English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 30/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus Chooses 4 of his Disciples, Peter & Andrew his brother, & James Son Of Zebedee & His Bother, John
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 04/18-25: “As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 29-30/2022
UN Special Coordinator calls for full implementation of Resolution 1701
Lebanese troops called in to halt drug turf war
Report: Mikati to call for cabinet session next week
US ambassador urges president election, says situation not hopeless
Powerful flashfloods wreak havoc in Keserwan and Jbeil
Joint committees convene in key session over capital control law
Jumblat 'understands' Othman amid judicial paralysis
Report: Berri floats name of Pierre Daher to press LF on Franjieh
Mikati says US yet to answer his inquiry about Iranian fuel grant

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 29-30/2022
UN Special Coordinator calls for full implementation of Resolution 1701
Lebanese troops called in to halt drug turf war
Report: Mikati to call for cabinet session next week
US ambassador urges president election, says situation not hopeless
Powerful flashfloods wreak havoc in Keserwan and Jbeil
Joint committees convene in key session over capital control law
Jumblat 'understands' Othman amid judicial paralysis
Report: Berri floats name of Pierre Daher to press LF on Franjieh
Mikati says US yet to answer his inquiry about Iranian fuel grant
UN to Vote on Iran's Future on Women's Rights Body in December
Iranian Vice President Rules out Referendum amid Ongoing Protests
Iranian Reporters Grill U.S. Coach And Star At World Cup And It Goes Off The Rails
U.S. to reinforce NATO's presence 'from the Black to Baltic Seas' - Blinken
Russia's Medvedev warns NATO over supplying Ukraine with Patriot systems
A Russian couple who opposed Putin and the Ukraine war sought asylum in the US. They were detained for six months.
UNICEF Condemns Violence against Children in Iran Protests
Israeli fire kills three Palestinians in West Bank
Egypt Insists on Withdrawal of Mercenaries from Libya
UN Special Coordinator Warns Oslo Accords Are ‘Slipping Away’
SDF in Syria Wants 'Stronger' US Warning for Türkiye
Biden, Macron Ready to Talk Ukraine, Trade in State Visit
Iraq PM, Iran president vow to fight 'terror'
China Cities under Heavy Policing after Protests

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 29-30/2022
Khamenei’s Confession/Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al Awsat/November 29/2022
Musk Must Preserve Twitter’s Most Vital Function/Gearoid Reidy/Bloomberg/Tuesday, 29 November, 2022
China Protestors Call for End to The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Rule/Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute./November 29, 2022
Pakistan’s New Military Leader and the Gulf/Simon Henderson/The Washington Institute/November 29, 2022
Netanyahu and Hamas Set to Coexist Uneasily Again/David Pollock/The Washington Institute/November 29, 2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 29-30/2022
UN Special Coordinator calls for full implementation of Resolution 1701
Naharnet/November 29, 2022 .
United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix have briefed the Security Council on the latest report of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and the situation in Lebanon, the U.N. said in a statement.
The Special Coordinator commended Lebanon and Israel for putting an end to their maritime boundary dispute and establishing a permanent maritime boundary on 27 October. "This is a historic achievement that could promote security and stability in the region and generate economic benefits for both countries," Wronecka said. While welcoming this progress at the regional level, the Special Coordinator said more needed to be done internally in Lebanon to address a multitude of accumulating political and socio-economic crises. She noted in particular the urgency of prioritizing the election of a new President to end the vacuum in Lebanon and the formation of a fully functional government.
"Amid a dire socio-economic situation, Lebanese people are expecting nothing less from their leaders than acting with only national interest and the public good at heart," the Special Coordinator said. "I reiterate my calls on all Lebanese political leaders to apply a constructive approach and build bridges so as to overcome difficulties and disagreements," she added.
Wronecka emphasized the need for fully functional state institutions that are empowered and able to move forward with the implementation of urgent reforms, including those required to finalize an agreement with the IMF. "Doing so is necessary to ensure a more stable and prosperous future for the Lebanese people, who are sadly the most affected by the prolonged and protracted socio-economic crisis," the Special Coordinator said.
In line with calls for more empowered and effective state institutions in Lebanon, the Special Coordinator encouraged the adoption of legislation that strengthens the independence of the judiciary. She echoed the appeal of the U.N. Secretary-General to Lebanese authorities to overcome the obstacles impeding the conclusion of an impartial, thorough and transparent investigation into the devastating 2020 Beirut Port explosion.
The Special Coordinator acknowledged the tireless efforts of the Lebanese Armed Forces and other state security institutions to preserve stability and security in Lebanon under challenging conditions, stressing that they deserve continued and enhanced international support. Noting the commitment of both Lebanon and Israel to Resolution 1701, the Special Coordinator recalled that both countries needed to do more to ensure the full implementation of the resolution for the sake of long-term peace, security and stability in the region. In conclusion, the Special Coordinator reiterated the commitment of the United Nations to continue standing by Lebanon and its people.

Lebanese troops called in to halt drug turf war

Najia Houssari/Arab News/November 29, 2022
Lebanese troops were forced to step in to end the fighting in an area adjoining the Burj Al-Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees
Clashes initially broke out when Hassan Jaafar, an alleged Syrian drug dealer with a Lebanese mother, began arguing with members of a rival family
BEIRUT: Rival drug-dealing families using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades brought mayhem to the streets of a southern Beirut neighborhood during a series of violent clashes on Tuesday. Lebanese troops were forced to step in to end the fighting in an area adjoining the Burj Al-Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees after members of the two families became embroiled in a dispute over drug trafficking. Clashes initially broke out late on Monday when Hassan Jaafar, an alleged Syrian drug dealer with a Lebanese mother, began arguing with members of a rival family living in the same area, known as the Baalbekien neighborhood. Samir Abu Afash, an official of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Fatah movement in Beirut, told Arab News that Jaafar started “shooting randomly in the direction of the camp” due to a dispute with other gunmen.
“We feared that something was planned against the camp,” he said. Abu Afash said that the PLO has pledged not to interfere in Lebanese affairs, or involve refugee camps in any disputes between the Palestinians and the Lebanese.
“So we contacted the Lebanese army and Hezbollah to stop the clashes. But the fights continued throughout the night and intermittently until the army intervened in the morning and entered the haven Jaafar had formed years ago for his gang and arrested two people. Jaafar remains at large.”
He added: “Hezbollah and the Amal Movement have repeatedly stressed that they do not provide cover for Jaafar, and when they do intervene, he usually lays low for a while. Jaafar was able to make a name for himself in the area and managed to bring in prohibited materials into the camp, including building materials for example, along with drugs.”The army is believed to have seized stolen items, including motorcycles, during the raid. Burj Al-Barajneh camp is home to over 35,000 Palestinian refugees, as well as some Syrians and Palestinians who fled from Syria. Lebanese security forces are combating drug dealers in neighborhoods adjacent to the camp. According to a security source, dealers and distributors encourage people from the site to sell their drugs. Havens for drug dealers and fugitives are common in various Lebanese regions, especially in Hezbollah areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in northern Bekaa, although the party claims to have nothing to do with them. The problem appears to have worsened in recent months, with drug dealers even threatening the security services. Lt. Col. Ibrahim Rashid, head of the regional anti-narcotics office in Tripoli, said that statistics showed an increase in the numbers of drug addicts and dealers since 2016. The problem is placing greater strain on Lebanon’s security and judicial systems, he said. “Drug users pose a threat to the lives of others, as well as to the security of society in their pursuit of theft, fraud, criminality and aggression,” he added.
Lebanon North investigative judge Samaranda Nassar told a recent seminar on Lebanon’s drug problem that rising rates of addiction are leading to an increase in thefts and murders around the country. “We are confronting new types of drugs intended for young ages and adolescents, as well as digital drugs that are no less dangerous than traditional drugs in their effect on confusing the human brain,” she said.
“Stricter penalties need to be imposed on drug dealers. I am determined to take appropriate decisions and punish criminals.

Report: Mikati to call for cabinet session next week
Naharnet/November 29, 2022 .
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati will call for a caretaker cabinet session and the date may be next week, MTV reported on Tuesday. Following talks with Mikati that tackled the issue of hospitals’ overdue payments, caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad had said that “there is a problem regarding the increase that occurred to the Health Ministry’s hospitalization budget, seeing as it is necessary to issue a decree… to be able to implement the increases on fees.”“Due to the absence of cabinet sessions, this decree was not issued, and accordingly the Finance Ministry informed us that it is not possible to pay these overdue fees, which threatens the continuity of offering hospitalization services to patients,” Abiad added. The cabinet has not convened since the expiry of Michel Aoun’s presidential term on October 31. The Free Patriotic Movement has meanwhile warned against convening the caretaker cabinet amid a presidential vacuum.

US ambassador urges president election, says situation not hopeless
Naharnet/November 29, 2022 .
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea on Tuesday stressed the need to elect a new Lebanese president, warning that procrastination and betting on time are not in Lebanon’s interest, the National News Agency said. During a visit to the Maronite League, Shea also called for approving the needed reforms in order to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
She also reassured that the situation in Lebanon is not hopeless.

Powerful flashfloods wreak havoc in Keserwan and Jbeil

Naharnet/November 29, 2022 .
Heavy rains on Tuesday caused powerful flashfloods in Jounieh, Kaslik and Kfar Hbab in the Keserwan district, trapping motorists in their vehicles and causing major damage, media reports said. The rains also submerged Jbeil’s old souks. Videos published online showed citizens difficultly fleeing their submerged and water shoved vehicles in Keserwan.

Joint committees convene in key session over capital control law
Naharnet/November 29, 2022 .
Joint parliamentary committees convened Tuesday in Parliament to resume the discussion of a capital control draft law, including one of its most important clauses. A clause about forming a special committee to supervise the implementation of the law is to be discussed today or tomorrow, as the discussion will resume during a second session on Wednesday. The committees had convened in the last weeks, finalizing 17 clauses, amid protests by depositors and some MPs. Depositors and activists rallied again near Parliament to protest the law.The adoption of a capital control law is one of the reforms requested by the International Monetary Fund to financially help crisis-hit Lebanon, but some consider it unfair to the depositors, who consider the law as "a veiled amnesty law" for "the thieves of public and private money." Since October 2019, banks have been imposing informal capital controls, barring depositors from reaching into their dollar accounts, as well as stopping transfers, amid a severe financial crisis. The capital control law will impose official restrictions on transfers and withdrawals. MPs from different political parties have long said they will defend the depositors' rights. "Our aim is to protect the depositors' savings and to stop the overseas transfers," Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad said after the session. For his part, Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh Shami who attended the session said that the financial recovery plan is a different topic, as some MPs had mentioned it during the session. "There is some sort of populism," Saade added. In its last session prior to becoming a caretaker Cabinet following May 22 parliamentary elections, the government had approved an economic recovery plan amid the objection of the ministers of Hezbollah and Amal. The recovery plan said that banks would be recapitalized from bank shareholders and large depositors. It said it would protect small depositors "to the maximum extent possible" but did not specify the minimum amount that will be protected.

Jumblat 'understands' Othman amid judicial paralysis

Naharnet/November 29, 2022 .
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat supported Tuesday a memo by Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Imad Othman, that had sparked criticism. The memo gave the security forces the full authority to issue arrest warrants, in case the public prosecutions are unreachable or refuse to give a judicial authorization. Some media reports dubbed the move as "illegal" and accused Othman of turning the country into a "police state". "I understand Othman's memo, in the absence of the judicial authority," Jumblat said in a social media statement. "This situation cannot go on." Jumblat criticized the state that "hasn't yet acknowledged the necessity of adopting an economic austerity policy that focuses on priorities.""Closing some Embassies can secure the money needed for rehabilitating the disabled Justice Palace," Jumblat said. Lebanese judges have been on strike since mid-August to demand salary readjustments, paralyzing the country's courthouses. Amid a record depreciation of the national currency, public sector employees' salaries in Lebanese Pound became insufficient for basic living expenses. "Enough with the negligence of the security and the interests of the judiciary and the people," Jumblat decried.

Report: Berri floats name of Pierre Daher to press LF on Franjieh

Naharnet/November 29, 2022 .
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is sending “coded messages” to Maarab to press Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to start a “presidential dialogue” with Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh, a media report said on Tuesday. Berri wants a “certain settlement resembling the Maarab agreement that would let the LF secure a Christian cover for Franjieh’s election as president,” Nidaa al-Watan newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying. The Speaker is “working on several tracks to achieve his purpose,” including “pressing Geagea to endorse this plan,” the sources added. To this end, the sources revealed that Berri is attacking on two fronts – the first is “promoting (LBCI TV owner) Pierre Daher as a serious and centrist presidential candidate in order to irritate the LF, especially that the Speaker knows the major LF sensitivity that would arise from proposing this name due to the deep dispute over LBCI’s ownership between Daher and the LF,” the sources said.“According to Ain el-Tineh’s sources, this will push the LF to prefer endorsing Franjieh’s nomination should it sense any seriousness for Daher’s presidential chances,” the sources added. Another point that Berri is allegedly using to press Maarab is represented in floating the issue of Tele Liban’s broadcast of the 2018 FIFA World Cup from the angle of raising financial suspicions over then-information minister Melhem Riachi, the sources said.

Mikati says US yet to answer his inquiry about Iranian fuel grant
Naharnet/November 29, 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.”

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 29-30/2022
UN Iran expert concerned about death sentences for protesters
Emma Farge/GENEVA (Reuters)/November 29, 2022
A U.N.-appointed independent expert on Iran voiced concern on Tuesday that the repression of protesters was intensifying, with authorities launching a "campaign" of sentencing them to death. The U.N. says more than 300 people have been killed so far and 14,000 arrested in protests which began after the Sept. 16 death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. "I'm afraid that the Iranian regime will react violently to the Human Rights Council resolution and this may trigger more violence and repression on their part," Javaid Rehman told Reuters, referring to a UN Human Rights Council vote to establish a probe into the crackdown last week. Tehran has rejected the investigation and says it will not cooperate. "Now (authorities) have started a campaign of sentencing (protesters) to death," he added, saying he expected more to be sentenced. Already, 21 people arrested in the context of the protests face the death penalty, including a woman indicted on "vague and broadly formulated criminal offences", and six have been sentenced this month, Rehman said. Iran has blamed foreign foes and their agents for the unrest. Its judiciary chief last month ordered judges to issue tough sentences for the "main elements of riots". Even before the unrest, executions were rising and the U.N. human rights boss Volker Turk has said the number this year had reportedly surpassed 400 by September for the first time in five years. The U.N. resolution is seen as being among the more strongly-worded in the body's 16-year history and urges the mission to "collect, consolidate and analyse evidence". Past investigations launched by the council have led to war crimes cases, including the jailing of a Syrian ex-officer for state-backed torture in Germany this year. Rehman said he expects the new Fact-Finding Mission to provide a list of perpetrators and share that with national and regional legal authorities. "It will ensure accountability and it will provide evidence to the courts and tribunals," he said. A U.N. document showed the mission would have 15 staff members and a budget of $3.67 million.

UN to Vote on Iran's Future on Women's Rights Body in December
New York - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 November, 2022
Diplomats said on Monday that the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) would vote on December 14 on a US draft resolution to oust Iran from the UN's Commission on the Status of women. Washington presses to punish Tehran for its denial of women's rights and brutal suppression of protests. On Monday, the US circulated a draft resolution on the move, seen by Reuters, that also denounces Iran's policies as "flagrantly contrary to the human rights of women and girls and the mandate of the Commission on the Status of Women." Iran has just started a four-year term on the 45-member Commission, which meets annually every March and aims to promote gender equality and women's empowerment. The draft resolution would exclude Iran with "immediate effect" from the Commission on the Status of Women for the "remainder of its 2022-2026 term." The 54-member Council would vote on whether to oust Iran from the Commission. "The US and others have been working the phones to garner support to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women," said a UN diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "It seems like they're making traction – including with some initially hesitant countries." Iran has been witnessing protests since the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in police custody in September. The unrest has turned into a popular revolt by Iranians from all layers of society, posing one of the boldest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution. Iran haDiplomats said on Monday that the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) would vote on December 14 on a US draft resolution to oust Iran from the UN's Commission on the Status of women. Washington presses to punish Tehran for its denial of women's rights and brutal suppression of protests.On Monday, the US circulated a draft resolution on the move, seen by Reuters, that also denounces Iran's policies as "flagrantly contrary to the human rights of women and girls and the mandate of the Commission on the Status of Women."Iran has just started a four-year term on the 45-member Commission, which meets annually every March and aims to promote gender equality and women's empowerment. The draft resolution would exclude Iran with "immediate effect" from the Commission on the Status of Women for the "remainder of its 2022-2026 term."The 54-member Council would vote on whether to oust Iran from the Commission.
"The US and others have been working the phones to garner support to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women," said a UN diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "It seems like they're making traction – including with some initially hesitant countries." Iran has been witnessing protests since the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in police custody in September. The unrest has turned into a popular revolt by Iranians from all layers of society, posing one of the boldest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution. Iran has blamed its foreign enemies and their agents for the unrest.s blamed its foreign enemies and their agents for the unrest.

Iranian Vice President Rules out Referendum amid Ongoing Protests
London, Tehran/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 November, 2022
The Iranian government has rejected demands for a referendum to change the system of the Islamic Republic regime and the freedom to wear the veil, as the protests continued over the death of Mahsa Amini. In a press conference in Tehran on Monday, Mohammad Dehghan, Iranian Vice President for Legal Affairs, touched on the protesters’ calls to amend the law on the veil and to hold a referendum on the regime. “If necessary, we will hold a referendum with the approval of the Supreme Leader and the vote of two-thirds of the parliament,” he noted, adding: “It is impossible to change the system of the Islamic Republic… The referendum is not like ordinary legislation.”Dehghan continued: “The freedom of the veil contradicts the principles and manifestations of the Islamic Republic. We have held meetings, and we will announce our opinion about the veil to the competent authorities… At a time of unrest, the enemies insist on raising some issues that do not serve the interest of the country.” Protests and strikes continue in Iran since the death of Amini, 22, in September. Truck drivers maintained their strike for the third day in a row, while videos on social networks showed demonstrations in the provinces of Kermanshah, Qazvin, Lorestan, Hormozgan and Isfahan. In addition, the employees of the Iron and Steel Company in Isfahan renewed their strike. A group of teachers in the Kurdistan province issued a statement in a video recording, criticizing the continued repression and violence. Similarly, 210 professors from the University of Tabriz, the provincial capital of East Azerbaijan, released a statement condemning the killing of medical student Elar Hakki earlier this month. Sunni clerics in the provinces of Baluchistan and Kurdistan, most notably the Friday Imam of Zahedan, Abdul Hamid Ismail Zahi, called for holding a referendum on the Iranian policies under international supervision. Meanwhile, Iranian media revealed a draft law that a group of deputies intends to present in the coming days, to toughen judicial rulings against collaborators “with countries that are hostile to national security and national interests.” According to this law, the detainees will face corruption charges, which are punished by penalties that can reach the death sentence.

Iranian Reporters Grill U.S. Coach And Star At World Cup And It Goes Off The Rails
Ron Dicker/HuffPost/November 29, 2022
The United States and Iran are playing a World Cup soccer match Tuesday with tournament survival on the line ― but Iranian reporters were determined to go further afield at a news conference a day earlier. The journalists asked U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter why he hasn’t told the U.S. government to pull a Navy ship away from Iran, USA Today’s Nancy Armour reported. “I don’t know enough about politics, I’m a soccer coach,” Berhalter replied, per the New York Post. A journalist reprimanded U.S. team captain Tyler Adams for mispronouncing Iran, and then asked him if it was “OK” for him to represent a country that discriminates against Black people. Adams, who is Black, apologized for incorrectly saying “Eye-Ran” instead of “Eeh-Rahn,” and scored diplomatic points with his response about racism. “There’s discrimination everywhere you go,” Adams said. “One thing that I’ve learned, especially from living abroad in the past years and having to fit in in different cultures ... is that in the U.S., we’re continuing to make progress every single day.”According to a partial transcript shared by soccer reporter Grant Wahl, the journalists also asked how much of the world is siding with the Americans in the match, and also linked high U.S. inflation and economic problems to the level of support for the squad. The politically charged turn of the news conference should come as no surprise. On social posts just days earlier, U.S. Soccer temporarily scrubbed the Islamic Republic emblem from the Iranian flag in solidarity with protesters in Iran fighting for women’s rights. A woman died in police custody in September after reportedly being arrested for wearing her hijab too loosely, touching off demonstrations and harsh government suppression. Berhalter said players and staff were not aware that U.S. Soccer was going to alter the image of the flag, but said his thoughts were with the people of Iran. Iran’s state-run news agency Tasnim called for the U.S. to be ejected from the World Cup over the flag controversy.

U.S. to reinforce NATO's presence 'from the Black to Baltic Seas' - Blinken
Reuters/November 29, 2022
STORY: Blinken said Russia was responsible for one of the worst food security crises in years. 'Were not going to be deterred going forward. We're going to be reinforcing NATO's presence from the Black to the Baltic Seas," Blinken said during a joint news conference with his Romanian counterpart. Blinken arrived in Romania on Monday (November 28) evening ahead of meetings with NATO allies and foreign ministers from the Group of Seven advanced economies.

Russia's Medvedev warns NATO over supplying Ukraine with Patriot systems
(Reuters)/November 29, 2022
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned NATO on Tuesday against providing Ukraine with Patriot missile defence systems, denouncing the alliance as a "criminal entity" for delivering arms to what he called "extremist regimes". Medvedev, who once cast himself as a liberal moderniser as president from 2008 to 2012, has increasingly emerged as one of the most hawkish proponents of Russia's war in Ukraine, posting scathing denunciations of the West on his social media channels. "If, as (NATO Secretary-General Jens) Stoltenberg hinted, NATO were to supply the Ukrainian fanatics with Patriot systems along with NATO personnel, they would immediately become a legitimate target of our armed forces," Medvedev wrote on the Telegram messaging app. It was not clear from his message whether he was referring to Patriot systems, Ukrainian forces or NATO personnel becoming a target. "The civilised world does not need this organisation. It must repent to humanity and be dissolved as a criminal entity," he wrote in an earlier post. Ukraine has asked its Western partners for air defences, including U.S.-made Patriot systems, to protect it from Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure. NATO ministers have condemned what they call Russia's "persistent and unconscionable attacks on Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure", and pledged to step up their support for Kyiv.

A Russian couple who opposed Putin and the Ukraine war sought asylum in the US. They were detained for six months.
Sophia Ankel/Business Insider/November 29, 2022 .
A Russian couple sought asylum in the US but were detained for six months, The New York Times reported. A Russian couple who opposed President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine was detained for six months after seeking asylum in the US, The New York Times reported on Monday.
Mariia Shemiatina and Boris Shevchuk, both practicing physicians, had been vocal critics of Putin since at least 2018 and feared they would either be conscripted to serve as medics on the front lines or imprisoned, after posting anti-war messages on social media. Unable to get visas to travel to Europe, they fled to Tijuana, Mexico, in mid-April, before requesting asylum at a US port of entry. But the couple was detained, separated, and flown to two remote immigration detention centers in Louisiana, where they were kept for six months before being reunited, according to the Times. The Times reported that a growing number of Russian asylum claims are being processed at the US southern border, following the start of the invasion of Ukraine, but many asylum seekers are being put into immigration detention centers that resemble prisons for months on end. In the 2022 fiscal year, 21,763 Russians sought refuge in the US, compared to just 467 in 2020. Shemiatina told The Times that she shared a dorm with two dozen Russians at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in the town of Basile. Her husband was held in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Pine Prairie, 30 miles away. After a fellow detainee threatened violence against him and others, Shevchuk demanded they be moved, he told The Times. But during the transfer a guard handcuffed him and knocked him to the ground, causing a head injury, Shevchuk told The Times. "I came to realize that I had left Russia for a place that was just like Russia," Shevchuk said. The couple were reunited in October, and have subsequently been staying with a volunteer working for Freedom for Immigrants, an organization that aids detained immigrants, the Times said. It is unclear what their immigration status is. A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. It is unclear how many Russian asylum seekers are being detained in the US, but Svetlana Kaff, an immigration lawyer, told the Times that she has recently been flooded with requests for help. "Proportionately, compared to people from other countries, there are more Russians being sent to detention," she said.

UNICEF Condemns Violence against Children in Iran Protests
Washington - Ali Barada/Asharq Al Awsat/November 29/2022
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) denounced the violence and abuse that killed more than 50 children and injured dozens of others during the public unrest in Iran. The agency demanded ending the raids and searches conducted at some schools and said schools must always be safe places for children. It condemned "all violence against children," calling for an end to "all forms of violence and abuse that have reportedly claimed the lives of over 50 children and injured many more during the public unrest in Iran." UNICEF directly "communicated its concerns to the authorities in Iran since the first cases of child casualties occurred in response to the protests." Iran is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and should respect, protect, and fulfill children's rights to life, privacy, freedom of thought, and peaceful assembly, said the agency. "UNICEF urges the authorities to respect the rights of all children to peaceful assembly as a fundamental guarantee – no matter who they are or where they are." The agency asserted that the "best interest of children should be at the center of government action, creating ways where children can safely claim their rights in all circumstances." It stressed that children must remain with their families, communities, and schools, not in places that deprive them of their liberty. UNICEF echoed the UN Secretary-General's call to security forces to "refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force. Children and adolescents must be protected from all forms of harm that risk their lives, freedom, and mental and physical health." It also noted that many parents had experienced the devastating loss of a child from the unrest, expressing its "deepest sympathy to them, and their loved ones and communities impacted by these events." The Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) reported that as of November 26, 450 protesters had been killed during the unrest, including 63 minors. It added that 60 members of the security forces were killed, and the authorities arrested 18,173 .Iran did not announce an official death toll for the protesters, but Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said that about 50 policemen had been killed in the protests since September 16.

Israeli fire kills three Palestinians in West Bank
Agence France Presse/November 29/2022
Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry said, the latest deaths in a sharp uptick in violence in the occupied territory. Two brothers were killed by Israeli fire in Kafr Ein, near Ramallah, while a third man died of bullet wounds to the head fired by Israeli troops in Beit Ummar, near the flashpoint city of Hebron, the ministry said. Commenting on the Beit Ummar clash, the Israeli army said it had opened fire on "rioters" who "hurled rocks and improvised explosive devices at the soldiers" after two vehicles got stuck during an "operation patrol" in the area. The Palestinian ministry said a man it did not identify had died "after being shot in the head." It named the dead in Kafr Ein as brothers Jawad Abdulrahman Rimawi, 22, and Dhafer Abdul Rahman Rimawi, 21. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army. Palestinian Authority civil affairs minister Hussein Al Sheikh described the killing of the two brothers as an "execution in cold blood." Hamas, the Islamist movement which runs Gaza, said the Israeli "escalation" would be "confronted by escalating resistance" from Palestinians. Violence has flared this year in the West Bank, where the Israeli army has launched near-daily raids across the territory. This week the army announced it had made more than 3,000 arrests this year as part of Operation Break the Wave, a campaign it launched following a series of deadly attacks against Israeli civilians. The United Nations says more than 125 Palestinians have been killed across the West Bank this year. Israel has occupied the territory since the Six-Day War of 1967.

Egypt Insists on Withdrawal of Mercenaries from Libya

Cairo – Jamal Gawhar and Khaled Mahmoud/Asharq Al Awsat/November 29/2022
Cairo hosted on Monday meetings with Libyan officials, including parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh. The UN Special Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, also met Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian Foreign Minister. Egypt reiterated its demand for the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign forces from Libya.
Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit met with Saleh to discuss challenges facing the Libyan political process and solutions to the ongoing crisis. After the meeting, Saleh said holding Libyan elections required several measures, but hoped the Constitutional Committee would complete its tasks soon. He also voiced optimism towards the Committee finding consensus on sovereign institutions. Saleh said the executive authority represented in the government of Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah had been tasked with specific duties to complete within a deadline, but it failed. He called on the UN envoy, Bathily, to invite the Constitutional Base Committee, formed by the parliament and the High Council of State, to meet. The speaker also stressed that the absence of a UN envoy during the recent period, after the resignation of Stephanie Williams, hindered the completion of the constitutional foundation because the meeting of the committee must be held under the auspices of the UN. A new round of negotiations on the “constitutional track” between Saleh and the head of the High Council of State, Khaled al-Mishri, will start in Cairo with the presence of Bathily, sources reported. Saleh and Mishri did not announce in advance that either of them would meet in Cairo. However, council members talked about a meeting aimed at completing the discussion on unifying the executive authority, filling sovereign positions, and providing a constitutional basis for postponed presidential and parliamentary elections. Shoukry stressed “the importance of the UN role in supporting the political and constitutional processes, legal frameworks and encouraging Libyan dialogue.”The FM added that the implementation of standing agreements and legal mandates requires first the application of UN and international decisions regarding the withdrawal all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya. The pullout, according to Shoukry, needs to be complete within a certain timeline.

UN Special Coordinator Warns Oslo Accords Are ‘Slipping Away’

Washington - Ali Barada/Asharq Al Awsat/November 29/2022
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, warned that the Palestinian-Israeli once again reached a "boiling point," stressing that the settlement expansion and restrictions continue to squeeze the "economic and physical space for developing a viable Palestinian State."
He warned that the current context leads to the disappearance of the principles that underpin the Oslo Accords, including the two-state solution. Wennesland was briefing the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East and noted that after decades of persistent violence, illegal settlement expansion, dormant negotiations, and deepening occupation, "the conflict is again reaching a boiling point."He indicated that "high levels" of violence in the occupied West Bank and Israel in recent months, including attacks against Israeli and Palestinian civilians, increased use of arms, and settler-related violence, have "caused grave human suffering." He condemned the recent bombings in Jerusalem that killed two Israelis, calling for "a clear rejection of such terrorist acts," and the violent attack by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in Hebron that risks aggravating an already tense environment.
The official asserted that all parties were responsible for acting against extremists and speaking out against such acts of violence and incitement. Wennesland noted that the "fragile calm" was recently interrupted by the launching of four rockets toward Israel by Palestinian gunmen and subsequent Israeli airstrikes against what it said were Hamas movement targets. "Once again, we are reminded that the mix of militant activity, debilitating closures, absence of the legitimate Palestinian Government, and hopelessness create an ever-present risk of escalation.""My team and I have in recent weeks visited areas where violence has been severe, and I continue to hold discussions with a range of Palestinian and Israeli officials, as well as international and regional actors, to address the dangerous dynamics," he added. The UN official warned that demography is moving faster than politics. "In a few years, exponential population growth in the West Bank and Gaza will make it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to manage the economic, political, and security situation." Moreover, he warned that the principles that underpin the Oslo Accords are "slipping away," noting that "political leadership is required to reset the trajectory toward a two-state solution.""Failing to address the underlying causes of conflict, as well as the negative trends I just outlined, and without demonstrating a clear political path forward, the conflict will only escalate, causing more bloodshed and misery, and have a deeply destabilizing effect on the entire region."
Wennesland urged taking necessary steps towards a two-state solution, which still garners considerable support among Palestinians and Israelis. "Through incremental but tangible steps, we can build a bridge between where we are now and the conditions necessary for a peaceful resolution of the conflict based on United Nations resolutions, international law, and previous agreements," he said. He called on both sides to "stop unilateral steps that undermine peace, including settlement expansion or legalization, demolitions, and displacement. Furthermore, Wennesland urged all parties and the international community to strengthen Palestinian institutions, improve governance, and shore up the fiscal health of the Palestinian Authority (PA). However, he stressed that a "common approach" where the "two-state solution is the guiding political direction is essential to halting the current negative trajectory."
"Neither can turn away from the realities of geography and demography that are reshaping the landscape, which, combined with [fast] expanding settlements east of the 1967 lines, reflects an increase in friction points and a deepening conflict."

SDF in Syria Wants 'Stronger' US Warning for Türkiye

Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 November, 2022
The head of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said on Tuesday he still feared a Turkish ground invasion despite US assurances and has demanded a "stronger" message from Washington after seeing unprecedented Turkish deployments along the border. "There are reinforcements on the border and within Syria in areas controlled by factions allied to Türkiye. We noticed this and, yes, this is new," SDF chief Mazloum Abdi told Reuters by phone from Syria. Turkish officials said the army needed just a few days to be ready for a ground incursion into northern Syria, which has been attacked with howitzer long-range weapons and warplanes by the Turks for days. The bombardments come after months of threats by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan of a new ground invasion against Kurdish forces, which he considers to be terrorists. Syrian Kurdish forces have received backing from Washington for years, but have also coordinated with Syria's government and its ally Russia, both seen as foes by the United States. Abdi said he had received "clear" assurances from both Washington and Moscow that they opposed a Turkish ground invasion but wanted something more tangible to hold back Ankara. "We are still nervous. We need stronger, more solid statements to stop Türkiye," he said. " Türkiye has announced its intent and is now feeling things out. The beginning of an invasion will depend on how it analyses the positions of other countries." Abdi said he would not rely on Syrian air defenses after previously telling Reuters he hoped they would help defend his forces from Ankara's air strikes. "Their position is weak compared to the Turkish army," he said.

Biden, Macron Ready to Talk Ukraine, Trade in State Visit
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 November, 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron is headed to Washington for the first state visit of Joe Biden's presidency — a revival of diplomatic pageantry that had been put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Biden-Macron relationship had a choppy start. Macron briefly recalled France's ambassador to the United States last year after the White House announced a deal to sell nuclear submarines to Australia, undermining a contract for France to sell diesel-powered submarines. But the relationship has turned around with Macron emerging as one of Biden's most forward-facing European allies in the Western response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This week's visit — it will include Oval Office talks, a glitzy dinner, a news conference and more — comes at a critical moment for both leaders. The leaders have a long agenda for their Thursday meeting at the White House, including Iran's nuclear program, China's increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific and growing concerns about security and stability in Africa's Sahel region, according to US and French officials. But front and center during their Oval Office meeting will be Russia's war in Ukraine, as both Biden and Macron work to maintain economic and military support for Kyiv as it tries to repel Russian forces. In Washington, Republicans are set to take control of the House, where GOP leader Kevin McCarthy says Republicans will not write a “blank check” for Ukraine. Across the Atlantic, Macron's efforts to keep Europe united will be tested by the mounting costs of supporting Ukraine in the nine-month war and as Europe battles rising energy prices that threaten to derail the post-pandemic economic recovery. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Monday described Macron as the “dynamic leader” of America's oldest ally while explaining Biden's decision to honor the French president with the first state visit of his presidency. The US tradition of honoring foreign heads of state dates back to Ulysses S. Grant, who hosted King David Kalakaua of the Kingdom of Hawaii for a more than 20-course White House dinner, but the tradition has been on hold since 2019 because of COVID-19 concerns.
“If you look at what’s going on in Ukraine, look at what’s going on in the Indo Pacific and the tensions with China, France is really at the center of all those things,” Kirby said. “And so, the president felt that this was exactly the right and the most appropriate country to start with for state visits.”
Macron was also Republican Donald Trump's pick as the first foreign leader to be honored with a state visit during his term. The 2018 state visit included a jaunt by the two leaders to Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, America’s founding president.
Macron was scheduled to arrive in Washington on Tuesday evening ahead of a packed day of meetings and appearances in and around Washington on Wednesday — including a visit to NASA headquarters with Vice President Kamala Harris and talks with Biden administration officials on nuclear energy.
On Thursday, Macron will have his private meeting with Biden followed by a joint news conference and visits to the State Department and Capitol Hill before Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, are feted at the state dinner. Grammy winner Jon Batiste is to provide the entertainment. acron will head to New Orleans on Friday, where he is to announce plans to expand programming to support French language education in US schools, according to French officials. or all of that, there are still areas of tension in the US-French relationship.
Biden has steered clear of embracing Macron’s calls on Ukraine to resume peace talks with Russia, something Biden has repeatedly said is a decision solely in the hands of Ukraine's leadership. Perhaps more pressing are differences that France and other European Union leaders have raised about Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, sweeping legislation passed in August that includes historic spending on climate and energy initiatives. Macron and other leaders have been rankled by a provision in the bill that provides tax credits to consumers who buy electric vehicles manufactured in North America.
The French president, in making his case against the subsidies, will underscore that it's crucial for “Europe, like the US, to come out stronger ... not weaker” as the world emerges from the tumult of the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to a senior French government official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity to preview private talks.
Macron earlier this month said the subsidies could upend the “level playing field” on trade with the EU and called aspects of the Biden legislation “unfriendly."The White House, meanwhile, plans to counter that the legislation goes a long way in helping the US meet global efforts to curb climate change. The president and aides will also impress on the French that the legislation will also create new opportunities for French companies and others in Europe, according to a senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity to preview the talks. Macron's visit comes about 14 months after the relationship hit its nadir after the US announced its deal to sell nuclear submarines to Australia. After the announcement of the deal, which had been negotiated in secret, France briefly recalled its ambassador to Washington. A few weeks later Macron met Biden in Rome ahead of the Group of 20 summit, where the US president sought to patch things up by acknowledging his administration had been “clumsy” in how it handled the issue. Macron's visit with Harris to NASA headquarters on Wednesday will offer the two countries a chance to spotlight their cooperation on space. France in June signed the Artemis Accords, a blueprint for space cooperation and supporting NASA’s plans to return humans to the moon by 2024 and to launch a historic human mission to Mars.The same month, the US joined a French initiative to develop new tools for adapting to climate change, the Space for Climate Observatory.

Iraq PM, Iran president vow to fight 'terror'
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 29 November, 2022
Tehran and Baghdad Tuesday identified fighting "terrorism", maintaining mutual security and extending economic cooperation as key priorities during the new Iraqi prime minister's first official visit to Iran. Mohammed Shia al-Sudani was received by President Ebrahim Raisi, who expressed hopes of bolstering ties that have lately been hit by tensions over Iran carrying out cross-border strikes against exiled opposition groups. Sudani came to power last month, after a year-long tussle between political factions over forming a government following an October 2021 general election. "From our perspective and that of the Iraqi government, security, peace, cooperation and regional stability are very important," Raisi told a joint press conference. "As a result, the fight against terrorist groups, organised crime, drugs and other insecurity that threaten the region depends on the common will of our two nations," he said. Sudani said that "our government is determined not to allow any group or party to use Iraqi territory to undermine and disrupt Iran's security."Since nationwide protests erupted in Iran more than two months ago, Iranian officials have accused Kurdish opposition groups exiled in northern Iraq of stoking the unrest and the Islamic republic has repeatedly launched deadly cross-border strikes. Such strikes -- targeting Iranian-Kurdish groups in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region -- resumed this month, even after Iraq's federal government summoned Iran's ambassador in late September to complain about cross-border missile and drone hits that killed at least seven people. Iraq has announced in the past week that it will redeploy federal guards on the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran, rather than leaving the responsibility to Kurdish peshmerga forces -- a move welcomed by Tehran. Sudani added that the two countries' national security advisers would hold consultations to "establish a working mechanism for on-the-ground coordination to avoid any escalation".Sudani also thanked Iran for its continued deliveries of gas and electricity, which have been in short supply in Iraq, while he also pointed to discussions on a "mechanism" to enable Iraq to pay Iran for these services. Raisi said banking, finance and wider business topics were also discussed and that talks between the two allies "will help to resolve bilateral problems".

China Cities under Heavy Policing after Protests
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 November, 2022
China's major cities of Beijing and Shanghai were blanketed with security on Tuesday in the wake of nationwide rallies calling for political freedoms and an end to Covid lockdowns. The country's leadership faced a weekend of protests not seen in decades, as anger over unrelenting lockdowns fuels deep-rooted frustration with the country's political system as a whole. A deadly fire last week in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region, was the catalyst for the wave of outrage, with protesters taking to the streets of cities around the country. The demonstrators said Covid restrictions were to blame for hampering rescue efforts -- claims the government has denied as it accused "forces with ulterior motives" of linking the fire deaths to the strict Covid controls. Anger over lockdowns has widened to calls for political change, with protesters holding up blank sheets of paper to symbolize the censorship the world's most populous country is subjected to.
'So many police'
More protests were planned for Monday night but did not materialize, with AFP journalists in Beijing and Shanghai noting a heavy police presence of hundreds of vehicles and officers on the streets. People who had attended weekend rallies told AFP Monday they had received phone calls from law enforcement officers demanding information about their movements. In Shanghai, near a site where weekend protests saw bold calls for the resignation of President Xi Jinping, bar staff told AFP they had been ordered to close at 10:00 pm (1400 GMT) for "disease control". Small clusters of officers were deployed to metro exits near the protest site. Throughout Monday, AFP journalists saw officers detaining four people, later releasing one, with a reporter counting 12 police cars within 100 meters along Wulumuqi street in Shanghai, the focal point of Sunday's rally. Despite the overwhelming police deployment, the frustration with zero-Covid remained palpable. "The (zero-Covid) policies now -- they're just too strict. They kill more people than Covid," one 17-year-old passerby who did not want to be named told AFP, saying he had been surrounded by police when passing through the area. In an audio recording shared with AFP, a man can be heard asking for his address, to which the passerby -- who asked to be named Ray -- insists law enforcement officers do not "have the right" to demand it. Elsewhere, rallies did go ahead. In semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where mass democracy protests erupted in 2019, dozens gathered at the Chinese University to mourn the victims of the Urumqi fire. "Don't look away. Don't forget," protesters shouted. In Hangzhou, just over 170 kilometers (106 miles) southwest of Shanghai, there was strict security and sporadic protests in the city's downtown, with one attendee telling AFP that 10 people were detained. "The atmosphere was disorderly. There were few people and we were separated. There were lots of police, it was chaos," she said. Such widespread rallies are exceptionally rare, with authorities harshly clamping down on all opposition to the central government. But China's strict control of information and continued travel curbs have made verifying protester numbers across the vast country challenging. US President Joe Biden is monitoring the unrest, the White House said Monday. Around the world, solidarity protests also mushroomed. "Officials are borrowing the pretext of Covid, but using excessively strict lockdowns to control China's population," one 21-year-old Chinese participant in a Washington protest who gave only his surname, Chen, told AFP. "They disregarded human lives and caused many to die in vain," he said.
‘Will calm down soon’
China's leaders are committed to zero-Covid, which compels local governments to impose snap lockdowns and quarantine orders, and limit freedom of movement in response to minor outbreaks. But there are signs that some local authorities are taking steps to relax some of the rules and dampen the unrest. In Urumqi, an official said Tuesday the city would give a one-off payment of 300 yuan ($42) to each person with "low income or no income", and announced a five-month rent exemption for some households. Beijing has banned "the practice of barring building gates in closed-off residential compounds", official news agency Xinhua said on Sunday. The practice has fueled public anger as people found themselves locked in their homes during minor outbreaks. And an influential state media commentator suggested that Covid controls could be further relaxed -- while insisting the public "will soon calm down". "I can give an absolute prediction: China will not become chaotic or out of control," Hu Xijin, with the state-run tabloid Global Times, said on Twitter -- which is banned in China.
"China may walk out of the shadow of Covid-19 sooner than expected."

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 29-30/2022
Khamenei’s Confession
Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al Awsat/November 29/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/113709/nadim-koteich-khameneis-confession-%d9%86%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%85-%d9%82%d8%b7%d9%8a%d8%b4-%d8%a7%d8%b9%d8%aa%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%81%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%ae%d8%a7%d9%85%d9%86%d8%a6%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84/

We should be grateful to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for admitting to the role that his country plays in the Arab world.
In a series of tweets from his English account, Khamenei put forward his vision of a Western conspiracy that Iran had foiled. “From the Westerners’ point of view, Iran had strategic depth in six countries. They had to be controlled by the United States and the colonialism before Iran could be dealt with. The governments of these six countries (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan and Somalia) had to fall,” he says. He then adds that “Iran’s approach was successful in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, and the US policy failed.”
Such confessions invalidate all the attempts to maintain that Iran is innocent of interfering in the affairs of Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, as well as other countries (arenas, per the Iranian lexicon.) It also denies the claims made by the leaders of the militias loyal to Iran operating in these countries, who always maintain that Iran supports the aspirations of the people, not its own agenda.
Two things seem interesting about what Khamenei said. First, it entails a flagrant contradiction between explicitly endorsing Iran’s strategic successes and his consistent claims that Iran is innocent of the actions that supposedly led to this success, especially when they are of a criminal nature. Second, it does not even mention the staggering costs for his country’s supposed strategic success, which were paid by Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
Let us take Lebanon as an example. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon ruled that several of those accused - key Hezbollah operatives - of assassinating Rafik Hariri, and it is valid to ask whether Khamenei’s confession is also indirectly a confession that his regime killed Hariri.
Per Khamenei's logic, Hariri was nothing more than the political manifestation of colonialism and its project - a tool in the toolkit the colonialist West uses to further its agenda, which is represented by the “Zionist entity.” Since the Iranian project was victorious - according to Khamenei - after Hariri was killed, it becomes easy to maintain that the man’s assassination was a necessary prerequisite for this victory.
If, on the other hand, we were to examine the state of affairs in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria, we would conclude the conditions of the Lebanese, Syrians, Iraqis and (of course) the Iranians are the high cost that had to be paid to ensure victory over the Western conspiracy. These costs include destroying the Lebanese state, obliterating the Syrian social fabric and breaking Iraq apart.
It seems that the simplified explanation put forward by Khamenei regarding the role played by Iran, which he presented as one of creating a bulwark against Western conspiracies and followed up with his premature conclusion that victory had been attained, also requires our attention.
Khamenei does not tell us why defeating the Western conspiracy did not end Israel, the crown jewel of the conspiracy according to the Iranians’ worldview. Nor does he explain how Israel has managed to achieve such immense progress on the economic, financial, scientific and military fronts while those who defeated it find themselves in dire straits!
He does not tell us how allying and coordinating with the Americans in Iraq feeds into the dynamic of confronting Western conspiracies. They coordinated together to bring down Saddam Hussein and then to establish and power share there, which they continue to do to this day.
None of this is factored into Khamenei’s logic. Ideological thinking in crisis does not look into the veracity of the evidence or what numbers and cold calculation can tell us. Khamenei’s logic is that of someone both in crisis and pain.
Khamenei did not make his tweet in a vacuum. They are an extension of the hapless policy he has adopted to confront the threats posed by the revolt his regime is facing, which will fail even if the regime’s iron fist manages to repress the popular uprising.
Indeed, Iran is an idea before anything else. And this idea is being dragged across the streets of Iran’s cities and towns. All that remains of the idea is its ability to use brutality, force people to accept it through raw violence, and call on thugs to face the people.
From the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ threats to Saudi Arabia to attacking a commercial ship in the Gulf of Oman, raising uranium enrichment in Iran, increasing military support for Russia in Ukraine through supplies of drones and missiles, to reportedly deploying a surface-to-air missile system that threatens air navigation in East Asia, and many other provocative actions, all boil down to a simple fact that the Iranian regime refuses to acknowledge. All its foreign victories, fabricated and genuine, cannot paper over the domestic defeat of the Iranian idea.
Khamenei can impose a president on Lebanon through his militia. He can do away with a framework that worries him in Iraq because it implies a greater degree of commitment to Arabism, like that of Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government. He can also blackmail the countries of the Arab Gulf by threatening their waters and attacks from Yemen, as well as threaten the security of Israeli cities.
All of that is possible with the logic of strength and repression. What it cannot do is give the idea of the Islamic Republic back an iota of the respect it has lost to the cries of women defending their hair.

Musk Must Preserve Twitter’s Most Vital Function
Gearoid Reidy/Bloomberg/Tuesday, 29 November, 2022
For all the controversy surrounding his purchase of Twitter Inc., Elon Musk has at least one thing right: Twitter really is “like open-sourcing the news.”
The world’s richest man has long been an advocate for “citizen journalism,” but since his takeover of the social media site he’s been particularly talkative on the idea of ordinary people, rather than what he terms media elites, being the ones who surface information.
The history of Twitter in its second-biggest market shows his instinct here is likely correct. Little attention has been paid internationally to the impact of Musk’s purchase in Japan, but in 2021, the country contributed around 13% of revenue, nearly as a much on a per-capita basis as the US. It was the only nation apart from the US that the firm broke out separately in its 10-K annual report, with sales growing 23% from the previous year. There’s one simple reason why Twitter grew to be so popular in the country — it’s a lifeline in times of calamity, and Japan is beset by natural disasters more often than most. Twitter found its feet after the triple catastrophes of March 2011 — earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear meltdown — when traditional lines of communication broke down in the face of the largest temblor the nation has ever experienced.
Phone lines collapsed and messaging apps weren’t yet ubiquitous. The platform was used to share information, seek shelters, for survivors to inform loved ones of their safety, and for those in danger to request help. The millions stuck in Tokyo, unable to get home with public transport paralyzed, turned to it to share information on restarts and routes.
It was among the earliest examples of Twitter’s public value — indeed, of social networking in general. The company, which had only just set up its Japanese office that month, became universal. Japanese users still flock to the site when an earthquake, such as the 7.3 magnitude one in March, hits, sharing information in real-time about the damage far faster than traditional media organizations could ever manage.
It’s far from the only example of Twitter’s vital function in times of disaster. In India’s calamitous Delta Covid wave of spring 2021, the service helped connect those in need of oxygen and hospital beds with those that had supply. Users assisted to amplify others’ calls for help with hashtags such as #CovidSOS. It’s proved invaluable in times of political upheaval too — from its role in the Occupy Wall Street protests, to the “Twitter Revolutions” of Iran, Egypt and Tunisia. Authoritarian governments, of course, got smarter, with China accused of using the platform to undermine the Hong Kong protests in 2019. Nonetheless, it was still an essential public square in the conversation after the killing of George Floyd and has also been used to help document war crimes and other atrocities.
While Twitter’s potential for disinformation is well-cataloged, it also offers a space for countering such claims, regardless of where they come from. In the aftermath of 3/11, with rumors of radiation in Tokyo triggering many foreigners to flee the capital, Twitter was both a source of gossip and a balancing force, with first-hand reports from the city helping to dispel overhyped media accounts of nuclear disaster. In the early days of the pandemic, it was used to share information on the benefits of wearing masks, at a time when the official line from the US Surgeon General was that they were useless.
Musk seems to recognize the importance of his service to the public discourse. He reportedly raised Japan’s high usage of the site as an example of what every country should aspire to in a meeting with employees. It’s hard then to square this with his plans to give “priority in replies, mentions & search” to accounts that pay $8 a month to be verified. “Widespread verification will democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people,” Musk said in a recent tweet. What of those who find themselves in the midst of a disaster or a protest — and can’t or won’t pay to be authenticated? The concept of the citizen journalist is that they’re on the ground, ordinary people in extraordinary situations, whether they’re Twitter Blue or not. It’s hard to see users in Japan, where most go by anonymous account names and don’t want to be verified, paying a monthly fee that’s more than twice what an office worker spends on the average lunch in the expectation they might at some point contribute to catastrophe coverage. While Twitter has become an indispensable tool for governments to distribute information in times of crisis or for those opposing authoritarian regimes to work around them, Musk, of course, has no obligation to provide or protect this service. One of Twitter’s true failures was its inability to find some way to monetize a service so useful that it should be charged for. “Twitter is All the News,” he said in another tweet. And he’s right — Twitter became like much of journalism has, simultaneously essential, and yet with a business model that provides everything away for free. Something has to give. Can Musk find a way to thread the needle of keeping Twitter’s most crucial function, and making money from it?

China Protestors Call for End to The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Rule
Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute./November 29, 2022
The CCP, as the Chinese Communist Party is informally known, has now lost hearts across the country.
China throughout the Communist period has witnessed demonstrations, but most of them are, as Burton noted, "highly localized" and "directed at malfeasance, corruption, and incompetence of lower level Communist functionaries."
Now, however, the anger is directed at the Party itself. In short, as evident from the spontaneous demonstrations of the weekend, the Chinese people have had enough of Xi Jinping and CCP rule. They recognize the fundamental fact that the Party's system does not work.
The Chinese people are not only angry over Xi Jinping's "dynamic Zero-COVID policy;" they are also troubled by a crumbling economy and the collapse of the all-important property sector. New-home prices in 70 cities, for instance, fell in October for the 14h-straight month. There have been abnormally few sales in recent months as the market is "frozen," with big spreads between what sellers demand and what buyers are willing to pay. These drops in prices and sales are of great concern because some 70% of Chinese household wealth is tied up in property. China's people, as a result, were not happy even before Thursday's fatal blaze.
Fomenting hatred of America, to save the Communist Party from popular unrest, would not be a big step for Xi.
The Chinese people are not only angry over President Xi Jinping's "dynamic Zero-COVID policy;" they are also troubled by a crumbling economy. Now their anger is directed at the Communist Party itself. In short, as evident from the spontaneous demonstrations of the weekend, the Chinese people have had enough of Xi Jinping and CCP rule. Pictured: Xi speaks to the media on October 23, 2022 in Beijing. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
Extraordinary protests quickly spread across China over the weekend, including major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, since a fire Thursday claimed a reported 10 lives in an apartment block in Urumqi, in the northwestern part of the country.
China's people were enraged by the regime's COVID controls, which had prevented firefighters from reaching the scene of the tragedy in time. "This is people past their breaking point," tweeted CNN's Selina Wang on Sunday.
Also on Sunday, the Telegraph's Simina Mistreanu reported on Twitter that a crowd numbering at least 100 began marching toward Tiananmen Square, in the heart of the Chinese capital. Police, however, stopped demonstrators after only a few blocks, at the Liangma River. "The fact that they intended to protest at Tiananmen," she wrote, "is wild."
Mistreanu is right. Observers say the weekend disturbances — China was quiet on Monday — are the most significant since mass demonstrations rocked the Chinese capital and some 370 other cities in the Beijing Spring of 1989. In many respects, however, the ongoing protests are more dangerous to China's Communist Party.
As Charles Burton, a China scholar at the Ottawa-based Macdonald-Laurier Institute, told Gatestone, even the 1989 Tiananmen Movement "did not challenge the fundamentals of Party rule over China." Protestors then only wanted hardliners like Premier Li Peng removed to make way for "democratic reforms;" in other words, "Party-mediated democratization of China," as Burton termed it.
Today, however, many Chinese want to get rid of the Party. As Mistreanu reported, the demonstrators she witnessed in Beijing were chanting "We want freedom, equality, democracy, rule of law." "We don't want dictatorship," they shouted.
The weekend's demonstrations also resemble the protests in 1949. That year, Mao Zedong defeated Chiang Kai-shek's ruling Nationalists. Then, Chiang commanded far superior armies than the Communists, but his regime nonetheless quickly fell.
Why did that happen? Chiang's Nationalists had, the acclaimed China historian Yu Ying-shih once told me, "lost people's hearts." The CCP, as the Chinese Communist Party is informally known, has now lost hearts across the country.
China, throughout the Communist period, has witnessed demonstrations, but most of them are, as Burton noted, "highly localized" and "directed at malfeasance, corruption, and incompetence of lower level Communist functionaries."
Now, however, the anger is directed at the Party itself. In short, as evident from the spontaneous demonstrations of the weekend, the Chinese people have had enough of Xi Jinping and CCP rule. They recognize the fundamental fact that the Party's system does not work.
Xi cemented his position over the Communist Party at last month's 20th National Congress, but the Party is losing control of Chinese society.
The Chinese people are not only angry over Xi's "dynamic Zero-COVID policy"; they are also troubled by a crumbling economy and the collapse of the all-important property sector. New-home prices in 70 cities, for instance, fell in October for the 14h-straight month. There have been abnormally few sales in recent months as the market is "frozen," with big spreads between what sellers demand and what buyers are willing to pay. These drops in prices and sales are of great concern because some 70% of Chinese household wealth is tied up in property. China's people, as a result, were not happy even before Thursday's fatal blaze.
Popular attitudes suggest that China will remain unstable for some time. So why should the international community care about the current instability in China?
Because China's regime might lash out.
If the Communist Party looked as if it would fall quickly, Xi could not lash out. He would have to devote all his resources at home, deploying the People's Liberation Army internally.
If, however, the crisis plays out over a long time, Xi will have the opportunity to try to direct popular anger at neighboring countries or the United States and aim the Chinese military abroad.
The world was fortunate that the Soviet Union dissolved fast, but do not expect China to go as quickly. Xi Jinping, in a secret speech to Communist Party cadres in December 2012 — the month after he took power as Party general secretary — criticized Mikhail Gorbachev for allowing the Soviet state to fail. The Soviet leader, Xi said, was not a "real man."
Xi, who does consider himself a "real man," has already during his ten years as general secretary exacerbated xenophobia in China. Fomenting hatred of America, to save the Communist Party from popular unrest, would not be a big step for him.
Xi, who this weekend heard the chants demanding he step down, probably knows he cannot win back Chinese hearts short of starting a war.
That gives everyone a direct stake in what happens next on China's streets.
*Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China, a Gatestone Institute distinguished senior fellow, and a member of its Advisory Board.
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Pakistan’s New Military Leader and the Gulf
Simon Henderson/The Washington Institute/November 29, 2022
For U.S. and Gulf officials alike, the appointment of a potential military dictator in the world’s only nuclear-armed Islamic state bears close watching.
On November 29, Gen. Asim Munir is slated to become Pakistan’s new chief of army staff (COAS), replacing Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chose Munir from a list of six candidates presented by the military, and his calculations for that decision must have been interesting given his family’s history with similar circumstances. Back in 1998, his elder brother and mentor Nawaz Sharif—the prime minister at the time—chose Gen. Pervez Musharraf for the job, only to be overthrown by a military coup a year later when he had second thoughts and tried to fire the commander. Musharraf went on to lead the country as dictator and then president for the next nine years, while Sharif was exiled to Saudi Arabia (he later served as prime minister again from 2013 to 2017, and is now based in London).
Indeed, the Gulf Arab states are where displaced Pakistani rulers often go for sanctuary. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto lived in Dubai for many years after losing office and was assassinated in 2007 upon returning home. Musharraf moved there as well after being charged with high treason by a subsequent civilian government. Pakistan’s broader relationships with the Gulf states, including Iran, are close but complicated. Remittances from the hundreds of thousands of Pakistani workers in the region are an important source of revenue, while affluent Pakistanis often head to Dubai and other locales for vacation and medical treatment. In turn, many Emirati sheikhs fly directly to desert airstrips in Pakistan to enjoy hunting safaris.
On the security front, Pakistan spent more than twenty years building up its uranium-enrichment and bomb-making infrastructure via small trading companies in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, which served as cutouts for technology bought clandestinely from Europe and the United States. This route was later reversed when Pakistani nuclear secrets were proliferated to Libya and to Iran. The extent of the military’s approval of such business is uncertain—for instance, an autobiography published last year by another former COAS, Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg, includes a 1989 photo of him meeting with Qasem Soleimani, the late commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. Otherwise, the proliferation activity has been wholly blamed on the late Pakistani nuclear scientist A. Q. Khan.
As for General Munir’s background, he has previously headed Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the agency notorious for its past activities with the Taliban and its sheltering of Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks. More recently, he commanded one of the army corps responsible for monitoring the sensitive Indian front; going forward, he is expected to take an even harder line against New Delhi than General Bajwa did. He is also noted for being deeply religious.
Munir’s promotion coincides with a particularly turbulent time in Pakistani politics. Former prime minister Imran Khan was voted out of office by the National Assembly earlier this year after losing favor with military leaders, whom many assumed had helped him win power in 2018. Khan has since been leading mass demonstrations against the current government; he also had a different candidate in mind for COAS. For his part, the retiring General Bajwa recently argued that the military should not “go beyond the mandate,” but his plea for limiting the military’s influence in domestic politics was widely met with skepticism bordering on derision—after all, he was the commander who likely instigated Khan’s initial success and subsequent removal.
Regarding the move’s implications for U.S. policy, the challenges are multiple, especially because China is Islamabad’s closest ally. Yet Washington can still help calm the brinkmanship in domestic politics, steer the military away from confrontation with India, and urge leaders not to do anything provocative on the lawless borders with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and Iranian Baluchistan. At the same time, it must help Pakistan keep its nuclear arsenal secure and block any residual temptation to proliferate nuclear secrets, either on enrichment or warhead design.
*Simon Henderson is the Baker Fellow and director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at The Washington Institute.

ديفيد بولوك/معهد واشنطن: من جديد، نتنياهو وحماس يتعايشان بصعوبة
Netanyahu and Hamas Set to Coexist Uneasily Again
David Pollock/The Washington Institute/November 29, 2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/113718/david-pollock-the-washington-institute-netanyahu-and-hamas-set-to-coexist-uneasily-again-%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%a8%d9%88%d9%84%d9%88%d9%83-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%b4/

The prime minister’s return to power is unlikely to change either side’s status-quo calculations about Gaza, though Washington should still keep an eye on potential wild cards such as spillover from Temple Mount tensions and Iranian meddling.
As Israel’s government formation talks near a decision, Binyamin Netanyahu seems certain to return to office as prime minister with a majority of sixty-four Knesset members now formally in his corner. Pundits are already prognosticating how this right-wing takeover will affect Jerusalem’s ties with Americans, Arabs, Russians, Turks, and others.
Yet one crucial element largely missing from this discourse is the future of Israel’s relations with Hamas and its Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) sidekicks in Gaza, where no less than four mini-wars have been fought since December 2008. Instead, observers have focused more on potential West Bank scenarios such as rising tensions over Israeli settlers, the (unlikely) collapse of the Palestinian Authority, and sporadic waves of supposedly “lone wolf” but no less deadly terrorist attacks. Yet while all of these concerns are important, the fact remains that for nearly two decades now, Israel’s most serious armed confrontations with Palestinians have occurred on the southern front with Gaza.
This analytical oversight is almost certainly due to the fact that few expect much change in the protracted stalemate between these long-time antagonists, occasionally punctuated by sharp bursts of combat. Regardless of who ends up as Israel’s new defense minister, the government will likely have zero interest in pursuing—let alone initiating—another large-scale but inconclusive military skirmish against Hamas. On the contrary, the bulk of Israeli policy toward Gaza will likely continue to be set by the professional military and the Shin Bet, which have long preferred a posture of “keeping the calm” there as much as possible. Barring unexpected shocks, this probably means that Israel will maintain, and even gradually expand, its economic lifeline to Gaza.
Currently, this lifeline includes the following: daily work and entry permits to Israel for over 17,000 Gazans; daily permission for hundreds of heavy cargo trucks crossing the border in both directions; supervised offshore fishing rights; permission for regular distribution of cash and goods by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Egyptian vendors, and other international and Gulf Arab donors; and continuous provision of water and electricity. So long as Hamas largely refrains from rocket attacks against Israel, these very tangible incentives for continued calm can be expected to persist under a new Netanyahu-led government.
For its part, Hamas has demonstrated its clear intention to focus inward on its Gaza sanctuary rather than actively outward against Israel—at least for the time being, and at least on the southern front (see below). In sharp contrast to Palestinian Authority officials in the West Bank, Hamas leaders have generally avoided major public denunciations of Netanyahu’s return. More concretely, just one minor rocket attack has been launched from Gaza since his November 1 election victory. And true to form, Israel responded with just a few perfunctory airstrikes against isolated targets. Shortly thereafter, some reports (disputed by other sources) claimed that Hamas even arrested a handful of PIJ or other “rogue” militants that it alleged were responsible for this breach of quiet.
In another sign of this relatively “moderate” tack, Hamas recently permitted thousands of local Fatah supporters to publicly commemorate the anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death. This was the first time in many years that such a gathering had been allowed in Gaza.
Perhaps most tellingly of all, the group has publicly acknowledged that it aims to take the fight to Israel in the West Bank for now rather than on its own turf in Gaza. In a television interview on the eve of Israel’s election, senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar uttered this remarkable assertion: “I am against conducting periodic wars in Gaza [against Israel], but there must be periodic wars in the West Bank.” He then rationalized this position by invoking Islamic law: “Do you think that if we have the opportunity to support our brothers in the West Bank, we should not seize that opportunity? Is there justification in the sharia for [not supporting them]?…We should support them with words, with money, weapons; we can support them by helping them to better define their vision, by praying for them from afar.” For all the reported tactical differences among various Hamas officers and factions, none has been heard to contradict this view lately, including the group’s leader Yahya al-Sinwar.
What Do Polls Say?
An oft-overlooked factor in the cautious calculations on both sides is public opinion. In Israel—perhaps the most heavily surveyed population per capita in the world—pollsters rarely ask about Gaza anymore; the topic is hardly even on the agenda for public debate. Most citizens across the political spectrum seem resigned to an indefinite continuation of the proverbially “unsustainable” status quo on that front, including sporadic episodes of Palestinian rocket fire and Israeli military responses (aka “mowing the grass”). The exceptions lie mainly in communities bordering Gaza, which are generally outside the base of Israel’s newly ascendant religious far right. The latter constituency and the parties representing it are heavily oriented east toward Jerusalem and the West Bank, not south toward Gaza.
On the other side of the border, Hamas pays pretty close attention to the results of public opinion polls on these issues (including Washington Institute surveys organized by the author). Although their government is certainly not a democratic one, the group’s leaders know they are much more popular in the West Bank than among their own subjects in Gaza, so they are wary of antagonizing the local population any more than necessary.
Regarding views on Israel, the trends in Gazan public opinion are abundantly clear. The latest credible survey, from June of this year, indicates that two-thirds of the population want Hamas to preserve a ceasefire. The same percentage want more economic ties with Israel—a thirteen-point increase since the previous pre-COVID survey in February 2020. And just over half (53 percent) agree with the following deliberately controversial statement (despite their certain knowledge that it is not the politically correct view): “Hamas should stop calling for Israel’s destruction, and accept a permanent two-state solution based on the 1967 boundaries.”
Two Wild Cards: Temple Mount and Iran
Notwithstanding all these constraints, two wild cards from opposite ends of the deck could conceivably upset this fragile equilibrium. The first is the potential for major trouble on the Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, which could give Hamas an irresistible pretext to pose as the holy site’s “defender” by launching rocket barrages at Israeli civilian targets. This risk will grow again next spring as major Muslim and Jewish holidays approach.
Yet even actors on Israel’s newly empowered religious far right—whether Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir, or other varieties—now seem more conscious of this danger. For example, Smotrich, the head of the Religious Zionism party, recently told a local audience that he has “grown up,” while Otzma Yehudit leader Ben-Gvir has toned down his longstanding focus on the Temple Mount and concentrated more on Hebron and other West Bank settlements/outposts, Sabbath observance, and gender issues. In any case, Netanyahu would likely relish the role of reining in such firebrands when it comes to the highly inflammatory Jerusalem file.
The other wild card is much further afield in Iran. Given the ongoing mass protests against the regime, Tehran may be tempted to deflect attention by scapegoating Israel for the crisis, perhaps firing up its PIJ and Hamas clients in Gaza. On balance, however, the severity of this internal trouble will probably steer the regime away from any major military escalation against Israel right now. Instead, Iran might continue taking aim at smaller, softer, more remote targets, such as its recent failed assassination plot against an Israeli citizen in Georgia or its minor explosive drone strike on an Israeli-owned oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
Interestingly, both Hamas and the people of Gaza appear to concur that Iran should avoid provoking Israel too much. A senior Hamas official visiting Lebanon this month publicly blessed Beirut’s new maritime accord with Israel, perhaps hoping for a similar offshore natural gas deal someday. And the aforementioned June poll showed a slim majority (55 percent) of Gazans agreeing with this bold judgment: “Wherever Iran intervenes in the region, it hurts the local Arabs and doesn’t help the Palestinians.”
For the longer term, the tragic truth is that no one has a satisfactory solution for the many problems of Gaza. In the short term, however, any alarmism about how Netanyahu’s election might affect these issues is almost surely misplaced. In other words, the United States and other interested parties have a bit more space to deal with pressing issues on other fronts.
*David Pollock is the Bernstein Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of Fikra Forum.
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/netanyahu-and-hamas-set-coexist-uneasily-again