement with the Likud party headed by Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu. By virtue of that agreement, Ben-Gvir will become the minister of national security with expanded powers. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said that the Palestinians will launch a broad political movement to confront the upcoming ministerial coalition in Israel. Al-Maliki confirmed that Palestinian leadership has sent messages to international bodies, especially the European Union, warning against the consequences of Ben-Gvir assuming ministerial positions in the next Israeli government.

Barzani Discusses Border Security in Baghdad
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 November, 2022
President of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani visited Baghdad to discuss the outstanding issues, including the importance of strengthening the border security of the Region and Iraq, in light of repeated attacks from neighbors Iran and Türkiye. Barzani’s visit to Baghdad - his second in a week - sought to “complete the agenda of meetings with Iraqi political leaders,” a statement by the Region’s presidency said on Sunday. According to the statement, Barzani had canceled the second day of his visit to Baghdad last week to attend the funeral of victims that lost their lives following a gas explosion in Duhok on Monday night. “Barzani is scheduled to complete the visit to Baghdad and hold a series of meetings with a number of other leaders and senior Iraqi officials,” the statement clarified. An official government source revealed that “Baghdad and Erbil agreed to form a joint security committee which would discuss all files with the Iranian and Turkish sides.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is set to visit Tehran on Tuesday. Barzani and the Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim Al-Araji discussed the security and political situation in the country, the source told Asharq Al-Awsat. “Barzani, during his meeting with Al-Araji, showed great flexibility in authorizing Baghdad to form a higher committee,” they added. “In all its meetings, the Region confirms with Iraqi leaders that it is part of Iraq, and therefore it requests a position from Baghdad regarding the attacks it is being subjected to,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Moreover, the source pointed out that the Kurdistan region supports any step taken by Baghdad towards the Turkish and Iranian opposition so long that it is based on the Iraqi constitution. This was affirmed by Barzani during his meeting with Al-Araji. The Iraqi constitution prohibits Iraq from being used as a corridor or a springboard for aggression against any of its neighboring countries.

Who are the Iranian-Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq?
Naharnet/Monday, 28 November, 2022
Iranian-Kurdish rebel groups have for decades sought refuge in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, but they have recently come under fresh fire amid weeks of protests in the neighboring Islamic republic. In the wake of demonstrations sparked by the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini -- an Iranian woman of Kurdish origin -- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has launched missile and drone strikes on the bases of Kurdish groups in northern Iraq. At least 17 people have been killed in these strikes since September, according to an AFP tally based on reported tolls. After previously waging an insurgency against the clerical state in Iran, the groups have largely abandoned combat activities in recent years to focus on political campaigning for long-sought rights for Kurds.
Long-standing opposition
Since the 1980s, Iranian Kurdish factions have made a home for themselves in Iraqi Kurdistan -- often with the blessing of former dictator Saddam Hussein. Tehran classes these groups as "terrorist" and "separatist" organisations, accusing them of launching attacks on Iranian forces. But after decades of armed insurrection, they have heavily scaled back any military activity, while continuing to train fighters at bases in Iraqi Kurdistan's mountainous regions. The oldest is the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), which has repeatedly denied using Iraqi territory to launch attacks on Iran.
Rather, it says its political leadership is headquartered in Iraq's Kurdistan region. The party "fights to realise the national rights of Kurds through a federal and democratic Iran", according to its website. The second-largest is the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, founded in 1969 by intellectuals and students in Tehran and Kurdish cities in Iran. Another target of the cross-border strikes is the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), whose fighters were among the forces that helped drive out the Islamic State group from its former strongholds in Iraq. Also based in Iraq is the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PKK has waged an insurgency in Turkey and is considered a terrorist group by Ankara and its allies. Despite a fragile ceasefire in 2011, sporadic clashes have pitted the Kurdish rebels against Iranian forces.
Political struggle
The groups have supported demonstrations that broke out in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, after her arrest by the morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women. Much of the activism has shifted to social media, where the Iranian-Kurdish factions in Iraq have been vocal in their support of the protests, sharing videos and relaying calls for general strikes. Before the demonstrations kicked off, there were frequent border crossings, says Adel Bakawan, director of the French Research Center on Iraq (CFRI). When these factions "wanted to carry out military action", they would send smaller units across the border to Iran, he added. Today, the "PDKI and Komala are doing everything to avoid militarizing the protests", as Tehran could use this to "justify" an even harsher crackdown, he said. The groups have long denounced discrimination faced by Iran's Kurdish minority -- about 10 million of the 83-million-strong population -- who adhere to Sunni Islam rather than the Shiite branch prevalent in the country. Iranian Kurds complain of a lack of local political representation and an absence of economic development in the country's Kurdish regions. Authorities have also banned them from teaching their language in schools.
Iranian anger
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani has previously stressed that the Islamic republic wants "no threat to Iran's security from Iraqi territory". Iranian officials, who describe the recent protests as "riots", have accused Kurdish rebel groups of participating in the unrest and of crossing into Iran to stage attacks. "Iran is looking for a scapegoat," said analyst Fabrice Balanche. "The Iranians want to portray the protesters as being manipulated by external forces."
Iraqi Kurdish ties
Since the 1990s, an agreement between northern Iraq's Kurdish authorities and the rebel groups has guaranteed their right to reside in the autonomous region -- provided they refrain from any combat activity to avoid compromising ties with Tehran. Kurds in Iran and Iraq speak the same Sorani dialect, and many families straddle both sides of the border. Iranian day-labourers regularly cross the frontier to seek better-paid work in Iraq. Even veteran Kurdish politician Massud Barzani, considered a founding figure of the autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, was born in the short-lived Republic of Mahabad, an unrecognised Kurdish statelet which sprung up with Soviet support in 1946.
It existed for less than a year before Iran reasserted control.

Somalia: 100 Shabab Militants Killed in Military Operation
Cairo - Khaled Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 November, 2022
Somalia’s government said Saturday that a military operation in the country’s Lower and Middle Shabelle and Hiran regions killed more than 100 extremist al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab militants. Somalia’s deputy information minister Abdirahman Yusuf Omar Adala said the operation took place on the outskirts of the village of El-Dhere at the border of the Lower and Middle Shabelle regions and in the central province of Hiran, killing more than 100 al-Shabab fighters, including 10 “ringleaders.”Speaking to the media in the capital, Mogadishu, he added that the operation was conducted by the country’s army, backed by locals and international partners. “The operation targeted more than 200 al-Shabab militants, including 12 leaders, who were gathering for an attack on the Somali military,” Yusuf stated. He welcomed the increase in the number of Shabab fighters who defected from the movement and surrendered to the army since the start of military operations last August, without specifying their number. Al-Shabab had claimed responsibility of an attack against an army convoy in the Ceelasha Biyaha district on the outskirts of Mogadishu on Sunday. Twelve soldiers were killed and 20 others were wounded in the attack. Al-Shabab first emerged in 2004. The group has launched several terrorist attacks in Somalia, killing hundreds of people. Government forces, supported by clan militias, have made a number of battlefield gains against al-Shabab in the last three months, regaining territory long held by the group.

14 years on, NATO to renew a vow to Ukraine
Associated Press/November 28, 2022
NATO returns on Tuesday to the scene of one of its most controversial decisions, intent on repeating its vow that Ukraine — now suffering through the 10th month of a war against Russia — will join the world's biggest military alliance one day. NATO foreign ministers will gather for two days at the Palace of the Parliament in the Romanian capital Bucharest. It was there in April 2008 that U.S. President George W. Bush persuaded his allies to open NATO's door to Ukraine and Georgia, over vehement Russian objections. "NATO welcomes Ukraine's and Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO. We agreed today that these countries will become members of NATO," the leaders said in a statement. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was at the summit, described this as "a direct threat" to Russia's security. About four months later, Russian forces invaded Georgia. Some experts describe the decision in Bucharest as a massive error that left Russia feeling cornered by a seemingly ever-expanding NATO. NATO counters that it doesn't pressgang countries into joining, and that some requested membership to seek protection from Russia — as Finland and Sweden are doing now. More than 14 years on, NATO will pledge this week to support Ukraine long-term as it defends itself against Russian aerial, missile and ground attacks — many of which have struck power grids and other civilian infrastructure, depriving millions of people of electricity and heating. "NATO will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. We will not back down," the organization's top civilian official, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, vowed last week. North Macedonia and Montenegro have joined the U.S.-led organization in recent years. With this, Stoltenberg said, "we have demonstrated that NATO's door is open and that it is for NATO allies and aspirant countries to decide on membership. This is also the message to Ukraine." This gathering in Bucharest is likely to see NATO make fresh pledges of non-lethal support to Ukraine: fuel, electricity generators, medical supplies, winter equipment and drone jamming devices. Individual allies are also likely to announce fresh supplies of military equipment for Ukraine — chiefly the air defense systems that Kyiv so desperately seeks to protect its skies. NATO as an organization will not offer such supplies, to avoid being dragged into a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia.
But the ministers, along with their Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, will also look further afield. "Over the longer term we will help Ukraine transition from Soviet-era equipment to modern NATO standards, doctrine and training," Stoltenberg said. This will not only improve Ukraine's armed forces and help them to better integrate, it will also meet some of the conditions for membership. That said, Ukraine will not join NATO anytime soon. With the Crimean Peninsula annexed, and Russian troops and pro-Moscow separatists holding parts of the south and east, it's not clear what Ukraine's borders would even look like. Many of the 30 allies believe the focus now must be uniquely on defeating Russia. But even as economic pressure — high electricity and gas prices, plus inflation, all exacerbated by the war — mounts on many allies, Stoltenberg would not press Ukraine to enter into peace talks, and indeed NATO and European diplomats say 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."
The foreign ministers of Bosnia, Georgia and Moldova — three partners that NATO says are under increasing Russian pressure — will also be in Bucharest. Stoltenberg said NATO would "take further steps to help them protect their independence, and strengthen their ability to defend themselves.

Russia will not halt strikes until it runs out of missiles, Ukraine's Zelenskiy says
Tom Balmforth and Anthony Deutsch//KHERSON, Ukraine (Reuters)//November 28, 2022
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned Ukrainians to expect another brutal week of cold and darkness ahead, predicting more Russian attacks on infrastructure that would not cease until Moscow ran out of missiles. Russia has been carrying out massive missile bombardments on Ukraine's energy infrastructure roughly weekly since early October, with each barrage having greater impact than the last as damage accumulates and a frigid winter sets in. In an overnight video address, Zelenskiy said he expected new attacks this week that could be as bad as last week's - the worst yet that left millions of people with no heat, water or power. "We understand that the terrorists are planning new strikes. We know this for a fact," Zelenskiy said. "And as long as they have missiles, they, unfortunately, will not calm down." Kyiv says the attacks, which Russia acknowledges target Ukrainian infrastructure, are intended to harm civilians, making them a war crime. Moscow denies its intent is to hurt civilians but said last week their suffering would not end unless Ukraine yielded to Russia's demands, without spelling them out. In Kyiv, snow fell and temperatures were hovering around freezing as millions in and around the Ukrainian capital struggled with disruptions to electricity supply and central heating caused by the waves of Russian air strikes. National grid operator Ukrenergo said on Monday it had been forced to resume regular emergency blackouts in areas across the country after a setback in its race to repair energy infrastructure. Power units at several power stations had to conduct emergency shutdowns and demand for electricity has been rising as snowy winter weather has set in, a Ukrenergo statement said. "Once the causes of the emergency shutdowns are eliminated, the units will return to operation, which will reduce the deficit in the power system and reduce the amount of restrictions for consumers," it said. Along front lines in the east of Ukraine the looming winter is ushering in a new phase of the conflict, after several months of Russian retreats, with intense trench warfare along heavily fortified positions.
With Russian forces having pulled back in the northeast and withdrawn across the Dnipro River in the south, the front line on land is only around half the length it was a few months ago, making it harder for Ukrainian forces to pinpoint weakly defended stretches to attempt a new breakthrough.
Zelenskiy described heavy fighting west of the Russian-held eastern city of Donetsk, where Moscow has focused its assault even as it has withdrawn troops elsewhere, and both sides claim huge casualties with little change in positions. In its evening update on Monday, Ukraine's armed forces General Staff said Russia kept up heavy shelling of key targets Bakhmut and Avdiivka in Donetsk province, and to the north bombarded areas around the towns of Kupiansk and Lyman, both recaptured recently by Kyiv. On the southern front, it said, Russian forces had reinforced positions in occupied territory and were heavily shelling towns on the west bank of the Dnipro River, including Kherson, abandoned by Moscow earlier this month. It said Ukrainian forces had damaged a rail bridge north of the Russian-occupied southern city of Melitopol that has been key to supplying Russian forces dug in there.
Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.
NUCLEAR PLANT
The Kremlin denied Russia had any plans to withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, which it has controlled since early in the war near the front line on a reservoir on the Dnipro. The head of Ukraine's nuclear power operator, Petro Kotkin, had said on Sunday there were signs Russia might pull out. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded on Monday: "There's no need to look for signs where there are none and cannot be any." Russia says it has annexed the area and put the plant under the control of its nuclear power agency. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has called for the plant and surrounding area to be demilitarised to prevent a nuclear disaster. In Kherson, which has lacked electricity and heat since Russian forces abandoned it earlier this month, regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said 17% of customers now had electricity. Other districts would be hooked up soon.
Russian forces who withdrew have been bombarding from across the river, killing dozens of civilians. Liliia Khrystenko, 38, recounted to Reuters how her parents were both killed last Thursday when their building was hit while she was inside with her young son. "I heard my father screaming, telling me to call an ambulance, because my mother was wounded. But I couldn’t call an ambulance, because the (mobile) connection was gone," she said through tears outside the building. "I went outside with my child, and my mother was lying in the building entrance, face down, covered in blood. And my father was sitting by her side, saying he was going to die." Khystenko's mother's body lay on the street for a day before being removed. Her father had been hit in the liver by shrapnel and medics were unable to revive him in hospital. On the diplomatic front, efforts to weaken Russia's ability to fund its war in Ukraine faltered on Monday, when envoys of European Union governments failed to agree on a price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil, diplomats said. Poland, they said, had insisted the cap be set lower than others wanted. "There is no deal. The legal texts have now been agreed but Poland still can't agree to the price," one said.

Exclusive-U.S., Russia have used 'deconfliction' line once so far during Ukraine war -source
Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali/WASHINGTON (Reuters)/Mon, November 28, 2022
A communications line created between the militaries of the United States and Russia at the start of Moscow's war against Ukraine has been used only once so far, a U.S. official told Reuters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the United States initiated a call through the "deconfliction" line to communicate its concerns about Russian military operations near critical infrastructure in Ukraine. Reuters is the first to report on the use of the deconfliction line, beyond regular testing. Few details are known surrounding the specific incident that led to the call on the line, which connects the U.S. military's European Command and Russia's National Defense Management Center. The official declined to elaborate but said it was not used when an errant missile landed in NATO-member Poland on Nov. 15, killing two people. The blast was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile but Russia was ultimately responsible because it started the war in late February, NATO said. Although the U.S. official declined to specify which Russian activity raised the U.S. alarm, there have been publicly acknowledged incidents involving Russian fighting around critical Ukrainian infrastructure. These include Russian operations around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's biggest, which is under Russian control. Ukraine has also voiced concerns Russia might blow up the Nova Kakhovka dam, which holds back an enormous reservoir in southern Ukraine. Bursting the dam would send a wall of water flooding settlements below, including towards the strategic regional capital Kherson, which Ukrainian forces recaptured on Nov. 11. U.S.-Russia communications have been in the spotlight since the start of Russia's invasion of its neighbor, given the grave risk that a miscalculation by either side could cause a direct conflict between the nuclear-armed nations.
SEVERAL WAYS TO COMMUNICATE
The deconfliction line is just one of several ways the U.S. and Russia militaries still have to communicate. Other military channels include rare high-level talks between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The top U.S. and Russian generals, U.S. Army General Mark Milley and Russian General Valery Gerasimov, have also spoken on two occasions since the war started, his office said. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and CIA Director Bill Burns have also had contact with Russian officials. Still, U.S.-Russia relations are at their lowest point since the Cold War and the U.S. State Department said on Monday that Moscow postponed talks in Cairo aimed at resuming nuclear weapons inspections. The Russian foreign ministry confirmed the talks were postponed. Neither side provided a reason. Asked for comment on the deconfliction line, the Pentagon said only that it retained several channels to "discuss critical security issues with the Russians during a contingency or emergency for the purposes of preventing miscalculation, military incidents, and escalation.""We are encouraged by recent senior DoD calls with Russian counterparts and believe continued dialogue is critical," a Department of Defense spokesperson said. Neither Russia's embassy in Washington nor its defense ministry in Moscow responded to requests for comment.
NOT A 'COMPLAINT' LINE
When it was announced in March, the Pentagon said the deconfliction line was created to avoid any inadvertent clashes in NATO airspace or on the ground. "It's not meant to be an all-purpose complaint line where we can just pick up the phone and register concerns about what Russia's doing in Ukraine," a senior U.S. defense official said at the time. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union maintained such hot lines at different levels. Alexander Vershbow, a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow and a former senior Pentagon and NATO official, said the latest deconfliction line was meant to focus on daily operations - as opposed to the more strategic conversations between top officials like Milley and Gerasimov. Vershbow drew a comparison to the far more active deconfliction line for Syria, where U.S. and Russian military forces sometimes operate in the same airspace or terrain. "We've seen this in Syria, where having the direct operational channel can at least clarify intentions during a fast-moving situation where maybe Washington is asleep," Vershbow told Reuters. The deconfliction line is tested twice daily with calls conducted in Russian, the U.S. official told Reuters. A Russian speaker from the U.S. European Command initiates those calls out of Wiesbaden, Germany, the official said. Wiesbaden is also the location of the Pentagon's new Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, or SAG-U, which remotely supports the Kyiv government's defense against Russian troops. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have previously said that early in the conflict planners believed the deconfliction line could be useful if the United States needed to evacuate Americans from Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. When the war began, the United States thought Russia might be able to quickly capture Ukrainian territory, trapping American citizens before they had a chance to leave. One official had speculated it also could have been used if a Russian fighter jet chased a Ukrainian aircraft into Polish airspace, or if a Russian missile crossed NATO airspace.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 28-29/2022
Was San Francisco Election Official Not Rehired Because He Wasn't 'Diverse' Enough?
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/November 28, 2022
The City of San Francisco is a state actor that is constitutionally prohibited from disqualifying job applicants on the basis of race. That is precisely what occurred here, despite the phony claim that Arntz can reapply for his job.
There is one important benefit to the San Francisco decision — at least as compared to university admissions decisions. The San Francisco panel did not try to disguise the racial criteria they are employing, whereas most universities go to great length to deny that race alone is often a dispositive factor in ranking applicants. This will make it easier for the courts to hold San Francisco's Arntz decision as a clear violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
In the bad old days, race was often used to discriminate against Black applicants. Today race is often used to discriminate in favor of Black applicants. I guess that is some sort of progress. But real progress will be achieved only if and when race is no longer a factor that trumps meritocracy. Only then will Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream of how his children and ours should be judged become a reality.
San Francisco is essentially firing its elections director, John Arntz, because he is apparently of the wrong race to satisfy their "racial equity plan." The City of San Francisco is a state actor that is constitutionally prohibited from disqualifying job applicants on the basis of race. That is precisely what occurred here, despite the phony claim that Arntz can reapply for his job. Pictured: A protest at San Francisco City Hall on July 20, 2020. John Arntz has held the job of San Francisco's director of the Department of Elections for two decades. He has been repeatedly praised for his excellent performance at this increasingly important job — important because of so many election challenges and doubts. Just two years ago, the election commission commended him for his "incredible leadership." But now they are essentially firing him because he is apparently of the wrong race to satisfy their "racial equity plan."
This is what he was told:
"Our decision wasn't about your performance, but after twenty years we wanted to take action on the City's racial equity plan and give people an opportunity to compete for a leadership position."
The mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, disagreed:
"John Arntz has served San Francisco with integrity, professionalism and has stayed completely independent. He's remained impartial and has avoided getting caught up in the web of City politics, which is what we are seeing now as a result of this unnecessary vote.
"Over the last year John successfully ran four elections while navigating a pandemic that thwarted San Francisco into crisis response – all without a single issue. Rather than working on key issues to recover and rebuilt our City, this is a good example of unfair politicization of a key part of our government that is working well for the voters of this city."
All of the 12 managers in his department asked that his contract be renewed. But in today's woke world of identity politics, race trumps meritocracy. "Racial equity" plans are apparently more important than electoral integrity.
It well maybe that Arntz's "equity" replacement will be as good as or better than him. There are, after all, highly qualified people of all races and backgrounds. But that is not the point. His contract would clearly have been renewed — he would not have been fired — if he were of an "acceptable" race. But he is not, because he does not meet the criteria for the city's "racial equity plan."
To cover their legal rear ends ("CYA") the panel has said that Arntz can "reapply" and be considered among the pool of candidates who do meet the criteria of racial equity, even though he does not! This "CYA" tactic does not even pass the giggle test.
It certainly does not pass the constitutional test, even the one that currently allows universities to place the thumb of racial diversity on the scale of admissions. That test is likely to be changed — perhaps disallowed — even in the context of private universities such as Harvard. The City of San Francisco is a state actor that is constitutionally prohibited from disqualifying job applicants on the basis of race. That is precisely what occurred here, despite the phony claim that he can reapply for his job.
There is one important benefit to the San Francisco decision — at least as compared to university admissions decisions. The San Francisco panel did not try to disguise the racial criteria they are employing, whereas most universities go to great length to deny that race alone is often a dispositive factor in ranking applicants. This will make it easier for the courts to hold San Francisco's Arntz decision as a clear violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. But even if this particularly outrageous decision is struck down as unconstitutional, many cities and other governmental units will continue to use race as a basis for hiring and firing employees. They will simply be less transparent about it than San Francisco was.
In the bad old days, race was often used to discriminate against Black applicants. Today race is often used to discriminate in favor of Black applicants. I guess that is some sort of progress. But real progress will be achieved only if and when race is no longer a factor that trumps meritocracy. Only then will Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream of how his children and ours should be judged become a reality.
*Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School, and the author most recently of The Price of Principle: Why Integrity Is Worth The Consequences. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute, and is also the host of "The Dershow" podcast.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Are Muslims “Invading” the United Kingdom?
Raymond Ibrahim/November 28, 2022 
The secretary of the United Kingdom’s Home Office, which regulates immigration, recently caused a scandal by referring to the nonstop immigration of mostly Muslim migrants as an “invasion.” On 30, 2022, Suella Braverman said:
The British people deserve to know which party is serious about stopping the invasion on our southern coast and which party is not… Some 40,000 people have arrived on the south coast this year alone, many of them facilitated by criminal gangs, some of them actual members of criminal gangs. So let’s stop pretending that they are all refugees in distress: the whole country knows that that is not true…. I’m utterly serious about ending the scourge of illegal migration and I am determined to do whatever it takes to break the criminal gangs and fix our hopelessly lax asylum system…
Needless to say, such frank assertions “sparked an instant backlash from all sectors of the globalist establishment in Britain, from the legacy media to politicians in both the Labour Party and the Conservatives.”
Meanwhile, and seemingly confirming Braverman’s concerns, outrageous numbers of migrants, the overwhelming majority arriving from the Muslim world, have indeed flooded the UK. According to one report, in just the first half of 2021, “an astonishing 1.1 million visas [were] granted for people to come and live in the UK… It is the highest number of visas for people to come and live here ever issued in one year, suggesting that, despite repeated promises to control and reduce immigration, the government are delivering the opposite.”
Then there is the huge “number of applicants awaiting decisions on asylum” in the UK, which has risen by 300% in four years.
According to yet another source, “In 2021, the top five most common countries of nationality of people who applied for asylum in the UK were Iran, Iraq, Eritrea, Albania and Syria.” With the exception of Eritrea, which is roughly half Muslim, half Christian, every one of these nations is overwhelmingly Muslim majority. Incidentally, these numbers are separate from the pre-existing Muslim population of the UK, which, in 2017—before the recent migrant influx—was well over four million, or 6.3 percent of the entire, formerly Christian, population.
Little wonder that the name “Muhammad” is the most popular name for newborn baby boys in England; little wonder that Muslims in the UK and other Western European nations with large Muslim populations, regularly boast of demography as destiny. As one report explained in 2008, “Muslim hate fanatics plan to take over Britain by having more babies and forcing a population explosion… The swollen Muslim population would be enough to conquer Britain from inside, they claim.”
Despite all of this, is it correct to refer to this Muslim migrant explosion an invasion?
In fact, it is not. Consider some authoritative dictionary definitions of “invasion”:
Merriam-Webster: an “incursion of an army for conquest or plunder… an instance of invading a country or region with an armed force. … an unwelcome intrusion into another’s domain.
Cambridge: “an occasion when an army or country uses force to enter and take control of another country.”
Oxford: “the act of an army entering another country by force in order to take control of it.”
Now, to be sure, and as chronicled here and here, Muslims have, for over a millennium, launched countless military invasions into Europe that very much conformed to these definitions. They came as an “army,” used “force to enter and take control” of various nations, and all “for conquest or plunder.”
While some of these invasions saw the long term conquest of European nations—Spain, the Mediterranean islands, the Balkans—jihadist invasions that did not lead to conquest but acquired much by way of booty and slaves were habitually launched against virtually every corner of Europe, as far as Iceland. Indeed, from 1627 to 1633, Lundy, an island off the west coast of Britain, was actually occupied by Muslim pirates from North Africa, who pillaged England at will.
Moreover, many of today’s Muslims who migrant to Europe harbor the same motives of “conquest and plunder,” which in Rotherham, England, for example, saw thousands of young British girls turned into sex slaves.
Even so, the all-important ingredient that would qualify what is happening today as an “invasion” is missing: Muslims are not entering the UK by “force,” against the UK’s will. They are being welcomed in by the government and authorities of the UK—those most charged with protecting and maintaining the national character of the UK. This is why, Eastern Europe—which, thanks to its geographic proximity to Islam, has historically bore the brunt of and suffered from invading Islam—is not suffering now. Unlike the UK and many other Western European nations, Poland, Hungary, and their like have simply said no to migration from Muslim nations; and their native citizens are thanking them for it. In short, if you’re invited in, you cannot be called an “invader”—regardless of your intentions. Thus, and at the risk of appearing to quibble over semantics, what is happening today all throughout the West in general and the UK in particular must be seen and called out for what it actually is: not an unstoppable invasion, but an assisted suicide.

Rishi Sunak Is Trapped in a Tory Civil War
Martin Ivens/Bloomberg/November,28/2022
When Lewis Carroll’s Alice says she can't believe impossible things, the White Queen gives the smart politician’s reply: “I daresay you haven't had much practice. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
Rishi Sunak, the UK’s pragmatic new prime minister, doesn’t believe impossible things either. However, a number of powerful factions within the ruling Conservative party want several contradictory things “before breakfast” — and even more of a challenge, before the next general election in two years’ time.
The prime minister is being forced to fend off attacks within his party while a Labor opposition under Keir Starmer, reinvigorated by a 20-point lead in the opinion polls, savages the Tory record since 2010. He has enough material to go on — real disposable income is set to drop by 7.1% over the next two years. All things being equal, that spells electoral doom for the party in power for the last 12 years.
Sunak is indeed trapped in a vicious circle. He is criticized by many in his party for presiding over a “high-tax, low-growth” economy. The prime minister, therefore, proposes to stimulate it by building more houses and getting around bottlenecks in the labor market through immigration. Unfortunately, though his party base accepts the diagnosis, it refuses both remedies.
The PM also knows that post-Brexit trade deals have not compensated for the loss of access to the European single market. Yet any talk of reviving trade and investment through an accommodation with Brussels is also greeted by howls of betrayal from the Tory right, clinging to the vision of a “pure Brexit.”
Angered by the tax increases in the Autumn Statement and plans for economic retrenchment, many restive Conservatives yearn to put rocket boosters on growth. On this point, I sympathize. Why reduce demand in a downturn — the inevitable effect of tax hikes? There is a decent argument to be had on this point. However, Tory MPs seem keener on opening up a number of battlefronts on both the left and right wings of the party. On Tuesday night, rebels successfully stalled the government’s plan to build 300,000 homes a year — an entirely notional target, last achieved 45 years ago. But, in the process, they have attacked a central tenet of Sunak’s election pitch to restore the reputation of the party among would-be home-owners.
Many economists argue that house building is the best way to stimulate activity in a recession. It did just that during the Great Depression in the 1930s. In any case, the country needs to build affordable new homes for young people. If they can’t get on the housing ladder, they will vote Labor. Sunak knows that at heart. The electoral map of London has turned Labor red in recent years because rents and house prices are too high. Nationally, voters under 50 have turned away from the Tories.
The rebels, however, are more reflective of their constituents. These NIMBY (not in my backyard) voters resent new developments on green fields that will block their view. Everyone agrees in principle to construction on brownfield sites in the UK’s low-density cities. But then the leader of the rebels — former Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers — also insists that the government should not “urbanize the suburbs” either, where can Sunak build?
If the prime minister can’t enforce his national planning regime against his own MPs, I would suggest he narrow his ambitions to a more limited but perhaps more achievable target.
Sunak should throw his weight behind the development of the booming Oxford-Cambridge-London high-tech triangle where growth is currently hindered by planning constraints. In the past, a Cabinet minister, Michael Heseltine, was vested with enormous powers to revive the docklands of Liverpool and the capital. He succeeded spectacularly. A similar initiative, offset by plans for renewal in the post-industrial North, could deliver large economic gains at smaller political cost.
The Office for Budgetary Responsibility, which checks the government’s tax-and-spend homework, predicts that increased immigration will encourage economic activity and bypass bottlenecks in a tight employment market. The Confederation of British Industry and the farming lobby both want workers from abroad to fill vacancies. However, that opens another battlefront. A key Brexit demand was control of immigration, ending the free movement of people into the UK from the European Union. Official figures released on Thursday show that UK net migration hit 504,000 in the year to June. Post-Brexit, the number of migrants has actually risen. Brexit voters are furious at the influx. Mass migration, in turn, turns Sunak’s crisis into an alarming vicious circle: the population surge increases the demand for housing. One Housing Ministry report four years ago estimated that prices had been driven 20% higher over a 25-year period from 1991. If the Tory leader wants to break out of this trap, he has to tackle labor shortages at the source. More than five million adults are economically inactive in the UK — a number that has swollen by another 600,000 since the pandemic. Some are unemployable through long-term physical and mental disabilities but many are healthy — and must be incentivized to return to the labor force.
Sunak must either get more people back to work and reduce immigration numbers, or allow mass immigration to continue but build more homes to house the newcomers. Instead, the UK has both more migrants and an inflationary housing shortage.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development calculates that the UK will suffer more than most developed nations during the downturn. Barriers to trade with the EU are clearly a hindrance to growth but when unnamed sources told The Sunday Times that the government was contemplating a Swiss-style deal with Brussels there was an outcry from the Conservative party’s right wing.
Never mind that there is no Swiss option on the negotiating table. In any case, neither the Tories nor the Labor party currently favor what such a deal would entail: paying into the EU budget, acceding to European judicial primacy, and allowing freedom of migration. Yet some reduction in trade friction would be welcome. Sunak, although a committed Brexit supporter, is a more amenable negotiating partner to Brussels than his two immediate predecessors, Liz Truss and Boris Johnson (both of whom are leading another revolt against Sunak focused on their opposition to onshore wind farms).
In truth, Sunak is faced by an unholy alliance of diehard Leavers and Remainers who don’t really want to make a pragmatic Brexit work. The diehards want no compromise with the EU. The Remainers want a re-run of the referendum. The new leader at the helm is an affable, conflict-averse politician but avoiding all rows is an impossible thing. The prime minister will soon need to choose where to make a stand against his own enemies within. And unless he can offer them a glimmer of economic growth, the chances of revival are narrowing by the month.

Between the fear of a failed state and Iranian popular hope
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/November 28, 2022
The current protest movement in Iran appears to be the result of the refusal of the Iranian regime to consider the social transformations that the country has experienced since 1979. These transformations could lead to different outcomes: The continuation of the status quo, the emergence of a military government or, in the longer-term, the establishment of a new secular political regime.
The revolutionary movement of the fall of 2022 is both an indicator of the underlying Iranian discontent since 1979 and the synthesis of previous movements (protests for gender equality, minority rights, political liberalization, and improvements in socioeconomic conditions). Because of its revolutionary dimension, the current movement can be compared, to a certain extent, to the Iranian situation of 1977-1978. Indeed, back then, the concept of a revolution was a question of “thinking the unthinkable.” In other words, it was only four months before the shah’s departure that Western diplomats started to think seriously about the possibility of the fall of the Pahlavi regime. This inability of observers at the time to anticipate the fall of the Iranian monarchy can be explained by three errors of Western analysis during the first half of 1978.
First, US intelligence services overestimated the strength of the shah’s state security apparatuses that confronted the popular Iranian uprising. This is the same today, with the strength of the “Islamic Republic” blown out of proportion, but there is a noticeable difference to the past: The shah did not order a mass crackdown on protesters in 1978, nor was he receptive toward forming a military junta in Iran. However, in 2022, the order to kill protesters was given by the highest Iranian state authorities and was executed by the country’s various security apparatuses.
Given the mentioned context, an important question arises: If the demonstrations are further prolonged, will the members of the Iranian security forces continue to blindly accept the order to kill protesters or will they defy? Overall, the security approach of the Iranian state is both a strength and a weakness for its political-religious elite. A strength because this is a means of guaranteeing the survival of the political system and a weakness because the political and economic costs of repression will fuel further popular discontent and risings against the political-economic status quo.
The security approach of the Iranian state is both a strength and a weakness for its political-religious elite
Secondly, observers were unable to identify any other opposition movements or political leaders to bring about regime change. Before 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini was considered by some Western academics as an Iranian Gandhi and he was expected by most to engage in religious and spiritual activity in the religious cities of Qom and Najaf, and not to be involved in the daily politics of the new revolutionary regime after the fall of the shah. In 2022, Western observers are having the same difficulty in identifying any political alternatives to the current regime.
The dominant discourse focuses on the absence of alternatives among the Iranian political forces based inside Iran, which is the result of the elimination of any opposition force inside the country by the Khomeinist regime between 1979 and 1982. The political role of Iran’s diaspora is important, as Iranian political forces based outside the country can take advantage of the West’s open political and media spaces to project another narrative regarding the current protests.
However, the diaspora also faces a major handicap, as the same forces have difficulty in playing a larger role in leading and directing the current protests, other than being the external face of the demonstrations. This role of being a voice of the protesters is nevertheless decisive and the Iranian authorities have decided to escalate their targeting of Persian-language outlets based outside Iran. The Voice of America, BBC Persian and the London-based channel Iran International have all recently experienced harassment and intimidation from the Iranian regime.
Finally, the fall of the shah was announced on several occasions between 1953 and 1978. The same can be said of the current regime: The fall of the Khomeinist regime has been announced many times since 1982. There is, therefore, widespread skepticism regarding the question of the “beginning of the end” of political regimes. The Iranian regime relies on drawing comparisons with the outcomes of the Syrian and Libyan revolutions of 2011 to create fear and generate uncertainty about the possibility of a post-Islamic Republic Iranian state.
What is unprecedented today is the emergence in the West of public debate on regime change in Iran, particularly on whether there will be a transition to a military or a secular state. The very existence of this debate shows the novelty of the current protests; however, it is too early to tell which scenario will prevail in the future. In the short-term, the most probable outcome is for the political-economic status quo to remain in place.
**Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is president of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami

بارعة علم الدين/عرب نيوز: لقد تم بالفعل هزيمة النظام الإيراني أخلاقيا
Iranian regime has already been morally defeated
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/November 28, 2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/113694/113694/
Iran’s leaders may be facing existential challenges at home, but Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was, in recent days, still focused on exporting the revolution overseas. He boasted about how Tehran had succeeded in building a “strong presence” in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, asserting that his theocratic regime had “transformed the hearts of neighboring nations.”
But where are all these supposed “transformed hearts” in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon? Shiites in these countries have been horrified by the carnage in Iran, just as they have been shocked at how Tehran has transformed their once-flourishing nations into failed states. Pro-Iran TV channels like Al-Manar have been defensively tying themselves in knots explaining why vivacious young women like Nika Shakarami, Sarina Esmailzadeh and Mahsa Amini ended up dead. Overseas expressions of support for the brutal crackdown have been notable by their absence.
Not long ago, Sunnis and Shiites throughout the region were at each other’s throats — largely the product of Iranian interference. Yet in locations like Lebanon, Iraq and Bahrain, it increasingly feels as if a new dynamic is in play, bringing various sects together in support of greater national unity and identity — and in opposition to hostile foreign interference. Iran’s revolutionary exports are no longer in demand.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is effectively in a state of war with Iraqi Kurdistan, having fired hundreds of missiles and drones into Kurdish areas and threatened a ground invasion. Iranian stooges in the Iraqi government have further fueled tensions by demanding measures against Iranian Kurd groups in the north of the country — despite these groups having played no significant role in the uprising. There is a bitter irony in Iraqi troops being sent to the borders to defend against their overbearing neighbor, which never tires of claiming to act in defense of Iraqi Shiites.
Iran has, meanwhile, been seeking to destabilize neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan. This includes efforts to mobilize Shiite Azeris in these states. Local journalists and analysts have warned of the establishment of theological and economic institutions that are transparent vehicles for espionage and subversion. Head of the Azerbaijan-Georgia Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, MP Arzu Nagiyev, warned that Iran was seeking to trigger sectarian conflict.
The international community must assist long-suffering Iranians in ensuring that this regime is removed in its entirety.
With Iranian drones and missiles currently wreaking havoc throughout Ukraine, this lunatic theocracy is hell-bent on waging war against the entire world. In recent days, IRGC commander Hossein Salami declared that “this great sedition and world war will be turned into a graveyard of the enemies,” while denouncing protesters as “unbelievers” and indicating that they would be confronted militarily.
It was announced last week that Iran was embarking on a massive expansion of its nuclear activities and would commence enriching uranium to 60 percent at the Fordow nuclear site, having already been conducting such activities at Natanz. There is no conceivable peaceful purpose for such efforts. The ayatollahs intend to use this highly enriched uranium in warheads that they envisage will soon be pointed at regional states and the West. Are we to just passively observe as — like with North Korea — they cross the threshold to being a military nuclear power?
Khamenei went on to praise Basij militias for “protecting” Iran against “rioters” and “thugs.” He added: “The presence of the Basij shows that the Islamic Revolution is alive.” These Basij elements Khamenei is so proud of are complicit in the routine use of rape and torture against young female and male detainees. Nearly 150 eye specialists last week signed a letter warning of large numbers of protesters who had lost eyes due to live ammunition used by snipers. Khamenei’s own niece, Farideh Moradkhani, has now denounced this “murderous and child-killing” regime, following her own arrest, and called on foreign governments to cut all ties with Tehran.
In another shockingly widespread practice, protesters have been bundled into ambulances full of IRGC personnel ready and waiting to give arrivals a severe beating before detaining them. This has a disturbing parallel with how pro-Iran militias, at the height of the 2006 sectarian bloodshed, exploited their control of Iraq’s Health Ministry to lend out ambulances to Shiite death squads, who used these vehicles to abduct and gruesomely murder thousands of Sunni civilians.
Even staunch insiders have realized that the regime is on course for disaster. Several of these figures made a rare intervention with Khamenei. Prominent officials Ali and Amoli Larijani apparently reminded Khamenei that when the shah attempted to brutally repress demonstrations in 1978 it brought about the end of the monarchy. Khamenei reportedly retorted that those who opposed him deserved to be executed as an example to others.
At the recent Manama Dialogue, senior Western officials voiced their concerns that, if the regime fell, whatever followed could be worse, including the scenario of all-out civil war. If the mullahs were forced out, the most likely scenario would be an IRGC-attempted military takeover. As occurred in Sudan and Algeria after 2019, the military may believe that it can endure by throwing certain civilian leaders overboard, while continuing to wield power with an iron fist. The regime, in any case, has long been moving toward a situation where the Revolutionary Guard controls all the principal centers of power, including its domination of vast economic conglomerates.
The international community must assist long-suffering Iranians in ensuring that this regime is removed in its entirety and that they do not transition from corrupt theocracy to military dictatorship. This requires long-term commitments to support Iranians in building institutions and demilitarizing their nation, so that the IRGC’s immense paramilitary network no longer poses a threat to Iran or its neighbors.
Under the slogan of “Women, Life, Freedom,” Iranians are making unimaginable sacrifices in their struggle against tyranny. It is time world leaders realized that greater sacrifices and commitment will be required on their part if we are truly to be rid of a terrorist regime that excels in crimes against humanity and threatens ballistic, paramilitary and nuclear annihilation.
Now entirely dependent on the tactics of torture, rape and murder to keep its citizenry in check, this is a regime that has already been morally defeated. Now it must be thoroughly dismantled from the top down.
**Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.