English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 24/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be
First Letter to the Corinthians 06/01-11/:”When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels to say nothing of ordinary matters? If you have ordinary cases, then, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to decide between one believer and another, but a believer goes to court against a believer and before unbelievers at that? In fact, to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud and believers at that. Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 23-24.2022
Lebanon’s top Christian cleric raps MPs for creating ‘presidential vacuum’
Al-Rahi warns of presidency void 'as some nations seek to change Lebanon face'
Al-Rahi: We are at the height of national treason
Archbishop Elias Aoudi: It is unfortunate that the  Vacuum in the Presidency post is ongoing
Lebanon’s central bank won’t buy dollars on Sayrafa platform from Oct. 25
Presidency Information Office: Circulated news on President's intention to issue decree accepting government's resignation totally groundless
Lebanese, Syrian leaders discuss sea border demarcation before Damascus talks
Civic Intimations after a long Journey/Charles Elias Chartouni/October 23/2022
BDL: Selling of US dollar exclusively through SAYRAFA Platform starting next Tuesday, without purchasing it
Health Ministry publishes awareness video on cholera epidemic
MoPH: 12 new Cholera cases, 3 deaths
GEAGEA RENEWS APPEAL TO 22 DEPUTIES TO CAST THEIR VOTE TO MOUAWAD
“Respect for law & constitution a prelude to safeguarding the country,” underlines Druze Sheikh Aql
MPs, Aoun and Daou partake in launching of new hiking trail in Bayssour to encourage domestic tourism
Hamieh says "Public Works Ministry's teams are working relentlessly to ensure that rainwater drainage pipes on highways remain open"
Lebanon leads West Asian Women's Football Championship

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 23-24.2022
Iran protests trigger solidarity rallies in US, Europe
Hackers breach Iran’s atomic energy agency, protests persist
In Israel, Albanian PM to meet cyber chief after Iran hack
Palestinian militant killed in explosion in Nablus
Israeli court clears way for Lebanon maritime border deal
Russian Defense: Destruction of a large warehouse of aviation fuel in central Ukraine
France's Macron says there is chance for peace in Ukraine
Bahrain’s King receives UAE foreign minister in Manama
Saudi crown prince to skip Arab Summit on doctor advice
Xi secures historic third term as China's leader

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 23-24.2022
The West Turns Back on Persecuted Christians, Embraces Radical Muslims/Raymond Ibrahim/ Gatestone Institute/October 23/2022
Biden’s Security Strategy shows foreign policy as a distraction/Luke Coffey/Arab News/October 23/2022
Israeli ban on donkey import stops the wheel of Gaza cart economy/Hazem Balousha/Arab News/October 23/ 2022
Iran Strikes NATO/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October, 23/2022
Between Nuclear Power and Hydrogen/Najib Saab/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October, 23/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 23-24.2022
Lebanon’s top Christian cleric raps MPs for creating ‘presidential vacuum’
Najia Houssari/Arab News/October 23, 2022
‘We have reached the height of political corruption,’ Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi says
US mediator expected in Beirut as Israel’s top court clears way for signing of maritime border deal
BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi has accused Lebanese MPs of trying to lead the country into a presidential vacuum. Parliament is set to hold its fourth session to elect a new leader on Monday, as President Michel Aoun’s term ends on Oct. 31.
Addressing the Lebanese ruling class in his Sunday sermon, Al-Rahi said: “We have reached the height of political corruption, which is even worse than financial corruption.” He said that during recent parliamentary sessions, some MPs had acted “as if they were in a play, instead of presenting our crises-hit Lebanon with a president who would be accepted by the Lebanese people and act as a true statesman, instead of a politician who is concerned with his own interests at the expense of the public good.” He continued: “Is there higher treason toward the homeland than disrupting the election of a new president? Is there a better way to create more division than leading the country into a presidential vacuum? “Is this how you respond to the statement issued by the International Support Group for Lebanon, calling on electing a president within the constitutional deadline who would assume his responsibilities at home and abroad in the current circumstances?” Al-Rahi’s remarks came as Lebanon flounders with an economic crisis that has damaged infrastructure and caused social and health crises.
The latest challenge is a cholera outbreak in the Bekaa, the north and south, as water refining plants are no longer operating due to the public electricity network being out of service for more than two days. The power outage has also disrupted services at Beirut Airport and Beirut Port. Caretaker Minister of Public Works Ali Hamiyeh said the airport had become dependent on three private generators.
“The cost of buying diesel for the generators is very high and we cannot guarantee that the airport can continue operating this way,” he said. “We will discuss this issue with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad to find a solution.”The airport relies on Middle East Airlines to supply it with diesel for the generators, but the carrier has expressed its inability to continue to help indefinitely due to the high costs involved.
Meanwhile, US mediator Amos Hochstein is expected to arrive in Beirut this week with the text of the official US agreement to demarcate the maritime borders between Lebanon and Israel.
On Sunday, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected all petitions against the deal, which paves the way for the Israeli Cabinet to approve it within the week.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the court’s decision “will allow us to move forward with the important agreement on the maritime border with Lebanon in the coming days.”
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon command in Naqoura is preparing to host the signing ceremony and Aoun is expected on Tuesday to name the official who will represent Lebanon at the event.
Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to send two separate letters to the UN about the terms of the understanding to ensure that no violations occur and to fix the coordinates of the maritime borders.
Meanwhile, a Cypriot delegation will arrive in Lebanon on Monday to discuss the demarcation of the borders between their two countries.
The delegation is expected to meet with Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib and Fayyad.
The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier received a letter from the Cypriot government calling for dialogue to “correct the maritime border points and coordinates between Lebanon and Cyprus in light of the Lebanese-Israeli maritime border demarcation agreement, before reestablishing them with the UN.”Lebanon began demarcating its borders with Cyprus through negotiations between 2007 and 2009. But Cyprus violated the understanding with Lebanon in 2011 and demarcated its borders with Israel. The agreement between Lebanon and Cyprus stipulated that the latter could not complete the demarcation with Israel without an understanding with Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Aoun instructed Bou Saab to head a delegation to Damascus to discuss the maritime border demarcation with Syria. The delegation includes Bou Habib, Hamiyeh and Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, director general of Lebanon’s General Security. Aoun is reported to have contacted his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad a few days ago to discuss demarcating the borders. The two agreed for official delegations to hold meetings in Beirut and Damascus as the points of conflict require direct technical and legal discussion, and there is no need for a mediator. It remains unknown whether the Lebanese delegation will bring up the issue of Shebaa Farms, which Lebanon claims but UN maps suggest belongs to Syria.

Al-Rahi warns of presidency void 'as some nations seek to change Lebanon face'
Naharnet/October 23/2022
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday said the political forces that seek presidential vacuum would be comitting "national treason.""Is there treason toward the country more than blocking the election of a president? And can a path lead to the country's division more than presidential void?" al-Rahi warned in his Sunday Mass sermon."Do you realize that heading toward presidential vacuum is happening while some nations are seeking to change Lebanon's face, role, formula and identity without resorting to the people nor their authorities?" al-Rahi cautioned, addressing lawmakers. Apparently taking a swipe at the recently-postponed Swiss dialogue conference, the patriarch noted that the international conference for Lebanon he had called for is "totally different from the plans of conferences and seminars invented by these countries not to serve Lebanon, but rather to improve their relations with some of the region's nations."

Al-Rahi: We are at the height of national treason
NNA/October 23/2022
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, stressed in his Sunday homily in Bkerke that "the political authority is charged with securing the public good and it is called upon to work for the good of all." He pointed out that "the House of Representatives is charged with electing a president of the republic, and whoever scrutinizes the movements of the deputies in the sessions discovers that they are in a play.""Last Thursday's session was embodied in two sessions: an electoral session at home and a disruption session in the corridors, and thus we reached the height of political corruption and national treason," the patriarch added.

Archbishop Elias Aoudi: It is unfortunate that the  Vacuum in the Presidency post is ongoing
 LCCC/October 23/2022
 Archbishop Elias Aoudi, affirmed in his today's sermon that “the political struggle and competition to seize opportunities in order to achieve interests and fruitless debates have led us to this deterioration in institutions, morals, and in life. Meanwhile “The talk about the possibility of reaching a vacancy in the presidency goes back as if it is an acceptable matter, and as if this odd situation, indicates anything, but the failure of the Parliament.” He added: "What prevents the regularity of democratic life, the supremacy of the constitution over political life, and the transfer of power at the specified times without delay or disruption?"  He concluded: “It is unfortunate that the emptiness and threat are recognized beyond the constitutional and social chaos, and if the deputies are aware of the seriousness of the situation, let them close themselves in the parliament hall and do not leave it before electing a president.”

Lebanon’s central bank won’t buy dollars on Sayrafa platform from Oct. 25
Reuters/October 23/2022
Lebanon’s central bank will halt purchases of dollars on its Sayrafa platform starting on Oct. 25 until further notice, a statement from the central bank said on Sunday. The statement said the bank would continue to sell exclusively dollars on its exchange rate platform. The move is intended to strengthen the Lebanese pound after it traded at a new low of more than 40,000 to the dollar last week, bankers said. The pound has lost more than 95 percent of its value since 2019, when it was valued at 1,500 just before the country tumbled into an economic meltdown. Lebanon’s three-year financial crisis has pushed three-quarters of the population into poverty and food prices have risen more than 11-fold, with new price hikes seen in supermarkets this week. After decades of pegging the currency, the central bank now offers multiple rates, including a flexible exchange rate.

Presidency Information Office: Circulated news on President's intention to issue decree accepting government's resignation totally groundless
NNA/October 23, 2022
The Presidency Information Office issued a statement on Sunday, in which it categorically denied recently circulated news by the media about President Michel Aoun's intention to sign a decree accepting the government's resignation. The statement asserted that such news is completely false and falls within the framework of deliberate confusion and systematic abuse of the position of the presidency and the person of the president. "The Presidency Information Office renews its call on the media to resort to it in regards to any news related to the stances of the President of the Republic, so as not to fall victim to lies and deceptions that abound in such political seasons that the country is currently going through," the statement concluded.

Lebanese, Syrian leaders discuss sea border demarcation before Damascus talks
AFP/The Arab Weekly/October 23/2022
The Lebanese and Syrian presidents discussed delineating their countries' shared maritime border on Saturday before a visit to Damascus next week by a Lebanese delegation tasked with negotiating the issue, a Lebanese official said. A dispute over their shared sea boundary emerged last year after Syria granted a licence to a Russian energy company to begin maritime exploration in an area Lebanon claimed. Several gas discoveries have been made in the eastern Mediterranean. Lebanese President Michel Aoun earlier said demarcating the border would be next after Lebanon agreed its southern maritime boundary with longtime foe Israel following years of indirect US-mediated talks. Aoun told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that Lebanon was keen "to begin negotiations with Syria to delineate its northern maritime boundary," the Lebanese official told Reuters after Saturday's talks. Aoun then tasked Elias Bou Saab, the deputy speaker of parliament who negotiated on behalf of Lebanon in the indirect talks over the boundary with Israel, to head a delegation to Damascus next week to kick-start discussions, the official said. The delegation would include the Lebanese foreign and transport ministers as well as the head of the General Security agency Abbas Ibrahim, the official added. Syria's Sham FM radio reported that details of the delineation had yet to be discussed and that Assad proposed holding direct talks via the countries' foreign ministries. The two leaders discussed delineation last year. Aoun's term as president of Lebanon, which is the midst of a deep political and economic crisis, ends on October 31. Three parliamentary sessions have failed to elect a successor. Assad secured another seven-year term last year in an election derided by Syria's opposition and the West as a farce. The vote was held after the government regained control of much of the territory lost to opponents in a conflict that erupted in 2011.

Civic Intimations after a long Journey
Charles Elias Chartouni/October 23/2022
These reflections were written in 2015, after an extended absence in the US. Unfortunately, my premonitions were validated in the years to come, as we were overseeing the unraveling of our country and its race to the abyss. After a long journey away from the country, I was eager to connect back with the daily routine of an ordinary Lebanese citizen trying to manage his logistical, financial, psychological and moral problems in a very stressful environment: the harshness of an urban environment made up of rising concrete "jungles" intertwining with the decaying neighborhoods, the struggling economy, the mounds of garbage, the erratic electrical rationing regimes, the dysfunctional infrastructures, the diffuse unemployment, the rampant poverty, the rising costs of living and the societal, psychological and moral dislocations caused by survivalism when "life becomes nasty and brutish", and a dysfunctional governance run by inept, unscrupulous , criminal and larcenous oligarchs .... I wondered how to muster the moral, psychological and operational resources required to meet these manifold and intractable challenges, in an environment where no sense of solidarity and collective endeavors are likely to relay and support the striving individuals and families in their daily struggles . The latest social movements were quite comforting since they displayed the ability of our civil society, not only withstand the pressure but challenge this enthralling environment, its actors and counter its destructive dynamics, in spite of the regional instability, Hezbollah’s subversion strategy and their disarraying repercussions. However, the missing link is how to rebuild the interfaces between the civic sphere and the political one, and overcome the disparities preventing the democratic dynamics from running their full course.Democratization is our only chance to overcome the systemic disruptions of a deeply fractured society, the absence of regional political stability and a threadbare democratic culture. I believe the Lebanese have the necessary resources, and they are constantly challenged to reinvent the platforms, define the catalysts and sustain their creative and permanently defeated dynamics, to overcome the repeated cycles of pervasive fatigue, helplessness, corrosive skepticism and their ultimate outcome: expatriation. Among the manifold obstacle, there is a salient one, the oligarchs and their systemic foreclosures that have thwarted reformist velleities and endeavors, and manipulated national security concerns to perpetuate their deadlocks and make sure that nothing evades their realm of control .

BDL: Selling of US dollar exclusively through SAYRAFA Platform starting next Tuesday, without purchasing it
NNA/October 23, 2022
Lebanese Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, issued a statement on Sunday, indicating that “based on Articles 75 and 83 of the Monetary and Credit Law, the Banque due Liban, through the SAYRAFA platform, will exclusively sell the US dollar starting next Tuesday, without purchasing US dollars through said platform until further notice.”The statement added that “as stipulated in Circular 161, public sector salaries shall continue to be paid in US dollars and the $400 withdrawals by bank account holders shall continue as well,” noting that “Circulars 151 and 158 are also in effect, as payment is being made in US dollars.”

Health Ministry publishes awareness video on cholera epidemic
NNA/October 23, 2022
The Ministry of Public Health published today a video on raising awareness of the cholera epidemic, in which it explained its nature, symptoms, causes and ways to prevent it. The Ministry also announced that it had set up a hotline (1787) to be at the service of citizens to inquire and obtain more information on the matter.

MoPH: 12 new Cholera cases, 3 deaths
NNA/October 23, 2022
The Ministry of Public Health on Sunday announced, in a report on Cholera cases in Lebanon, that 12 Cholera cases have been registered in the past 24 hours, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 239. The report added 3 death cases were recorded.

GEAGEA RENEWS APPEAL TO 22 DEPUTIES TO CAST THEIR VOTE TO MOUAWAD
NNA/October 23, 2022
Head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, indicated, on Sunday, that all parliamentary blocs and parliamentarians are calling for rejecting the presidential vacuum and emphasizing the necessity of holding the elections on their scheduled date, while they act otherwise. Geagea renewed his appeal to the 22 deputies to think carefully about what they should do in terms of the practical choice is in their hands and act on it. "Is the best option a presidential vacuum or voting for Michel Moawad?" the LF Chief wondered.

“Respect for law & constitution a prelude to safeguarding the country,” underlines Druze Sheikh Aql
NNA/October 23, 2022
Druze Sheikh Aql, Sheikh Sami Abil-Mona, called for "facing the current challenges with national unity, internal reunification and closing of ranks to overcome the difficulties that have exhausted our country,” highlighting the need for “more spiritual and national cohesion and joint efforts, each in his position, to preserve the homeland and safeguard its social and unitary values and diversity."He stressed on "respecting constitutional laws to accomplish the required entitlements so that hope remains for the advancement of our country and its return to its missionary role."
Sheikh Abil-Mona’s words came during a tour in the Chouf region on Sunday, during which he met with various dignitaries and popular delegations.

MPs, Aoun and Daou partake in launching of new hiking trail in Bayssour to encourage domestic tourism
NNA/October 23, 2022
MPs Najat Aoun and Marc Daou participated today in the launching of a hiking trail on “Radar Hilltop” in the mountainous area of Bayssour, organized by the "Baysour Hiking Group", with the participation and encouragement of prominent figures and residents of the region, aiming at attracting domestic tourism and environmental projects in various Lebanese towns.

Hamieh says "Public Works Ministry's teams are working relentlessly to ensure that rainwater drainage pipes on highways remain open"
NNA/October 23, 2022
Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamieh, said Sunday that the teams affiliated with the contractors of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport will continue operating day and night to ensure that the rainwater drainage sewers on the highways remain open, with approach of the rain and winter season. Meanwhile, the Minister urged citizens not to throw waste on the roads and in gutters, and called on those in charge of collecting waste to continue their work in order to ensure the smooth flow of traffic along the highways.

Lebanon leads West Asian Women's Football Championship
NNA/October 23, 2022
Lebanon is a step away from winning the West Asian Women's Championship title, by leading the first round with a full score with three victories, after defeating its Syrian counterpart by two free goals in a joint match held at the stadium of President Fouad Shehab Municipal Complex in Jounieh today.
The Lebanese team raised its score to 12 points, after it had previously defeated Jordan and the Lebanese women's team under 16 years, which is participating in this tournament for preparatory purposes. The final match between Lebanon and Syria will be held at 2:00 p.m. next Tuesday on the same stadium, and is preceded by a meeting of Lebanon's junior women with Jordan, for third place.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 23-24.2022
Iran protests trigger solidarity rallies in US, Europe
AP/The Arab Weekly/October 23/2022
Chanting crowds marched in the streets of Berlin, Washington and Los Angeles on Saturday in a show of international support for demonstrators facing a violent government crackdown in Iran, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of that country's morality police. On the US National Mall, thousands of women and men of all ages — wearing green, white and red, the colours of the Iran flag — shouted in rhythm. “Be scared. Be scared. We are one in this,” demonstrators yelled, before marching to the White House. “Say her name! Mahsa!”The demonstrations, put together by grassroots organizers from around the United States, drew Iranians from across the Washington DC area, with some travelling down from Toronto to join the crowd. In Los Angeles, home to the biggest population of Iranians outside of Iran, a throng of protesters formed a slow-moving procession along blocks of a closed downtown street. They chanted for the fall of Iran's government and waved hundreds of Iranian flags that turned the horizon into a undulating wave of red, white and green.
“We want freedom,” they thundered.
Shooka Scharm, an attorney who was born in the US after her parents fled the Iranian revolution, was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom” in English and Farsi. In Iran “women are like a second-class citizen and they are sick of it,” Scharm said. Iran's nationwide antigovernment protest movement first focused on the country’s mandatory hijab covering for women following Amiri’s death on September 16. The demonstrations there have since transformed into the greatest challenge to the Islamic Republic since the 2009 Green Movement over disputed elections. In Tehran on Saturday, more antigovernment protests took place at several universities. Iran’s security forces have dispersed gatherings in that country with live ammunition and tear gas, killing over 200 people, including teenage girls, according to rights groups. The Biden administration has said it condemns the brutality and repression against the citizens of Iran and that it will look for ways to impose more sanctions against the Iranian government if the violence continues. Several weeks of Saturday solidarity rallies in the US capital have drawn growing crowds. In Berlin, a crowd estimated by German police at several tens of thousands turned out to show solidarity for the women and activists leading the movement for the past few weeks in Iran. The protests in Germany's capital, organised by the Woman(asterisk) Life Freedom Collective, began at the Victory Column in Berlin’s Tiergarten park and continued as a march through central Berlin. Some demonstrators there said they had come from elsewhere in Germany and other European countries to show their support. “It is so important for us to be here, to be the voice of the people of Iran, who are killed on the streets,” said Shakib Lolo, who is from Iran but lives in the Netherlands. “And this is not a protest anymore, this is a revolution, in Iran. And the people of the world have to see it.”

Hackers breach Iran’s atomic energy agency, protests persist
News Agencies/October 23/ 2022
DUBAI: Iran’s atomic energy agency alleged on Sunday that hackers acting on behalf of an unidentified foreign country broke into a subsidiary’s network and had free access to its email system. An anonymous hacking group claimed responsibility for the attack on Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, demanding Tehran release political prisoners arrested in the recent nationwide protests. The group said it leaked 50 gigabytes of internal emails, contracts and construction plans related to Iran’s Russian-backed nuclear power plant in Bushehr. It was unclear whether the breached system contained classified material.The hack comes as Iran continues to face nationwide unrest first sparked by the Sept. 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman in police custody for allegedly not adhering to the country’s strict Islamic dress code. On Sunday, Iran’s leading teachers’ association reported that sit-ins canceled classes at multiple schools across the country in protest over the government’s crackdown on student protesters. The protests first focused on Iran’s state-mandated hijab, or headscarf, for women but transformed into one of the most serious challenges to the country’s ruling clerics. Protesters have clashed with police and even called for the downfall of the Islamic Republic itself. Security forces have fired live ammunition and tear gas to disperse demonstrations, killing over 200 people, according to estimates by rights groups. Iran’s civil nuclear arm said hackers breached the email system used by a company operating the country’s sole nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr. The agency blamed a “foreign country” for the attack, without elaborating. Iran has previously accused the United States and Israel for cyberattacks that have impaired the country’s infrastructure. “These illegal efforts are done out of desperation is for attracting public attention,” the organization said. An anonymous hacking group, calling itself “Black Reward,” published what appeared to be images of contracts, plans and equipment at the Bushehr plant, which went online over a decade ago with help from Russia. “Unlike Westerners, we do not flirt with criminal mullahs,” the group wrote, announcing the hack on its Telegram channel. Meanwhile The Coordination Council for Teachers Union, Iran’s leading teachers’ association that has been vocal in the protests, reported that schools, largely in Iran’s Kurdish provinces, heeded its call to boycott classes Sunday in protest over the deaths and detentions of students in the past month of unrest. There was no immediate acknowledgement of the strikes from authorities. The union shared photos of teachers holding up protest signs saying “Woman, Life, Freedom” instead of teaching at schools in the Kurdish cities of Sanandaj, Marivan, Kermanshah and Saqez, as well as in the West Azerbaijan and mountainous Hamadan provinces. “Schools have become barracks and tear gas is thrown in the faces of elementary school students,” one teacher wrote in a letter shared by the union. “History will record the names of this brave generation.” Campuses have long been a flash point for unrest in Iran, including during the 1953 student protests under the Western-backed shah and during the 1999 pro-democracy demonstrations under former reformist President Mohammad Khatami. At the prestigious Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, the scene of an hours-long siege by security forces earlier this month that ended with dozens of students arrested, protests erupted as students tore down the barrier dividing men from women in the campus cafeteria, a students’ association said.
“Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” the massive crowd of students shouted at the top of their lungs, pumping their fists in the air.

In Israel, Albanian PM to meet cyber chief after Iran hack
AP/October 23, 2022
JERUSALEM: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama arrived in Israel on Sunday for an official visit that will include a meeting with Israeli cyber defense officials, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said. Rama’s three-day visit came a month after Albania severed diplomatic ties with Iran over a July cyberattack that targeted Albanian governmental websites and services. After Albania cut ties, a second cyberattack from the same Iranian source hit an information system that records Albanian border entries and exits, causing delays for travelers. Israel and Iran are archrivals and have waged a more than decade-long shadow war across the region and in cyberspace. The Foreign Ministry said that Rama would meet with the head of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, the country’s main cybersecurity body. It provided no additional details. The ministry said Rama would also meet with caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, the country’s figurehead President Isaac Herzog and other officials.

Palestinian militant killed in explosion in Nablus
AFP/October 23, 2022
NABLUS, Palestine: A Palestinian militant was killed Sunday in an explosion in the occupied West Bank, police said, with Israel staying silent on allegations from fighters that it was behind his assassination. Tamer Al-Kilani was killed overnight in the Old City of Nablus in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said. A Palestinian police inspector told AFP that Kilani was killed in an explosion in Nablus, where the Lions’ Den militant group has emerged in recent months. The group described Kilani as one of its “fiercest fighters” and blamed Israel for his death overnight.
“The treacherous occupation (Israel) put a sticky TNT device as the way to assassinate” Kilani, the group wrote on Telegram. Palestinians gathered on Sunday around the charred remains of a motorbike that was allegedly laden with explosives. At Nablus’s Rafidia Hospital, Kilani’s mother and sister stood over his body. The Israeli military refused to confirm its involvement in the killing when contacted by AFP. An army spokeswoman said Kilani was involved in attacks targeting Israelis and had previously been jailed by Israel. The Fatah movement described the killing as a “cowardly assassination” in a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. Dozens of Palestinian militants and civilians have been killed this year amid an uptick in Israeli military raids, most targeting the northern West Bank. The army spokeswoman said Israeli forces “will continue to operate at all times and in all places from which terror attacks against Israelis emanate.”Nineteen Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers have been killed so far this month, according to an AFP toll.

Israeli court clears way for Lebanon maritime border deal
AFP/October 23, 2022
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday paved the way for the signing of a maritime border deal with Lebanon, after it rejected appeals that the pact requires parliamentary approval. The signing is expected later this week. Israel and Lebanon, who are technically at war, agreed to terms earlier this month on a US-brokered deal to demarcate their disputed maritime border, a step likely to unlock production at Mediterranean gas fields. Four right-wing Israeli groups mounted legal challenges against the deal, claiming that centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid was giving away “sovereign” Israeli territory, which requires parliamentary approval. Israel holds elections on Nov. 1, and the petitions additionally argued that agreements to cede territory should not be concluded during an election period. Opponents of the deal also sought to force the government to hold a referendum on the terms. But a three-judge panel at Israel’s top court threw out all arguments against the deal in a decision Sunday, with the full arguments to be released later. The ruling means Lapid’s cabinet, which has also endorsed the terms of the agreement, can give final, binding approval.Israeli and Lebanese reports say the signing will happen this week, with officials from the two countries inking the deal in separate locations. It will go into force as soon as the United States sends notice confirming it has received from Lebanon and Israel their separate approvals. The two nations will then deposit maritime border coordinates with the United Nations. Under the deal, Israel has full rights over the Karish gas field, which is expected to start gas production within weeks. Lebanon will have full rights to operate and explore the so-called Qana or Sidon reservoir, parts of which fall in Israel’s territorial waters, with the Jewish state receiving some revenues. Right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who could return as premier following Israel’s vote, has warned he will not be bound by the terms of a deal with Lebanon.

'We are and should be worried' of Putin's nuclear threat, Ukrainian general says: Exclusive
IAN PANNELL and TEDDY GRANT/ABC News/Sun, October 23, 2022
The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces General Oleksandr Syrskiy, in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Chief Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell, said the world should be worried about Russian President Vladimir Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons. Late last month, Putin issued a thinly veiled threat that Russia would resort to using nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine following a series of setbacks for Moscow on the battlefield. "We are and should be worried," Syrskiy told ABC News. You can watch more of Ian Pannell's full interview with General Oleksandr Syrskiy on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday.The Ukrainian general is confident that his country is winning the fight against Russia, despite the challenges of war. "Of course, I think we are winning. Because first and foremost, we are winning the psychological battle," Syrskiy said. "We have success on the battleground, but the war is difficult." Syrskiy, the commander of the Army of the Armed Forced of Ukraine, won the battle of Kyiv in the spring and the battle of Kharkiv in September. The successful surprise counteroffensive rapidly liberated thousands of square miles of occupied territory, forcing the Russians back towards their border. Last month, Putin accused Ukraine of terrorism after an explosion destroyed parts of a bridge connecting occupied Crimea to Russia, a vital supply route for Russian forces. "There hasn't been any wars at that scale in Europe, or elsewhere in the world, since the Second World War. And we understand that this war is about the survival of our people and our state and this is why we have no other option but to win," Syrskiy said. 'We are and should be worried' of Putin's nuclear threat, Ukrainian general says: Exclusive originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Russian Defense: Destruction of a large warehouse of aviation fuel in central Ukraine
NNA/October 23, 2022
Russian Defense Ministry announced today that its forces destroyed a warehouse containing more than 100,000 tons of aviation fuel, in the Cherkassy region of central Ukraine, according to the "Russian Space Agency

France's Macron says there is chance for peace in Ukraine
ROME (Reuters)/October 23, 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he believed there was a chance for peace in Ukraine, even as Russia warned the conflict there could escalate. "There is the prospect for peace, it will come around at some moment," said Macron at a conference in Rome aimed at seeking ways to promote world peace. "And at a particular moment, given how things are evolving, and when the Ukrainian people and its leaders will have decided on the terms of this, a peace deal can be built up with the other side," added Macron. France has repeatedly stressed the importance of keeping Western diplomatic channels to Moscow open since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Russia fired missiles and drones into Ukrainian-held Mykolaiv on Sunday, and Moscow said the conflict was trending towards "uncontrolled escalation". Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the Ukraine situation in separate phone conversations on Sunday with France's Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu as well as with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the defence ministers of Britain and Turkey. Without providing evidence, Shoigu said Ukraine could escalate with a "dirty bomb" - conventional explosives laced with radioactive material. Ukraine does not possess nuclear weapons, while Russia has said it could protect Russian territory with its nuclear arsenal.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella, Sudip Kar-Gupta and Sophie Louet; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Bahrain’s King receives UAE foreign minister in Manama
Arab News/October 23, 2022
DUBAI: Bahrain’s King Hamad Al-Khalifa received UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan during his official visit to Manama, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Saturday. The UAE top diplomat conveyed to King Hamad the greetings of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, according to WAM. Bahrain’s King Hamad said the deep-rooted, historical ties between his country and the UAE are based on strong pillars of fraternity, common visions, understanding and close coordination. The King lauded the fruitful results of the meetings of the joint higher committee on strengthening collaboration between the two nations in various fields, WAM reported. King Hamad also praised the UAE’s pivotal, active role at the regional and international levels. For his part, Sheikh Abdullah praised the deep bilateral relations between the UAE and the Kingdom of Bahrain, according to WAM. “The UAE-Bahrain relations are deeply rooted, and the two countries' leadership are determined to move forward towards strengthening these ties and growing their cooperation in all fields,” Sheikh Abdullah said. He praised the development drive witnessed by the Kingdom of Bahrain under the leadership of King Hamad, wishing the people of Bahrain further progress and prosperity, the WAM statement added. Sheikh Abdullah arrived at the Bahrain International Airport on Saturday, where he was welcomed by Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Sheikh Sultan bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE ambassador to the Kingdom, along with a number of officials.

Saudi crown prince to skip Arab Summit on doctor advice
Associated Press/October 23, 2022
Saudi Arabia's powerful 37-year-old crown prince will not attend an upcoming summit in Algeria after his doctors advised him not to travel, the Algerian presidency said early Sunday. Saudi Arabia offered no immediate acknowledgment of the comments by Algeria about the condition of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has quickly risen to power under his 86-year-old father King Salman. Much of the focus on the Al Saud royal family in recent years has been on King Salman's health, with analysts suggesting Prince Mohammed could rule the OPEC-leading nation for decades after ascending to the throne. The kingdom's government did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press about the prince, whose health hasn't previously prevented him from traveling. Statements carried in Arabic and French on the Algeria Press Service referred to a statement from the office of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune about a telephone call between him and Prince Mohammed. In the call, Prince Mohammed "apologized for not being able to participate in the Arab Summit to be held on Nov. 1 in Algiers, in accordance with the recommendations of doctors who advise him not to travel," the statement read. "For his part, Mr. President said he understood the situation and regretted the impediment of the Crown Prince, His Highness the Emir Mohammed Bin Salman, expressing his wishes for his health and well-being."A statement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency acknowledged a call between Tebboune and the prince, but offered no word on the doctors' advice. It just said the call focused on "the aspects of bilateral relations between the two fraternal countries" and possible joint cooperation. The Arab League Summit in Algeria represents the first time the regional body has met since the coronavirus pandemic took hold across the world. The Arab League, founded in 1945, represents 22 nations across the Mideast and North Africa, though Syria has been suspended amid its long-running war. While unified in the call for the Palestinians to have an independent state, the body has otherwise been largely fractious and unable to enforce its mandates. Prince Mohammed came to power in 2015 as a deputy crown prince, then quickly became crown prince some two years later after King Salman removed Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a once-powerful figure as head of Saudi counterterrorism efforts and a close American ally. His rise to power, however, has seen the kingdom undergo rapid changes, like allowing women to drive and opening movie theaters while loosening the grip of ultraconservatives in the kingdom. However, the prince also engaged in a corruption crackdown that turned a luxury hotel in Riyadh into a prison for powerbrokers in the kingdom who could have challenged his rule. He's also led an internationally criticized Saudi military campaign in a ruinous war in Yemen that rages even today in the Arab world's poorest country. U.S. intelligence services have linked Prince Mohammed to the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of his rule. The kingdom has denied the prince was involved, though its prosecution of the government squad behind Khashoggi's slaying has been held behind closed doors. Recently, the prince has come under intense American criticism over Saudi Arabia leading OPEC and allied nations to agree to an oil production cut of 2 million barrels per day. The Future Investment Initiative, the crown prince's annual summit drawing global investors to the kingdom, begins Tuesday amid that U.S. pressure. Prince Mohammed has attended sessions in previous years.

Xi secures historic third term as China's leader
Agence France Presse/October 23, 2022
Xi Jinping secured a historic third term as China's leader on Sunday and filled his inner circle with close allies, achieving after a decade in power complete dominance over the ruling Communist Party. The party's Central Committee elected Xi as its general secretary for another five-year term, bringing the country back towards one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among its elite. "I wish to thank the whole party sincerely for the trust you have placed in us," Xi told journalists at Beijing's Great Hall of the People after the closed-door, rubber-stamp vote was announced. Xi, 69, was also reappointed head of China's Central Military Commission, keeping him in charge of the People's Liberation Army. He is now all but certain to sail through to a third term as the country's president, due to be formally announced during the government's annual legislative sessions in March. Sunday's developments cement him as the most powerful leader since Communist Party founder Mao Zedong. In a wide-ranging acceptance speech on Sunday, Xi made signature remarks celebrating China's rise as a global power and its success under his rule. "The world needs China," Xi said. "After more than 40 years of unflagging efforts towards reform and opening up, we have created two miracles -- rapid economic development and long-term social stability."Six of Xi's proteges and allies were also unveiled on Sunday alongside him as members of the Politburo Standing Committee -- the party's apex of power that rules the country. Li Qiang -- a former chief of staff for Xi who oversaw a grueling two-month Covid lockdown in Shanghai this year -- was named as number two in the Standing Committee. This means he is likely to take over as premier from Li Keqiang, a former Xi rival who will retire next year.  Close aide Ding Xuexiang and Guangdong party chief Li Xi, a longtime confidante of the president, were among other allies named in the Standing Committee. "The new Politburo Standing Committee confirms decisively that Xi has consolidated power at the top of the Communist Party to an extent unseen since the Mao era," said Neil Thomas, a senior China analyst at Eurasia Group. "Xi has installed allies onto all seven seats of the Communist Party's top decision-making body, allowing him to dominate the political system for the foreseeable future."Alfred Wu Muluan, a Chinese politics expert at the National University of Singapore, said: "It is all Xi's people, signaling he wants to rule even beyond a third term." Xi abolished the presidential two-term limit in 2018, paving the way for him to govern indefinitely. Xi was swiftly congratulated on Sunday by some of China's allies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The United States offered no immediate response.
No women
Sunday's announcements came after a week-long Congress of 2,300 hand-picked party delegates during which they endorsed Xi's "core position" in the leadership and approved a sweeping reshuffle that saw Li and other former Xi rivals relegated.
On Saturday the delegates elected the Central Committee of around 200 senior party officials, who on Sunday chose the 24-person Politburo and the Standing Committee. The Politburo will have no women members for the first time in 25 years. Analysts had closely watched for whether the party charter would be amended during the Congress to enshrine "Xi Jinping Thought" as a guiding philosophy, a move that would put Xi on a par with Mao. That did not take place, though a resolution did call the creed "the Marxism of contemporary China and of the 21st Century", adding that it "embodies the best Chinese culture and ethos of this era".
Hu led away
In the most dramatic moment of the Congress, Hu Jintao -- Xi's predecessor as party leader and president -- was forcibly led out of Saturday's closing ceremony. The frail-looking 79-year-old was reluctant to leave the front row, where he was sitting next to Xi. State media reported that Hu had been removed because he was feeling unwell, and that he had since recovered. But the extraordinary events, with Xi seemingly unfazed as Hu was lifted from his chair and escorted out, fueled frenzied speculation among observers and analysts as to whether there were political factors at play. Xi has promoted a narrative in his first decade of power that he has rectified huge problems that beset China and the Communist Party during the reigns of Hu and his predecessors. These include graft within the party and unequal distribution of wealth. Adding to the intrigue, China's censors scrubbed references to Hu from the internet after he was removed from the Congress.  One of Hu's proteges, Hu Chunhua, had been tipped by some to be named to the Standing Committee on Sunday. But Xi sidelined him.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 23-24.2022
ريموند إبراهيم من معهد كايتستون: تقرير يبين بالإثباتات أن دول الغرب تتعامى وتغض الطرف عن مآسي اضطهاد المسيحيين في العالم، وفي نفس الوقت تحتضن وتساعد المتطرفين والجهاديين الإسلاميين
The West Turns Back on Persecuted Christians, Embraces Radical Muslims
Raymond Ibrahim/ Gatestone Institute/October 23/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/112931/112931/
Although the U.S. government had acknowledged that ISIS was committing genocide against Christians in Syria due solely to their religious identity, it took in only those who by definition were not in any way being targeted by ISIS — Sunni Muslims, with whom ISIS, a Sunni organization, identifies and does not attack.
“You have this absurd situation where the scheme is set up to help Syrian refugees and the people most in need, Christians who have been ‘genocided,’ they can’t even get into the U.N. camps to get the food. If you enter and say I am a Christian or convert, the Muslim U.N. guards will block you [from] getting in and laugh at you and mock you and even threaten you…. [saying] ‘You shouldn’t have converted. You’re an idiot for converting. You get what you get,’ words to that effect.” — Paul Diamond, British human rights lawyer, CBN News, December 4, 2019.
[The UK Home Office] ridiculed an Iranian female asylum seeker in her rejection letter by writing, “You affirmed in your AIR [Asylum Interview Record] that Jesus is your saviour, but then claimed that he would not be able to save you from the Iranian regime. It is therefore considered that you have no conviction in your faith and your belief in Jesus is half-hearted.”
She later said… her Home Office interviewer, “was either chuckling or maybe just kind of mocking when he was talking to me…. [H]e asked me why Jesus didn’t help you from the Iranian regime or Iranian authorities.”
Meanwhile, as the few Christians who seek asylum are highly scrutinized and presented with obstacles, millions of Muslim asylum seekers are taken into the West without any difficulties, and most without even being vetted.
Once Pakistanis in Britain learned that the UK was going to offer asylum to Asia Bibi, they rioted en masse. As a result, then-Prime Minister Theresa May personally blocked Bibi’s asylum application, “despite UK playing host to [Muslim] hijackers, extremists and rapists,” to quote from one headline.
Meanwhile, as usual, the Home Office allowed a Pakistani cleric who celebrated the slaughter of a politician because he had defended Bibi — a cleric deemed so extreme as to be banned from his native Pakistan — to enter and lecture in British mosques.
“It’s unbelievable that these persecuted Christians who come from the cradle of Christianity are being told there is no room at the inn, when the UK is offering a welcome to Islamists who persecute Christians.” — Dr. Martin Parsons, human rights activist, The Express, December 4, 2016.
As the few Christians who seek asylum are highly scrutinized and presented with obstacles, millions of Muslim asylum seekers are taken into the West without any difficulties, and most without even being vetted. The UK’s Home Office not only denied entry to three Christian leaders — archbishops celebrated for their heroic efforts at aiding persecuted Christians in Syria and Iraq who had been invited to attend the consecration of the UK’s first Syriac Cathedral, an event attended by then-Prince Charles — but also mockingly told them there was “no room at the inn.
Western authorities appear committed to discriminating against Christian asylum seekers, while welcoming Muslims ones.
Most recently, Germany — which has taken in millions of refugees from the Muslim world, including many, non-vetted, from Afghanistan — denied refuge to an Iranian convert to Christianity, known by the initials “H.H.,” whose brother-in-law had been imprisoned, tortured and killed after converting in their native Iran. According to a report from August 2:
“When H.H.’s asylum application was rejected by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, he appealed to the Administrative Court of Greifswald. But the court dismissed H.H.’s claim, declaring that it was “not particularly likely” that a Muslim would decide to become a Christian after his brother-in-law had been tortured and killed and his wife abused. It is more likely ‘to assume that the events described, if they actually took place, have a deterrent effect on third parties,’ according to the administrative court…
“Recently, the European Court of Human Rights refused to hear Hassan. Now he faces deportation to a country where conversions can be punished with imprisonment.”
Discussing H.H.’s case, a legal officer at ADF International (Alliance Defending Freedom), Lidia Rieder, said:
“Iran is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for Christians, and converts are particularly at risk. In the last year, religious persecution has greatly worsened. So-called ‘religious deviants’ can be given prison sentences, national security charges are continuously used to target religious minorities. The courts in Germany must take this into account when processing asylum applications.”
Germany and the European Court of Human Rights are hardly the only ones to deny refuge to, or discriminate against, persecuted Christians. Over the years, many other Western entities have engaged in similar behavior.
Under the presidency of Barack Obama, particularly during the refugee crisis precipitated by the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS), the White House and State Department were accused of all sorts of discriminatory measures against Christians — to the point that a federal appellate court filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security in late 2016. In it, Judge Daniel Manion expressed his “concern about the apparent lack of Syrian Christians as a part of immigrants from that country”:
“Perhaps 10 percent of the population of Syria is Christian, and yet less than one-half of one percent of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States this year are Christian…. To date, there has not been a good explanation for this perplexing discrepancy.”
The discrepancy in numbers was even more perplexing: Although the U.S. government had acknowledged that ISIS was committing genocide against Christians in Syria due solely to their religious identity, it took in only those who by definition were not in any way being targeted by ISIS — Sunni Muslims, with whom ISIS, a Sunni organization, identifies and does not attack. Despite the fact that Sunnis were about 75% of Syria’s population, and Christians about 10%, a full 99 % of those brought into America were Sunni Muslims, and less than 0.5 percent were Christian.
As CNS news noted in 2016: “Record 499 Syrian Refugees Admitted to US So Far in May Includes No Christians.” In other words, even if one were to operate under the assumption that refugee status should have been made available to all Syrians, regardless of religion, there should have been 20 times more Christians and about one-quarter fewer Sunnis granted refugee status under Obama.
A virtually identical situation prevailed in the United Kingdom. In 2019, The Times stated that the UK “fails to give safe haven to Christians,” and “appears to discriminate in favour of Muslims” instead of Christians.
Once again, statistics confirm that allegation: “out of 4,850 Syrian refugees accepted for resettlement by the Home Office in 2017, only eleven were Christian, representing just 0.2% of all Syrian refugees accepted by the UK.”
At the time, Lord David Alton of Liverpool, a Life Peer in the House of Lords, wrote to Sajid Javid, the Muslim man who then headed the UK Home Office:
“It is widely accepted that Christians, who constituted around 10 per cent of Syria’s pre-war population, were specifically targeted by jihadi rebels and continue to be at risk…. As last year’s statistics more than amply demonstrate, this [ratio imbalance between Muslim and Christian refugees taken in] is not a statistical blip. It shows a pattern of discrimination that the Government has a legal duty to take concrete steps to address.”
As in the U.S., the discrimination became so flagrant that Lord George Carey sued the Home Office for being “institutionally biased” against Christian refugees and therefore complicit in what he called “the steady crucifixion of Middle East Christians.”
The discrimination facing persecuted Christian minorities begins well before they reach Western nations. As CBN News reported in 2019:
“Christian Syrian refugees… have been blocked from getting help from the United Nations Refugee Agency, the UNHCR, by Muslim UN officials in Jordan. One of the refugees, Hasan, a Syrian convert to Christianity, told us in a phone call that Muslim UN camp officials ‘knew that we were Muslims and became Christians and they dealt with us with persecution and mockery. They didn’t let us into the office. They ignored our request.’ Hasan and his family are now in hiding, afraid that they will be arrested by Jordanian police, or even killed. Converting to Christianity is a serious crime in Jordan.”
According to Timothy, a Jordanian Muslim who converted to Christianity, “All of the United Nations officials [apparently in Jordan], most of them, 99 percent, they are Muslims, and they were treating us as enemies.”
Paul Diamond, a British human rights lawyer, elaborated:
“You have this absurd situation where the scheme is set up to help Syrian refugees and the people most in need, Christians who have been ‘genocided,’ they can’t even get into the U.N. camps to get the food. If you enter and say I am a Christian or convert, the Muslim U.N. guards will block you [from] getting in and laugh at you and mock you and even threaten you…. [saying] ‘You shouldn’t have converted. You’re an idiot for converting. You get what you get,’ words to that effect.”
This same mockery often greets those Christians who do reach Western nations. The UK Home Office alone offers multiple examples. In one instance, it ridiculed an Iranian female asylum seeker in her rejection letter by writing, “You affirmed in your AIR [Asylum Interview Record] that Jesus is your saviour, but then claimed that he would not be able to save you from the Iranian regime. It is therefore considered that you have no conviction in your faith and your belief in Jesus is half-hearted.”
She later said that whenever she responded to her Home Office interviewer, “he was either chuckling or maybe just kind of mocking when he was talking to me…. [H]e asked me why Jesus didn’t help you from the Iranian regime or Iranian authorities.”
“In my country,” she added, “if someone converts to Christianity their punishment is death or execution.”
Similarly, in his rejection letter from the Home Office, another Muslim convert to Christianity was told that several biblical passages were “inconsistent” with his claim to have converted to Christianity because he had discovered it was a “peaceful” faith. The letter went so far as to cite biblical passages—including from Exodus, Leviticus, Matthew, and Revelation—to argue that the Bible is violent, before concluding:
“These examples are inconsistent with your claim that you converted to Christianity after discovering it is a ‘peaceful’ religion, as opposed to Islam which contains violence, rage and revenge.”
The UK’s Home Office not only denied entry to three Christian leaders — archbishops celebrated for their heroic efforts at aiding persecuted Christians in Syria and Iraq who had been invited to attend the consecration of the UK’s first Syriac Cathedral, an event attended by then-Prince Charles — but also mockingly told them there was “no room at the inn.”
Even in the most recent case of H.H. — the Iranian denied asylum in Germany— a hint of ridicule was evident in the authorities’ conclusion: he must have been lying, they reasoned, since apparently no sane person would convert to Christianity or remain Christian after seeing a relative murdered for converting.
Meanwhile, as the few Christians who seek asylum are highly scrutinized and presented with obstacles, millions of Muslim asylum seekers are taken into the West without any difficulties, and most without even being vetted (here and here).
This same Germany that denied H.H. entry and sent him back to Iran to possible torture and death, in 2015 took in over a million Muslim migrants and, in 2021, after H.H. had applied, ten thousand non-vetted Afghans — even though Afghanistan is arguably the most hostile nation to Christians.
Again, these are all people who, by definition, could not have experienced religious persecution back home as they themselves are Muslim — not to mention that many of them share the Taliban’s penchant for violence and extremism.
Currently, under the Biden administration — which has further been accused of deliberately preventing Christian minorities from escaping Afghanistan — over 74,000 non-vetted Afghans were granted asylum into America in 2022, and many of these seem also to have brought with them the behavior they were reportedly escaping.
As for the UK’s Home Office, Ahmed Hassan, despite having no papers on him — and despite telling the Home Office that “he had been trained as an ISIS soldier” — was still granted asylum two years before he launched a terrorist attack on a London train station that left 30 injured in September 2017. The Home Office also allowed a foreign Muslim cleric to enter and lecture in London, even though he advocated decapitating, burning and throwing homosexuals off cliffs. According to another report:
“British teenagers are being forced to marry abroad and are raped and impregnated while the Home Office ‘turns a blind eye’ by handing visas to their [mostly Muslim] husbands.”
The case of Asia Bibi—a Christian wife and mother of five who spent a decade of her life on death row in Pakistan for challenging the authority of Muhammad — perhaps best sheds light on the immigration situation in the UK. Although she was finally acquitted in November 2018, once Pakistanis in Britain learned that the UK was going to offer asylum to Bibi, they rioted en masse.
As a result, then-Prime Minister Theresa May personally blocked Bibi’s asylum application, “despite UK playing host to [Muslim] hijackers, extremists and rapists,” to quote from one headline. In other words, the UK was openly allowing “asylum policy to be dictated to by a Pakistan mob,” reported the Guardian, “after it was confirmed it urged the Home Office not to grant Asia Bibi political asylum in the UK…”
Meanwhile, as usual, the Home Office allowed a Pakistani cleric who celebrated the slaughter of a politician because he had defended Bibi — a cleric deemed so extreme as to be banned from his native Pakistan — to enter and lecture in British mosques.
Discussing how “visas were granted [by the Home Office] in July [2016] to two Pakistani Islamic leaders who have called for the killing of Christians accused of blasphemy,” a human rights activist, Dr. Martin Parsons, expressed his frustration:
“It’s unbelievable that these persecuted Christians who come from the cradle of Christianity are being told there is no room at the inn, when the UK is offering a welcome to Islamists who persecute Christians.”
When it comes to who is being granted asylum in the West, persecuted Christians need not apply, while extremist Muslims are welcomed with open arms.
Raymond Ibrahim, author of the new book, Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19010/persecuted-christians-radical-muslims
” Pictured: St Thomas, Britain’s first Syriac Orthodox Cathedral. (Image source: John Salmon/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Biden’s Security Strategy shows foreign policy as a distraction
Luke Coffey/Arab News/October 23/2022
Last week the Biden administration finally released its long-awaited National Security Strategy. It took the White House 21 months — nearly half of President Joe Biden’s first term in office — to publish the document. In this dangerous world, it beggars belief that the administration was able to publish a “National Gender Strategy” in half the time.
The security strategy runs to 47 pages but only four of them are devoted to Russia or China. Only one page is devoted to the role of the US military in dealing with these threats. Much of the document is dedicated the political causes of the American left, such as climate change and “social justice” issues.
Even less attention is given to the Middle East. Out of the 23,000 words in the document only 870 are devoted to the region — less than 4 percent of the total.
To be fair, this lack of focus on the Middle East in the strategy follows a similar situation over the summer with NATO. There was barely any attention of the Middle East in the alliance’s new Strategic Concept, which was published in June. In fact, in a document that is just over 4,200 words long, only one paragraph of about 80 words was devoted to the region.
Furthermore, NATO’s two main platforms on which it engages with the Middle East and North Africa region, the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, were not mentioned at all.
It is almost as if there is a collective case of geopolitical denial of the importance of the Middle East when it comes to the stability and security of the trans-Atlantic community.
The title of the Middle East section in the US National Security Strategy is “Support De-escalation and Integration in the Middle East.” It talks about “building partnerships, coalitions and alliances” in the region, deepening “Israel’s growing ties to its neighbors” and “fostering greater economic integration.” However, there have been no policies pursued, and there are no forthcoming initiatives, that address any of these issues in any meaningful sense.
One of the best ways to promote peace and prosperity in the region is to find ways to expand diplomatic relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Not only will this help bring new economic opportunities to the region but it will also help unify the Middle East against the ever looming Iranian threat.
Here, the White House has come up short. The 2020 Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors, was perhaps the greatest achievement of the Trump administration. Biden’s National Security Strategy barely gives them lip service and there has been no meaningful effort to expand the accords by the president’s team. In fact, it took several months in the White House before Biden administration officials would even acknowledge the success of the Abraham Accords.
When Biden finally visited the Middle East last summer, after waiting 18 months before doing so, there was no genuine push to promote the accords.
Regarding the strategy’s call to “foster greater economic integration” in the Middle East, the Biden administration has done nothing. The president has not promoted any semblance of a free-trade agenda, whether for the Middle East or any other region of the world. In fact, Biden has decided to keep the pointless steel and aluminum tariffs on Gulf countries that were put in place by the Trump administration.
Over the years, countries such as Bahrain, Oman and Qatar have done much to diversify their economies and the steel and aluminum sectors have played a key role. Not only are these tariffs bad for the American consumer, they also needlessly complicate America’s bilateral relationships in the region.
To truly “foster greater economic integration” in the Middle East, the US must pursue a pragmatic, region-wide trade agenda that will remove barriers to flows of goods and services.
Over the past few decades, the US has established a network of trade pacts in the region through bilateral free-trade agreements with Israel, Bahrain, Oman and Jordan. In addition to making strategic efforts to better utilize these existing deals, Washington should consider pursuing additional trade agreements that can not only lower the costs of imported goods for consumers in the region, but also expand exports to the US market.
Considering the National Security Strategy was published so far into the president’s term, it is unlikely to serve as a practical road map for US foreign policy. It is simply too late for that.
The Biden administration has shown an unwillingness to pursue a proactive foreign policy. This was evident in the debacle in Afghanistan last year and the dithering over providing Ukraine with all the weapons it needs.
The main focus of the Biden administration is on pushing an increasingly controversial domestic agenda at home. Foreign policy is considered a distraction. The National Security Strategy is yet another example of this.
Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Twitter: @LukeDCoffey

Israeli ban on donkey import stops the wheel of Gaza cart economy
Hazem Balousha/Arab News/October 23/ 2022
GAZA CITY: Cattle carts arriving at the vegetable market in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza and vendors and shoppers flocking to them have been a regular feature for years in the strip besieged by Israel. But this might become a thing of the past as Israel has been preventing donkeys from entering the Gaza Strip since December last year, according to donkey dealers in Gaza.
Hani Al-Nadi, 40, a donkey dealer, said that Israel prevented him and other traders from importing the animals into Gaza.
“In December, I was informed by the Israeli authorities at the Erez Crossing that I am not allowed to obtain an import permit for donkeys,” Al-Nadi told Arab News.
He said an Israeli nongovernmental organization claimed that donkeys are tortured in Gaza and that after they are imported from Israel, they are slaughtered and their skins are sold to China via Egypt.
Ofer Stritch, from Starting Over, a nonprofit Israeli animal sanctuary, said: “We learned from multiple sources in Gaza that many donkeys arriving in the strip via Israel are sent to Egypt where they are slaughtered and their skins sold to China.
“We realized that there is a sudden increase in the number of donkeys that are transported from Israel to Egypt via Gaza.”
Al-Nadi rejected the allegations and said: “We cannot export anything through Egypt, and donkeys are not slaughtered in Gaza. I do not know the reason for this claim.”
According to Al-Nadi, Israel is the only source for importing donkeys, which are used for cheap transportation in light of the high fuel prices, into the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians use donkeys to pull carts through which farm produce is transported to markets or sold by street vendors.
Mahmoud Al-Ra’i, 33, said: “For 15 years I have been using a donkey cart to sell vegetables in Gaza streets. This is the second donkey that I have bought since the beginning of my work in this field.”Al-Ra’i wanted to replace his donkey a month ago, but he dropped the idea when he learned about the high prices of donkeys as a result of the Israeli ban on the import of the animals.
The average price of a donkey in the Gaza Strip was about $200, but it has risen to about $800 now. Gaza’s businesses use traditional means of transportation including trucks and tuk-tuks, but the high fuel price of $2 per liter has prompted some drivers to use donkeys and horses. Rami Al-Shandaghli, 47, said: “Fuel prices are high in Gaza, and the profit rate is low due to the bad economic situation. Donkeys are the best way, and the cost of feeding and caring for them is very low. “The cost of a donkey’s food per day does not exceed 5 shekels ($1.5), and wounds can be healed by a swim in the sea, and the average lifespan of a donkey is 20 years,” Al-Shandaghli said. Israel controls most of the Gaza Strip’s imports as they enter through its Kerem Shalom crossing.
Egypt allows some goods to enter the Gaza Strip through the Salah El-Din crossing. According to Al-Nadi, the Gaza Strip used to import between 500-600 donkeys annually, but since the beginning of the year, no new donkey has entered Gaza.
“Currently, I do not have a job in the field of donkeys. Until the issue is resolved, I will be helping my father raise cows. Israel has suspended my entry permit as well,” he said.

Iran Strikes NATO
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October, 23/2022
I prefer to be candid in my political commentary, to call a spade a spade. When it comes to Iran’s destructive actions in the region and across the world, we have to call it how it is. For this reason, I have to say that Iranian interference in the Ukraine war by supplying Russia with drones is an Iranian attack on NATO countries.Yes, just as it has targeted and is targeting our region, Iran is now targeting Europe. Iranian drones were used to attack oil processing facilities at Abqaiq in 2019, and these are the same drones that the Houthis have deployed against Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The Popular Mobilization Forces and Asaib Ahl al-Haq use these same drones in Iraq, and Hezbollah uses them to strike Israel. These drones are not new, but Europe and the United States have only recently woken up to them because Iranian drones are now hitting NATO countries.
Thus, it is the silence of the US and Europe, especially the endless mistakes that Americans keep making in the way they deal with Iran, has emboldened Iran to attack European countries, NATO in particular. In discussing the United States' silence and leniency, reflecting on two examples suffices.
The first is former US president Barack Obama admitting, in an effort to help the Democrats in the Midterms, that he had made a mistake when he did not support the “Green Revolution” in 2009. Obama’s mistakes are too many to count in the first place.
The second example involves Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who, as rhetoric about Saudi-US relations demonstrates, has no idea how foreign policy works. On August 12 2021, he made statements from Lebanon that he surely does not remember now.
At the time, Senator Murphy said: “Washington should deprioritize its hostility toward Iran”, decrease its overall “militaristic footprint” in the Middle East and urge Saudi Arabia to “come to terms” with Hezbollah. Alright, today Washington is saying that the Russians’ alliance with Iran, which was manifested in the use of the latter drones in Ukraine and the country sending its experts to Ukraine, threatens the international community. We don’t know how we can confront this alliance without good and positive relations with Saudi Arabia and thus, the countries of the region.
And so, the fact that Iranian drones are now targeting NATO countries in Ukraine is not the result of fleeting contingencies. Rather, it is genuine aggression, and it demonstrates that remaining silent about Iran’s crimes, in both the region and Europe, has become a real and unprecedented threat. Iran does not just repress its citizens. It also targets the countries of the region, and it has destroyed four Arab capitals so far. Its drones now target a European capital, Kyiv, and Iran is doing so to target all NATO countries.
This matter does not require targeted sanctions on entities and individuals in Iran. Instead, it demands a comprehensive plan for how to address the dangers posed by Iran, which now threatens Europe with patent political blackmail.
Tough sanctions must be reimposed on Iran, and a plan B for how to deal with it must be developed, even if it is a military option. We also need to speed up the building of an integrated defense system for the region that covers all its moderate and stable countries and Israel.
Direct actions to target the Iranian militias in the region from Syria to Yemen and from Lebanon to Iraq must also be undertaken. Targeting does not necessarily imply military action, it could take the form of support for the forces opposed to those militias. More importantly than either this or that is the need to support the peaceful people of Iran facing the regime’s vicious killing machines.

Between Nuclear Power and Hydrogen
Najib Saab/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/October, 23/2022
The quest to meet national commitments to reduce carbon emissions, and the instability facing energy markets, have brought the option of nuclear energy back in circulation, as it is carbon-free and can produce uninterrupted electricity. But most environmental groups are opposed to nuclear plants, because of the excessive danger to nature and humans caused by potential accidents, and the obstacles hindering safe disposal of the radioactive waste.
Some extreme devotees of nuclear energy promote it as a cure-all for energy and climate problems, while downplaying its potential risks. On the other hand, some embellished environmentalists categorically reject it, while exaggerating its risks and minimizing the limitations of other alternatives, calling instead for total dependence on renewable energy. In fact, the standpoint of both parties is characterized by ideological stiffness. I recall that when the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) included nuclear energy as one of the potential components of the energy mix, in its report on Sustainable Energy in 2013, many considered this a betrayal of the environmental cause. It was not easy to convince them that addressing complex environmental and climate challenges requires taking all possible alternatives into account, based on scientific and economic grounds, without exclusions.
There is complete agreement that a significant and rapid reduction in carbon emissions must be achieved before 2050, on the way to zero emissions target. This is what science has recognized as a prerequisite for stopping the rise in temperature at a limit that does not cause a complete collapse of life on earth. The goal can only be achieved through well-known measures, each carrying benefits and limitations. Since burning fossil fuels is the main source of carbon emissions, producing countries, led by Saudi Arabia, are working on developing carbon technologies that eliminate emissions without abandoning oil.
Reducing emissions begins with enhancing energy efficiency and putting an end to waste, either directly in electricity, transportation and factories, or by rationalizing consumption patterns in general, because the manufacture of all products requires energy. The second track to reducing emissions is to expand the use of renewable and clean sources of energy, such as sun and wind. Some Arab countries, especially Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Morocco and Jordan, are implementing major renewable energy programs. The third track is to deal with carbon, which is released from power plants and factories running on fossil fuels, by capturing and storing it safely. Saudi Arabia is currently leading a Circular Carbon Economy initiative, which is based on collecting carbon dioxide emissions to be reused in new products. Until this technology reaches the stage of industrial applications at reasonable costs, other reliable and tried methods to reduce emissions, which are still cheaper, should be pursued. It is certain that the success of "circular carbon" applications is very crucial, not only for oil-producing countries, but also for the global stability of energy supplies.
Before the energy supply disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine, the question was: If all other measures fall short of decreasing carbon emissions on time to the required level, can nuclear energy provide a quick fix, even if only temporarily? This option gained traction for fear of the repercussions on stable energy supply caused by unforeseen events, such as the war in Ukraine. Nuclear reactors technology has witnessed rapid development in recent years, which made them safer and more efficient. Also, the average period for building a nuclear power plant to produce electricity has been reduced to five years. However, the nuclear energy option encompasses specific constraints, ranging from economic factors to safety standards, in addition to the availability of the necessary scientific and human capabilities. The high initial cost requires immense financing, either from internal or external sources, which can only be available to a few countries. Additionally, nuclear reactors require scientific resources and technical crews qualified to operate and monitor, as well as contingency plans to deal with potential accidents. Planning also involves a solid plan for the disposal of the resulting radioactive nuclear waste, which should necessarily exceed the operating life of the nuclear reactor, which is estimated to be between 20-25 years.
It is only natural for Arab countries that can avail themselves of nuclear energy to take the option into consideration, as part of their energy mix, as well as reaping the benefits of advanced technology, mitigating emissions and diversifying energy sources. In this regard, I recall a conversation I had, ten years ago, with a minister from an Arab oil-producing country that was among the first to opt for nuclear energy in the region. I asked him "Why does a country which is among the world's major oil producers need the nuclear option, which might be a competitor to its oil resources?" He stunned me with his visionary answer: "We seek to develop our scientific and technological capabilities, and commit to climate action, while remaining leaders in the energy market. Nuclear technology helps us achieve this, as oil is bound to deplete, and the measures to reduce carbon emissions may force a premature halt to extraction, if practical and economical carbon capture techniques are not developed in due course."
The nuclear energy option is still valid today for the countries that can obtain it, provided that the requirements of financing, science, training and safety are met, from operation to waste and handling potential accidents. The dangers arising from radioactive pollution at all stages of operation, whose effects will extend for hundreds of years, cannot be taken lightly.
However, developments in the hydrogen sector, as a carrier and storage medium of energy, will reduce the importance of nuclear plants as a stable source of carbon-free electricity. The technology for extracting hydrogen from water by electrolysis has been around for a long time, waiting for the development of cheap methods, based on seawater and electricity produced from renewable sources, to quickly make hydrogen affordable for everyone. Thus, carbon-free hydrogen can be used directly to feed factories, vehicles, ships and planes, or to produce clean electricity at any time. Arab oil-producing countries can be leaders in production and export, as they are already rich in the essential elements for the production of clean green hydrogen, namely the sun and seawater. They can also produce hydrogen using electricity generated from their own fossil fuels, in parallel with carbon capture and storage.
Diversifying the energy mix is very important. However, hydrogen remains a safer and more secure source to keep oil-producing countries a key player in energy markets in the future. Most importantly, hydrogen does not carry with it the risks of nuclear energy.