English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 16/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
”Let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love
First Letter of John 04/07-21/:”Let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 15-16/2021
Lebanon needs ‘serious change,’ political leaders solely responsible: Prince Faisal
How Lebanon’s Hezbollah widens Iran’s Middle East reach
Safieddine: LF Sought to Stir Civil War at Request of Americans, Some Arabs
Nuland Says Lebanon Violence 'Unacceptable', Announces $67M in Army Aid
Shiite Duo Says 'Won't Back Down' on Bitar Removal Demand
Former PMs Condemn Tayyouneh Violence, Urge Immunities Lifting
Lebanon Tense after Flare-Up as Pro-Hizbullah Daily Compares Geagea to Hitler
Lebanon Pauses amid Tense Calm after Deadly Gun Battles
Tayyouneh Clashes: Facts, Roles and Players
EU Says Beirut Port Probe Must Continue, Condemns Use of Violence
Moscow Calls on All Sides in Lebanon to 'Show Restraint'
Army Recovers Plane Wreckage from Halat Sea
Tense calm in Beirut after deadly sectarian flare-up
It is either the Lebanese people or Hezbollah/Farouk Youssef/The Arab Weekly/October 15/2021
Despite tensions, Lebanon committed to resuming talks with IMF
Probe at a crossroads/Dana Hourany/Now Lwbanon/October 15/2021
LIC Statement on Hezbollah’s Chaotic Invasion of Lebanon’s Civilian Streets
Vive la Résistance/Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 15/2021
Aujourd'hui réveil agité/Aujourd'hui réveil agité/Aujourd'hui réveil agité.
Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 15/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 15-16/2021
UAE says Palestinian-Israeli peace process worth ‘taking the risk’
Iran nuclear programme tops US-Saudi discussions
Economics drive Ankara’s expanded drone sales to Morocco, Ethiopia
Rising fighting in Marib prompts UN’s call for ceasefire
King Abdullah seeks economic support, help with media during visit to Doha
After Iraqi vote, Salih likely to stay in office while Kadhimi still in limbo
Putin Says No Rush in Officially Recognizing Taliban's Rule
More Repression, Fewer Jobs: Jordanians Face Bleak Outlook
Yemen Economy Collapsing, Humanitarian Crisis Rising
Israel Quietly Advances Settlements with Little U.S Pushback
Judge Halts Trial for 4 Members of Egyptian Security Forces

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 15-16/2021
It’s Decision Time on Iran/Richard Goldberg and Jacob Nagel/The Dispatch/October 15/202
Western Governmental Funds Divest From West Bank While Investing in China/Orde Kittrie and David May/FDD-Policy Brief/October 15/202
Don’t Let Palestinian Recalcitrance Hold Israeli-African Relations Hostage/David May/The Algemeiner/October 15/2021
Blinken Affirms Softening of U.S. Policy Toward Assad Regime/David Adesnik/FDD-Policy Brief/October 15/2021
Masters With Feet Of Clay: Iranian Proxies' Latest Handling Of Their Hegemony In Lebanon And Iraq/Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI./October 15/2021
Question: "Can people in heaven look down and see us?"/GotQuestions.org/October 15/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 15-16/2021
Lebanon needs ‘serious change,’ political leaders solely responsible: Prince Faisal
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/15 October ,2021
“They [politicians] need to make a real choice to lift Lebanon out of the morass it is in now. We have so far not seen that they have made that decision,” Prince Faisal said during a briefing with reporters in Washington. Lebanon’s politicians and the new government have not made any decisions to help the country and its people, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Friday. “They [politicians] need to make a real choice to lift Lebanon out of the morass it is in now. We have so far not seen that they have made that decision,” Prince Faisal said during a briefing with reporters in Washington. “The responsibility for that lies squarely on the shoulders of the Lebanese leadership,” he added. Citing the deadly clashes on Thursday in Beirut between Hezbollah and Amal supporters with unidentified gunmen, the Saudi diplomat said he was worried about the situation in Lebanon. Prince Faisal said the violence was proof that “Lebanon needs real, serious change.”He said the international community needed to be focused on “substantial change, rather than short-term fixes.” Saudi Arabia has withdrawn much of its political and financial support for Lebanon after decades of being one of its number one supporters. A primary reason for this change in posture has been Iran-backed Hezbollah's increased influence and sway over the country. “I think we are going to continue to give advice, but I’ll leave it at that.”Prince Faisal also voiced concern over the economic situation in Lebanon. “That’s why it’s imperative that the leaders of Lebanon take serious action rather than this approach of trying to paper over the problems and the issues. I think, if they want to prevent a serious situation, they need to take action,” he said. According to the Saudi FM, Prime Minister Najib Mikati has not received an invite to visit the Kingdom.

How Lebanon’s Hezbollah widens Iran’s Middle East reach
Reuters/15 October ,2021
The Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah has worked hand in glove with Iran across the Middle East since it was established in 1982. Here’s what you need to know about one of the most important relationships in the Middle East today:
What is Hezbollah?
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards founded the group in 1982 to export its Islamic Revolution and to fight Israeli forces that invaded Lebanon that same year.
Hezbollah shares Tehran’s Shiite Islamist ideology and sees Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as its political and spiritual guide.
Classified by the United States and other South American, European and Gulf countries as a terrorist organization, Hezbollah has a powerful military wing that it has acknowledged is armed and financed by Iran.
The group also has a formidable intelligence apparatus and polices its own areas of south Beirut and southern Lebanon, as well as border areas with Syria.
One of Lebanon’s two dominant Shiite parties, Hezbollah has MPs in parliament and ministers in government. Its political clout grew in 2018 when, together with allies, it won a parliamentary majority.
Its commercial activities include a retail empire and a construction company. It also runs schools and clinics and has drug cartel networks across the globe, according to reports.
The group, which has grown to be more powerful than the Lebanese state over the last four decades, has largely been defined by conflict with Israel.
Hezbollah fighters forced Israel out of Lebanon in 2000 and fired 4,000 rockets into Israel in a 34-day war in 2006. Hezbollah has since rearmed into an even more powerful force.
The group has been accused of bomb attacks far from Lebanon.
Argentina blames Hezbollah and Iran for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in which 85 people were killed and for an attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 that killed 29 people. Both deny responsibility.
Bulgaria accused Hezbollah of carrying out a bomb attack that killed five Israeli tourists in the Black Sea city of Burgas in 2012. Hezbollah denied involvement.
How does Hezbollah help Iran in the region?
Hezbollah helps Iran to project power across the region.
Its secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, is a leading figure in the Iran-led "Axis of Resistance," which aims to counter Israel, the United States and its Arab allies.
A charismatic speaker, Nasrallah helps to rally and organize Tehran’s Arab alliances.
Hezbollah’s close links to Iran were vividly illustrated when in 2013 it joined the war in Syria alongside Tehran in defense of their common ally President Bashar al-Assad.
In Iraq, Hezbollah has openly acknowledged it has supported paramilitary Shiite groups that are backed by Iran.
In Yemen, Hezbollah has also supported the Iran-aligned Houthis, according to Arab Coalition fighting in the country. Hezbollah in 2017 denied it had sent any weapons to Yemen.
Hezbollah has also acknowledged providing support to the Palestinian group Hamas.
Where does Lebanon fit in?
Hezbollah has established Iran as a major player in Lebanon, a country where the United States, Russia, Syria and Saudi Arabia and many others have competed for influence for years.
Shadowy groups, which Lebanese security officials and Western intelligence say were linked to Hezbollah, carried out attacks that forced US troops to withdraw from Lebanon in the early 1980s, including suicide attacks on Western embassies. Hezbollah has never confirmed or denied responsibility.
Hezbollah entered Lebanese politics more visibly after the killing of former Sunni Muslim Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in 2005.
A UN-backed court last year convicted a Hezbollah member of conspiring to kill Hariri, who was seen as a threat to Iranian and Syrian influence in Lebanon, although it found no evidence of direct involvement by the leadership of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has denied any role in Hariri’s killing and has accused the tribunal of being a tool of its enemies in the United States and Israel.
As Hezbollah’s home base, Lebanon is vital to both the group and Iran. Hezbollah has used its political and - at times - its military clout to counter threats it sees from Lebanese rivals who say its vast arsenal has undermined the state.
In 2008, Hezbollah fighters took to the streets with weapons, over Beirut during a power struggle with the government.
Most recently, it has led calls for the removal of the lead investigator in the Beirut port explosion, Judge Tarek Bitar, as he has pursued some of Hezbollah’s closest allies on suspicion of negligence, claiming his probe was politicized and biased.

Safieddine: LF Sought to Stir Civil War at Request of Americans, Some Arabs
Naharnet/October 15/2021
Hizbullah Executive Council head Sayyed Hashem Safieddine on Friday accused the rival Lebanese Forces party of carrying out “a deliberate and flagrant massacre” in a “calculated and premeditated ambush targeted against civilians.”He was speaking at the funeral of several people killed in Thursday’s fierce clashes in the Tayyouneh area.
Hizbullah and Amal Movement have accused the LF of deploying snipers on rooftops and opening fire on protesters, while the Lebanese Forces has denied involvement in the clashes while noting that Ain el-Remmaneh’s residents defended themselves in the face of an “invasion” by the supporters of the two groups. Safieddine said the alleged “ambush” points to “lowness and stupidity,” adding that “those who target civilians are not heroes but rather cowards.”“The LF party sought to stir a new civil war in Lebanon… and perhaps its defeated masters in the region had rushed it to do this step,” the Hizbullah official added, noting that Lebanese security agencies possessed information that the LF had been planning to “stir civil war.” He added: “Those who committed the crime know that we have prudence, and had the criminals known that we would engage in war with them, they would not have dared, seeing as they are too low to stand in the face of these men and woman who defeated the Zionist enemy and the American schemes in the region.” Calling on security and judicial authorities to “bring the criminals to justice,” Safieddine warned that “any procrastination in this matter” will be considered “partnership in shedding this innocent blood.” He also vowed that Hizbullah will follow up on the issue. “The scene that we witnessed yesterday was one of the episodes run by the United States and financed by some Arabs,” Safieddine charged, while noting that Hizbullah “will not be dragged into sectarian strife nor civil war” although it “will not let the blood of our aggrieved go in vain.” Addressing the “international and regional sponsors of these attacks,” the Hizbullah official added: “We will not let you take the country to strife.”“Everyone in Lebanon must know and act on the basis that there is a side and party in Lebanon that is working for the Americans and Arab sides and wants to take the country to strife and civil war,” Safieddine added, in reference to the Lebanese Forces.

Nuland Says Lebanon Violence 'Unacceptable', Announces $67M in Army Aid
Naharnet/October 15/2021
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland met with Lebanese leaders on Thursday, on a visit whose schedule was thrown off by the deadly Tayyouneh clashes -- the most dangerous round of sectarian fighting that the country has witnessed since 2008.
Speaking at a press conference that followed her meetings with the country’s leaders, Nuland offered condolences on behalf of the American people for “the tragic loss of life” in the clashes. “We join the Lebanese authorities in their call for calm and de-escalation of tensions. The health and future of Lebanon's democracy depends on the ability of its citizens to address the difficult issues ahead for their country -- peacefully, and through dialogue, and with confidence in the rule of law,” she added. Noting that she visited Lebanon at the request of U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. Secretaries Antony Blinken and Janet Yellen to express “support for the aspirations of the Lebanese people for security, for economic stability and for transparent and accountable governance,” Nuland decried that “terrorists and thieves have robbed them of hope for far too long,” in an apparent jab at Hizbullah and the country’s political class.
“After years of suffering, all Lebanese deserve better. The task ahead is daunting, but we stand with Lebanon as it does the hard work to restore economic stability and basic services, including reliable electricity, health care, and education to get this country on a sustainable path and back to prosperity,” the U.S. official added. In her meetings with Lebanese officials, she said that she “underscored the importance of complete transparency and open books as Lebanon re-engages with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.”
“The Lebanese people deserve to know where their money has gone and to have confidence in their economic future. We also urged prudence and accountability in the use of Lebanon's more than a billion dollars in IMF Special Drawing Rights. This money belongs to the Lebanese people and must be used for their benefit. We also underscored the importance of free and fair elections next spring, and we were energized in our meeting with civil society this morning by the excitement that we felt among them for the opportunity for the next generation of Lebanese leaders to help shape a positive future here,” she added.
Nuland also stressed “steadfast support for the Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces,” announcing an additional $67 million dollars in new U.S. support for the military institution, which brings Washington’s total of support this year to $187 million dollars. Commenting on the port blast investigations, Nuland stressed that “a clean, impartial, independent judiciary is the guarantor of all the rights and the values that we, as democracies, hold dear and share.”“Again, the Lebanese people deserve no less, and the victims and families of those lost in the port blast deserve no less. Today's unacceptable violence makes clear what the stakes are. As the Lebanese people and government and leaders and civil society take the very difficult steps forward to bring stability, health, prosperity, and security back to this beautiful country, the American people, the American government stands with them,” she added. Asked about the Hizbullah-procured Iranian fuel deliveries in Lebanon, Nuland said that what Iran is offering is a “publicity stunt.”“A bunch of trucks full of dirty stuff that is not sustainable for the Lebanese people,” she added.

Shiite Duo Says 'Won't Back Down' on Bitar Removal Demand
Naharnet/October 15/2021
The stance of Hizbullah and Amal Movement is “a righteous demand that serves the higher national interest as to security and stability and thwarts the strife scheme whose threads are American and is being implemented with domestic Lebanese tools,” sources close to the Shiite duo said.
“Some of these tools are judicial and not limited to Judge (Tarek) Bitar while the other tools are non-judicial,” the sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Friday. “Had Cabinet on Tuesday taken the right measure by tasking the Justice Minister to do everything necessary to put an end to Judge Bitar’s violations, which are aimed at dragging the country into strife, what happened today would not have happened,” the sources added, referring to the deadly Tayyouneh clashes. “We will not back down from our stance, especially after what happened, and the head of strife (Bitar) must be removed,” the sources went on to say. The sources also said that what happened in Tayyouneh was “a new and edited version of the (1975) Ain al-Remmaneh bus incident.” “Was it not for our wisdom, we would have descended into something much more dangerous,” the sources added.
The sources also called on President Michel Aoun to “pull us out of this inferno” after “all the details and circumstances have become clear to him.”
“Bitar is serving an agenda targeted against the country’s security and stability,” the sources added, addressing Aoun.

Former PMs Condemn Tayyouneh Violence, Urge Immunities Lifting
Naharnet/October 15/2021
Former Prime Ministers Fouad Saniora, Saad Hariri and Tammam Salam condemned Friday, in a joint statement, the Tayyouneh clashes and demanded Parliament to "lift immunities" in the port blast case. They slammed those who "instead of directing all efforts to reforms, are still trying to distract the Lebanese from their tragedies, push them back into their sectarian squares, stir up civil strife, and bring back memories and nightmares of civil war.” Saniora, Hariri and Salam reiterated “their firm opinion” about “freedom of expression and peaceful protesting” and condemned the use of violence. They asked for an international or Arab probe in the Beirut port blast, to reach the complete truth instead of getting distracted with “professional negligence issues,” and urged the parliament to quickly issue a constitutional law to lift “immunities of all kinds without any exception.” The three former PMs went on to say that all “presidential, ministerial, parliamentary, judicial and military immunities should be suspended, in order to achieve a full, non-selective and impartial justice.”They also stressed on the independence of the judiciary and on full commitment to the constitution, urging President Michel Aoun and the judiciary to respect the constitution and to adhere to it. The former presidents called on the army and the security forces to take the utmost measures “to prevent all forms of violence, arrest the gunmen who committed the (Tayyouneh) crimes, protect civilians and maintain civil peace.” They also called on the competent judicial authorities to carry out their duty and impose the necessary penalties on the perpetrators.

Lebanon Tense after Flare-Up as Pro-Hizbullah Daily Compares Geagea to Hitler
Agence France Presse/October 15/2021
Lebanon prepared to bury the victims of its deadliest sectarian unrest in years Friday after gunfire gripped the Tayyouneh-Ain el-Rummaneh area for hours and revived the ghosts of the civil war. Seven people were killed and dozens wounded Thursday when violence erupted following a rally by Hizbullah and Amal Movement protesters demanding the removal of the judge investigating last year's port blast. The two groups that organized the protest in front the Justice Palace accused the Lebanese Forces party of engineering the chaos by aiming sniper fire at the demonstrators. Video footage meanwhile showed the presence of gunmen carrying machineguns and RPG launchers among the Hizbullah and Amal supporters who were present in the Tayyouneh-Ain el-Rummaneh area. The front page of the al-Akhbar daily, which is close to Hizbullah, carried a portrait of LF leader Samir Geagea donning Adolf Hitler's uniform and toothbrush mustache with a headline that read "No doubt". "Samir Geagea, you were the first to know what happened yesterday... because you planned, prepared and executed... a major crime," the newspaper wrote. The LF strenuously denied any involvement in Thursday's flare-up and said Hizbullah was "invading" residential neighborhoods when the violence broke out.A heavy army presence was visible on the streets Friday amid fears of an escalation.
- Bad memories -
On Thursday, Amal and Hizbullah gunmen in their hundreds filled the streets around Tayyouneh, a notorious civil war flashpoint near the spot where the April 1975 bus attack often presented as the trigger of the conflict occurred. As a deluge of bullets riddled residential facades, and gaggles of fighters wearing ammunition vests took over the streets and emptied their magazines haphazardly, civilians crouched in homes, terrified. When Maryam Daher, a 44-year-old mother of two, saw civilians running for safety on television, she broke down. "It all came back to me," she said. "At the very same moment, I received a message from my son's school asking parents to come and collect the children." One of the six people killed was a mother of five hit in the head by a stray bullet inside her home. As preparations in southern Lebanon and in Beirut were under way for the funerals, the country marked a day of mourning declared by authorities. France, the United States and United Nations appealed for a de-escalation but also insisted on the need to allow the port explosion probe to continue unhindered. Russia said Friday it was "extremely concerned" about the tensions and called on all sides to "show restraint." In addition to long-standing animosity between the LF and the Shiite duo, their feud was renewed by the fate of Tarek Bitar, the judge who has led the investigation into the August 4, 2020 port explosion.
- Bitar's fate -
What was one of the world's biggest ever non-nuclear explosions and Lebanon's worst peacetime disaster killed 215 people, wounded thousands and flattened swathes of the capital. The investigation has not yet established who was responsible for the tons of ammonium nitrate which had been poorly stored at the port for years nor what exactly started the fire that detonated the fertilizer. Hizbullah and Amal accuse Bitar of political bias in an investigation which Lebanon's ruling elite as a whole has hampered at every turn for more than a year. Two Amal former ministers are among the top officials Bitar has summoned for questioning. The discreet 47-year-old judge is seen by the blast victims' families and many others who want the wholesale removal the political elite as the country's best chance to achieve justice and cause some kind of political shake-up. "Judges must be free from violence. They must be free of threats. They must be free of intimidation, including that of Hezbollah," State Department spokesman Ned Price said. Bitar's entourage says the young judge is aware of the risks in a country's whose history is littered with unpunished assassinations but remains determined to press his probe. The latest appeals rulings on the various legal challenges launched by subpoenaed ministers currently allow Bitar to resume an investigation which was suspended multiple times. But with the day of mourning on Friday and a religious holiday running until Monday, Bitar's investigation will not resume before next week. The government headed by Prime Minister Najib Miqati and whose members are all sponsored by Lebanon's hereditary political barons is expected to seek a solution that would allow the investigation to continue but appease Hizbullah. The Iranian-backed group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose influence on the street and in the political arena is unmatched, gave a televised speech on Monday in which he unleashed a strident attack against Bitar.

Lebanon Pauses amid Tense Calm after Deadly Gun Battles
Associated Press/October 15/2021
Schools, banks and government offices across Lebanon shut down Friday after hours of gun battles between armed groups killed seven people and terrorized the residents of Beirut and its suburbs. The government called for a day of mourning following the armed clashes, in which gunmen used automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades on the streets of the capital's edge and suburbs, echoing the nation's darkest era of the 1975-90 civil war. The gun battles raised the specter of a return to sectarian violence in a country already struggling through one of the world's worst economic crises of the past 150 years.
The violence broke out Thursday at a protest organized by Hizbullah and the Amal Movement -- calling for the removal of the lead judge investigating last year's massive explosion at Beirut port. Many of the protesters had been armed. It was not clear who fired the first shot, but the confrontation quickly devolved into heavy exchanges of gunfire along a former civil war frontline separating predominantly Muslim and Christian areas of Beirut and its suburbs. Gunfire echoed for hours, and ambulances rushed to pick up casualties. Snipers shot from buildings. Bullets penetrated apartment windows in the area. Schools were evacuated and residents hid in shelters. Hizbullah and Amal said their protesters came under fire from snipers deployed over rooftops, accusing the Lebanese Forces party of starting the shooting. Among the dead were two Hizbullah fighters. On Friday, residents in the Tayyouneh area on Beirut's southern edge, where most of the fighting played out, swept glass from the streets in front of shops and apartment buildings. Soldiers guarded the entrance to the battered neighborhood, and barbed wire was erected at street entrances. Many cars were damaged. Tayyouneh has a huge roundabout that separates Christian and Muslim neighborhoods. Newly pockmarked buildings sat next to ones scarred from the days of the civil war.
Hizbullah and Amal were holding funerals for their dead later Friday. Tensions over the port blast have added to Lebanon's many troubles, including a currency collapse, hyperinflation, soaring poverty and an energy crisis leading to extended electricity blackouts. The probe centers on hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate that were improperly stored at a port warehouse that detonated on Aug. 4, 2020. The blast killed at least 215 people, injured thousands and destroyed parts of nearby neighborhoods. It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history and further devastated the country already beset with political divisions and financial woes. Judge Tarek Bitar has charged and issued an arrest warrant for Ali Hassan Khalil, a former finance minister who is a senior member of Amal and a close ally of Hizbullah. Bitar also has charged three other former senior government officials with intentional killing and negligence that led to the blast. Officials from both Shiite parties, Amal and Hizbullah, including Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, had attacked Bitar for days, accusing him of politicizing the investigation by charging and summoning some officials and not others. None of Hizbullah's officials have so far been charged in the 14-month investigation. Bitar is the second judge to lead the complicated investigation. His predecessor was removed following legal challenges.

Tayyouneh Clashes: Facts, Roles and Players
Agence France Presse/October 15/2021
The street violence in and around Tayyouneh on Thursday was reminiscent of the 1975-1990 civil war that involved several of the same players. Who exactly was involved in Thursday's flare-up?
- Amal -
The Shiite movement that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has headed since 1980 is a political party but it also has a militia, which was a major player in the civil war and was the most visible armed force on Thursday. Hundreds of Amal fighters poured into the streets of its Shiyyah bastion, firing assault rifles and RPGs towards the Christian stronghold of Ain al-Remmaneh. Among the most senior officials summoned by Judge Tarek Bitar as part of his probe into the August 4, 2020 explosion are two former Amal ministers. At least three of those killed on Thursday were Amal members.
- Hizbullah -
The Shiite group is a political party with significant representation in Lebanon’s parliament as well as a powerful armed group backed by Iran. It has also been involved in external operations across the region. Often described as a state within the state, it was the only group to keep its arsenal after the war, arguing it was the best rampart against Israel, a premise that now divides the political class. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the movement's leader since 1992, unleashed a strident attack against Bitar on Monday, accusing him of political bias and demanding he be replaced. Hizbullah fighters were seen on the streets taking part in the fighting on Thursday, albeit in smaller numbers than Amal.
- Lebanese Forces -
The Christian group headed by Samir Geagea since 1986 was a key player in the civil war. It morphed into a political party and its leader is the only one who served jail time after the war but it has members and supporters who posses arms in its strongholds in suburban Beirut and in the north of the country. Hizbullah accused the LF, which supports the port investigation, of being responsible for the deadly sniper fire against anti-Bitar protesters that ignited Thursday's chaos. The LF issued a statement strenuously denying the accusation and no Christian militiamen were seen on the streets during the violence. Hizbullah and Amal however accused the group of deploying snipers on rooftops and some LF officials have hinted that those involved were residents of Ain el-Remmaneh and not necessarily members of the LF.
- The army -
The army deployed heavily when the violence broke out, blocking the streets around the flashpoint area of Tayyouneh. It did nothing to disarm or push back the militiamen who deployed en masse, with RPG and rifle fire zipping above its patrols. The army conducted searches in Ain al-Remmaneh buildings to track down snipers and announced nine arrests late Thursday from both sides -- including a Syrian national -- but the identity of the first shooter remains a mystery.

EU Says Beirut Port Probe Must Continue, Condemns Use of Violence
Naharnet/October 15/2021
The European Union condemned Friday "the use of violence" duting the demonstration against the judge leading the investigation into the Beirut Port blast. The EU expressed, in a statement, its condolences to the families of the victims and called for "utmost restraint to avoid further senseless loss of life." "We urge all parties and leaders to act calmly and responsibly to prevent an escalation of violence at this critical time for Lebanon. The priority must lie on tackling constructively and urgently all the crises Lebanon and its people have to put up with for already a very long time," the statement said. The EU reiterated that "the investigation into the 4 August 2020 Beirut Port blast needs to be completed as soon as possible." "It should be impartial, credible, transparent as well as independent. The investigation should be allowed to proceed without any interference in legal proceedings and those responsible for the blast should be finally held accountable." The EU Spokesperson added in the statement that "it is up to the Lebanese authorities to enable the probe to continue with all the necessary financial and human resources, so it can shed light on what happened and provide credible answers to the pressing questions from the Lebanese people about why and how this tragic event happened."

Moscow Calls on All Sides in Lebanon to 'Show Restraint'
Agence France Presse/October 15/2021
Russia's foreign ministry on Friday called on all sides in Lebanon to "show restraint" after deadly clashes rocked a Beirut suburb as tensions rise over last year's port explosion. Seven people were killed and dozens wounded on Thursday when violence erupted following a rally by Hizbullah and Amal Movement protesters demanding the removal of the judge investigating last August's blast that left at least 210 people dead. "Moscow is extremely concerned about the growing political tensions in Lebanon," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "We call on all Lebanese politicians to show restraint and prudence." The ministry added that it hoped the government of new Prime Minister Najib Miqati would be able to cope with a "dangerous and considerably difficult challenge."France, the United States and United Nations earlier appealed for calm but also insisted on the need to allow the port explosion probe to continue unhindered. In its statement, Russia's foreign ministry called on the Lebanese government to return to resolving the current issues "without external interference."

Army Recovers Plane Wreckage from Halat Sea
Naharnet/October 15/2021
Naval Forces and Marine Commandos found the wreckage of a civilian training plane and the bodies of the two victims who were on board, the Army said Friday. The army added, in a statement, that the plane had crashed 1200 meters from the beach of Halat, 30 meters deep.
The plane belonging to Aeroclub of Lebanon had fallen two days ago in the sea off Halat.

Tense calm in Beirut after deadly sectarian flare-up
The Arab Weekly/October 15/2021
BEIRUT--A tense calm gripped Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Friday as the country prepared to bury the victims of its deadliest sectarian unrest in years after gunfire in central Beirut revived the ghosts of the civil war. Seven people died and dozens were wounded as a result of violence that erupted Thursday following a rally by Shia protesters demanding the dismissal of the judge investigating last year’s devastating Beirut port blast. The Shia movements Amal and Hezbollah which organised the protest in front of the Justice Palace accused the Lebanese Forces (LF) Christian party of engineering the chaos by aiming sniper fire at the demonstrators. The front page of the Al-Akhbar daily, which is close to Hezbollah, carried a portrait of LF leader Samir Geagea donning Adolf Hitler’s uniform and toothbrush moustache with a headline that read “No doubt.”“Samir Geagea, you were the first to know what happened yesterday … because you planned, prepared and executed … a major crime,” the newspaper wrote. The LF strenuously denied any involvement in Thursday’s flare-up and said Hezbollah was “invading” off-limits neighbourhoods when the violence broke out. A heavy army presence was visible on the streets Friday amid fears of an escalation.
Scenes of ‘hysteria’
On Thursday, Amal and Hezbollah militiamen filled the streets in their hundreds around Tayouneh, a notorious civil war flashpoint near the location of an April 1975 bus attack which is often presented as the trigger for the subsequent conflict. As a hail of bullets riddled residential facades and gaggles of fighters wearing ammunition vests took over the streets and emptied their magazines haphazardly, civilians crouched in homes, terrified. When bursts of gunfire rang out near her Adlieh home, Jumanah Zabaneh, 45, rushed out to the street, braving stray bullets, to pick up her two daughters. She did not stop running until she arrived at the school, where she said scenes of “hysteria” were being played out. The way back home was packed with danger. “The gunfire was so close, we had to duck every two metres,” she said. “We hid behind cars, at the entrances to buildings, behind utility poles.”Once at home, her eight-year-old daughter Tamara, who had spent a year in therapy over trauma from last year’s blast, told her, “Mom, you said it would never happen again.”As preparations in southern Lebanon and in Beirut were under way for the funerals, the country marked a day of mourning declared by the presidency.
France, the US and UN appealed for de-escalation but also insisted on allowing the probe into the port explosion to continue unhindered. Russia said Friday it was “extremely concerned” about the tensions and called for “restraint” from all sides. In addition to long-standing animosity between the LF and the Shia groups, their feud was renewed by the work of Tarek Bitar, the judge who has led the investigation into the August 4, 2020 port explosion.
Eyes on Judge Tarek Bitar
What was one of the world’s biggest ever non-nuclear explosions and Lebanon’s worst peacetime disaster killed 215 people, wounded thousands and flattened swathes of the capital. The investigation has not yet established who was responsible for the tonnes of ammonium nitrate which had been poorly stored at the port for years nor what exactly started the fire that detonated the fertiliser. Hezbollah and Amal accuse Bitar of political bias in an investigation which Lebanon’s ruling elite as a whole has hampered at every turn for more than a year. Two Amal former ministers are among the top officials Bitar has summoned for questioning. The discreet 47-year-old judge is seen by the blast victims’ families and many others who want the wholesale removal of the political elite as the country’s best chance to achieve justice and political change. “Judges must be free from violence. They must be free of threats. They must be free of intimidation, including that of Hezbollah,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. Bitar’s entourage says the young judge is aware of the risks in a country’s whose history is littered with unpunished assassinations but remains determined to keep investigating. The latest appeals rulings dismissing the various legal challenges launched by subpoenaed ministers, allow Bitar to resume an investigation which has been suspended multiple times. Next week is the earliest the probe could resume, after a day of mourning on Friday and a religious holiday through to Monday. The government headed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati , whose members are all sponsored by Lebanon’s hereditary political barons, is expected to seek a solution that would allow the investigation to continue but appease Hezbollah. The Iranian-backed group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, whose influence on the street and in the political arena is unmatched, unleashed a strident attack against Bitar in a televised speech Monday.

It is either the Lebanese people or Hezbollah
Farouk Youssef/The Arab Weekly/October 15/2021
On August 4, 2020, Hezbollah blew up the Beirut port. The Lebanese judiciary did not say that exactly. In fact, it did not dare to say so. All the evidence points to that fact, which cannot be hidden if one takes into consideration the fate of the state and the conditions of its people.
But what is meant by the state? Is it the one led by Michel Aoun as president? That is a state created by Hezbollah which no one trusts. There is no government that is reassuring to anyone, anymore, simply because none of the heads of these governments has had any clear political project for the present or for the longterm. The state of Lebanon, its governments and its parliament are nothing but tools in the hands of Hezbollah. What happened is known. The Beirut port explosion was an accident from Hezbollah’s point of view. Other people have to accept that conclusion as a substitute for the judicial inquiry. This means that Hezbollah’s justice must replace real and absolute justice. Justice must open the road wide enough for the resistance to pass. It has becaome clear to the Lebanese that their problems would not be solved by forming a new government. They had hoped that the world would grant the new government its confidence and then that confidence in Lebanon would be restored. No government, any government, will be able to open the file of the Beirut port explosion. The reasons for the blast is an issue that cannot be ignored in order to reach a common understanding with the world. The world wants to know what happened in Beirut on August 4, 2020. That’s where the truth lies. Justice was created in order for criminals to be held accountable and for the fate of those criminals to set an example for others. Justice does not accept half-solutions. Either it is complete or it is not. Who would dare tell Hezbollah that? Judge Tarek Bitar did so, even if it was not his intent to clash with this or that political party. However, Hezbollah has expanded its influence to impose its tutelage on the Lebanese. Raising the slogan of protecting the political class from justice, Hassan Nasrallah spoke clearly about the need to prevent the weakening of that class under the pressure of popular discontent. The political class is immune and the judge has to search for what he wants outside the boundaries of that class.
But how can we get to the truth of what happened on that disastrous day without probing the authority responsible for importing ammonium nitrate and storing it in the port of Beirut and preventing the state from disposing of it, which is the same entity that pulled quantities of that explosive and re-exported it to Syria, as some claim? I do not believe that an independent and impartial judiciary can do that. We cannot expect the judiciary to mislead justice by ignoring the truth, diluting the results and blaming unknown parties. This is a task that involves an enormous amount of disregard for the people and their dignity and for the state, its security and sovereignty.
It is possible for an outlaw militia like Hezbollah to look down on justice, its members, its elements of strength and its performance. It has the monopoly of that kind of outlook. What happens when it comes to the judiciary, which is an independent authority that no political force should have the ability to influence? It would be superfluous to say that the emergence of a judge like Bitar is normal, even if Hezbollah’s hysteria has given him an heroic aura. Because of this honorable judge, the master of the resistance, has lost his nerve and has come to threaten to disrupt the government’s work and declare public disobedience.
At this point, after deaths occurred in Beirut as a result of armed frictions, which Hezbollah considered a mere “rehearsal” for what could happen if Bitar remained in his position, the Lebanese people had to decide either to close the file of the blast and be like someone burying himself alive under the rubble of shame and disgrace, or give the explosion an adequate explanation, uproot the ruling political class and end Hezbollah’s hegemony over political and economic life. However, Hezbollah realises that when it arrests the Lebanese in the context of its notion of ​​justice and blackmails the world, its losing proposition will lead the world to continue turning its back on Lebanon. Isn’t that what it wants? Hezbollah has reached a stage where it is one side in the Lebanese equation where the Lebanese people are on the other. It has come to this: Either the people or Hezbollah.

Despite tensions, Lebanon committed to resuming talks with IMF
The Arab Weekly/October 15/2021
BEIRUT--Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday’s violence was a setback for the country but would be overcome, adding that his cabinet was working to provide the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with necessary financial figures ahead of talks to pull the country out of its economic meltdown. Mikati spoke to Reuters after a deadly shooting rocked the capital Beirut as tensions over a probe into last year’s massive blast in Beirut burst into the worst street violence in more than a decade, leaving six Shias dead.
“Lebanon is going through a difficult phase, not an easy one. We are like a patient in front of the emergency room,” Mikati said in an interview. “We have a lot of stages after that to complete recovery,” he said adding that the country’s central bank had no liquidity in foreign currency that it could utilise.Mikati’s cabinet took office last month after more than a year of political deadlock with a focus on reviving IMF talks to pull the country out of a deep financial crisis that has propelled more than three quarters of its population into poverty. But a row simmering for months over the lead investigator into last year’s deadly Beirut port blast threatened to upend it when Shia ministers, allied to the Hezbollah and Amal movements who oppose the judge, demanded his removal. “Everyone who wants to resign should bear the responsibility of his decision,” Mikati said when asked about whether ministers had threatened to resign over the demand. He said it was not the job of politicians to interfere in the judiciary but that the body should correct its own errors.
“A judge should firstly protect the law and the constitution,” he said.
“Many, including myself say maybe there is a constitutional error but this the judiciary has to decide and that body can rectify itself not the politicians.” Despite the distraction from the cabinet’s focus on economic recovery, Mikati said the necessary financial data would be provided to the IMF “in the coming days.”Lebanon’s financial system collapsed in 2019 after decades of corruption and waste in the state and the unsustainable way it was financed. Over the past two years, the country’s currency has lost more than 90% of its value and the World Bank has dubbed the economic meltdown as one of the deepest depressions in modern history. IMF talks stalled last year after the previous government drew up a financial recovery plan that mapped out losses of some $90 billion in the financial sector. The figure was endorsed by the IMF but many of Lebanon’s main political players disputed the scale of the losses.
When asked whether a new figure for the size of the losses or the distribution was determined, Mikati said he could not reveal data before sharing it with the IMF. Financial advisory firm Lazard drafted the original recovery plan for Lebanon last year and was asked to continue its role after Mikati’s cabinet was formed. Mikati said it was waiting on some figures that would be handed over by the government next week to complete their plan. “I would have hoped for (figures to be handed over) sooner rather than later but … in light of the current circumstances there is a bit of delay that is outside of our power but soon the talks with the IMF will start formally and completely.”

Probe at a crossroads
Dana Hourany/Now Lwbanon/October 15/2021
As the Beirut blast investigation faces more political hurdles, analysts and legal experts say the international silence and preference for stability over justice may destroy all that is left of the credibility of Lebanon’s justice system.
It was supposed to be a protest called by Hezbollah and Amal Movement in defense of Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter, two Amal MPs and former ministers who had been summoned for questioning as suspects in the Beirut blast. But it ended with seven deaths and scores of people wounded.
On August 4, 2020, the explosion of hundreds of tons of weapons-grade ammonium nitrate improperly stored in the Beirut port killed over 200 people, wounded over 7,000 and left several neighborhoods of the Lebanese capital in ruins. But the investigation that followed has dragged on for over a year, with various political forces obstructing any attempt by magistrates to charge former dignitaries and security officials.
The head of the probe, 47-year-old judge Tarek Bitar, has been at the core of protests, both by victims’ families, which have demonstrated and campaign in his support and, on October 14, by Hezbollah and Amal who bussed supporters to the Palace of Justice to call for Bitar’s dismissal.
In fact, the two Shiite factions, as well as the Christian Marada party, whose member Youssef Fenianos, former Public Works minister was also charged in the probe for negligence, blocked the newly formed cabinet in order to pressure Prime Minister Najib Mikati to dismiss Bitar, accusing the judge of being influenced by the United States and acting for “foreign interests”.
Lawyer and executive director of Seeds for Legal Initiatives Layal Sakr told NOW that it was not a matter of delaying the investigation, but of stopping it altogether. “They [the politicians] will do anything possible to drag this out indefinitely and will use every loophole there is in the law,” Sakr told NOW.
The constant game of complaining to the Supreme Court and accusing the magistrates of bias will eventually lead to disempowering the judicial system and opening up doors for future defendants to follow suit, she added.
Blocking the probe at any cost
The chief investigator in the Beirut blast case, Tarek Bitar, has so far survived several attempts to have him removed from the inquiry, both legal and political. Several MPs who he called in for investigation as suspects in the case have filed complaints at various courts accusing him of political bias. Amal’s Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter, Marada’s Fenianos, as well as Future MP and former Interior minister Nohad El Mashnouk submitted complaints against Bitar at the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court. All have been rejected. On October 12, the day MP Khalil was summoned for questioning in the investigation and failed to be present at the prosecutor’s office, Bitar issued an arrest warrant against him. But a few hours later he was notified officially of the case against him at the Supreme Court. It meant that the investigation was suspended again until the court ruled over the case. It also meant that the two hearings he had scheduled for Wednesday, October 13, with MPs Mashnouk and Zeaiter were also postponed.  All the procedural hurdles and complaints also come amid growing calls from top officials, including Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah, to replace Bitar. Nasrallah accused Bitar of bias in a speech on Monday, saying “things cannot go on this way”. On Tuesday evening in an interview with Al-Mayadeen television, Hassan Khalil threatened a “political escalation, perhaps of a different kind”, if the course of the investigation “was not rectified”. He warned against resorting “to the street”.
On Wednesday, the cabinet postponed another meeting indefinitely, as Hezbollah, Marada and Amal ministers threatened to leave the government. Meanwhile, President Michel Aoun as well as Prime Minister Najib Mikati had expressed on various occasions their support for Bitar’s investigation.
On Thursday, however, as Hezbollah and Amal supporters were bussed to the Palace of Justice, the Supreme Court decided to reject the cases against Bitar and reactivate the inquiry. This resulted in armed clashes between Hezbollah and Amal gunmen and snipers from the Christian neighborhoods surrounding the area of Tayyouneh.
International inaction
Diplomats and international stakeholders condemned the October 14 clashes. US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland was in Beirut on Thursday, pledging another $67 million aid for the Lebanese Army. Nuland slammed the unrest, calling it “unacceptable”.U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka expressed “deep concern” too. France also expressed concern, as well as Russia on Friday morning. Reactions from various international stakeholders were also fast to appear on Tuesday night, as Hezbollah and Amal threatened with protests and pressure the cabinet into firing Bitar. The European Union urged the Lebanese government to complete the investigation as soon as possible, while demanding that the probe should be impartial, credible, transparent, and independent. “The investigation should be allowed to proceed without any interference in legal proceedings and those responsible for this tragedy should be held accountable,” said a statement issued by the EU delegation to Lebanon. State Department spokesperson Ned Price late Tuesday criticized Nasrallah’s comments against Bitar and said Washington supports Lebanon’s judicial independence.
“Judges must be free from threats and intimidation, including (Hezbollah’s),” Price said. “We’ve long been clear that Hezbollah’s terrorism and illicit activities threaten Lebanon’s security, stability and sovereignty.”They consider this not a good time to destabilize the country […] and their priority is definitely not to open up an international investigation as it would be too costly for all parties involved.
Imad Salamey, LAU
But despite calls by families of victims of the blast as well as international human rights organizations for an international impartial investigation or, at least, a fact-finding mission, have not found any international partners determined enough to submit an official request for a probe at the UN Human Rights Council.
The reason,, according to Imad Salamey, professor of international relations at the Lebanese American University, is political. The international community, including the main stakeholders such as France, the US and even Russia, simply decided that short-term stability in Lebanon was more important than a long-term justice process that promised to bring more unrest to a country already suffering from a severe economic crisis. “They consider this not a good time to destabilize the country […] and their priority is definitely not to open up an international investigation as it would be too costly for all parties involved,” he said.
“Countries want to protect their allies, Russia could face questions surrounding its relationship to the stored ammonium nitrate and the probability of smuggling it to Syria to aid the regime bomb civilians, and European countries would want to avoid any turmoil in the country that could lead to a wave of Lebanese refugees,” Salamey added.
Moreover, he said, many countries, including France, called for a clean local investigation while still meeting with the corrupt politicians that are trying to block the case by all means – be they political or legal.
Sakr also pointed out that France did not cooperate in the past when French judges were asked for satellite imagery of the explosion. The excuse being that the satellite was on the move towards Cyprus at the time.
Discouraging precendents
The history of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, an international hybrid court set up in 2006 to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of the bombing that killed Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri and 22 others in 2005, is also not encouraging. The court took 13 years to sentence one perpetrator, a Hezbollah member, in absentia, acquitting the others accused. The trial cost nearly $1 billion, of which Lebanon paid 49 percent.
Options to relay the case to the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court are also far-fetched, according to experts. The ICJ settles legal disputes submitted by states and gives advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations specialized agencies. Lebanon is also not a signatory of the ICC treaty, therefore that door is closed. Salamey considered that the only plausible solution was the fact-finding mission of the United Nations, which families and international human rights organizations are already petitioning and lobbying for.
The UNHRC would hire independent investigators to pursue the case and to explore the circumstances surrounding the day of the explosion.
“They would come and establish facts on the ground but we would first need 24 members out of 47 to approve of the formation and dispatch of the fact-finding mission. In order to start, however, you need a single member state to bring the case to the table,” he explained.
Which country would muster the guts to do so was still unknown, although representatives of several states, including Germany, mentioned the dire state of Human rights in Lebanon following the explosion. Some civil society groups were calling for international experts to join in but for this to actually work, we would need the government to set an official request from the international committee or existing members would need to do so.
Layal Sakr, Seeds
Sakr agreed with the notion that international experts should be hired in parallel to the local investigation to aid and quicken the process. “Some civil society groups were calling for international experts to join in but for this to actually work, we would need the government to set an official request from the international committee or existing members would need to do so,” the lawyer said. The case appeared then to be stuck between two parties that didn’t favor anyone to be held accountable. “If these countries truly wanted to help, they’d start with satellite images. This is how you know we’re completely abandoned,” she added. The expectations still rely heavily on Bitar’s investigation. Even if the judge showed real invested interest in pursuing justice, Sakr considered other aspects of the case worthy of the same priority as pursuing alleged corruption and negligence in service. “We wish for the investigation to shed light on the ship that dropped the ammonium nitrate in our port to know the full story behind it, and the circumstances surrounding it,” Sakr explained. The investigation, although it survived the legal hurdles, is now at a crossroads politically, with PM Mikati and president Aoun facing a hard choice: the probe or the government. Both Sakr and Salamey claim that the case could bring about more strife to Lebanon, which no one seems to want.
Some unanswered questions
Sakr also made the point that, with a Lebanese justice system with its hands tied by various immunities, the country never adhering to the ICC has definitely served the politicians’ case. “You’d have to ask the government why we never joined the ICC but I assume the corrupt would not want to be held accountable for all their war crimes during the civil war and everything else that ensued,” Sakr explained. For Salamey, the investigation now became a battleground between the judge and the ruling class.
“There is pressure on the political establishment to preserve some of its legitimacy through its cooperation with the judge but I think they will keep dragging because they fear where this cooperation might lead them to,” he said. For Sakr, the dance around the investigation, the complaints at the Supreme Court, the immunities and all the political pressure and accusation have become a long-term game meant to eventually bury the probe.“If the government does not give [Bitar] more power then it would become the people’s job to protect him and this is what’s happening,” Sakr pointed out. “No voice should be louder than [the victims’ families’], it could have been any one of us that day,” Sakr said.
*Dana Hourany is a multimedia journalist with @NOW_leb. She is on Instagram @danahourany.

LIC Statement on Hezbollah’s Chaotic Invasion of Lebanon’s Civilian Streets
October 15, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: joanna@theresolute.group
Washington, D.C. - Peaceful Lebanese civilians, still traumatized from the Beirut Port Explosion, woke up this morning to see hordes of thugs invading their streets and destroying their properties while shouting sectarian cries. The Hezbollah and Amal militias were hoping these actions would spread lawlessness, ignite divisions, and create enough chaos to obstruct the investigation identifying those responsible for the Beirut Port Explosion. “The Lebanese Information Center (LIC) calls on the Lebanese Armed Forces to take full control of the situation and protect civilian neighborhoods which could be targeted by further Hezbollah and Amal attacks,” said Dr. Joseph Gebeily, president of the LIC.  “We ask the international community, the United States, the United Nations, the European Union, and the Arab World to provide all possible support to the Lebanese people in their continuing battle against Iranian hegemony.”
*The Lebanese Information Center in the U.S. is the largest grassroots organization of Americans of Lebanese descent, committed to building a free, sovereign, and democratic Lebanon for the good of the Lebanese people and in the interest of the United States of America.
Copyright © 2021 Lebanese Information Center, All rights reserved.

Vive la Résistance.
Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 15/2021
Pardonnez moi d'être primitif ou réflechissant au premier degré en réponse à ceux qui doutent de ce qui s'est passé hier, cette date charnière qui fít la différence entre la soumission sous l'occupation et l'espoir de la libération.
En réponse à qui sortent le grand jeu de politique internationale et lient ce qui s'est passé hier avec la lutte économique entre les USA et la Chine: Pardonnez moi d'être terre à terre. Mais si ces hordes haineuses seraient venues se pavaner sous ma fenêtre en scandant Shia shia, j'aurai pris mon plus gros livre d'histoire et me serai juché dessus après avoir récuperé ma M16 à moitié rouillée et les aurai arrosés de balles.
Touche pas à ma maison. Touche pas à ma rue. Touche pas à mon Liban. On verra plus tard pour l'union nationale et pour la politique.
Pardonnez moi et taisez vous.
Vive la Résistance.
Jean-Marie Kassab

Aujourd'hui réveil agité.
Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 15/2021
Hier l'occupant Iranien a sorti ses sales griffes. De braves résistants les lui ont limées à ses griffes. Premier geste résistant depuis longtemps. Bravo.
Mais pourquoi Ain Remmaneh? De loin plus facile que de libérer Chebaa? Erreur. Refaites vos comptes.
L'occupant et ses hordes barbares ont sans doute voulu une demonstration de force , à leur habitude. "Muscle flexing" en Anglais. Sauf que ça a mal tourné . Et ça va encore être pire si prochaine fois il y aura. Ils seront bien sûr encore mieux préparés car ils en sont capables, sauf que les résistants le seront encore plus et mieux. L 'Iran occupe le Liban mais n'occupe pas les Libanais. Il occupe ce que les collaborateurs lui ont offert mais n'occupe pas le coeur ou l'âme des Libanais de bonne foi. JAMAIS.
Mais restons dans le vif du sujet. De quoi ont peur Hassan Nasrallah, agent Iranien, et Nabih Berry, chef de milice et soi-disant chef du parlement? Les personnages dans la mire de Bitar sont des seconds couteaux de deuxième rang. Les deux individus cités plus haut sont visiblement les principaux inculpés. Voyez vous un de ces types tels que Khalil ou autre faire à sa guise sans en référer à ses patrons ?
Le Hezb et Amal s'en foutent royalement de Ain Remmaneh .Ils savent d'ailleurs que cette forteresse en a vu d' autres.
Ils tiennent uniquement à leur réputation. Cette réputation qu"ils sont les maîtres du terrain. Leur réputation et les conséquences du fait que l'explosion du port c'est bien eux. Le nitrate c'est eux. La mêche sous le nitrate , enfouie sous terre, c 'est eux. La destruction du pays c'est eux.
Les jours qui viennent ne se feront pas dans la joie. La joie n'est plus de notre quotidien. Mais ils se feront avec un peu d'amour propre et un semblant de fierté aigrie.
La révolution est finie.
La Résistance a commencé.
Vive la Résistance.
Jean-Marie Kassab

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 15-16/2021
UAE says Palestinian-Israeli peace process worth ‘taking the risk’
The Arab Weekly/October 15/2021
WASHINGTON--The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Abdullah Bin Zayed, said on Wednesday that there could be no talk of peace in the Middle East if Israel and the Palestinians were not “on talking terms.”He stressed that a more successful UAE-Israeli relationship would encourage both Israelis and Palestinians to see “that this path works, that this path is worth not only investing in but also taking the risk.”“We’re happy to see over the past weeks Israeli officials meet with their Palestinian counterparts. We have to continue encouraging them to do so. We believe that the UAE-Israeli relations have enabled us to be frank with each other and helped us to encourage others whenever there are something we can do,” the Emirati minister added during a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Washington.The Emirati top diplomat also said that he would visit Israel soon, adding that his country was impressed with the growing bilateral relationship. Last year, Israel and the UAE agreed to normalise relations in a major shift in Middle East politics from the Palestinian issue to the fight against Iran. On the conflict in Yemen, the UAE wants a resolution “but what’s dragging us in the situation is the lack of will and commitment on the Houthis’ side,” Bin Zayed said, referring to the Iran-aligned militia group that ousted the internationally recognised government from the capital Sana’a in 2014 and now holds most of northern Yemen and main urban centres.
“We are all working very hard among friends to ensure Yemenis have a better life. But at the same time, we have to keep in mind that we don’t end up with a situation where we have another Hezbollah threatening the border of Saudi Arabia,” he said, referring to the powerful Shia group aligned to Iran in Lebanon.

Iran nuclear programme tops US-Saudi discussions
The Arab Weekly/October 15/2021
CAIRO--Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington and exchanged views on Iran’s nuclear programme and international talks on the matter, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday. “Had a productive meeting today with my friend Secretary Blinken, during which we discussed a range of issues of common interest & concern to both our nations & ways to strengthen our strategic partnership & cooperation on multiple fronts,” Faisal said in a twitter post on Friday. The prince also met the US Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley and discussed intensifying joint efforts against “Iranian violations of international treaties related to the nuclear agreement,” the Saudi foreign ministry said.
Saudi talks with Iran
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported on Friday that Faisal has said that talks with Iran had been “cordial,” describing the negotiations as “exploratory.”“We are serious about the talks,” the prince told the FT in an interview. “For us it’s not that big of a shift. We’ve always said we want to find a way to stabilise the region.” Saudi Arabia still views Iran with a lot of caution despite a rapprochement drive between the two countries through the mediation of Iraq. Saudi Arabia and Iran, longtime foes, began direct talks in April to contain tensions at the same time that global powers have been embroiled in nuclear negotiations in Vienna. Neither Iran nor Gulf Arabs wants a return to tensions of 2019 which saw attacks on tankers in Gulf waters and on Saudi oil installations, then the 2020 US killing, under former President Donald Trump, of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. A perception that Washington was now disengaging militarily from the area under US President Joe Biden has prompted a more pragmatic Gulf approach, analysts said. Nevertheless, Biden has demanded Iran rein in its missile programme and end its support for proxies in the region including in Yemen, which are key demands of Gulf Arab nations. Saudi-Iran talks have focused mainly on Yemen, where a military campaign led by Riyadh against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement for over six years no longer has US backing. Gulf countries, led by Saudi Arabia, usually accuse Iran of having a Shia expansionist agenda in the region and of interfering in the internal affairs of Arab countries, including Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon, accusations that Tehran denies. Iranian intransigence, however, reduces the chances for the success of any talks, especially in the absence of any change when it comes to the approach of the Iranian foreign policy.

Economics drive Ankara’s expanded drone sales to Morocco, Ethiopia
The Arab Weekly/October 15/2021
ANKARA--Growing demand for Turkish drones based on their performance in support of allies in such foreign battlefields as Azerbaijan and Libya has offered new prospects for Ankara’s defence industry . The growing interest in armed drones is a boost for a Turkish government trying to increase exports to help ease its economic problems. It also underlines the growing importance of armed drones in modern warfare. Analysts say that for Ankara, which is said to have concluded deals to supply Ethiopia and Morocco with Turkish-made drones and is exploring new markets in Africa, the focus is much more on economic interests than on political considerations. In the delivery deals reportedly struck with Rabat and Addis Abeba, Turkey does not see itself as party to the disputes between Algeria and Morocco nor between Egypt and Ethiopia.
According to Reuters, Turkey has expanded its exports of armed drones by negotiating sales to Morocco and Ethiopia after the drones successful use in international conflicts. Some speculate that the drone shipments to Ethiopia risk stoking friction in already strained relations between Ankara and Cairo, which is at odds with Addis Ababa over the Nile dam issue. But experts do not see the deal with Ethiopia as necessarily having a major bearing on Turkey’s relations with Cairo. They in fact expect Turkish-Egyptian rapprochement to move ahead as long as Ankara and Cairo see a common interest in improving bilateral ties. Two Egyptian security sources told Reuters that Cairo had asked the United States and some European nations to help it freeze any drone deal. A third Egyptian source said any agreement would have to be raised and clarified in talks between Cairo and Ankara as they try to repair ties.
Observers also rule out that Algeria would object to the Turkish deal with Morocco, especially in light of Algiers’ current isolation and strained relations with Rabat and Paris. Turkey, Ethiopia and Morocco have not officially announced any agreement regarding armed drones, but many sources have confirmed the deals. One Turkish official said Ethiopia and Morocco had both requested purchases of Bayraktar TB2 drones in deals that could also include spare-part guarantees and training. A diplomat who requested anonymity said separately that Morocco had received the first batch of armed drones it ordered in May. Ethiopia plans to acquire them but the status of that order is less clear, the envoy said. A Bayraktar drone is seen during a rehearsal for Ukraine’s Independence.  The sources did not say how many drones were involved in the deals nor provide financial details. According to official figures, Turkish defence and aviation exports to Ethiopia rose to $51 million in the first three months of this year, from $203,000 in the same period last year, with a jump in August and September, according to the Turkish Exporters Assembly. Ankara’s exports to Morocco were $78.6 million in the same period, with $62 million in September alone, compared to $402,000 last year. Some media in Morocco have reported the arrival of armed drones from Turkey. They said that deliveries began last September and the rest of the drones are scheduled to be delivered gradually as part of a deal concluded between Morocco and the Turkish manufacturer Baykar last April. Activists from Tigray indicated last August that Turkish drones were used in the attacks launched by the Ethiopian army on opposition fighters.In Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkish drones performance was considered a military success as they helped Azerbaijan defeat the Armenia-backed forces. This prompted demand on Turkish drones from different countries, such as Mali, whose prime minister announced that his country is open to cooperation with Ankara in the field of defence industries and they need countries like Turkey to help them fight terrorism.

Rising fighting in Marib prompts UN’s call for ceasefire
The Arab Weekly/October 15/2021
SANA’A--The UN has called for a halt to fighting in a district of Yemen’s oil-rich Marib province which pits government forces supported by a Saudi-led coalition against Iran-backed Houthi militias. Marib, Shabwa and Al-Bayda provinces have all seen a sharp increase in fighting in recent weeks, resulting in “a devastating impact on civilians,” according to David Gressly, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Yemen. Houthis have stepped up their push in the strategic province over the past weeks while also boosting cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia. The security situation has been particularly difficult in Marib’s Abdiya district, where the UN says the movement of aid and some 35,000 people has been “extremely restricted,” including for 17,000 “extremely vulnerable” people who found refuge there from conflict in other areas of Yemen. “I call on all parties involved in the fighting to agree now to a cessation of hostilities for Abdiya district to allow for the safe passage of civilians and aid workers and for the evacuation of all of those wounded in the fighting,” Gressly said in a statement on Thursday. The fighting in Marib, where the Houthis are battling to seize the provincial capital Marib city, the government’s last stronghold in northern Yemen, displaced some 10,000 people in September alone, the highest monthly figure so far this year. Abdiya is about 100 kilometres from Marib city, which had between 20,000 and 30,000 inhabitants before the war, but has seen its population swell to hundreds of thousands by Yemenis displaced from earlier front lines. With about 139 refugee camps in Marib province, according to the government, hosting around 2.2 million people, many displaced civilians have once again become caught in the line of fire. The Houthis began a big push to seize Marib in February and after a lull, they renewed their campaign in September, prompting intense air bombardment from the Saudi-led coalition. The coalition entered the war in 2015, after the Houthis captured the capital Sana’a the previous year. The Houthis have for years attempted to take oil-rich Marib to complete their control over the northern half of Yemen. In recent months, they accelerated their push. The fighting has claimed a high number of fighters from both sides in Marib in the past several weeks.

King Abdullah seeks economic support, help with media during visit to Doha
The Arab Weekly/October 15/2021
DOHA – Jordan’s King Abdullah II ended Wednesday a visit to Doha where he held talks with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on relations between the two countries as well as regional and intentional developments, according to the official Jordanian and Qatari news agencies. The visit witnessed the signing of an agreement on mutual visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and government passports between Qatar and Jordan, and of a memorandum of understanding between the Qatar Investment Authority and the Jordanian Government Investment Management Company (GEMAC). Media reports in Jordan and Qatar said both leaders discussed strengthening economic, investment, political, development and cultural cooperation. Analysts said the visit was of particular importance to Jordan in the current circumstances as it needs economic support, as illustrated by the announcement of investment agreements between the two countries. Another aspect which was not given much publicity is Amman’s need for Qatari help in shoring up Jordan’s media reputation through Doha’s wide soft power network. Analysts added that King Abdullah II is keen to gain media support and avoid negative publicity from outlets such as Al Jazeera in light of the recent developments in his country and the successive crises following the “sedition” case involving Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein, and media revelations related to the Pandora documents. The adverse media attention to the kingdom fuelled anger at home at the Jordanian leadership. Sheikh Tamim showed the Jordanian monarch the operations room of the World Cup, to be held in Qatar next year.
Jordan News Agency, Petra, said that the meeting dealt with “ways to develop and strengthen cooperation between Jordan and Qatar, in addition to developments on the Arab and regional scene, foremost of which are the Palestinian issue and developments in Jerusalem.”
In recent months, it was believed that the Jordanian-Qatari relations had become warmer, and that ties had regained a measure of vitality that would open up prospects for further rapprochement between the two countries. But relations were unsettled by the Qatar-owned Al Jazeera’s reports on Jordan. Relations between Jordan and Qatar have made important strides, especially after the return of ambassadors in mid-2019, and Doha providing a $500 million assistance package to the kingdom. Sheikh Tamim visited Jordan on February 23 of last year, his first visit since the outbreak of the Gulf crisis in 2017, and the resumption of full diplomatic representation between the two countries in 2019. Jordan had lowered the level of diplomatic representation with Qatar after the Gulf crisis during which Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt boycotted Doha. Jordan sided with the Arab quartet countries in their dispute with Qatar, and likewise severed relations, in June 2017. On May 2, 2021, King Abdullah II received a message from the emir of Qatar, which was transmitted by Doha’s ambassador to Amman, Sheikh Saud bin Nasser bin Jassim Al Thani. Petra news agency did not specify the content of the message, except to say it pertained to developments regarding Jerusalem. and rapprochement between the countries of the region. Jordanian sources said Jordan was able to count on Qatari media support in dealing with the “sedition” crisis of last April, that involved official allegations of a conspiracy targeting the security and stability of the country. “Jordan and Qatar have friendly relations, but there was no large scale exchange of visits,” said former Deputy Premier Jawad al-Anani who added he did not expect any manifestations of regional adversity to be sparked by the rapprochement between Jordan and Qatar considering the general climate of reconciliation between former rivals.

After Iraqi vote, Salih likely to stay in office while Kadhimi still in limbo
The Arab Weekly/October 15/2021
BAGHDAD--If the future of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi remains in limbo due to the disagreements among Shia blocs over who has the right to form the new government, that of President Barham Salih is much clearer with the virtual certainty that he will remain in office having received the backing of the two major Kurdish parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party. With Salih staying in office, Iraq sends a message of continuity at the helm of power in a troubled country. But the position of prime minister remains once again hostage to internal feuds dividing Shia ranks as jockeying continues to form the new government. According to Iraqi political rules built on custom, the office of president is reserved for the Kurds while the presidency of the parliament belongs to the Sunnis. Results have shown that Muhammad al-Halbousi is still the most likely candidate to be the next speaker of parliament. Although his position as president does not grant him vast executive powers, Barham Salih’s personality, his ability to steer away far from partisan bickering and his comprehensive approach to national policy-making have allowed him to gain the confidence of Kurdish leaders while being perceived as Iraq’s national representative at the same time. The distribution of the top three positions remains a contentious exercise, as the Sunnis would like to clinch the presidency while granting the presidency of the parliament to the Kurds. But coming to an agreement about an amendment towards this end does not seem to be plausible. The Kurdistan Democratic Party refuses to relinquish the position of president and says that that the post preserves Iraq’s image as a multinational federal state. A member of the party, Asaad Taha, insisted that “the position of president belongs to the Kurds and no other component can override this entitlement. Political custom in Iraq stipulates that the position of president of the republic goes to the Kurds, the position of speaker of parliament to the Sunnis, and that of prime minister to the Shia.”
Despite the close partnership forged between Salih and Kadhimi during the past eighteen months, a partnership that can still continue, Kadhimi’s fate hangs in the balance, with competition between the Sadrist movement, which may still support renewing the prime minister’s term and the factions headed by the leader of the Rule of Law coalition, Nuri al-Maliki and armed Shia groups. Unless Muqtada al-Sadr moves forward to form an alliance that will win the required majority in parliament (165 seats) independently from other Shia parties, Maliki could form an alternate “larger bloc” that would quash Kadhimi’s hopes. Power-sharing between the two competing “Shia” blocs may also kill the chances of the incumbent, given the violent criticism that Kadhimi faces from pro-Iranian factions, which openly accuse him of keeping close ties the United States at Iran’s expense. Political analysts say that the volatile mood of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, is the weakest point in Kadhimi’s bid to remain in office, especially since he was not traditionally associated with the Sadrist movement. Iraq experts believe Sadr chose to support him in April 2020 as a compromise after several attempts to choose an alternative to Adel Abdul-Mahdi failed after his government collapsed as result of the protests that swept the capital, Baghdad and cities in southern Iraq over a period of 19 months.
Although Kadhimi tried to appease everyone, he continued to be subjected to virulent criticism by armed groups loyal to Iran, which considered him a threat to their influence. They saw Kadhimi’s slogans of fighting corruption and defending the authority of the state and the rule of law as a challenge to them even though he did not confront them directly. Sadr praised Kadhimi’s role in managing the elections and lauded their results, which he described as being to “the credit of Kadhimi’s policies”. However, Sadr, who likes to play the role of “king-maker”, could sacrifice Kadhimi and search for another figure that satisfies the other Shia parties, if he manages to reach an agreement with them. Analysts say that Maliki could give up his ambition of holding the premiership if he decides to play a similar “king-maker” role, but he could also return to the fore of the political scene if he ends up forming a bloc larger than that led by Sadr.

Putin Says No Rush in Officially Recognizing Taliban's Rule
Associated Press/October 15/202
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday there must be no rush in officially recognizing the Taliban as the new rulers of Afghanistan, but emphasized the need to engage in talks with them. Speaking during a video call with leaders of other ex-Soviet nations, Putin said that "the interim government formed by the Taliban regrettably doesn't reflect the entire spectrum of Afghan society," but also noted their pledge to hold elections, and their efforts to restore the functioning of state structures. "We shouldn't hurry with the official recognition of the Taliban," he said. "We understand that we need to interact with them, but there shouldn't be any hurry and we shall discuss that together."At the same time, Putin mentioned Moscow's intention to host another round of talks between Afghan parties next week and underlined the need to restart consultations on Afghanistan between Russia, the United States, China and Pakistan. "We need to support the process of inter-Afghan settlement and try to help normalize the situation in the country," he said. Russia is set to host the Taliban and other Afghan factions for talks Wednesday in a move that reflects Moscow's efforts to expand its clout. Zamir Kabulov, the Kremlin envoy on Afghanistan, said Friday that the Taliban confirmed they will attend the so-called "Moscow format" talks in the Russian capital. Kabulov said he doesn't expect the talks to produce any breakthrough, describing them as part of a "long evolutionary process."He noted that the agenda will cover human rights issues and the humanitarian situation in the country, adding that Moscow sees as a platform for "frank discussions" about ways to constructively tackle Afghanistan's challenges. Diplomats from Russia, the U.S., China and Pakistan are also set to meet in Moscow for talks on Afghanistan this month. The Soviet Union fought a 10-year war in Afghanistan that ended with its troops withdrawing in 1989. Since then, Moscow has made a diplomatic comeback as an influential power broker in international talks on Afghanistan, hosting the Taliban representatives and members of other factions for a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings.
Unlike many other countries, Russia hasn't evacuated its embassy in Kabul and its ambassador quickly met with the Taliban after they took over the capital. The Taliban were added to the Russian list of terrorist organizations in 2003, and Moscow has not yet moved to remove the group from the list. Any contact with such groups is punishable under Russian law, but the Foreign Ministry has shrugged off questions about the seeming contradiction by emphasizing the need to engage the Taliban to help stabilize Afghanistan. Putin on Friday emphasized the security challenges posed by the Islamic State group and other militants based in northern Afghanistan, and noted that drug trafficking from Afghanistan will continue to present a challenge. Russia has vowed to provide military assistance to its ex-Soviet allies in Central Asia to help counter the threats, and held a series of joint drills in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan that neighbor Afghanistan.
Another sweeping military exercise in Tajikistan that would involve 5,000 troops, more than 700 military vehicles and combat jets is scheduled for next week.

More Repression, Fewer Jobs: Jordanians Face Bleak Outlook
Associated Press/October 15/202
As a poorly paid public school teacher, Khaled Jaber always needed a side hustle, working as a private tutor and using his car as a taxi to help pay the bills. For unexpected needs, such as medical expenses, he has had to borrow money from relatives. Somehow, the 44-year-old muddled through life, sustained by his love of teaching high school Arabic and the respect his job earned him in the community. But his fragile equilibrium has been upended by the government's harsh treatment of tens of thousands of teachers over the past two years. Their union, leveraging mass protests and a one-month strike, obtained a 35% salary increase, only to then be dissolved by the government. Thirteen union leaders were dragged to court and each faces a one-year prison term pending appeal. The increased authoritarianism — noted in the downgrade of Jordan from "partly free" to "not free" this year by the U.S. advocacy group Freedom House — stands in contrast to monarchy's image of having embraced liberal Western values and being a reliable ally in a turbulent region. In Jaber's case, the heavy-handed silencing of protests leaves him feeling disrespected, while the salary increase has barely made a dent because of exploding prices. Even the right to complain has been taken away, he said. "Allow the space for me to speak, to go out to the street and scream, as long as the stance is peaceful," he said, speaking in his small apartment on the edge of Amman, as if appealing to the authorities. "Allow the space for me to express my distress."
The crackdown on expression has contributed to a growing malaise in the kingdom. A years-long economic downturn, accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, means more than half of young Jordanians are now unemployed and the country is sinking deeper into debt.
Recent revelations that King Abdullah II secretly amassed more than $106 million in luxury properties abroad have further undermined public trust. News of the offshore acquisitions came just months after the king's half-brother, Prince Hamzah, alleged corruption at the very top, engulfing the typically discreet royal family in a rare scandal.
Anger at this trifecta of increased repression, a worsening economy and perceived corruption is bubbling just under the surface, several activists said. Only fear of being jailed or inadvertently igniting self-destructive chaos, akin to events in Syria, is keeping a lid on mass protests, they said.
"There is no doubt that this generates pressure," Maisara Malas, 59, an engineer and union activist, said of the widening gap between a detached, high-living elite and the vast majority of Jordanians. "The people are getting poorer, and the ruling regime is getting richer."Any hint of instability should worry Jordan's Western allies, foremost the United States, who value the kingdom for its help in the fight against Islamic extremists, its security ties with Israel and its willingness to host refugees. But the focus of the Biden administration has shifted to the Indo-Pacific, with Middle East policy in maintenance mode and the approach to Jordan seemingly on autopilot, said Seth Binder of the Project on Middle East Democracy, a Washington-based advocacy group.
In comparison to troubled Syria or Yemen, U.S. officials apply to Jordan "this tired trope of an Arab regime that is a moderate regime," he said. "That misses what is really happening and raises some real concerns."Jordan is the second-largest recipient of bilateral U.S. aid in the region, after Israel. In a 2018 memorandum, the U.S. assured Jordan that it would receive at least $1.3 billion a year for five years. Congress, where Jordan enjoys bipartisan support, has gone beyond that. In 2021, it appropriated $1.7 billion, including $845 million in direct budget support. For the upcoming fiscal year, the Biden administration proposes $1.3 billion, including $490 million in budget support, or money not earmarked for specific programs. In a report circulated among Washington decision-makers in September, Binder's group called for more stringent conditions to be attached to direct cash transfers, and to eventually phase them out. Aid should be leveraged in a push for economic and political reforms, it said. "A cash transfer to the government is a privilege that should be reserved for U.S. partners committed to democracy and human rights and not known for rampant corruption," the report said.
The State Department said in a response that aid to Jordan is in the direct national security interest of the U.S., describing the kingdom as an "invaluable ally." It said the U.S. carefully monitors its aid programs to Jordan and that the U.S. routinely engages the Jordanian government on a wide range of issues, including human rights.
Jordanian officials pushed back against corruption allegations. "Every (aid) dollar that is provided is accounted for," Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told The Associated Press last week. Direct cash transfers are "accounted for in the budget the government executes, and it's subject to audit."
Safadi also defended the king's purchase of luxury homes, revealed earlier this month in a massive leak of documents dubbed the Pandora Papers. Safadi said the monarch used private funds and cited security and privacy needs as a reason for keeping the transactions secret.
Former Information Minister Mohammed Momani said he regretted Jordan's downgrade to "not free," but argued that the kingdom still did better than most countries in the region. "We know that Jordan is not Sweden, but we also know that we are among the very few best countries when it comes to freedom of expression in the Middle East," he said. "So the situation is not as we hoped we would have, but it is not as dark as some people would paint it."All power in Jordan rests with the king, who appoints and dismisses governments. Parliament is compliant because of a single-vote electoral system that discourages the formation of strong political parties. Abdullah has repeatedly promised to open the political system, but then pulled back amid concerns of losing control to an Islamist surge. After the Prince Hamzah scandal in the spring, the king appointed a committee of experts who now propose reserving one-third of seats in the 2024 parliament election for political parties. The quota would rise to two-thirds in a decade and eventually reach 100%, said Momani, a member of the committee. Momani said this is the most significant reform attempt in three decades, though the latest ideas generated little excitement in Jordan, where many view promises of change with skepticism. Jaber, the Arabic teacher, is among those with a bleak outlook. He said he expects his four children to be worse off than he is, citing high unemployment and rising prices. "When a student goes to university, he and his family will owe thousands (of dinars). How long does he need to get a job? When will he be able to get married? When will he build a house?" he said. "I don't see that there is a positive or rosy future, as some officials say. Things are getting worse and more desperate for me and for others."

Yemen Economy Collapsing, Humanitarian Crisis Rising
Associated Press/October 15/202
Yemen's economy is collapsing, its humanitarian crisis is worsening, and the conflict in the Arab world's poorest nation is growing more violent, the U.N.'s deputy humanitarian chief said Thursday. The grim remarks by Assistant Secretary-General Ramesh Rajasingham came during a briefing to the U.N. Security Council. More than 20 million Yemenis — two-thirds of the population — need humanitarian assistance, but aid agencies, he said, "are, once again, starting to run out of money."Aid agencies are now helping nearly 13 million people across the country, about 3 million more than just a few months ago, Rajasingham added. "Our best assessment is that this expansion has considerably pushed back the immediate risk of large-scale famine." But he warned that aid agencies don't have enough money to keep going at this scale and "in the coming weeks and months, up to 4 million people could see their food aid reduced" and "by the end of the year, that number could rise to 5 million people.""We are calling on everyone to do everything possible to sustain the momentum we've built over the last several months and keep famine at bay," he said. Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014 when Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of the capital of Sanaa and much of the northern part of the country, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed by the United States, to try restore President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to power, and threw its support behind his government. Despite a relentless air campaign and ground fighting, the war has deteriorated largely into a stalemate and spawned the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The U.S. has since suspended its direct involvement in the conflict.
In early 2020, the Houthis launched an offensive in the mostly government-held Marib province which has cost the lives of thousands of young people and left thousands of displaced civilians living in constant fear of violence and having to move again.
On Thursday, tribal leaders and Yemeni officials said that fighting over Marib in the last 24 hours killed at least 140 fighters on both sides. The clashes were taking place in the districts of Abdiya and al-Jubah, they said. At the briefing to the Security Council, Rajasingham said the Houthis "intensified their brutal offensive in Marib, taking more territory there and in neighboring parts of the southern province of Shabwa. He also pointed to clashes between rival armed groups earlier this month in the southern city of Aden — where Hadi's government set up headquarters after the Houthis pushed them out of Sanaa and the north — and continuing fighting, shelling and air strikes in northwest Saada and western Hajjah and Hodeida provinces "and along nearly 50 other front lines."
In September, 235 civilians were killed or injured, the second-highest figure in two years, and fighting in Marib is taking "a particularly heavy civilian toll," with almost 10,000 people displaced in September, the second-highest figure in two years, Rajasingham said. The new U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, who took up the post last month, told the council that he has held meetings with government and Houthi officials, as well as key regional and international officials focused on how to move toward a political solution to restore peace in Yemen. "The gap in trust between warring parties is wide and growing," he said in a virtual briefing. Grundberg said he made clear that while progress should be made on urgent humanitarian and economic issues, urgent political talks without preconditions are essential to negotiate a settlement of the conflict. "Let us not fool ourselves, this will be a laborious and complicated task that will take time but it must take place," Grundberg said. "The past weeks have illustrated the tension between the pace of the war and the economic collapse on one hand, and the time needed to devise and consult on a feasible way forward, on the other."
Rajasingham reiterated that Yemen's economic collapse "is driving most needs in the country — including the risk of famine." Yemen imports almost everything, he said, and the Yemeni rial is trading around 1,270 rials to the dollar in Aden, nearly six times higher than before the war, and fewer goods are reaching the country's ports. Commercial food imports to the key ports of Hodeida and Saleef were 8% below last year's average in September, and "fuel imports were an alarming 64% lower," he said. He urged immediate steps to stem the country's economic collapse including injections of foreign exchange through the Central Bank which would quickly bring down prices, as they did in the past, as well as fully opening all ports, lifting import restrictions at Hodeida and Saleef, and paying civil servant salaries.

Israel Quietly Advances Settlements with Little U.S Pushback
Associated Press/October 15/202
Israel is quietly advancing controversial settlement projects in and around Jerusalem without making major announcements that could anger the Biden administration. Critics say the latest moves, while incremental, pave the way for rapid growth once the political climate changes.
On Wednesday, as Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met with U.S. officials in Washington, a local planning committee in Jerusalem approved the expropriation of public land for the especially controversial Givat Hamatos settlement, which would largely cut the city off from Palestinian communities in the southern West Bank. The same committee advanced plans for the construction of 470 homes in the existing east Jerusalem settlement of Pisgat Zeev. Authorities have scheduled a Dec. 6 hearing for another project in east Jerusalem to build 9,000 settler homes in the Atarot area, according to Ir Amim, an Israeli rights group that closely follows developments in the city.
A military body has meanwhile scheduled two meetings in the coming weeks to discuss a planned settlement of 3,400 homes on a barren hillside outside Jerusalem known as E1. Critics say it would largely bisect the occupied West Bank, making it impossible to establish a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel. A two-state solution is still seen internationally as the only realistic way to resolve the century-old conflict. "The fact that simultaneously all of these very controversial plans that have been longstanding international red lines have now been advancing ... is very indicative that the Israeli government intends to advance and ultimately approve these plans," said Amy Cohen of Ir Amim. Jerusalem's deputy mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum downplayed the latest developments, noting that Givat Hamatos was approved years ago. "Nothing's changed over the last few years," she said. "We are a city and we're providing for our residents."Spokespeople from the defense and housing ministries, which are also involved in approving settlements, declined to comment. Construction is already underway in Givat Hamatos, where tenders for more than 1,200 homes were announced last November. The other projects are still progressing through a long bureaucratic process, and it could be months or years before shovels break ground. But critics of the settlements say every step matters. "The thing with those plans is that in order to make them come true you need to do the whole process," said Hagit Ofran, of the Israeli anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now. "Every step on the way is in the control of the government... If they don't act to stop it, then it happens."
Every Israeli government since 1967 has expanded settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories Israel seized in the Mideast war that year which the Palestinians want for their future state. The Palestinians view the settlements — now housing some 700,000 settlers — as the main obstacle to peace, and most of the international community considers them illegal. Israel annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city to be its capital. It views the West Bank as the biblical and historical heartland of the Jewish people. But it has refrained from annexing the territory because of international pressure and because it is home to more than 2.5 million Palestinians, the absorption of whom could erode Israel's Jewish majority. U.S. presidents from both parties opposed the settlements until President Donald Trump broke with that tradition, proposing a Mideast plan in which Israel would keep all of them. The Trump era witnessed explosive growth in settlements, and Trump's secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, broke with precedent by visiting one last year. Pompeo, a possible Republican presidential hopeful in 2024, was back in Israel this week and paid another supportive visit to a settlement.
President Joe Biden's administration has criticized settlement construction as an obstacle to eventually reviving the long-moribund peace process but has not demanded a freeze. In 2010, Israel announced a major settlement project during a visit by then-Vice President Biden, aggravating a diplomatic rift that festered throughout President Barack Obama's presidency.
Biden, who as president is prioritizing other challenges like COVID-19, China and climate change, appears keen to avoid a showdown with Israel, a close U.S. ally. "We have been clear publicly and in private about where we stand on settlement activity and on annexation," State Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday. "We oppose any unilateral steps that put a two-state solution further out reach." When asked whether that concern had grown recently, he said it had "remained constant."Israel's political system is dominated by pro-settlement parties and its new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, is opposed to a Palestinian state. But he heads an unwieldy coalition of parties from across the political spectrum — some opposed to settlements — and appears to be seeking middle ground that would sideline the issue at home and abroad. A senior Israeli official who participated in Lapid's meetings in Washington said the discussions had focused primarily on Iran and Israel's relations with its Arab neighbors but acknowledged that the Americans had raised the settlements issue. However, the Palestinian issue was "not the dominant theme in the region" during the discussion, the official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the details of the private talks and spoke on condition of anonymity. A State Department readout of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meeting with Lapid made no specific reference to settlements in the one sentence it devoted to the Palestinians. With U.S. attention focused elsewhere, and the Palestinian leadership divided and increasingly unpopular, Israel faces few if any immediate consequences for expanding settlements. But critics have long warned that the failure to create a viable Palestinian state will leave millions of Palestinians living under permanent Israeli rule without the same rights as Jews. Two well-known human rights groups say Israel has already become an apartheid state. "These are all incremental steps in order to create a new reality on the ground, an irreparable reality," Ir Amim's Cohen said about the advancement of settlements. "You are foiling any prospect of a two-state framework."

Judge Halts Trial for 4 Members of Egyptian Security Forces
Associated Press/October 15/202
A Rome judge halted the trial of four high-ranking members of Egypt's security forces on the day it opened Thursday, saying there was no certainty they had been officially informed that they were charged in the abduction, torture and killing in Cairo of an Italian doctoral student.
Citing the need to guarantee a fair trial, Judge Antonella Capri nullified the decision to prosecute the four and ordered the documentation returned to magistrates who must try again to locate the suspects. Her decision was a blow to prosecutors who have been trying to bring Giulio Regeni's killers to justice for five years. Regeni's body was found on a highway days after he disappeared in the Egyptian capital on Jan. 25, 2016. He was in Cairo to research union activities among street vendors as part of his doctoral thesis.
Regeni's mother has said his body was so mutilated by torture that she was only able to recognize the tip of his nose when she viewed it. Human rights activists have said the marks on his body resembled those resulting from widespread torture in Egyptian Security Agency facilities.
Italian prosecutors had accused police Maj. Sherif Magdy; police Maj. Gen. Tareq Saber, who was a top official at the domestic security agency at the time of Regeni's abduction; Col. Hesham Helmy, who was serving at a security center in charge of policing the Cairo district where the Italian was living, and Col. Acer Kamal, who headed a police department in charge of street operation and discipline. Defense lawyers had called for the trial to be suspended, saying their clients had never been formally notified of the charges because they never provided addresses, and were therefore technically "untraceable." Four empty chairs were left for them in the courtroom in Rome's Rebibbia bunker tribunal Thursday.
"In Italy there can be a trial only for traceable people, the trial for an untraceable person must be suspended," defense attorney Annalisa Ticconi told reporters outside the courthouse. "Year by year there will be checks to see if the person can be found and the trial could restart, but in the meantime, the trial and the evidence is frozen," she said. Capri concurred, saying the law and the rights of the defense require her to be "certain" that the defendants know the charges and the date of the trial, and that it is not enough to "presume" that they do. Prosecutor Sergio Colaiocco had argued that the four knew very well the trial was beginning and yet failed to show up. Prosecutors for years have denounced the obstructionism of Egypt in refusing to cooperate with the investigation, and Colaiocco accused the four of purposefully "avoiding this trial and hoping that the trial would therefore get stuck and it would not go ahead."
Regeni's parents and sister were in the courtroom for the hearing but made no comment. Their lawyer, Alessandra Ballerini, noted Capri's decision "with bitterness." Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom late Thursday, she said Egypt's "obstructionism and arrogance" had been rewarded, but vowed that the family's quest for justice would not stop and had only been set back a few months. She urged continued publicity about the case, especially the names of the defendants, "so they cannot say they didn't know."
"We know that sooner or later we will have satisfaction," she said. The Italian government announced on the eve of the trial that it would join the trial's civil portion as an injured party in the case. Egyptian authorities have alleged that the Cambridge University doctoral student fell victim to ordinary robbers. The case strained relations between Italy and Egypt, an ally for Rome in efforts to combat terrorism. At one point, Italy withdrew its ambassador to press for Egyptian cooperation in the investigation.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 15-16/2021
It’s Decision Time on Iran
The Islamic Republic is advancing both the enrichment and weaponization tracks needed to build a bomb.
Richard Goldberg and Jacob Nagel/The Dispatch/October 15/202
Over the next few weeks, President Joe Biden will face the biggest decision of his presidency regarding Iran. He can finally take “no” for an answer and build a coalition to hold Tehran accountable for its nuclear deceit and misconduct. Or, he can fall into the mullahs’ trap and close the door on achieving his goal of a longer and stronger nuclear agreement in the future.
For months now, the Biden administration has been operating under a mistaken assumption. The administration believed that if the United States eased the political and economic pressure on Iran while abjuring any credible threat of military force, Tehran would potentially negotiate a replacement to the flawed 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from which the President Trump withdrew in 2018. In fact, the opposite has proven true.
Iran entered this year with just $4 billion in accessible foreign exchange reserves, a U.S. president who demonstrated a willingness to use force against Iran, and the possibility that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors might refer the regime to the U.N. Security Council for breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Tellingly, Iran began producing highly enriched uranium in early January only because the regime was confident the Trump administration—days from leaving office—no longer had the political ability to respond militarily. Had the economic and political pressure of 2020 intensified in 2021, the United States would likely already be in negotiations with Iran over a new nuclear agreement.
But on January 20, 2021, the mullahs got a new lease on life as the Trump campaign of maximum pressure shifted to a Biden campaign of maximum deference. Rather than continue to starve the regime of cash, Biden allowed Iran to use its frozen reserves to repay foreign debts while pulling back European allies from censuring Iran over its continued refusal to cooperate with an IAEA investigation into undeclared nuclear sites and materials. At the same time, Iran tested Biden through its regional proxies with sustained attacks on American troops in Iraq, rocket and missile attacks on Israel and Saudi Arabia, and attacks on maritime shipping. Yet Biden did not retaliate as his predecessor did by targeting the personnel of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which directed these attacks—even after the death of a U.S. contractor.
The results? The most aggressive expansion of Iran’s uranium enrichment program to date, the most audacious limitation of U.N. inspections in Iran’s history, and the installment of an Iranian hardline government determined to hold on to a new nuclear baseline for future negotiations. Biden allowed Iran to flip the script in a matter of months—from an increasingly contained regime on the verge of financial collapse to an increasingly confident regime inches away from a nuclear breakout capability. The regime could even pursue something even more dangerous: a nuclear “sneakout” wherein Iran uses clandestine facilities and advanced centrifuges to prepare a detonation.
Iran is operating advanced centrifuges, enriching uranium to 60 percent purity—just a short distance from gathering enough weapons-grade fissile material—and working on uranium metal technologies. It is advancing both the enrichment and weaponization tracks needed to build a bomb. Iran refuses to answer the IAEA’s questions as to why the agency has found nuclear material in at least three previously unknown locations and why Iran never declared those sites to the agency. It has refused to give the IAEA the video recordings of its declared sites, limiting the analysis of the agency and its inspectors. The regime is not just in significant non-performance of its commitments under the JCPOA—it is in material breach of its more fundamental obligations under the NPT.
Since Biden became president, the IAEA board has met three times. Before each meeting, the administration has opposed diplomatic attempts to censure Iran for its non-cooperation with the IAEA and its non-compliance with the NPT, despite harsh reports from the agency’s director general. After each meeting, Iran has accelerated its nuclear misconduct and further obstructed access for the IAEA and cooperation with its investigation. Just days after the IAEA’s September board meeting, Iran denied the agency access to yet another site—a centrifuge assembly facility in Karaj—even though the regime agreed to such access just days before the board meeting.
If the international community needed one more reminder that pressure, not appeasement, is the only proven formula to win Iranian cooperation, the story of Karaj was it. As the world looks to the final IAEA board meeting of the year in November, the credibility of the NPT and the IAEA, along with Director General Rafael Grossi, is now in serious doubt—a point that Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill should raise with Grossi when he visits the United States next week.
If Biden makes the same mistake for a fourth time, he alone will bear responsibility for what comes next—a green light for further nuclear escalation into 2022. Now is the time for the president to turn the tables. In coordination with U.S. allies in Europe, the Biden administration should request an immediate special meeting of the IAEA board—before its November meeting—to hold Iran accountable for its wide range of illicit conduct. This should be followed quickly with a formal resolution, at next month’s quarterly board meeting, that censures Iran not just for its enrichment ramp-up and limited access to inspectors, but also for its non-compliance with a now three-year-old safeguards investigation.
There will undoubtedly be voices within the Biden administration, including Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley, and maybe even Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will look for any excuse to keep the current policy in place. Malley, perhaps coordinating with Russia, China, and some European Union diplomats also desperate to preserve the old JCPOA framework at any cost, could schedule the next round of indirect U.S.-Iran negotiations just before the November quarterly meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors. If the Iranian delegates so much as smile at their interlocutors—let alone introduce a proposal that falls short of Biden’s demands—Malley will still argue to hold off any further political pressure.
Another potential pitfall: Iran could grant access to Karaj just before the November board meeting—giving Malley and others an opening to argue that Washington has achieved progress even though Karaj access is merely the latest ploy that Tehran has advanced to distract from its underlying nuclear misconduct.
Biden and his senior advisers need to recognize that after more than eight months of squandering U.S. economic leverage and allowing Iran to vastly increase its nuclear leverage, Malley’s advice leads back neither to the JCPOA nor to a longer and stronger deal. Instead, it leads to something even worse: the so-called concept of “less for less,” where the U.S. provides “partial” sanctions relief for “partial” Iranian nuclear concessions.
“Partial sanctions relief” for “partial nuclear steps” may sound appealing on its face but when dealing with a regime whose expertise is hobbling along with limited financial resources, partial sanctions relief is the very outcome the mullahs now seek. It will allow them to continue their terror support activities all over the world and bag their nuclear advances as a new baseline for future negotiations. As we saw in 2013, an interim agreement that grants partial sanctions relief and removes all U.S. leverage ends up becoming a flawed final deal.
The status quo is untenable. But a return to a deeply flawed and expiring JCPOA or an even worse “less for less” deal are equally unacceptable. President Biden has only one good option: reconstitute a coalition of democracies willing to exert economic and political pressure alongside sustained military deterrence to force Iran to comply with its NPT obligations and negotiate the longer, stronger deal Mr. Biden has always wanted.
China and Russia will complain along the way. Let them. They are powerless to stop a diplomatic coalition of the United States, its transatlantic and transpacific allies, and key allies in the Middle East. Neither Beijing nor Moscow can stop an IAEA board referral to the Security Council—nor can they stop a snapback of UN sanctions.
The Biden administration is fond of saying that U.S. leadership at multilateral institutions like the IAEA “is back.” The world will be watching Vienna in the weeks ahead to see if that’s really true.
*Richard Goldberg is a senior adviser at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He previously served on Capitol Hill, on the U.S. National Security Council, and as the chief of staff to the governor of Illinois. Follow Richard on Twitter @rich_goldberg. Jacob Nagel is a senior fellow at FDD and a visiting professor at the Technion Aerospace faculty. He previously served as acting national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and as head of the National Security Council. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, non-partisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Western Governmental Funds Divest From West Bank While Investing in China
Orde Kittrie and David May/FDD-Policy Brief/October 15/202
In September, Norway’s Government Pension Fund became the third major Western governmental investment fund since March to divest from companies doing business in West Bank settlements. Participating in Palestinian efforts to boycott Israeli firms has exposed these funds to accusations of hypocrisy for continuing to invest in other conflict zones. The Norwegian Government Pension Fund, a $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund that owns 1.5 percent of all publicly traded shares worldwide, said in a statement that it divested from the Israeli firms “due to unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to systematic violations of individuals’ rights in situations of war or conflict.” The fund divested from two other Israeli companies four months earlier, citing similar reasons.
The fund’s rationale for divesting from these companies references international law. But international law does not prohibit business in disputed territories. Nor is doing such business inconsistent with the non-binding principles of corporate social responsibility. That is the official view of the United Nations, expressed in its Global Compact document titled “Guidance on Responsible Business in Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas: A Resource for Companies and Investors.”
These divestments are also inconsistent with U.S. law and policy. U.S. law states that Congress “opposes politically motivated actions that penalize or otherwise limit commercial relations specifically with Israel, such as boycotts of, divestment from, or sanctions against Israel.” The law defines “boycott of, divestment from, and sanctions against Israel” to include such politically motivated actions against “persons doing business in Israel or in any territory controlled by Israel.”
Meanwhile, the Norwegian fund continues to invest in other countries responsible for grave human rights violations. Five percent of the fund’s investments are in Chinese companies. China has detained up to 1 million Uyghurs, suppressed democracy in Hong Kong, and continues to occupy Tibet.
Separately, KLP, which is partially owned by various Norwegian municipalities, for which it manages some $95 billion in pension funds, announced in July its divestment from 16 companies due to their operations in Israeli West Bank communities. This appears to be the first time a major Western public-sector financial institution has based a divestment decision squarely on the controversial UN blacklist of businesses operating in West Bank settlements. Yet even a February 2020 report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights explicitly states that the blacklist “does not purport” to characterize as illegal the listed companies’ settlement-related activities.
In 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute listed 82 global companies with supply chains that reportedly use forced labor by China’s Uyghur population. As of the date KLP published its 2020 annual report, it had over $435 million invested in 28 of those companies. A U.S. government commission has published a similar list. Yet KLP has apparently never divested from any company for its use of forced Uyghur labor.
In March, New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund divested from five Israeli banks because of their West Bank operations. Meanwhile, the fund holds nearly half a billion dollars’ worth of investments in 625 Chinese companies, including two blacklisted by the United States for direct involvement in “human rights violations.”A September 2021 report by the UK-based nongovernmental organization Hong Kong Watch highlighted the New Zealand fund’s investments in China. A spokesperson for the body that sets the fund’s policies responded, “If we exited every company facing conduct concerns, all we’d achieve is to sell our stock to someone who cares less about these issues and is more willing to turn a blind eye.” The fund has not applied this standard to Israel.
The recent divestments based on Israeli settlement ties provide a troubling precedent for other fund managers who might be tempted to participate in Palestinian efforts to boycott Israeli firms as well. In addition, so long as these funds continue to divest from West Bank-related firms while investing in other conflict zones, the funds will rightfully be exposed to accusations of having a double standard.
*Orde Kittrie is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where David May is a senior research analyst. They both contribute to FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP) and Israel Program. For more analysis from the authors, CEFP, and the Israel Program, please subscribe HERE. Follow the authors on Twitter @ordefk and @DavidSamuelMay. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Don’t Let Palestinian Recalcitrance Hold Israeli-African Relations Hostage
David May/The Algemeiner/October 15/2021
Palestinian advocacy groups and certain countries are pressuring the African Union (AU) to rescind Israel’s observer status, when the AU executive council meets this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. But Israel’s expertise in health, agriculture, defense, and other fields should convince the AU to prioritize its partnership with the Jewish state over Palestinian grievances. In July, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid welcomed Israel’s readmission as an observer at the AU, calling it “a day of celebration for Israel-Africa relations.” It “corrects the anomaly” that has existed since Israel lost its observer status when the Organization of African Unity (OAU) reorganized as the African Union in 2002. Opponents of Israel’s upgraded status have lobbed tenuous arguments against the partnership. To tarnish Israel’s image in Africa, activists have portrayed the Jewish state as a racist colonizer. However, Israel’s restrictions on Palestinians are related to security issues, not race. And Israel is the product of a post-colonial national liberation movement, a trait it shares with many African countries.
Some have argued that African countries should not improve relations with Israel until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved. But it is unclear why Palestinian recalcitrance should hold Israeli-African relations hostage, especially in light of Israel’s numerous attempts to solve the conflict.
Shortly after its founding, Israel began its outreach to Africa. Their shared post-colonial legacy — and Israel’s desire to overcome isolation caused by the Arab League boycott — spurred this partnership. In the process, Israel shared agricultural and technological advancements crucial for countries breaking away from the yoke of colonialism. However, in the wake of the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Arab and Muslim countries coaxed African nations to cut ties with Israel. Most nations complied with a 1973 OAU resolution calling on members to do just that.
Israel has renewed its ties with African countries in recent years, maintaining relations with 46 out of 54 African countries. In 2009, then-Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman embarked on a five-country tour of Africa. In 2016, then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set out on his own four-country tour. In 2017, Netanyahu became the first non-African leader to address the Economic Community of West African States. And in January 2021, Sudan — the site of Arab countries’ post-Six-Day War rejection of normalization with Israel — signed the Abraham Accords peace deal with the Jewish state.
In a July press release, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed cooperation with African nations in “the fight against Corona.” Israel has been a global leader in the fight against the coronavirus, and the AU stands to benefit tremendously from Israel’s expertise. Israel’s many other contributions to public health in Africa include combating malaria, providing neonatal care, and building health facilities. And an Israeli-designed method for protecting harvests is helping feed Africa.
MASHAV, Israel’s agency for international development cooperation, has provided Liberia with COVID-19 relief items such as face masks, thermometers, and medical gowns. MASHAV has also helped African countries improve their agricultural capacity. In 2016, the chairperson of the African Union Commission presented Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia and the deputy head of MASHAV with a plaque recognizing Israel’s work to combat the spread of Ebola in 2014; Israel set up field hospitals and became the largest donor per capita in that health crisis. In 2017, Sierra Leone named the Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO) IsraAid as its outstanding international NGO of the year, due in large part to the group’s contributions to the fight against Ebola.
Israeli water technology can also be a boon for the AU. Israel has been a pioneer in water technology since it popularized drip irrigation and desalination. Watergen, an Israeli company, has deployed machinery in Africa that literally creates water out of thin air. This can help the continent overcome lack of access to clean water, one of its greatest causes of poverty. Yet in 2018, anti-Israel hostility led Cape Town, South Africa, to reject Israeli assistance as it nearly became the first major city in the world to run out of water.
The Israeli press release heralding its renewed observer status also mentioned defense cooperation as a key arena for collaboration. Israel has provided several African countries with military advisers and weapons for decades. Since 2000, Israel has dramatically increased military collaboration with the Horn of Africa countries, particularly Kenya. Al-Qaeda operatives in the coastal Kenyan city of Mombasa bombed an Israeli-owned hotel and attempted to down an Israeli plane in 2002. Continued threats of terrorism led Israel and Kenya to conclude a public security agreement in 2011 to increase cooperation. Israel has complemented its recent diplomatic outreach to several African countries with military training. And Israel has much to offer African countries in the defense sector, particularly in cybersecurity.
Increased Israeli-African cooperation will help both parties thrive. The AU should not allow its health and prosperity to become another casualty of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
*David May is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Follow David on Twitter @DavidSamuelMay. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Blinken Affirms Softening of U.S. Policy Toward Assad Regime
David Adesnik/FDD-Policy Brief/October 15/2021
Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday became the first Cabinet-level official to confirm that the United States will no longer stand in the way of Arab states pursuing the diplomatic rehabilitation of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. This reversal marks an important gain for Assad and for his sponsors in Moscow and Tehran, who have struggled to restore the regime’s legitimacy despite overcoming all military threats to Assad’s hold on power.
Blinken sought to leave an impression of continuity in U.S. policy by insisting Washington will not encourage the Assad regime’s return from isolation. “What we have not done and what we do not intend to do is to express any support for efforts to normalize relations or rehabilitate Mr. Assad,” the secretary stated. This framing obscures the critical point that the United States had, until this summer, actively — and effectively — sought to deter Assad’s rehabilitation by employing a combination of diplomatic pressure and sanctions.
The first clear sign of a change in U.S. policy was the Biden administration’s mid-August decision to approve Syrian participation in a four-country energy deal also involving Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon. Crucially, the U.S. ambassador in Beirut provided explicit assurances that the White House would not let U.S. sanctions derail the project. According to The Washington Post, the Biden administration even advised the deal’s participants on how to structure their agreement to avoid such consequences.
Arab governments quickly grasped that they now had a green light to engage with Assad. After a decade of avoiding high-level contacts, Syria’s neighbors began to arrange ministerial-level meetings. King Abdullah of Jordan, who is spearheading the effort, even accepted a personal phone call from Assad.
In the years before President Joe Biden took office, the Arab Gulf monarchies periodically sought to test Washington’s commitment to isolating Assad. Encountering resistance, they mostly retreated. Most importantly, overwhelming bipartisan majorities in Congress passed the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act in 2019, which mandated sanctions on foreign nationals who do business with the Assad regime. These so-called “secondary sanctions” put in jeopardy any Gulf investors in the Syrian market.
While the prior administration implemented sanctions aggressively, designating 113 targets between June and December of last year, the Biden administration has designated just a handful of targets with no economic significance. Nonetheless, until mid-summer, the administration insisted on its commitment to the Caesar Act. In late June, the State Department’s assistant secretary for Middle Eastern affairs specifically warned those planning to engage the Assad regime that “governments and businesses need to be careful that their proposed or envisioned transactions don’t expose them to potential sanctions from the United States under [the Caesar] act.”
The reversal of U.S. policy toward Syria is especially striking in light of Blinken’s pledge, shortly after taking office, that the Biden administration would “put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy.” Moreover, as the stepson of an Auschwitz survivor, Blinken has frequently asserted the importance of learning from past atrocities to prevent their recurrence. Last week, on the 80th anniversary of the Nazi massacre at Babyn Yar, he said, “[We must] recommit ourselves to ensuring that their full history is told, and pledge to act, every day, so that history is not repeated.”
The reversal of U.S. policy — with no apparent concessions from Assad or from his patrons in Moscow and Tehran — also sacrifices an important source of leverage that could facilitate the pursuit of other U.S. objectives, such as expanding humanitarian access. In July, the administration persuaded Russia not to veto a UN Security Council resolution that reauthorized a major component of the UN aid program for Syria, yet Moscow is likely to threaten another veto next July, so diplomatic leverage remains indispensable.
The proper response to Assad’s unceasing atrocities and destabilization of the Levant is a policy of relentless pressure.
*David Adesnik is research director and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he contributes to FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). For more analysis from David and CEFP, please subscribe HERE. Follow David on Twitter @adesnik. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

ألبرتو إم فرنانديز/ ممري: سادة بأقدام من طين: تعامل الوكلاء الإيرانيون الأخير مع هيمنتهم في لبنان والعراق
Masters With Feet Of Clay: Iranian Proxies' Latest Handling Of Their Hegemony In Lebanon And Iraq
Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI./October 15/2021
The parallels are eerie. The same week in October 2021 that a heavily armed "protest" by Hizbullah and its allies in Beirut against an independent judge turned violent, another Iran-controlled militia in Iraq – Kataib Hezbollah – is threatening Iraqi judges over certifying election results that were not fully satisfactory to the factions closest to Iran.
Pro-Iran "protestor" using a rocket propelled grenade launcher in Beirut, October 14, 2021
The preliminary results of Iraq's October 10 parliamentary elections showed that the coalition of the most pro-Iranian militia/death squads/parties – the Fatah Alliance – did poorly, losing many seats. Also losing was the pro-Iran alliance led by Ammar Al-Hakim, which also lost many seats. But the purported "winners" also have Iranian ties; Muqtada al-Sadr's alliance came in first place and former Iraqi prime minister Nuri Al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition rebounded somewhat from the disastrous results it obtained in the 2018 elections.[1]
Muqtada Al-Sadr's movement provided some cover for Iraq's demonstrators in 2019, and Al-Sadr's fighters clashed with and even killed supporters of anti-demonstrator pro-Iran militias such as Asaib Ahl Al-Haq. But Al-Sadr's support for demonstrators was not open-ended, particularly when they seemed to take a more pronounced anti-Iran tone. The charismatic cleric clearly strikes an Iraqi nationalist pose when needed, but also seems to reliably bend to Iran's wishes when really needed. Al-Maliki, a longtime collaborator with the Americans, is also a longtime collaborator with Iran. Even Sunni and Kurdish parties that won seats have a history of working with Iran's hegemons, though their hearts may not be in it. One can make the case that most leaders in Iraq have been co-opted by Iran to greater or lesser extents. Some are reluctant partners, while others are enthusiastic ones.
Despite that grim reality, i.e. that Iran has many levers to pull in Iraq, this week Abu Ali Al-Askari, a leader in the feared Kataib Hezbollah death squad, took to social media to warn Iraqi judges about problems with voting machines and the need for judges to maintain their clean records. He also accused members of Iraq's Intelligence Service of inflating the numbers of the Emtidad movement – which is connected to mostly Shia protestors against Iran and certainly does constitute a political challenge to the Iranian project in Iraq. Emtidad may have won up to 10 seats in the 329 member Iraqi legislature, five of them in the mostly Shia (and very poor) Dhi Qar governorate in Southern Iraq.[2] A small number of voices to be sure, but voices that Iran does not control.[3] The Fatah Alliance is not done with trying to get the authorities to give them a bigger share of the political pie in Iraq, even though Iran can build a new government sympathetic to Iran using Al-Sadr or Al-Maliki or even current Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.[4]
If Iran's proxies were concerned about 10 parliamentarians, in Lebanon Iran's proxies seems to be concerned about one judge. Judge Tarek Bitar only took over the investigation of the Beirut Port explosion earlier this year, after the previous judge was removed at the request of two former government ministers connected to the Amal party of Nabih Berri, a close ally of Hizbullah.[5] Even though many Lebanese already believe that there was a Hizbullah connection to the blast (one explanation was that this was a shipment of nitrates used in barrel bombs against Syrian cities during that country's civil war), the idea of a judge actually clarifying the case and fingering some corrupt officials – a category of which Lebanon has a surplus – seems to have become a Hizbullah redline. This led to a violent provocation in Beirut on October 14, as Hizbullah and Amal opened fire on unnamed assailants, even firing rocket propelled grenades at office buildings. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea sarcastically noted on Twitter that he thought that Hizbullah had nothing to do with the explosion, but that after the day's events, he was not so sure.
The fact that Hizbullah and Amal thugs attempted to aggressively show force in Christian parts of Beirut, blame a Christian party for escalating tension, and appeared to have been repulsed (the facts are unclear) has heightened sectarian feeling, although the whole event has a sense of fabricated theater about it.[6] But the "clashes" certainly escalated Christian-Shia tension, a reality which places tremendous pressure on Lebanon's seemingly senile president Michel Aoun and his ambitious son-in-law Gibran Bassil, who aspires to become president in 2022 with the help of Hizbullah. Their Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) is closely allied with Hizbullah and poses as the great protector of Lebanon's remaining Christians. The clashes and rhetoric make maintaining both of those poses difficult.[7] Expectations are that somehow the government will shut down Judge Bitar's investigation, a victory for Hizbullah, perhaps by transferring it to the military justice system.
Why have Hizbullah in Lebanon and its counterparts in Iraq, near hegemons in both countries, reacted with such vehemence to what may seem to the outsider to be relatively small reverses? It is because Iran's proxies in both countries are indeed almost all-powerful but they are very strong in only relative terms. Anti-Iranian-regime feeling is strong in Lebanon, in Iraq, and in Syria (and is strong inside Iran too). Aside from a fanatical and heavily armed hard core – essential henchmen for Iran's hegemony – nobody much likes Iran, even if they also don't like the U.S. or Israel. It is that small and fanatical hardcore that projects its power, through the triple venues of politics, propaganda, and violence, over much larger populations who serve under Iranian hegemony, at varying levels of willingness, because of fear, weakness or greed.
The key elements of such an approach are the perception of inevitability and an aura of impunity. It is those elements, coupled with actual violence, that generally keep the masses in line. That is why a single judge in Lebanon, a mere handful of deputies in Iraq, or one lone heroic voice like Lokman Slim constitute a threat.[8] They shatter the narrative of inevitability.
Iran is simultaneously both dominant and fragile in its exercise of that near total dominance over most of its subject Arabic-speaking populations. Iranian-orchestrated repression and the pandemic eventually silenced anti-Tehran, anti-system protests in both countries in 2020, but nothing has really changed negative popular views. There is little evidence that support for Iran exists in these countries beyond that small but fanatical hardcore and enabling corrupt politicians. But that may be enough. Iran and its proxies hope that a combination of repression, distraction, and emigration will help them maintain the status quo. And that is probably right. It will work until it doesn't, until some spark makes the whole shaky edifice come down.
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.
[1] Al-monitor.com/originals/2021/10/sadr-and-independents-biggest-winners-under-iraqs-new-election-law, October 13, 2021.
[2] Youtube.com/watch?v=SlMnjyuxx_k, uploaded October 10, 2021.
[3] https:// www. emtidadiraq.com/, March 3, 2021.
[4] Carnegie-mec.org/diwan/85555, October 13, 2021.
[5] Icj.org/lebanon-stop-attacking-and-threatening-judge-investigating-the-beirut-blast, October 13, 2021.
[6] Janoubia.com, October 14, 2021.
[7] Mtv.com.lb/news/article/1224481/app?webview=true, October 14, 2021.
[8] Skeyesmedia.org/en/News/Reports/30-09-2021/9579, September 30, 2021.

Question: "Can people in heaven look down and see us?"
GotQuestions.org/October 15/2021
Answer: Some see in Hebrews 12:1 the idea that people in heaven might be able to look down and see us: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. . . .” The “witnesses” are the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11, and the fact that we are “surrounded” by them leads some commentators to understand those heroes (and possibly other people) are looking down on us from heaven.
The idea that people are looking down from heaven to see what we’re doing is common in popular culture. But, as much as we might like the notion that we’re being watched by our departed loved ones, that’s not what Hebrews 12:1 is teaching. Building on Hebrews 11, the author begins drawing up some practical lessons (that’s why chapter 12 begins with “Therefore”). The “witnesses” are the people whom God commends for their faith in chapter 11, and there is a large crowd of them in heaven. The question is, in what way are they “witnesses”?
The proper interpretation of Hebrews 12:1 is that the men and women forming the “great cloud of witnesses” are witness to the value of living life by faith. Their Old Testament stories give testimony to the blessings of choosing faith over fear. To paraphrase the start of Hebrews 12:1, “Since we have so many tried-and-true examples of proven faith . . . .” So, it’s not that people are in heaven watching us (as if our lives on earth are so interesting or they have nothing better to do!), but that those who have gone before us have set a lasting example for us. The record of their lives bears witness to faith and God and truth.
Hebrews 12:1 continues, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Because of the faith and endurance of believers who went before us, we are inspired to stay the course in our own race of faith. We follow the examples of Abraham and Moses and Rahab and Gideon and etc.
Some people point to the rich man’s mention of his brothers in Luke 16:28 as proof that departed souls (in Hades, at least) can see events on earth. However, the passage never says that the rich man could see his brothers; he knew he had brothers, and he knew they were unbelievers. Also, some people use Revelation 6:10 as a proof text: the tribulation martyrs call for God to avenge their deaths. Again, this passage says nothing about the martyrs seeing people on earth; it simply says that they knew they deserved justice and desired the Lord to take action.
The Bible doesn’t specifically say that people in heaven cannot look down on us, so we can’t be dogmatic. However, it is unlikely that they can. People in heaven are likely preoccupied with other things such as worshiping God and enjoying the glories of heaven.
Whether or not people in heaven can look down and see us, we are not running our race for them. We are not hoping for their approval or listening for their applause. Hebrews 12:2 keeps our focus where it belongs: “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Jesus is our blessed hope, no other (Titus 2:13).