English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 06/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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15 آذار/2023
Bible Quotations For today
Jesus Shares His Desciples The Passover
Meal: For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one
by whom he is betrayed
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
22/01-23./:”The festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was
near. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to
death, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called
Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief
priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them.
They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. So he consented and
began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was
present. Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had
to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John,
saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’They asked
him, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for it?’ ‘Listen,’ he said to
them, ‘when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet
you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, “The
teacher asks you, ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my
disciples?’ ” He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make
preparations for us there.’So they went and found everything as he had told
them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When the hour came, he took his place
at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly
desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will
not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then he took a cup, and
after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I
tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the
kingdom of God comes.’ Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given
thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is
given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And he did the same with the cup
after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant
in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the
table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that
one by whom he is betrayed!’Then they began to ask one another which one of them
it could be who would do this.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on April 05-06/2023
Thursday of the Holy Mysteries: Sacraments, Humility and Temptation/Elias
Bejjani/April 06/2023
Maronite patriarch, Christian deputies attend spiritual retreat on Lebanon’s
presidential elections
Day of 'prayer and contemplation'at Beit Anya
US and France diverge in approach to Hezbollah and Lebanese politics
The twenty million dollar Dive: The story of Lebanon's unfinished Olympic
swimming pool
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health and Private Hospitals Syndicate reach agreement on
Kidney Dialysis treatment coverage
UN expert expresses 'grave concern' regarding interference in Beirut blast probe
Lebanon: UN expert concerned by interference in Beirut blast probe
Coalition to Defend Freedom of Expression: Authorities must respect freedoms of
press, legal profession, and fundamentally amend defamation laws
Hotel reservations in Lebanon to reach 80 percent for Eid Al-Fitr: Achkar
Rahme brothers' OFAC designation highlights endemic electricity corruption:
Under Secretary Nelson
Shiite Duo 'clings to Franjieh' as Paris advises him to 'talk to FPM or LF'
Franjieh close to securing 65 votes, minister says
French judge may issue arrest warrant for Salameh
Report: Iran wants Lebanon on agenda of talks with KSA
Report: Khulaifi asks Christians to unite behind army chief nomination
Al-Rahi sends list of 15 presidential candidates to Shiite Duo, Jumblat
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 05-06/2023
Israeli strikes on Syria intensify, raise tensions with Iran
Violence at Jerusalem mosque prompts fears of wider fighting
Canadian PM urges Israel to change its approach after raid, clashes
Iran names envoy to UAE after nearly eight-year absence
Israel: Iran was behind drone incursion from Syria
Iran probes possible drone attack on defence ministry complex in Isfahan
Russia demands that Ukraine free Orthodox 'martyr' cleric from house arrest
US, Britain walk out at UN on Russian wanted for war crimes
NATO just got hundreds of tanks, 62 fighter jets, and a whole lot of artillery
after Finland joined the military alliance
Ukraine will take 'corresponding' decisions if troops risk encirclement in
Bakhmut - Zelenskiy
Saudi crown prince’s shock power grab is catastrophic for Biden
US B-52 bomber joins exercise with South Korean military
US flies nuclear-capable bombers amid tensions with N. Korea
New Chemical Attacks in Iran Hospitalize Schoolgirls
PA Security Services Officer Attacks Israeli Forces
Chemicals Attack On Iranian Students
Jordan’s King Incites Anti-Israel Sentiment
French envoy: Canada should link with Europe, surpass 'weak' military engagement
US reaches $144.5 mln settlement with Texas church shooting victims
Trump, facing criminal charges, calls for defunding the FBI
Turkey Shuts Airspace to Planes Using Iraqi Airport Over Kurdish Militant
‘Infiltration’
Titles For
The Latest
English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on April 05-06/2023
China brokering a deal between the Saudis and Iran is a message for the
US: Change your strategy or get left behind/Hassan El-Tayyab/Business
Insider/April 05/2023
France: A 'Field of Ruins'/Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/April 5, 2023
Prosecuting Political Foes Is Incompatible With Democracy/Jonathan S. Tobin/Gatestone
Institute/April 5, 2023
British travel chaos a result of ill-conceived Brexit/Mohamed Chebaro/Arab
News/April 05/2023
Canada’s immigration policy benefits all, nationally and globally/Tala Jarjour/Arab
News/April 05, 2023
Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on April 05-06/2023
Thursday of the Holy Mysteries: Sacraments, Humility
and Temptation
Elias Bejjani/April 06/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/38445/38445/
On the Thursday that comes before the “Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified,
Catholics all over the world, including our Maronite Eastern Church celebrates
with prayers and intercessions the “Thursday of the Holy Mysteries”, which is
also known as the “Washing Thursday “, the “Covenant Thursday”, and the “Great &
Holy Thursday”. It is the holy day feast that falls on the Thursday before
Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with His 12 Apostles as
described in the gospel. It is the fifth day of the last Lenten Holy Week, that
is followed by the, “Good Friday”, “Saturday Of The Light and “Easter Sunday”.
Christianity in its essence and core is Love, Sacrifice, honesty, transparency,
devotion, hard work and Humility. Jesus during the last supper with His 12
Apostles reiterated and stressed all these Godly values and principles. In this
holy and message proclaiming context He executed the following acts : He,
ordained His Apostles as priests, and asked them to proclaim God’s message. “You
have stayed with me all through my trials; 29 and just as my Father has given me
the right to rule, so I will give you the same right. 30 You will eat and drink
at my table in my Kingdom, and you will sit on thrones to rule over the twelve
tribes of Israel. (Luke 22/28 and 29)
He, taught His Apostles and every body else, that evil temptation and betrayal
can hit all those who detach and dissociate themselves from God, do not fear
Him, lack faith, lose hope and worship earthly treasures. He showed them by
example that even a disciple that He personally had picked and choose (Judas,
the Iscariot) has fell a prey to Satan’s temptation. “But, look! The one who
betrays me is here at the table with me! The Son of Man will die as God has
decided, but how terrible for that man who betrays him!” Luke 22/21)
He, washed His Apostles’ feet to teach them by example modesty, devotion and
humility. “So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and
reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for
you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I,
therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one
another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for
you, you should also do. Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his
master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13/12-16).
Modesty was stressed and explained by Jesus after His Apostles were arguing
among themselves who is the greatest: “An argument broke out among the disciples
as to which one of them should be thought of as the greatest. Jesus said to
them, “The kings of the pagans have power over their people, and the rulers
claim the title ‘Friends of the People.’ But this is not the way it is with you;
rather, the greatest one among you must be like the youngest, and the leader
must be like the servant. Who is greater, the one who sits down to eat or the
one who serves? The one who sits down, of course. But I am among you as one who
serves.” (Luke 22/24 till 27)
Thursday of the “Holy Mysteries”, is called so because in His Last Supper with
the 12 disciples, Jesus Christ established the Eucharist and Priesthood
Sacraments when “He received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take
this, and share it among yourselves, for I tell you, I will not drink at all
again from the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God comes.” “He took
bread, broke it and gave it to the disciples saying: This is my body which is
given for you. Do this in memory of me. And when He Likewise, took the cup after
supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out
for you”.
Thursday of the Holy Mysteries (Secrets-Sacraments) is the heart of the last
Lenten holy week, in which the Maronite Catholic Church lives with reverence and
devotion the Lord’s Last Supper spirit and contemplation through prayers and
deeply rooted religious rituals and traditions:
The Patriarch prays over and blesses the chrism (Al-Myroun), as well as the oil
of baptism and anointing that are to are distributed on all parishes and
churches.
During the mass that is held on this Holy Day, the priest washes the feet of
twelve worshipers, mainly children (symbolizing the apostles numbers). Jesus
washed His disciples feet and commanded them to love each other and follow his
example in serving each other.
Worshipers visit and pray in seven Churches. This ritual denotes to the
completion of the Church’s Seven sacraments (Secrets) : Priesthood, Eucharist,
Holy Oil, Baptism, Confirmations, anointing and Service.
This tradition also denotes to the seven locations that Virgin Mary’s went to
look for Her Son, Jesus, after she learned about His arrest. The detention
place, The Council of the Priests, twice the Pilate’s headquarters, twice the
Herod Headquarters, till She got to the Calvary.
Some Christian scholars believe that this tradition was originated in Rome where
early pilgrims visited the seven pilgrim churches as an act of penance. They are
Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter, Saint Mary Major, Saint Paul-outside-the-Walls,
Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls, Holy Cross-in-Jerusalem, and traditionally
Saint Sebastian Outside the Walls. Pope John Paul II replaced St. Sebastian with
the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Divine Love for the jubilee year of 2000.
The Mass of the Lord’s Supper is accompanied by the ringing of bells, which are
then silent until the Easter Vigil. Worshipers used to kneel and pray the rosary
in front of the Eucharist (Blessed Sacrament) all Thursday night. The Blessed
Sacrament remains exposed all night, while worshipers are encouraged to stay in
the church as much as they can praying, meditating upon the Mystery of
Salvation, and participating in the “agony of Gethsemane” (Garden at the foot of
the Mount of Olives) in Jerusalem where Jesus spent his night in prayer before
His crucifixion on Good Friday.
After the homily washing of feet the service concludes with a procession taking
the Blessed Eucharist (Sacrament) to the place of reposition. The altar is later
stripped bare, as are all other altars in the church except the Altar of Repose.
Thursday of the “Holy Mysteries”, is called so because in His Last Supper with
the 12 disciples, Jesus Christ established the Eucharist and Priesthood
Sacraments when “He received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take
this, and share it among yourselves, for I tell you, I will not drink at all
again from the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God comes.” “He took
bread, broke it and gave it to the disciples saying: This is my body which is
given for you. Do this in memory of me. And when He Likewise, took the cup after
supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out
for you”.
Jesus ordained His disciples as priests of the New Testament when he said to
them during the Last Supper: “But you are those who have continued with me in my
trials. I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me, that you
may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. You will sit on thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Before Celebrating the Resurrection Day (Easter) worshipers live the “Paschal
Mystery” through the Thursday Of the Sacraments, Good Friday and Saturday Of The
Light.
Because He loves us and wants us to dwell in His Eternal Heaven, Jesus Christ
for our sake willingly suffered all kinds of torture, pain, humiliation and died
on the Cross to pave our way for repentance and salvation.
Let us pray on this Holy Day that we always remember Jesus’ love and sacrifices
and live our life in this context of genuine, faith, love, meekness and
forgiveness.
Maronite patriarch, Christian deputies attend
spiritual retreat on Lebanon’s presidential elections
Najia Houssa/Arab News/April 05, 2023
BEIRUT: A spiritual retreat on Wednesday was attended by Lebanon’s Maronite
Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi and Christian deputies in a bid to resolve a six-month
stalemate over the election of a new president for the crisis-hit country. The
gathering in Harissa came as separate meetings between Qatar’s Minister of State
in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi
and Lebanese officials and political leaders failed to address the ongoing
political vacuum.
A total of 53 deputies from the Free Patriotic Movement, Lebanese Forces, Kataeb
Party, and Marada Movement took part in the retreat.
Eleven deputies were absent, including FPM-backed deputy parliament speaker,
Elias Bou Saab, and reformist deputies who favor political dialogue to break the
deadlock.
MPs Melhem Khalaf and Najat Aoun Saliba were also absent, as they entered the
77th day of their parliament protest over the issue, while MP Paula Yacoubian
said she would “not participate in any activity that is based on sectarian
division.”
In a statement delivered to the deputies, Al-Rahi said: “The policy adopted by
the ruling power erroneously is incapable of taking care of others. It grinds
the poor, takes advantage of the land, faces challenges, and doesn’t know how to
hold a dialogue.
“What progress did you allow the people to make? What positive forces did you
liberate? What did you do to elect a president?”
Hezbollah and the Amal Movement have chosen to back Suleiman Frangieh for the
presidency in a move rejected by Christian MPs. The head of the Progressive
Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, wants to elect a centrist president.
Frangieh is a prominent Christian figure, backed by Hezbollah and its allies
that consider the Lebanese Forces and opposition nominated MP Michel Mouawad to
be a “defiant candidate.” For 11 parliamentary sessions, Hezbollah’s deputies
cast blank votes and withdrew from the second rounds of voting, leading to a
loss of quorum.
Neither candidates will be able to become president, as both political camps are
incapable of securing the 65 votes needed to win in a parliament comprising 128
deputies.
Meanwhile, Al-Khulaifi reiterated Qatar’s commitment to helping Lebanon elect a
president and urged officials to implement the reforms required by the
international community to kickstart an economic recovery process.
Separately, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control
has imposed sanctions on Lebanese brothers Raymond and Teddy Rahme and their
three companies, including ZR Energy.
In a statement, the department said: “The Rahme brothers used their wealth,
power, and influence to engage in corrupt practices that contribute to the
breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon.”
The siblings have close ties with many Christian political figures, including
FPM head Gebran Bassil, leader of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea, and Frangieh.
During a press conference in 2020, Frangieh said he was not “ashamed” about his
close ties with Raymond Rahme which dated back to the 1980s.
Following news of the American sanctions, social media platforms were flooded
with comments and photos relating to the brothers. In 2020, the US Treasury
imposed sanctions on Bassil.
Day of 'prayer and contemplation'at Beit Anya
Naharnet/Wed, April 5, 2023
A “day of prayer and contemplation” that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi had
called for, started Wednesday at Beit Anya in Harissa.
Fifty-three Christian MPs attended the spiritual meeting, that aims at unifying
and connecting the Christian blocs amid a severe presidential crisis.
The Free Patriotic Movement MPs, including their leader Jebran Bassil, and the
Lebanese Forces MPs headed by MP Sethrida Geagea attended the meeting today.
"The FPM welcomes any initiative that harmonizes different viewpoints and we
will attend today's meeting, as it is meant to break down barriers and to find
common ground between different parties, especially between Christians," FPM MP
Alain Aoun said. In his sermon, al-Rahi asked the attendees and every "upright
politician" what they have done to facilitate the election of a president and to
revive the sate institutions. Lebanon has been without a president since Michel
Aoun's term expired at the end of October and Christian MPs have failed to agree
on a president's name. Lawmakers have held 11 rounds of voting to name a
successor to Aoun, but no candidate has garnered enough ballots.
US and France diverge in approach to Hezbollah
and Lebanese politics
LBCI/Wed, April 5, 2023
Since 2019, the US has been escalating sanctions against political and party
figures affiliated with Hezbollah, including key figures like the Loyalty to the
Resistance Bloc leader, Mohammad Raad, and the Head of the Coordination and
Liaison Unit, Wafiq Safa. Meanwhile, the divergence between Washington and Paris
on how to approach the Lebanese crisis has become increasingly apparent. The
explosion at the Port of Beirut prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to
visit the city the following day, positioning himself as a mediator in the
roundtable discussions that brought together opposing political factions at the
Pine Palace. While there is no head to a roundtable, Macron chose to address
one, Hezbollah. Despite successive US blows to the bridge the French president
has been building with the party, figures and entities affiliated with Hezbollah
remain on the US sanctions list for political and financial corruption.
On August 31, 2020, Macron returned to Lebanon on the occasion of the centenary
of the establishment of Greater Lebanon by French mandate, seeing the party as
the key to the solution. Nine days after his visit, the US imposed sanctions on
the political aide to Speaker Nabih Berri, MP Ali Hassan Khalil, and former
minister and ally of the Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh, Youssef
Fenianos, for "their cooperation with Hezbollah and involvement in corrupt
activities." French efforts to market former MP Sleiman Frangieh, a candidate
supported by both Hezbollah and the Future Movement, have not stopped regionally
or internationally, within the Group of Five, bilaterally with Saudi Arabia, or
unilaterally. However, this effort has also been stifled by sanctions
imposed on those within Frangieh's orbit. The US imposed sanctions on the Rahme
brothers, Teddy and Raymond, the former being close to the Lebanese Forces, and
the latter to the Marada Movement, "for using their wealth, power, and influence
in corrupt practices that contribute to the collapse of the rule of law at the
expense of the people." This response demonstrates the US player using sanctions
to challenge French attempts to lead the mediation of the Lebanese crisis.
Decision-making in Lebanon, however, cannot bypass international and regional
intersections, and it will never be unilateral.
The twenty million dollar Dive: The story of Lebanon's unfinished Olympic
swimming pool
LBCI/Wed, April 5, 2023
When the first diver in the world inaugurates the Winter Olympic Swimming Pool
in Naccache, it will be an event as significant as the moment when the first
human landed on the moon. After twenty-two years since the Cabinet's decision on
October 16, 2002, to start work on the Winter Olympic Swimming Pool, it is not
yet complete. It is a long dive into the sea of wasted public money. The diving
into the pool of Lebanese squandering of money shows that the Olympic Swimming
Pool works started in November 2004, when Aztec Company signed a voluntary
agreement with the Ministry of Youth and Sports during the era of Sebouh
Hovnanian for approximately $8.5 million. The commitment period for execution
was set at fifteen months. The deadline was extended for four months, and the
Winter Olympic Swimming Pool was not completed on June 17, 2006, as planned.
Furthermore, contracts were made through reconciliation instead of a bidding
process, as mandated by the Cabinet's decision. The settlement contracts
included Pascal Jihaymi's office to secure pool studies for about $110,000 and
Carl Technical Office for Studies and Construction for about $200,000. All of
this money was wasted because many technical errors were found in the study. The
mentioned contractor needed to be provided with electro-mechanical maps, which
contradicts the most basic construction principles, as some reports say. The
contractor requested modifications, considering that the specifications needed
to meet the purpose of constructing an Olympic swimming pool. The consultant
refused the modifications because they did not comply with the conditions book
of the contract. Thus, without further "diving" into details, nearly nine
million dollars were wasted in the first phase, and the Winter Olympic Swimming
Pool was not completed. With the money wasted in the Ministry of Youth and
Sports stage, the Minister of Youth and Sports in 2006, Ahmed Fatfat, wanted to
transfer the project's completion from the Ministry to the Council for
Development and Reconstruction. This was decided by the Cabinet in June 2006.
Here, we began a new stage of paying money to complete the pool. The
consultancy contract was terminated amicably with the payment of dues. The new
consultancy firm, Rafik Khouri, was appointed by the Council for Development and
Reconstruction to conduct studies worth $458,000. Hicon Company was tasked with
building the pool in two phases:
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health and Private Hospitals Syndicate reach agreement on
Kidney Dialysis treatment coverage
LBCI/Wed, April 5, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Public Health in Lebanon, Firass Abiad, held a meeting
with the head of the private hospital owners' syndicate Suleiman Haroun, to
discuss the issue of kidney dialysis. During the meeting, Minister Abiad
stressed the importance of solidarity with patients and reducing their suffering
and emphasized the importance of the concerted efforts and cooperation of all
concerned parties to achieve this priority goal without negatively affecting
treatment centers, and doctors. The discussion resulted in an agreement to
develop a mechanism to cover kidney dialysis sessions, and the following
measures were agreed upon: - Adopting a fluctuating tariff for kidney dialysis
sessions to keep up with exchange rate changes. - An agreement between hospitals
and the Ministries of Public Health and Finance on a mechanism to accelerate the
submission of invoices and the settlement of financial dues to treatment
centers, as well as doctors' fees, within a maximum period of one month. -
Confirming that hospitals or treating doctors will charge no additional fees to
patients. To ensure proper implementation of the agreed measures, the Ministry
of Public Health's media office reminds patients facing violations or asked to
pay additional fees to contact the Ministry's hotline at 1214, where complaints
will be the subject of an investigation to take the necessary actions.
UN expert expresses 'grave concern' regarding interference in Beirut blast probe
LBCI/Wed, April 5, 2023
UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret
Satterthwaite, has expressed grave concern about interference in the
investigation into the August 4, 2020 explosion, including threats against the
investigating judge.
The UN expert also condemned the delays that prevented justice for those
affected by the Beirut blast. "I am deeply disturbed by reports that former
State officials and others who have been implicated in the case have
disingenuously resorted to recusal proceedings and other challenging actions
directed at the investigating judges appointed to examine the case,"
Satterthwaite said, adding that this led to the replacement of an investigating
judge in February 2021, and suspensions of the investigation in recent months.
The UN expert indicated to reports that since the explosion was referred to the
Judicial Council for investigation, authorities rejected judicial requests to
remove parliamentary immunity and allow questioning of security officials. "The
blast destroyed Beirut's port, caused extensive damage to the city, and released
dangerous chemicals that can harm human health and the environment," she said,
noting that no one had been tried to date. The UN expert added that several
motions had been filed to remove Judge Tarek Bitar from the case and that there
is a campaign to discredit him, stating that the judge reportedly received death
threats and now has military protection. "Judge Bitar must have the security he
needs to carry out his work," Satterthwaite said, urging Lebanese authorities to
make sure that the threats are investigated and that the judge, his family, and
his colleagues are protected. "Judges should never be threatened or subjected to
criminal or disciplinary action simply for doing their job," noting that for
more than two years, the explosion's victims and their families, have been
seeking justice and called on the authorities to take steps to protect the
independence, and integrity, of the investigation, as well as ensure that those
responsible can be held accountable.
UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers also stated that
"those affected by the blast have a fundamental right to the protection of the
law and to effective remedies […] That can only happen if the independence of
the judiciary is upheld." Margaret Satterthwaite has also contacted the Lebanese
Government regarding these allegations.
Lebanon: UN expert concerned by interference
in Beirut blast probe
NNA/Wed, April 5, 2023
A UN expert today expressed grave concern about interference in an investigation
into the 2020 port explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, including threats against the
investigating judge. UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and
lawyers Margaret Satterthwaite condemned the undue delays that have prevented
justice for those affected by the blast. “I am deeply disturbed by reports that
former State officials and others who have been implicated in the case have
disingenuously resorted to recusal proceedings and other challenging actions
directed at the investigating judges appointed to examine the case,”
Satterthwaite said. “This has led to the replacement of an investigating judge
in February 2021, as well as several suspensions of the investigation in recent
months”. The UN expert pointed to reports that since the explosion was referred
to the Lebanese Judicial Council for investigation, authorities have rejected
judicial requests to lift parliamentary immunity and allow questioning of
security officials. The government has also failed to execute arrest warrants
against former ministers. Judge Tarek Bitar who was appointed to lead the
investigation in February 2021 has faced increasing obstacles and threats to
carry out his work, the Special Rapporteur said. Satterthwaite noted that to
date, no one had been tried for the August 2020 explosion, which left 218 people
dead, 7000 injured and 300,000 displaced.
“The blast destroyed Beirut's port, caused extensive damage to the city, and
released dangerous chemicals that can harm human health and the environment,”
she said. “On 23 January 2023, Judge Bitar announced that, after a pause, he
would resume investigations into the port explosion. Two days later, he was
charged with several offences, including 'usurpation of power' and a travel ban
was imposed,” the expert said. “A number of motions have been filed with the
intention of removing Judge Bitar from the case, and there is an ongoing
campaign on television and social media to discredit him,” she said.
Satterthwaite said the judge had reportedly received credible death threats and
currently has military protection. “Judge Bitar must have the security he needs
to carry out his work,” Satterthwaite said. “I urge Lebanese authorities to
ensure that these threats are investigated, and that the judge, his colleagues
and his family are adequately protected”. “Judges should never be threatened or
subjected to criminal or disciplinary action simply for doing their job,” the UN
expert said.
“The victims of the explosion and their families have been seeking justice for
more than two years,” Satterthwaite said. She urged Lebanese authorities to take
immediate steps to protect the independence and integrity of the investigation
and ensure that those responsible for the explosion can be held accountable.
“Those affected by the blast have a fundamental right to the protection of the
law and to effective remedies,” the UN expert said. “That can only happen if the
independence of the judiciary is upheld.”
The Special Rapporteur has been in contact with the Government of Lebanon
regarding these allegations.—UNIC
Coalition to Defend Freedom of Expression: Authorities must
respect freedoms of press, legal profession, and fundamentally amend defamation
laws
NNA/Wed, April 5, 2023
The Coalition to Defend Freedom of Expression in Lebanon condemned in a
statement issued today the increasing number of summons for investigation issued
by different authorities over the last two weeks, which aim to restrict freedom
of expression.
On 3 March 2023, the Council of the Beirut Bar Association issued a decision
amending Articles 39 to 42 of Chapter Six of the Lawyers’ Code of Ethics which
regulate lawyers’ relationship with media outlets. The amendments stipulate that
lawyers need to obtain prior permission from the head of the Bar Association to
participate in any legal seminars, conferences, interviews or discussions with
media outlets, social media platforms, websites or groups. Based on this
decision, the Bar Association summoned lawyer Nizar Saghieh, executive director
of the Legal Agenda, to a hearing without specifying the reasons.
In addition, the Head of the Beirut Bar Association, Nader Gaspard, said in a
seminar dubbed “Media Law: A Future Vision,” held at the Beirut Bar Association
on 31 March, that the space for expression created by the abundance of websites
and social media outlets has created “chaos and confusion” about “which court
has jurisdiction to look into cases of defamation, libel, slander, insults and
fake news, the Court of Publications or the Criminal Court.” He also called for
the introduction of new legislation regarding social media that identifies what
constitutes a social media platform, the different types of platforms, how they
operate, and the conditions and penalties related to their use, among other
provisions. He announced the formation of a Media Committee in the Bar
Association tasked with examining draft laws that are appropriate for today’s
developments and technologies. This new and troubling trend pursued by the Bar
Association to restrict the freedoms of registered lawyers coincides with
another trend that the groups of the coalition have been documenting for years,
and which the authorities recently escalated, to restrict the freedom of the
press.
During the past week, powerful political and judicial figures in Lebanon
resorted- once again- to the use of criminal defamation laws to silence
criticism. Public prosecutors also summoned journalists for interrogation at
security agencies, in violation of the Publications Law.
On 30 March 2023, Jean Kassir, co-founder of Megaphone, an independent media
outlet, was intercepted by two State Security officers who informed him that he
was summoned to appear at the Central Investigation Directorate of the General
Directorate of State Security without disclosing the reason behind the summons.
Summoning Kassir in this way does not comply with the procedures set out by law,
and is instead an intimidation tactic. According to Megaphone, the reason behind
the summons was a post entitled “Lebanon ruled by fugitives from justice,” which
mentioned that Cassation Public Prosecutor n Ghassan Oueidat, as well as other
officials, had been charged by the judicial investigator Tarek Bitar in the
Beirut port explosion case.
Megaphone later learned that Kassir was summoned following an order issued by
Oueidat, even though the Public Prosecution cannot initiate defamation cases
without a personal claim from the harmed party. On 3 April 2023, Kassir was
summoned again to appear before State Security at the request of Oueidat. On 4
April 2023, Kassir was informed that investigation procedures against him were
dropped.
On 31 March 2023, less than 48 hours after Kassir was summoned, the Cybercrimes
Bureau summoned journalist Lara Bitar, editor-in-chief of the Public Source
website, to appear for interrogation based on a complaint from the “Lebanese
Forces” political party regarding an article she published eight months ago on
toxic waste.
These alarming developments, particularly in the context of Lebanon’s crisis and
the stalled accountability mechanisms, warrant concern about the restricting
environment for freedom of expression and defense of the public interest.
“We are alarmed and worried about the direction that the Bar Association has
recently taken and about the summons targeting journalists, as such actions
increase the restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of the press in
the midst of an escalation in the use of criminal defamation provisions,
violating international standards,” the Coalition to Defend Freedom of
Expression said.
International standards for the protection of the right to free expression,
which are binding on Lebanon, underscore the need to abolish laws that allow for
imprisonment in cases of peaceful expression, especially defamation and replace
those with civil remedies.
Accordingly, the Coalition to Defend Freedom of Expression calls on the Lebanese
authorities and other actors such as the Bar Association to respect the
protections guaranteed in the constitution and international covenants,
including Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights.
The coalition calls on the Council of the Beirut Bar Association to reverse its
decision issued on 3 March 2023 on the grounds that it limits lawyers’ freedom
of expression and subjects it to prior censorship, as this harms the community’s
right to be informed of legal and judicial affairs. It also calls on the Council
to stop penalising lawyers on the grounds that they are violating this decision.
The coalition also calls on the Public Prosecution Office and the security
agencies in Lebanon to stop summoning journalists for investigations in security
agencies for exercising their right to free speech and exposing corruption.
The coalition also calls on the Parliament to amend Lebanese laws so that they
are in line with Lebanon's obligations under international law, to ensure
meaningful consultations with civil society on new draft laws, and to ensure
that any proposed law meets international standards, including:
• Making legislative discussions in the parliamentary committees public,
including discussions on the draft media law.
• Decriminalizing defamation and insults such that they become civil offenses
that do not carry any prison sentences.
• Prohibiting government institutions, including the army and security agencies,
from bringing defamation suits.
• Providing that truth will be a complete defense to defamation, regardless of
whom the defamation is directed at. In matters of public interest, the defendant
should only be required to have acted with due diligence to ascertain the truth.
• Criminalizing only statements that amount to advocacy of national, racial, or
religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility, or
violence. The law should clearly define what is meant by each of these terms,
using the Rabat Plan of Action as a Guide.
• Removing all requirements for licensing of journalists and advance
authorization of publications.
“We call on Lebanon today to safeguard the right to freedom of expression and
protect the ability of journalists to work freely, as their job entails
monitoring and holding to account public authorities. It is shameful criminal
defamation laws to be weaponized against them whenever they fulfill their role
and criticize the public servants and those in power,” the Coalition said.
“The Bar Association should also guarantee lawyers’ freedom of expression,
entrench their role in defending people, and use a human rights lens when
discussing important issues such as corruption and the independence of the
judiciary.”
“Reforms will not be achieved in Lebanon so long as no laws are enacted to
protect journalists and others who act as a watchdog, monitoring the conduct of
public officials, recording their violations, and exposing their unlawful
practices. This monitoring role should be a right for those seeking to expose
violations and uphold justice, not a repressive tool in the hands of influential
people.”
Hotel reservations in Lebanon to reach 80 percent for Eid Al-Fitr: Achkar
LBCI/Wed, April 5, 2023
Pierre Achkar, President of the Lebanese Hotel Association, the Federation for
Tourism Industries in Lebanon, and the National Council of Tourism in Lebanon,
revealed that Lebanon would witness a good tourism movement during the holidays,
announcing that hotels in Lebanon registered shy reservations on the eve of
holidays for the Christian denominations, expecting that reservations for Eid
Al-Fitr would rise to a rate ranging between 70 and 80 percent. In a statement,
Achkar attributed the increase in hotel reservations to the approach of Eid Al-Fitr,
to the fact that the Gulf countries, which host large numbers of Lebanese, give
a long holiday on Eid Al-Fitr that may extend to 15 days, which will encourage
the Lebanese working there to spend the Eid period throughout Lebanon. He
pointed out that during Easter, the Lebanese regions outside Beirut will witness
good activity, provided that all Lebanese areas and Beirut will enjoy a tourist
movement during Eid Al-Fitr, expecting that Beirut will host a share of
Jordanian, Iraqi, and Egyptian tourists who will come to spend the Eid holiday
in Lebanon.
Rahme brothers' OFAC designation highlights endemic
electricity corruption: Under Secretary Nelson
LBCI/Wed, April 5, 2023
The US Treasury has designated two Lebanese businessmen, Teddy Rahme and Raymond
Rahme, to the OFAC sanctions list, highlighting the endemic corruption within
Lebanon's electricity sector. The announcement was made by Brian Nelson, the US
Department of the Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial
Intelligence, during a press briefing on Wednesday evening. The Rahme brothers
were accused of using their companies to secure energy contracts through an
opaque process and profiting at the expense of the Lebanese people. The US
action supports those in Lebanon who have been calling for transparency and
reform amidst corruption and mismanagement that pushed the country into crisis.
Since October 2019, the Lebanese elites have ignored the public's calls for
transparency and reform, while shielding their own assets from depreciating by
transferring their own money out of the country to other jurisdictions, said
Nelson. The US Treasury imposed sanctions on the Rahme brothers, who were linked
to ZR Energy DMCC, a company contracted by the Lebanese government to import
150,000 tons of fuel to help avoid a fuel crisis. Instead of importing quality
fuel, the company imported tainted fuel, which destroyed power stations and took
a toll on the Lebanese people. The initial charges brought against the Rahme
brothers and their companies pointed to a system put in place to falsify test
results in exchange for bribes ranging from $200 to $2,500. The charges also
revealed the gifts of all kinds, including vouchers, watches, ties, handbags,
gold, and trips abroad, among others, according to local press. Despite these
charges, Lebanese prosecutors never followed through with them. The US
Treasury's designation of the Rahme brothers is aimed at imposing personal
financial costs on those who engage in corrupt practices at the expense of the
Lebanese people, Nelson clarified. Corruption is particularly endemic to the
electricity sector in Lebanon, and despite officials' vows to improve the
provision of electricity, blackouts continue to hinder the provision of
essential services.
Nelson added that in most countries, electricity production increases state
revenues. Still, despite spending tens of billions of dollars over the past
decades, the Ministry of Energy and Electricity Du Liban have left ordinary
Lebanese vulnerable to the so-called generators mafia.
"The rest of the dysfunctional electricity sector has drained state funds and
padded the foreign bank accounts of Lebanese businessmen," said Nelson.
The US Treasury hopes that the Rahme brothers will face financial consequences
as they personally enriched themselves while their companies were importing
tainted fuel and falsifying quality tests. The sanctions prohibit US persons
from interacting with the Rahme brothers and their properties, which would
result in financial consequences. Obviously, in terms of other legal
consequences, that would be up to the Lebanese judicial system to determine
whether the brothers should face legal consequences for their actions and the
attendant consequences under Lebanese law.
The US Treasury's recent designation of the Rahme brothers is not the first time
that the US government has taken action against corrupt actors in Lebanon. If
corrupt activities continue, it will not be the last. The US government will
continue to sanction those who profit from corruption, money laundering, and
threats to the Lebanese people, Nelson added. Nelson emphasized during the press
briefing that the action was not related to the presidential election and that
the US government prioritizes accountability and the rule of law in Lebanon
irrespective of political affiliation or religion. "The US government calls on
Lebanese politicians to end the political gridlock, elect a president, form and
empower a government, and undertake the reforms needed to pave the way for
Lebanon's economic recovery. The US government encourages the Lebanese people to
demand transparency and accountability from those choosing between continuing
corrupt practices or creating change. The US government will continue to hold
accountable those who engage in corrupt practices at the expense of the Lebanese
people," Nelson concluded.
Shiite Duo 'clings to Franjieh' as Paris
advises him to 'talk to FPM or LF'
Naharnet/Wed, April 5, 2023
The Shiite Duo is still clinging to the presidential nomination of Marada
Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh and sees him as the candidate who is “most
capable” of managing this period, sources close to Hezbollah said. “It will not
back down from supporting him,” the sources added, in remarks to ad-Diyar
newspaper. Unnamed sources meanwhile told the daily that Paris has advised
Franjieh, during his visit to the French capital, to “seek rapprochement with
one of the two Christian rivals -- the Free Patriotic Movement or the Lebanese
Forces -- in order to win the needed votes to reach the Baabda Palace.”
Franjieh close to securing 65 votes, minister says
Naharnet/Wed, April 5, 2023
Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh is so close to securing the 65 votes needed for
his election as president, minister Ziad Makari said. Makari added that what
Franjieh cares about is to be elected with a national consensus. "The problem is
securing quorum," he said, as he revealed that Franjieh is working on his
presidential platform that he will announce at the right time. Franjieh, 57, is
a former lawmaker and minister close to Hezbollah and a personal friend of
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. His grandfather and namesake was president
when Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war broke out.
He has not officially announced his candidacy, and his name had been touted for
the presidency many times before but he never secured enough support to win.
Hezbollah and Amal have officially nominated Franjieh, although Hezbollah's ally
the Free Patriotic Movement would not endorse him.
French judge may issue arrest warrant for Salameh
Naharnet/Wed, April 5, 2023
French judge Aude Buresi has postponed a session to announce the verdict in a
case against Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to May 23.
“The French judge was supposed to issue a verdict upholding the freezing
order on Salameh’s properties and confiscated assets or acquitting him, in a
lawsuit filed by the Gathering of the Victims of Fraudulent and Criminal
Practices in Lebanon and French NGO Sherpa,” al-Akhbar newspaper said.
The lawsuit accuses Salameh of money laundering, embezzlement and illegal
commissions. According to al-Akhbar, the session’s postponement to May 23 was
prompted by the Lebanese state’s intervention in the case as an aggrieved party
and a request by the lawyers of the Lebanese state for looking into the file.
Buresi meanwhile set a May 16 session for Salameh’s interrogation, asking that
he appear before her in Paris, al-Akhbar said. And as sources close to Salameh
said that he will not go to France because he knows that he will be indicted,
French sources said that Buresi will indeed indict him if he shows up or will
issue an arrest warrant for him if he doesn’t. “Salameh’s indictment, if it
happens, will change the rules of the game in Lebanon, seeing as Salameh will no
longer be able to enjoy a political, judicial and security cover, out of
(Lebanese officials’) fear of foreign sanctions. Cabinet will also have to meet
to sack him if he does not tender his resignation before that,” al-Akhbar added.
Report: Iran wants Lebanon on agenda of talks
with KSA
Naharnet/Wed, April 5, 2023
Iran prefers to speed up its discussions with Saudi Arabia, especially regarding
the Lebanese file, media reports said. “Iranian dipolomacy has asked that the
Lebanese file be placed on the agenda of the upcoming meeting between the Saudi
and Iranian foreign ministers,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper quoted informed
sources as saying. Iranian and Saudi media outlets meanwhile reported that the
Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers will meet on Thursday in Beijing.
Report: Khulaifi asks Christians to unite behind army chief
nomination
Naharnet/Wed, April 5, 2023
A Qatari envoy visiting Lebanon said on the sidelines of one his meetings on
Tuesday that his country “still believes that Army Commander General Joseph Aoun
is the most suitable candidate for the presidency” and that “Christians should
unite behind him to prevent others from choosing the president,” a highly
informed source said. The envoy, State Minister at the Foreign Ministry Mohammed
bin Abdel Aziz al-Khulaifi, also said that “the French management of the
Lebanese file needs rectification” and that “the upcoming meeting of the
five-nation group is aimed at achieving that,” the source added, in remarks to
al-Akhbar newspaper published Wednesday. “The Qatari minister was surprised that
some of those whom he met in Beirut took the initiative to inform him of their
rejection of the bargain idea while stressing their rejection of Aoun’s
nomination, with some saying that is not right anymore for every army chief to
automatically be a presidential candidate,” al-Akhbar added. Some politicians
told the Qatari envoy that “General Aoun does not have capabilities that enable
him to lead the country and that he has committed several mistakes in running
the military institution,” the daily said.
“He does not show flexibility in dealing with others and he lacks political
experience,” al-Akhar quoted the politicians as saying.
Al-Rahi sends list of 15 presidential
candidates to Shiite Duo, Jumblat
Naharnet/Wed, April 5, 2023
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has sent a list with the names of 15
presidential candidates to Hezbollah, Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive
Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat, a media report said on Wednesday. The list
included the 11 names already contained in the list put together by Archbishop
Antoine Bou Najem following his meetings with the Christian blocs -- Joseph Aoun,
Suleiman Franjieh, Michel Mouawad, Ibrahim Kanaan, Jihad Azour, Ziad Baroud,
Roger Dib, Salah Honein, George Khoury, Faris Elias al-Khazen and Neemat Frem.
According to al-Akhbar newspaper, the names of Ziad Hayek and Philippe Ziade and
two other candidates have been added to the list. Ziade “has been proposed as a
settlement candidate in a side, indirect dialogue between the Lebanese Forces
and the Free Patriotic Movement,” the daily said. “Al-Rahi called on the
‘partners in the country’ to either add new names to the list or send a small
list containing three names, prompting Berri and Hezbollah to answer that they
support Franjieh’s nomination and do not intend to engage in discussing
open-ended name lists,” al-Akhbar added. The patriarch had discussed the
presidential file with French Ambassador Anne Grillo on Tuesday. According to
the newspaper, Grillo told al-Rahi that her country is continuing its efforts to
reach a presidential settlement and that Franjieh’s nomination is still on the
table
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on April 05-06/2023
Israeli strikes on Syria intensify, raise tensions with Iran
BEIRUT (AP)/BASSEM MROUE and JOSEF FEDERMAN/Wed, April 5, 2023
Suspected Israeli airstrikes in Syria in recent weeks have killed two Iranian
military advisers, temporarily put the country’s two largest airports out of
service, and raised fears of regional escalation. While Israel has fought a
shadow war with Iran in Syria for years, it has intensified recently, with
near-daily airstrikes attributed to Israel by Syrian officials over the past
week. The escalation of attacks comes after what appears to be a rare
infiltration by an armed man from Lebanon into Israel and Iran’s reconciliation
with regional rival Saudi Arabia last month. It also comes against the backdrop
of a major domestic crisis in Israel over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
government plan to overhaul the judiciary. Israel, which has vowed to stop
Iranian entrenchment in neighboring Syria, has carried out hundreds of strikes
on targets in government-controlled parts of that country in recent years — but
rarely acknowledges them. Since the beginning of 2023, Syrian officials have
attributed 10 strikes on Syrian territory to Israel, including four airstrikes
within five days as of Tuesday. The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has
had its own recent run-ins with Iranian forces in Syria. In late March, U.S.
forces retaliated with airstrikes on sites in Syria used by groups affiliated
with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard following a suspected Iran-linked drone attack
that killed a U.S. contractor and wounded six other Americans in northeast
Syria. An official with an Iranian-backed group in Iraq said the U.S. strikes
killed seven Iranians.
The flareup between the U.S. and Iran did not escalate, but some fear the
back-and-forth between Israel and Iran could. Since the early years of Syria’s
12-year-old conflict, Iran has deployed hundreds of military advisers as well as
thousands of Iran-backed fighters from countries including Iraq and Lebanon who
helped tip the balance of power in President Bashar Assad’s favor. Iran-backed
fighters are deployed in different parts of Syria. Israel has long considered
Iran to be its top enemy, citing Iranian calls for Israel's destruction, its
support for anti-Israel militant groups like Hezbollah and its nuclear program.
Israel and Western countries say Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapons — a
charge Iran denies.
Iran has blamed Israel for attacks on its territory, including the killings of
some of its nuclear scientists and damage to nuclear installations.
The airstrikes in Syria reflect Israel's concerns about fighters being deployed
close to its northern border and fears that Iran is trying to transfer
sophisticated weapons, such as guided missiles, to Hezbollah. Both Israel and
Hezbollah have avoided an all-out war since their 34-day war in 2006 ended with
a draw. Israel considers Hezbollah, which is believed to possess over 130,000
rockets and missiles, to be a major threat. Lebanese military expert and former
army general Hisham Jaber said Iran has about 1,800 military advisers in Syria,
most of them deployed with Syrian troops. The increase in strikes on Syria began
with a Jan. 2 attack that temporarily put Damascus airport out of service, just
after the most right-wing government in Israel’s 74-year history took office.
The strikes continued despite mass protests in Israel, including open
disagreement between Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, over the
government's controversial plans for a judicial overhaul. At one point,
Netanyahu fired Gallant for criticizing the plan, but then backtracked and
temporarily halted the push for the overhaul until parliament reconvenes in a
month. The two men have made a number of public appearances in recent days,
alluding to military activity in Syria without overtly confirming it. “We will
not allow the Iranians and Hezbollah to harm us. We have not allowed it in the
past, we won’t allow it now, or anytime in the future,” Gallant said this week.
“When necessary, we will push them out of Syria to where they belong – and that
is Iran.”
Jaber, however, said he believes the recent strikes will not turn into a
full-blown conflict, in part because the U.S. -- which is preoccupied with the
ongoing war in Ukraine and its own tensions with China -- would try to dissuade
a regional war. Strikes attributed to Israel in Syria in recent weeks have
targeted both Iranian-linked figures and infrastructure.
They have hit the airports of Damascus and Aleppo, a move which was apparently
intended to prevent the flow of arms shipments into Syria, but which also
disrupted aid shipments after the deadly Feb. 6 earthquake that struck Syria and
Turkey.
On Feb. 19, the first reported Israeli strikes after the earthquake targeted
residential areas in Syria’s capital Damascus, killing at least five people and
wounding 15. Opposition activists said the strikes targeted Iranian-backed
militias. In mid-March, the Israeli army said its soldiers had killed an armed
man suspected of entering the country from Lebanon and blowing up a car. The
incident, which wounded one Israeli, unnerved Israelis. Officials suspect the
man infiltrated from Lebanon and may have been dispatched by Hezbollah or
directly by Iran. A few days after the alleged infiltration, a commander with
the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad was shot dead outside his apartment
building near Damascus in what the group described as an assassination by
Israeli agents. Last Tuesday, Netanyahu said Israel's intelligence agency Mossad
helped Greece prevent a terrorist attack planned against at least one Jewish
site in Athens. Greek authorities said two men described as being of Pakistani
origin were arrested for allegedly planning an attack on a Jewish center. On
Friday, an Israeli strike on a southern suburb of Damascus killed two advisers
from Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Hours later, Israel’s air force shot down a
drone that entered Israel from Syria and alleged that Iran was behind its
launch. Yoel Guzansky, an Iran expert and senior fellow at the Institute for
National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank, said Israel’s stepped-up
action in recent weeks could be in response to the recent alleged infiltration
from Lebanon. Guzansky noted that Iran rarely acknowledges the death of its
officers and advisers as quickly as it did after Friday's attack. He said the
swift public acknowledgement could signal that "Iran will avenge or respond to
the Israeli attacks,” possibly targeting Israelis abroad. An official with an
Iran-backed group in the region warned that if Israel continues with the
strikes, Tehran and its allies will retaliate. He spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with the media.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted the Revolutionary Guard as saying
that the killing of two Iranian advisers “will definitely not pass without
retaliation.”
*Federman reported from Jerusalem.
Violence at Jerusalem mosque prompts fears of
wider fighting
Associated Press/April 5, 2023
Israeli police stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City early
Wednesday, firing stun grenades at Palestinian youths who hurled firecrackers at
them in a burst of violence during a sensitive holiday season. Gaza militants
responded with rocket fire on southern Israel, prompting an Israeli airstrike.
The fighting, coming as Muslims mark the holiday month of Ramadan and Jews
prepare to begin the Passover festival on Wednesday evening, drew Palestinian
condemnations and raised fears of a wider conflagration. Similar clashes two
years ago erupted into an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli
military said one soldier was shot in a separate incident in the occupied West
Bank. The mosque sits on a sensitive hilltop compound holy to both Jews and
Muslims. Al-Aqsa is the third-holiest site in Islam and is typically packed with
worshippers during Ramadan. The spot, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is also
the holiest site in Judaism, who revere it as the location of the biblical
Jewish temples. The conflicting claims fuel constant tensions that have spilled
over to violence numerous times in the past. The official Palestinian news
agency Wafa said that dozens of worshippers who were spending the night praying
were injured in the police raid. Israeli police said they moved in after
"several law-breaking youths and masked agitators" brought fireworks, sticks and
stones and barricaded themselves into the mosque. Police said the youths chanted
violent slogans and locked the front doors.
"After many and prolonged attempts to get them out by talking to no avail,
police forces were forced to enter the compound in order to get them out,"
police said. Video released by police showed the repeated explosions of
fireworks inside the mosque. One amateur video taken by Palestinians showed
police scuffling with people and beating them with clubs and rifle butts as a
woman's voice could be heard shouting, "Oh God. Oh God."Outside the gate, police
dispersed groups of youths with stun grenades and rubber bullets. Police said
one officer was injured in the leg, while 350 individuals were arrested. Those
arrested included "masked individuals, stone and firework hurlers/throwers, and
individuals suspected of desecrating the mosque," it said. Talab Abu Eisha, 49,
said more than 400 men, women and children were praying at Al-Aqsa when the
police encircled the mosque.
"The youths were afraid and started closing the doors," he said, adding that
police forces "stormed the eastern corner, beating and arresting men there.""It
was an unprecedented scene of violence in terms of police brutality and
intention to hurt the youths," he said, denying police claims that young men
were hiding fireworks and rocks. He added that the police prevented all men
under 50 years old from passing through the Old City's gates leading to the
compound for the dawn prayers Wednesday morning.
Palestinian militants responded by firing a barrage of rockets from Gaza into
southern Israel, setting off air raid sirens in the region as residents were
preparing for the beginning of the weeklong Passover holiday.
The Israeli military said a total of five rockets were fired, and all
were intercepted. Hours later, Israel responded with an airstrike in Gaza. There
were no immediate details on the target. Tensions have
been steadily rising since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new
far-right government took office late last year. The government is dominated by
religious and ultranationalist hard-liners, and the overlap of the Jewish and
Muslim holidays – when tens of thousands of worshippers make their way to
contested Jerusalem — has raised fears of violence. The police force is overseen
by Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist with a history of violent rhetoric
against the Palestinians. In Gaza, Hamas called for
large protests and people started gathering in the streets, with calls to head
for the heavily guarded Gaza-Israel frontier for more violent demonstrations.
The Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad also called for
Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Israel to go and gather
around Al-Aqsa Mosque and confront Israeli forces.
In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian leadership condemned the attack on
the worshippers. The spokesman of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu
Rudeineh, warned Israel that such a move "exceeds all red lines and will lead to
a large explosion."The government of Jordan, which serves as the custodian of
the mosque, condemned the Israeli raid "in the strongest terms." The Foreign
Ministry warned "of the consequences of this dangerous escalation and held
Israel responsible for the safety of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque."
As violence was unfolding in Jerusalem, the Israeli military reported
fighting in a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank. It said residents of
Beit Umar, near the volatile city of Hebron, burned tires, hurled rocks and
explosives at soldiers. It said one soldier was shot by armed suspects, who
managed to flee. Earlier on Tuesday, a Palestinian
suspect stabbed two Israelis near an army base south of Tel Aviv, police said,
in the latest incident in a yearlong spate of violence that shows no sign of
abating. The Magen David Adom paramedic service said first responders treated
two men for serious and light stab wounds in the incident on a highway near the
Tzrifin military base. The men were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Israeli media identified the two victims as soldiers. Police said that civilians
at the scene apprehended the suspected attacker, who was taken into police
custody for questioning. Israeli-Palestinian violence
has surged over the last year, as the Israeli military has carried out
near-nightly raids on Palestinian cities, towns and villages and as Palestinians
have staged numerous attacks against Israelis. At
least 88 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire this year, according to
an Associated Press tally. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 15
people in the same period. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were
militants. But stone-throwing youths and bystanders uninvolved in violence were
also among the dead. All but one of the Israeli dead were civilians.
Canadian PM urges Israel to change its
approach after raid, clashes
Ismail Shakil/OTTAWA (Reuters)/April 5, 2023
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday criticised the Israeli
government's "inflamed rhetoric" and urged it to change its approach to the
Palestinians amid an upsurge in violence. Israeli police entered Jerusalem's al-Aqsa
mosque, Islam's third holiest site, early on Wednesday to try to clear groups it
said were barricaded inside, leading to clashes with worshippers and triggering
an exchange of crossborder fire with Gaza. "We deplore what's going on right now
in Israel," Trudeau told reporters in Alliston, Ontario. He also condemned the
rocket attacks by Palestinian militants from Gaza. "We're extremely concerned
with the inflamed rhetoric coming out of the Israeli government, we're concerned
about the judicial reforms ... we're concerned by the violence around the al-Aqsa
mosque," Trudeau said. Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir
has called for a harsh response to the rocket attacks from Gaza, tweeting: "Hamas
rockets require more than blasting dunes and empty sites. It's time to rip heads
off in Gaza."The raid at the al-Aqsa mosque compound has drawn a sharp reaction
from Arab countries and the Arab League, but Trudeau's comments are among the
first to come from Israel's traditional Western allies on Wednesday's violence.
"We need to see the Israeli government shifting in its approach, and Canada is
saying that as a dear and close and steadfast friend to Israel, we are deeply
concerned around the direction that the Israeli government has been taking," he
said. "We absolutely, unequivocally condemn the rocket attacks from militants in
Gaza. We need to see a de-escalation of violence," Trudeau added.
Iran names envoy to UAE after nearly
eight-year absence
Agence France Presse/April 5, 2023
Iran has named an ambassador to the United Arab Emirates nearly eight years
after his predecessor left, as a thaw in relations with the Gulf Arab states
picks up pace. "After some eight years, the foreign ministry has named Reza
Ameri as the Islamic Republic of Iran's new ambassador to the United Arab
Emirates," Iran's official IRNA news agency reported late Tuesday.
The move comes after Iran welcomed an Emirati ambassador last September
ending a six-year absence. The UAE had cut the level of its diplomatic
representation after neighboring Saudi Arabia severed ties in 2016 following the
ransacking of its diplomatic missions in Iran by protesters angered by its
execution of a leading Shiite cleric. After several of its Gulf allies led the
way, Riyadh restored diplomatic relations with Tehran last month in a
fence-mending deal brokered by Beijing. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has
accepted an invitation to Riyadh from Saudi Arabia's King Salman, First Vice
President Mohammad Mokhber confirmed on Monday. Iran and the United Arab
Emirates have long had close economic ties which continued even during the
diplomatic chill. A veteran diplomat who served most recently as director
general of the foreign ministry's diaspora affairs department, Ameri's career
had previously taken him to Algeria, Sudan and Eritrea.
Israel: Iran was behind drone incursion from Syria
JERUSALEM (AP)/Mon, April 3, 2023
Iran appears to have been behind the launch of a drone that was shot down over
Israeli airspace this week, the Israeli military said Monday. The army announced
its conclusions on Monday, a day after air force helicopters and fighter jets
were scrambled to intercept the drone when it entered Israeli territory from
Syria. There were no casualties in the incident, but it added to the already
heightened tensions between the two arch-enemies. The interception happened
shortly after Iranian state media reported that an Iranian adviser who was
wounded in an Israeli airstrike in Syria over the weekend had died of his
wounds. That made him the second Iranian adviser allegedly killed by Israel in
recent days. Last week, Greece announced the arrest of two Pakistani operatives
it said were planning an attack on a Jewish center in Athens. Israel has said
Iran was behind the plot. The Israeli military said Monday an initial inquiry
determined the intercepted drone was Iranian. It said debris was still being
collected and analyzed. Since the start of Syria’s conflict in March 2011, Iran
has been a main supporter of President Bashar Assad’s government and has sent
advisers and other assistance to the Syrian leader. Throughout the Syrian war,
Israel has carried out scores of airstrikes in the neighboring country. Most of
these strikes have been aimed at Iranian targets or suspected arms shipments to
Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups that have sent troops to back Assad.
Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy, citing the country's hostile
rhetoric, support for militant groups like Hezbollah and its suspected nuclear
program. Iran denies Western allegations that it is pursuing a nuclear bomb.
Israel appears to have stepped up its activities in Syria recently. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked war monitor, says Israel has
struck targets in Syria nine times this year. Israel rarely acknowledges
individual strikes, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledge recent
unspecified activity in an address to soldiers at an Israeli air force base on
Monday. “I know the important work you are doing and while it is always
important, it is especially so at this time,” he said. “You know very well that
in recent days we have been active beyond our borders against regimes that
support terrorism and are plotting to destroy us.” On Sunday, the Syrian state
news agency SANA, citing military sources, said Israeli strikes targeted sites
in the city of Homs and surrounding countryside. Syrian air defenses intercepted
the missiles and shot down some of them, it said. The observatory reported that
the missiles targeted Syrian military sites and those of Iran-linked militias,
including a research center. Later on Sunday, Israel’s defense minister, Yoav
Gallant, commented about Syria during a visit to soldiers in the occupied West
Bank but did not directly confirm the recent airstrikes. “We will not allow the
Iranians and Hezbollah to harm us. We have not allowed it in the past, we won’t
allow it now, or anytime in the future,” Gallant said. He also accused Iran of
seeking to entrench its presence along Israel’s borders. “When necessary, we
will push them out of Syria to where they belong. And that is Iran,” Gallant
said.
Iran probes possible drone attack on defence
ministry complex in Isfahan
DUBAI (Reuters)/Wed, April 5, 2023
Iran foiled a drone attack against a Ministry of Defence complex in the central
city of Isfahan overnight, Iranian Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday,
although Tehran said confirming the report required further investigation. "The
Amir al-Momenin complex in Isfahan was the target of a failed attack by a small
drone which was foiled by defence systems," Iran's semi-official Tasnim news
agency reported, adding that the attempt did not cause any damage. However,
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said "For now, I cannot confirm this as it needs
more investigation," when asked by Iranian media about the report during a press
conference. In the past, Tehran has blamed its arch-foe Israel for such attacks,
including a drone attack on a military factory near Isfahan in January. Israel
has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attacks. The report
comes days after Israeli air strikes in Syria hit Iran-linked targets that
killed at least two Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) members that
served as military advisers in Syria. In January, a Ministry of Defence
industrial centre was also targeted by a drone attack, which Iran said was
unsuccessful and perpetrated by "mercenaries of the Zionist regime".
Russia demands that Ukraine free Orthodox 'martyr' cleric from house arrest
MOSCOW (Reuters)/Wed, April 5, 2023
Russia on Wednesday demanded that Ukraine free a top Orthodox cleric placed
under house arrest by a Kyiv court this month in connection with allegations he
had glorified Russia's invasion and stoked religious divisions. Metropolitan
Pavlo, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (monastery) in central Kyiv, is a
senior official in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) which Ukrainian
authorities have accused of being pro-Russian and of collaborating with Moscow,
charges the UOC denies. Pavlo, who the court ordered to wear an electronic
bracelet, banned from attending church services, and ordered to spend the next
two months living in a village outside Kyiv according to Russia's TASS news
agency, has denied wrongdoing and called the case against him political.
Russia's Foreign Ministry called on Ukraine to free him immediately. "We are
deeply worried about the fate of Metropolitan Pavlo, who is known to be under
house arrest and in electronic shackles. He is taking on the likeness of a
martyr for the Orthodox faith," the ministry said in a statement. "We demand the
immediate release of Metropolitan Pavlo and the provision of appropriate medical
care for him."Pavlo had been living in accommodation in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra,
a 980-year old monastery complex the government says the church must leave,
something it has so far refused to do. Ukrainian prosecutors have said his house
arrest and electronic bracelet are precautionary measures while the case against
him continues. Sixty-one UOC clergy have had criminal cases opened against them
since the start of 2022 with seven found guilty. The UOC has been accused of
maintaining links to the Russian Orthodox Church, which has publicly backed what
Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox
Church used to be the UOC's parent church, but the UOC says it broke all ties in
May 2022. Ukraine has about 30 million Orthodox believers, divided between the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church and two other Orthodox Churches, one of which is the
autocephalous, or self-governing, Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
US, Britain walk out at UN on Russian wanted
for war crimes
Michelle Nichols/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters)/April 5, 2023
The United States, Britain, Albania and Malta walked out on Russia's envoy for
children's rights - whom the International Criminal Court wants to arrest on war
crimes charges - as she spoke by video to U.N. Security Council members on
Wednesday. Britain and the United States blocked the informal meeting on
Ukraine, convened by Russia to focus on "evacuating children from conflict
zones," from being webcast by the United Nations. The diplomats left the U.N.
conference room where the discussion was being held as Russian Commissioner
Maria Lvova-Belova spoke.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told reporters that the
United States joined Britain in blocking the webcast so Lvova-Belova did not
have "an international podium to spread disinformation and to try to defend her
horrible actions that are taking place in Ukraine."The International Criminal
Court last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Lvova-Belova, accusing them of illegally deporting children from
Ukraine and the unlawful transfer of people to Russia from Ukraine since Russia
invaded on Feb. 24, 2022. Moscow said the warrants were legally void as Russia
was not a signatory to the treaty that established the ICC. Moscow has not
concealed a program under which it has brought thousands of Ukrainian children
to Russia but presents it as a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and
children abandoned in the war zone. Lvova-Belova said that since February 2022,
some 5 million Ukrainians, including 700,000 children, had traveled to Russia.
Some 2,000 children were from orphanages and accompanied by custodians, she
said, adding that about 1,300 of those children had since returned to Ukraine,
while 400 were now in Russian orphanages and 358 children were placed in Russian
foster homes. "Russia claims it is protecting these children. Instead this is a
calculated policy that seeks to erase Ukrainian identity and statehood," British
diplomat Asima Ghazi-Bouillon told the meeting, returning to the room after
Lvova-Belova had spoken. During her statement Lvova-Belova showed video of
Ukrainian children in Russia, then said: "I want to stress that unlike the
Ukrainian side, we don't use children for propaganda."Russia's U.N. Ambassador
Vassily Nebenzia told reporters last month that the informal meeting had been
planned long before the ICC announcement and it was not intended to be a
rebuttal of the charges against Putin and Lvova-Belova. Diplomats have said it
is rare for a U.N. webcast to be blocked. However, last month China blocked the
U.N. webcast of a U.S.-convened informal Security Council meeting on human
rights abuses in North Korea.
NATO just got hundreds of tanks, 62 fighter jets, and a
whole lot of artillery after Finland joined the military alliance
Sinéad Baker/.REUTERS/Yves Herman/April 5, 2023
Finland, Russia's neighbors, became a member of the NATO military alliance on
Tuesday. It brings hundreds of tanks, 62 fighter jets, and lots of artillery and
soldiers with it. Finland's strong military and its decision to join NATO were
in part motivated by Russian actions. Finland is now a member of NATO, giving
the alliance a new military partner that has hundreds of tanks and jets, and a
history of fighting Russia. Finland officially became a member of the military
alliance on Tuesday, strongly motivated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The
move more than doubled Russia's direct border with NATO countries.
This proximity, and Finland's own history of fighting Russia, has been a big
factor in how Finland has developed its military, and in the size of the arsenal
that it now brings to the alliance. That arsenal includes around 650 tanks,
Reuters reported. The International Institute for Strategic Studies said in its
latest assessment that Finland has at least 800 armored vehicles, including 200
tanks. It also has 107 combat-capable jets, according to the latest assessment
by the IISS, including 62 fighter jets. Finland claims to have what it calls
"Western Europe's strongest artillery," made up of around 1,500 weapons that
include 700 howitzers and cannon, 700 mortars and around 100 rocket launchers,
according to Reuters. The country has dozens of training aircraft and
surveillance radars, at least 650 anti-aircraft missiles, an undisclosed number
of drones, anti-aircraft cannon and tanks, multiple types of vessels for its
navy, and lots of transport vehicles, along with other equipment, Reuters
reported. Finland is also currently boosting its weapons stocks, by adding more
missiles, a new anti-aircraft system, and more drones, Reuters reported.
Reservists from Finland's Karelia Brigade during a local defence exercise in
Taipalsaari, Finland, in March 2022. Reservists from Finland's Karelia Brigade
during a local defence exercise in Taipalsaari, Every Finnish person aged
between 18 and 60 is also liable for military service, as the country's
constitution says that every citizen is obligated to participate in its national
defence. Finland says it trains around 21,000 new conscripts every year. And the
country has a wartime fighting reserve force of 280,000 soldiers, and almost
900,000 people that can be mobilized, according to Reuters. Finland said even
before it joined the alliance that its defense forces "already meet NATO's
military criteria: we have a strong national defence of our own and are adapted
with the armed forces of different NATO countries."Finland becoming part of NATO
is seen as a nightmare for Russia, which considers the alliance a key threat.
Russian President Vladimir Putin partly justified his invasion of Ukraine by
saying that he wanted to stop NATO expanding eastwards, but instead his invasion
prompted Finland to abandon decades of neutrality to seek NATO membership.
Alexander Stubb, Finland's former prime minister, told Axios that Russia's
threats over it joining NATO can be dismissed due to the strength of Finland's
military."When you have military like ours, you really don't have that much to
worry about," he said. "And Russia knows that."
Ukraine will take 'corresponding' decisions if
troops risk encirclement in Bakhmut - Zelenskiy
KYIV (Reuters)/April 5, 2023
Ukrainian troops face a really difficult situation in the eastern city of
Bakhmut, but Kyiv will take the "corresponding" decisions to protect them if
they risk being encircled by Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said
on Wednesday. The Ukrainian leader told a news conference in Poland that Kyiv's
forces in Bakhmut sometimes advanced a little only to be pushed back by Russian
forces, but that they remained inside the city. "We are in Bakhmut and the enemy
does not control it," Zelenskiy said. Bakhmut, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, has
been one of the bloodiest and longest battles of Russia's full-scale invasion,
now in its second year. Ukrainian forces have held out against a Russian
onslaught there with heavy losses on both sides. "For me, the most important is
not to lose our soldiers and of course if there is a moment of even hotter
events and the danger we could lose our personnel because of encirclement - of
course the corresponding correct decisions will be taken by generals there," he
said. The comment appeared to be a reference to the idea of withdrawing.
Zelenskiy spoke at a news conference alongside Poland's president in Warsaw. His
trip comes with Ukraine expected to launch a counteroffensive to seize back land
in the south and east from Russian forces in the coming weeks or months.
Zelenskiy said that the more ammunition Ukraine receives from Western partners,
the faster it would be able fight back in Bakhmut and elsewhere. "There is
success in some districts of Bakhmut - we're going forward. Or there's no
(success) and we're again leaving for positions," he said.
Saudi crown prince’s shock power grab is catastrophic for
Biden
Ben Marlow/The Telegraph/Wed, April 5, 2023
So much for “stability”, and so much for “strategic partnerships”.
The ramifications of Opec’s decision to slash production targets by another 1.2m
barrels per day will be profound, though you wouldn’t know it from the “business
as usual” responses from the White House and Riyadh following Sunday’s shock
move. Saudi Arabia said the cuts were a “precautionary measure aimed at
supporting the stability of the oil market,” a statement instantly made to look
ridiculous by the 8pc spike in global benchmark Brent crude when markets opened
on Monday morning. It was the steepest one-day increase in oil prices in more
than a year, with West Texas Intermediate experiencing a jump of the same
proportions to leave prices hovering around $85 a barrel. After the sharp drop
in prices following the turmoil in the banking industry, this is Saudi Arabia’s
panicked attempt to install a floor to help Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
(known as MBS) bankroll a series of mega-building projects at home that make HS2
look like it belongs on the set of Thomas the Tank Engine by comparison. Under
what has been dubbed MBS’s “Vision 2030” economic plan, the kingdom is
constructing a $500bn (£400bn) futuristic “smart” city in the Arabian desert
that it claims will be 33 times bigger than New York City and powered entirely
by renewable energy, and a sprawling holiday resort the size of Belgium on
28,000 sq km of pristine land next to the Red Sea. Still, the idea that ties
between America and Saudi Arabia can still be called “a strategic partnership”
in the face of this latest snub to Joe Biden, as national security spokesman
John Kirby sought to claim, is even more preposterous, even if US officials were
given a heads-up on the plan. The worst that Kirby could bring himself to say
was “We don’t think that production cuts are advisable at this moment, given
market uncertainty – and we made that clear”, which threatens to be the
understatement of the century. It is the second time in six months that the
Saudis have delivered a massive diplomatic humiliation to the US president. Last
October’s production cut had followed months of intensive White House shuttle
diplomacy as the US Government desperately sought to convince Riyadh to keep the
taps open. But it was Biden’s excruciating fist-bump in a face-to-face meeting
with MBS that will come to symbolise Washington’s spectacular underestimation of
the shift in US-Saudi relations.
Biden saw the move as a grave betrayal and threatened “consequences”, though
tellingly neglected to even give a flavour of what they might be. But if that
dealt a severe blow to an energy-for-security alliance that has endured for
nearly 80 years, then this latest rebuff must represent the death knell. In
choosing to protect oil prices, MBS has sent an unequivocal message to
Washington that he intends to prioritise national interests. America's ties with
the kingdom are a dirty pact that can be traced back to a meeting between
Franklin Roosevelt and the Saudi founder King Abdulaziz ibn Saud in 1945 on
board the American warship USS Quincy in the Suez Canal. Roosevelt wanted oil to
fuel the American war effort, and its post-war recovery; in return it promised
protection. The arrangement has survived numerous major skirmishes dating back
to the 1973 oil embargo. It made it through two Gulf wars, possible Saudi links
to the 9/11 terrorism attacks and more recently, the murder of dissident
journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which US intelligence agencies concluded was
personally approved by MBS. But it seems unlikely it will survive this, and it
is no exaggeration to say that Biden’s presidency may ultimately struggle to do
so as well. The Saudis' power grab has left the octogenarian’s administration
looking weaker than ever at a time when advisers are battling to contain fresh
doubts about his health sparked by a decision to miss the King’s Coronation next
month. On the economic front, a fresh supply squeeze risks a new inflationary
spiral that will be felt acutely. In a country where pump prices have long been
capable of determining who holds office, the political fallout will be
inescapable. Goldman Sachs is predicting oil prices of $95 a barrel by the end
of the year, and $100 a barrel by December 2024 - a disaster for a president who
has repeatedly staked his presidency on gas prices being suppressed. In
February, Biden promised to “work like the devil” to address high prices, a
pledge at odds with an admission that he also had little understanding of what
the cause was. The damage to America’s standing on the world stage threatens to
be equally catastrophic. If Biden’s critics wanted a clear sign of Washington’s
waning global influence then they need look no further than Saudi Arabia’s
defiance in the face of his threats. The Saudi view of the world, and its
values, has always sat more comfortably with other autocracies than Western
democracies but the breakdown in relations with the US threatens to unleash a
geopolitical earthquake. As America surrenders control of the Gulf, a new
Saudi-Russia-China axis is emerging that makes it harder to enforce US-led
sanctions against Moscow, and for the White House to counter the rising power of
an increasingly anti-Western Beijing. Under Biden’s increasingly inward-looking
administration, the US has seldom looked so weak.
US B-52 bomber joins exercise with South Korean
military
Hyonhee Shin/SEOUL (Reuters)/Wed, April 5, 2023
A U.S. B-52 strategic bomber joined military exercises with South Korea on
Wednesday in the latest demonstration of the allies' readiness to respond to any
North Korean provocation, South Korea's defence ministry said. The bomber, in
the first deployment to South Korea of a U.S. B-52 since March 6, joined U.S.
F-35B and F-16 fighters, and South Korean F-35 jets for the exercise, the
ministry said. North Korea has been ramping up its military activity in recent
weeks, unveiling new, smaller nuclear warheads, pledging to produce more
weapons-grade nuclear material and testing what it called a nuclear-capable
underwater attack drone. The South Korean ministry said the participation of the
B-52 would improve U.S. extended deterrence - a reference to the American
nuclear umbrella protecting its allies. "Through combined air exercises linked
to the deployment of U.S. strategic assets with increased frequency and
intensity, the allies demonstrated their strong will and perfect posture to
respond quickly and overwhelmingly to any provocations by North Korea," Park Ha-sik,
commander of South Korea's Air Force Operations Command, said in a statement.
U.S. and South Korean forces have been carrying out various training exercises
since March, including air and sea drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier and
B-1B bombers, and their first large-scale amphibious landing exercises in five
years. North Korea has reacted angrily to the drills, calling them a rehearsal
for war. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, at a policy meeting with aides,
said the regional security situation was "more serious than ever" due to North
Korea's weapons development and what he called its ceaseless provocation. He
called for strengthening the alliance's extended deterrence and ensuring the
readiness and capabilities of the South Korean military through effective
training.
US flies nuclear-capable bombers amid tensions with
N. Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)/Wed, April 5, 2023
The United States flew nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Korean Peninsula
again on Wednesday in a show of strength against North Korea amid concerns that
the North might conduct a nuclear test. The long-range bombers took part in
joint aerial drills with U.S. and South Korean fighter jets over the Korean
Peninsula, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said. It said it was the first
deployment of U.S. B-52 bombers to the peninsula in a month. The drills “show
the strong resolve of the (South) Korea-U.S. alliance and its perfect readiness
to respond to any provocation by North Korea swiftly and overwhelmingly,” Lt.
Gen. Park Ha Sik, commander of the South Korean air force operation command,
said in a statement. The South Korean and U.S. militaries have been expanding
their combined military drills in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile
threats. The allies conducted their biggest field exercises in five years and
computer simulations last month. The U.S. also sent the nuclear-powered USS
Nimitz aircraft carrier for joint naval training with South Korea last week and
U.S.-South Korea-Japan anti-submarine drills this week. North Korea sees such
drills as provocations that show its rivals' intention of attacking the North. A
day after the last flight by a B-52 bomber to the peninsula on March 6, Kim Yo
Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned that her
country was ready to take “quick, overwhelming action” against the United States
and South Korea. North Korea has since test-launched a series of nuclear-capable
weapons designed to attack South Korea and the United States. They included the
North’s longest-range Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, a
developmental nuclear-capable underwater drone and cruise missiles fired from a
submarine. Last week, North Korea unveiled a new battlefield nuclear warhead to
fit on short-range weapons targeting South Korea. That touched off speculation
that it may want to carry out its first nuclear test since 2017 because its last
two nuclear test detonations happened after it disclosed other new warheads. If
conducted, it would be the North’s seventh nuclear weapons test. Whether North
Korea has functioning nuclear-armed missiles remains a subject of debate. Some
experts say a nuclear detonation would be aimed at testing a miniaturized
warhead for short-range missiles because the country’s recent weapons tests have
focused more on weapons that place key military installations in South Korea,
including U.S. military bases there, within striking distance. Kim Jong Un has
said North Korea won’t return to denuclearization talks with the U.S. unless
Washington drops hostile polices toward the North, an apparent reference to its
joint military drills with South Korea and U.S.-led international economic
sanctions. Some observers say Kim wants to use his growing weapons arsenal to
pressure Washington to accept it as a nuclear power and lift the sanctions. On
Friday, the chief nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan are
to meet in Seoul to discuss how to respond to tensions caused by North Korea’s
recent weapons tests, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry. During a policy
meeting Wednesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said security
cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo is crucial in dealing with North
Korean nuclear threats and other challenges. He said South Korea must bolster
its preemptive strike, missile defense and retaliatory attack capabilities while
strengthening the deterrence capacity of the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
New Chemical Attacks in Iran Hospitalize
Schoolgirls
FDD/April 05/2023
Latest Developments
At least 20 Iranian schoolgirls were hospitalized today in the city of Tabriz
after a new wave of chemical attacks, Iranian state media reported. The “vital
signs … and the general condition of all students is good,” said Asghar Jafari,
head of the city’s emergency service. In total, chemical attacks have poisoned
thousands of Iranian schoolgirls since November 2022. Iran’s clerical regime is
likely responsible for the attacks.
Expert Analysis
“The regime in Iran has poisoned the minds of its followers for decades. It has
murdered thousands of Iranians including children who have taken to the streets
to ask for liberty and dignity. It should come as no surprise that this
murderous and ideologically toxic regime is complicit in directing or inciting
these horrendous school poisonings.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO
“These attacks and the cover-up could not have happened without the permission
and collaboration of the clerical regime itself. The United States and its
allies should sanction top officials in the Islamic Republic’s interior and
education ministries.” — Saeed Ghasseminejad, FDD Senior Iran and Financial
Economics Advisor
The Attacks
The first poisonings reportedly occurred in late November among 18 schoolgirls
and staff at the Nour Technical School in the religious center of Qom,
approximately 80 miles southwest of Tehran. The girls went to the hospital with
symptoms that included headaches, heart palpitations, respiratory problems,
nausea, dizziness, lethargy, and inability to move, according to media reports.
The same school experienced another round of poisonings on December 13. Still,
it was only in March 2023 that the poisonings came to dominate the Iranian
national psyche as the number of attacks increased and their geographical
distribution spread.
Regime Denies Responsibility
The Islamic Republic likely perpetrated the attacks in response to the
revolutionary protests that have consumed the country since September 2022, when
government officials killed 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for allegedly wearing her
headscarf improperly. In a country like Iran, where the government has tight
control over society, it is unlikely that anti-regime groups could have engaged
in such operations in broad daylight. In addition, dissident groups have no
incentive to target schoolgirls in the middle of a revolution promoting women’s
rights.
Nevertheless, as evidence of the poisonings mounted, Iran’s Education Minister
Youssef Nouri originally dismissed the reports as “rumors.” Angry parents
protested in front of Qom’s governor’s office demanding answers after a
poisoning on February 14 sent 117 students to the hospital. Ultimately, when 104
chemical attacks occurred on March 6 alone, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, acknowledged the problem, calling the poisonings “unforgivable crimes”
that warrant “the most severe of punishments.”
Thousands of Victims
A comprehensive FDD analysis documents at least 275 attacks, 247 of which
happened in March, spread across 139 cities and towns. FDD counts at least 1,742
student victims, though other sources have offered numbers as high as 7,000. It
is likely that even more students were exposed to the poisons.
PA Security Services Officer Attacks Israeli Forces
FDD/April 05/2023
Latest Developments
A Palestinian Authority (PA) security services officer wounded three Israeli
soldiers on Saturday night after ramming a car into them near the West Bank
village of Beit Ummar. Other soldiers promptly shot dead the assailant, Mohammed
Baradiyah. Israeli forces were operating to secure roads from rock throwers and
other threats when Baradiyah targeted them.
The incident adds to the growing number of attacks against Israeli security
forces carried out by PA security forces since the uptick in West Bank violence
began in June 2021. On January 26, the PA ceased security cooperation with
Israel after an Israeli military operation in Jenin resulted in the deaths of
Palestinian militants and civilians. “Security coordination with the occupation
government no longer exists as of now,” said Deputy Prime Minister Nabil
Rudeineh at the time.
Expert Analysis
“Since June 2021, the number of attacks by members of the Palestinian
Authority’s security forces have risen compared to recent years. It’s time the
Palestinian Authority recognize that there is a problem within the ranks of its
security services. Additional acts of violence by its officers will further
erode an already fragile security relationship with their Israeli counterparts.”
— Joe Truzman, Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal
PA Officers Attack Israeli Forces
In September 2022, Ahmed Abed, an intelligence officer in the PA security
services, and one other gunman opened fire on Israeli troops surveilling them in
the Palestinian village of al-Jalama, killing Bar Falah, the deputy commander of
Israel’s elite Nahal reconnaissance unit. Almost two months earlier, PA security
services officer Khaled Hajeer opened fire at Israeli forces near Nablus. An
Israeli hospital treated Hajeer after he sustained injuries during a shootout
with the Israeli troops.
Palestinians and Israelis Make Peace Commitments
On March 19, Israeli and Palestinian officials met in the Egyptian resort city
of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss the ongoing tensions in the West Bank and Israel.
According to a communique released by Jordan’s foreign ministry, both sides
agreed to deescalate tensions on the ground and establish a mechanism to reduce
violence, incitement, and inflammatory statements. Israelis and Palestinians
expect to resume a third round of talks this month.
Chemicals Attack On Iranian Students
Saeed Ghasseminejad and Mark Dubowitz/FDD/April 05/2023
Deliberate chemical attacks have poisoned hundreds — perhaps thousands — of
students across Iran. Most victims are schoolgirls.
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These attacks have been sophisticated, organized, persistent, widespread, and
targeted. Iran’s clerical regime likely perpetrated the attacks in response to
the revolutionary protests that have consumed the country since September 2022,
when government officials allegedly killed 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for improper
headscarf wear.
Further, in a country like Iran, where the government has tight control over
society, it is unlikely that anti-regime groups could have engaged in such
operations in broad daylight. In addition, dissident groups have no incentive to
target schoolgirls in the middle of a revolution promoting women’s rights.
The attacks began in November 2022, but it was only in March 2023 that the
poisonings came to dominate the Iranian national psyche as the number of attacks
increased and their geographical distribution spread. One hundred and four
attacks occurred on March 6 alone, prompting Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, to call them “unforgivable crimes” that warrant “the most severe
of punishments.”
The following interactive map documents these attacks. Our database includes 277
attacks, 247 of which happened in March, spread across 139 cities and towns. We
count at least 1,750 student victims, though other sources have offered numbers
as high as 7,000. It is likely that even more students were exposed to the
poisons.
Design by Daniel Ackerman
Development by Pavak Patel
Jordan’s King Incites Anti-Israel Sentiment
FDD/April 05/2023
Latest Developments
King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday told a visiting Palestinian Authority (PA)
delegation, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, that it was “the duty of every
Muslim to deter Israeli escalations against … holy sites in Jerusalem.” The
statement comes as hundreds of thousands of Muslims travel to the Temple Mount
in Jerusalem to pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan.
Abdullah’s rhetoric follows a recent pattern of Jordanian attribution of blaming
Israel for violence on the Temple Mount. In reality, Palestinian extremists on
the Temple Mount often initiate violence against Israelis during Ramadan. Two
years ago, clashes during Ramadan escalated into an 11-day war between Israel
and Palestinian terror groups, mainly in Gaza.
Expert Analysis
“Once again, the Jordanian monarch is engaging in rhetoric that might be popular
among certain swaths of Jordanian society but could ultimately undermine the
vital ties with Israel that keep Jordan safe and stable. Should the Palestinians
interpret his statement as a green light to engage in violence against Israel,
Jordan may not be immune from the fallout. Jordan’s own Palestinian population
could become radicalized. Meanwhile, the patience of the Israeli government is
wearing thin. The king must find ways to deescalate for the good of his kingdom
and the entire region.” — Jonathan Schanzer, FDD Senior Vice President for
Research
Unequal Rights
The Temple Mount, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary),
is the third holiest site in Islam. It is also the holiest site in Judaism,
where the first and second temples once stood. Jordan took control of the
compound during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, but Israel reclaimed the site
during the Six-Day War in 1967. Pursuant to the peace agreement between Jordan
and Israel in 1994, the Israeli government allowed the Jordanian Jerusalem
Islamic Waqf to continue exercising authority over the compound. Under the
arrangement, Jews and non-Muslims may visit the Temple Mount during certain
hours but are not allowed to pray there.
Warm Peace Growing Cold
Amman has pulled away from Israel in recent years, driven by domestic political
considerations, unrealistic expectations, and both legitimate and illegitimate
grievances. Its official rhetoric about Israel has grown increasingly negative,
if not vitriolic. The same can be observed in Jordan’s government-censored
media. And despite ongoing cooperation on a range of challenges, diplomatic ties
are often tense.
Jordan effectively sided with Hamas during the May 2021 conflict with Israel by
echoing the terrorist group’s talking points that wrongly blamed Israeli
security forces on the Temple Mount for sparking the conflict. And during his
2022 speech to the United Nations General Assembly, King Abdullah falsely
accused Israelis of threatening Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.
Diplomatic Rejectionism
Jordan has made no attempt to hide its rejection of the new regional order
marked by Israeli normalization agreements with surrounding Arab states.
Shockingly, despite its peace agreement with Israel and its warm relations with
the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Jordan refused to send diplomatic
representatives to the White House ceremony marking the Abraham Accords in 2020.
French envoy: Canada should link with Europe,
surpass 'weak' military engagement
OTTAWA/The Canadian Press/Wed, April 5, 2023
France's ambassador to Canada says Ottawa must choose between tying itself
entirely to Washington or broadening its links to partner more with Europe —
while also calling out Canada's "weak" military engagement. "This nagging
question of the future American commitment offers, in any case more than ever,
the opportunity for Europe, France and Canada to play a role together," Michel
Miraillet said in a French-language speech Tuesday to the Montreal Council on
Foreign Relations. Miraillet argued that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine
last year was the culmination of a decade of Moscow and Beijing working to
weaken democracies. He said both Russia and China have sold their citizens a
narrative of patriotic nationalism, while building up their military
capabilities and involvement in developing countries, in anticipation of an
inevitable decline of a faltering western world.
"This relationship goes far beyond the assertion of common interests. (Vladimir)
Putin and Xi Jinping share the same hatreds, that of the West, which they want
to weaken and push back … and that of democracy, which according to them leads
to decadence and the disintegration of nations," he said. "They also became
convinced of the inevitability of America's erasure from the international
stage." Miraillet cited the presidency of George W. Bush, without directly
referencing the Iraq War, and noted the Obama administration opting against
intervening in Syria or pushing back on Russia's 2014 takeover of Ukraine's
Crimea region. "The withdrawal from the world stage, initiated under Obama and
amplified under Trump, has proved disastrous, as it created a vacuum quickly
filled by the rival powers and opened a field of expansion for Russia," he said.
"If it was to be feared that Joe Biden would go in the same direction,
especially at the time of the panic in Afghanistan, let us agree that he adopted
a firm and courageous attitude in the Ukrainian conflict."Yet Miraillet warned
that all elected leaders are subject to short-term mandates while autocrats
remain in power. "This asymmetry which has always existed between dictatorships
and democracies today has a special dimension." He said Putin is hoping that
Americans elect an isolationist president in fall 2024, and that Europeans opt
for the comforts of Russian oil over the difficulty of the higher energy bills
they're paying as a result of sticking to values and democracy. Miraillet noted
France's recent boost in military spending and proposals for deeper continental
military integration. He noted France, which is a major arms producer, is
pushing for more military manufacturing on the continent. He suggested that
Ottawa needs to demonstrate a similar commitment to global security.
"The same goes for Canada and its weak defence effort, nevertheless, somewhat
forgetful of the memory of its past commitments, of the courage shown in all
major conflicts, as in peacekeeping operations."In that context, Miraillet said
Canada should deepen its partnership with countries such as France, in the same
way that Australia has formed alliances with South Korea and Japan. He said that
as today's world organizes itself along new axes of power, with the China-Russia
pact on one side and democracies on the other, the democratic world shouldn't
align itself only with American interests — those, he said, "are not necessarily
always convergent with ours, as with yours, dear Canadian friends.""There is,
shall I say, a unique opportunity for Canada and France to act together, which
involves stepping out of their comfort zone and beyond the games of internal
politics to have a great destiny."
He said "friendshoring," a U.S. concept recently endorsed by Canada that holds
that allies should rely on each other for more resilient supply chains, is "no
longer an option." He added that Canada shouldn't constrain itself to North
American partners. Miraillet said France, in particular, wants to partner with
Canada on critical minerals for green technology, on fledging small-scale
nuclear technology and on hydrogen projects that can help electrify public
transit. "France and Canada have no other path than that of closer technological
and industrial co-operation, of a strengthened capitalistic relationship in what
is not a de-globalization phase as some have said, but more simply a decline in
trade on a global scale."Navigating that transition requires close friends, in
order for multilateral institutions to have any hope of fighting climate change,
big tech and pandemics, Miraillet argued. He said Canada faces a strategic
choice, to either "accept and reinforce the logic of American decoupling, hoping
to obtain in exchange more integration … or move toward a more multipolar logic,
in particular with Europe."Miraillet noted that France and Canada are often the
only ones to constantly advocate for individual rights in UN and G20 forums "in
the face of Global South, which is culturally often hostile and also
increasingly impervious to the interests of the individual."Miraillet pointed to
Beijing's sudden suspension of some of the strictest COVID-19 measures on the
planet, after sustained public uproar. "Democracies are superior to all other
systems, on one condition: the condition that all concerned citizens can be
persuaded to better defend them. The danger is that the refusal of risk, the
feeling of comfort and the habits of our Canadian and French societies, blinds
us."Miraillet started his term in Ottawa last fall, after serving as France's
director general of globalization and as a co-ordinator for G7 and G20 summits,
known as a sherpa. His vision of the world is rejected by Moscow and Beijing,
who argue the West has not followed agreements formed after the Second World War
to not encroach on local security interests.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 5, 2023.
US reaches $144.5 mln settlement with Texas
church shooting victims
LBCI/Wed, April 5, 2023
The US Department of Justice reached a $144.5 million settlement with survivors
and families of victims of the 2017 mass shooting at a Texas church that killed
26 people, for which a judge had found the Air Force primarily responsible.
Wednesday's settlement with more than 75 plaintiffs requires approval by U.S.
District Judge Xavier Rodriguez in San Antonio. It would end the government's
appeal of Rodriguez's order that it pay approximately $230 million over the Nov.
5, 2017 massacre by former Air Force airman Devin Patrick Kelley at the First
Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
Twenty-two others were injured when Kelley, 26, dressed in black and wearing a
skull mask, opened fire at a Sunday service, 31 miles (50 km) east of San
Antonio. He died later of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head after a police
chase.Kelley had used firearms he should not have been allowed to buy, after
admitting in a 2012 court martial to domestic violence for striking his former
wife and infant stepson.
Trump, facing criminal charges, calls for
defunding the FBI
Reuters/LBCI/Wed, April 5, 2023
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on his fellow Republicans in
Congress to slash funding for the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI, going on
the offensive a day after pleading not guilty in New York to 34 felony counts of
falsifying business records. Trump, who is seeking to regain the presidency in
2024, took aim at federal law enforcement authorities even though the historic
criminal charges against him - the first brought against any former or sitting
president - were pursued by the Manhattan district attorney.
"REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS SHOULD DEFUND THE DOJ AND FBI UNTIL THEY COME TO THEIR
SENSES," Trump wrote on his social media platform. DOJ stands for the Department
of Justice. Republicans in the past have supported robust funding for law
enforcement and have criticized proposals from some on the left in recent years
to "defund" local police departments. Trump, who served as president from 2017
to 2021, backed spending increases for the Justice Department and FBI while in
office. The FBI is the U.S. domestic intelligence and security agency. Trump
faces two Justice Department criminal investigations led by a special counsel
appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. One focuses on efforts by
Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost
to Democratic President Joe Biden and the other focuses on classified documents
that Trump retained after leaving office. Trump himself appointed the current
FBI director, Christopher Wray, after firing the agency's previous chief, James
Comey, in 2017. Congress appears unlikely to follow through on Trump's demand.
Republicans control the House of Representatives and Democrats control the
Senate. The FBI on Wednesday declined to comment on Trump's remarks. Reduced
funding for federal law enforcement also would not affect another criminal
investigation involving Trump led by a county prosecutor in Georgia, focusing on
whether he unlawfully sought to overturn his 2020 election loss in that state.
The office of Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, charged Trump on
Tuesday with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over allegations
that he orchestrated payments to two women before the 2016 election to suppress
publication of their sexual encounters with him. Prosecutors said the payments
to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal
constituted an attempt to conceal a violation of election law. Opinion polls
show Trump as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination
as he seeks to deny Biden a second term in office. Trump has over the years
complained that law enforcement at the national and state level were targeting
him for political purposes, and his fellow Republicans in Congress have held
hearings to examine what they describe as the "weaponization" of government.
Trump and his allies have accused Bragg, a Democrat, of bringing the charges for
political reasons. Bragg in comments after the charges were brought on Tuesday
said he has a responsibility to ensure everyone stands equal before the law.
Trump appeared at an arraignment in New York on Tuesday before flying back to
his home in Florida to make public remarks. He declared himself the victim of
election interference, without offering evidence. "I never thought anything like
this could happen in America," Trump told supporters gathered at his Mar-a-Lago
estate in Palm Beach. "The only crime that I've committed has been to fearlessly
defend our nation against those who seek to destroy it." Trump accused Bragg of
being out to get him "before he knew anything about me." He said the judge in
the case, Juan Merchan, is "a Trump-hating judge." Merchan has set the next
hearing in the Trump case for Dec. 4. Legal experts said a trial may not even
get under way for a year. Indictment or even conviction does not legally prevent
a person from running for president.
Turkey Shuts Airspace to Planes Using Iraqi
Airport Over Kurdish Militant ‘Infiltration’
NNA/April 05/2023
Turkey closed its airspace to flights to and from an airport in
Kurdish-administered northern Iraq, a top Turkish official announced Wednesday,
citing an alleged increase in Kurdish militant activity threatening flight
safety. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tanju Bilgic said the Turkish airspace has
been closed to flights taking off and landing at Suleimaniyah International
Airport, in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, since Tuesday. The
closure was in response to an alleged increase in the activities of the banned
Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in Suleimaniyah as well as its “infiltration”
into the airport, Bilgic said in a written statement.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on April 05-06/2023
China brokering a deal between
the Saudis and Iran is a message for the US: Change your strategy or get left
behind
Hassan El-Tayyab/Business Insider/April 05/2023
In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced they had normalized relations in a
deal brokered by China.
For the US, the deal is both a wakeup call and a chance to address urgent
priorities with diplomacy.
Hassan El-Tayyab is legislative director for Middle East policy at the Friends
Committee on National Legislation.
For decades, the United States has been viewed as the indispensable nation in
the Middle East. However, the recent agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran,
brokered with the help of Chinese mediation, challenges long-standing
assumptions about the US role there and signifies an entirely new shift in
China's approach to the region.
By mediating the Saudi-Iran deal, China has demonstrated its ability to play a
constructive role in resolving conflicts impartially, rather than relying on
arms sales to keep nations in America's corner in geopolitical disputes. In
contrast, the US has for years taken sides and militarily intervened in almost
every regional conflict, including in Yemen, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq
and is far and away the region's largest weapons dealer.
Predictably, some US officials and commentators have declared China's
breakthrough as an urgent threat to American interests, arguing that the Biden
administration's strategic misfires have opened the door to greater Chinese
influence. But this deal need not be the catastrophe these critics make it out
to be. A more stable region with reduced Saudi-Iran hostilities benefits
everyone, including the US.
China is presenting a different vision for the region and it is incumbent upon
the US to respond. But the way to compete in this new arena is through robust
diplomatic engagement. This agreement is both a wakeup call and an opportunity
to address urgent priorities, including ending the Yemen war and curbing Iran's
nuclear program — both of which can only be resolved through diplomacy.
The Saudis and their backers in the US have made no secret that extending
blanket concessions, including formal American security guarantees, is the only
way to bring the Kingdom firmly back into the Western fold and advance Israel's
formal integration in the region.
But we shouldn't take the bait, especially when the Kingdom continually subverts
US interests by manipulating the global energy market and when the prospects for
peaceful resolutions to long standing conflicts are growing.
Gifting the Saudis with more military support risks backsliding on the Yemen
peace talks and seriously impeding the negotiated solution that is imperative to
ending the war. And it's critical to US interests that this war ends. The
conflict has created a massive humanitarian crisis and regional instability, has
put at risk the lives of tens of thousands of US troops and civilians in Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, led to a rise in recruitment by extremist
groups like Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula, and badly damaged America's
international reputation.
There have been some positive signs for diplomacy in Yemen since the Saudi-Iran
deal was announced. These include the opening of Hodeidah port to commercial
cargo, a prisoner swap agreement between the warring parties, reports of Iran
stopping weapons shipments to the Houthis, and no new cross-border airstrikes or
drone attacks. Continued US diplomatic engagement is needed to keep these
fragile negotiations on track.
Proponents of the traditional American approach in the region are also in a
frenzy about the potential breakdown of the counter-Iran coalition, but
isolating Iran has been a strategic failure by all accounts.
Former President Donald Trump's move away from engagement through his
catastrophic withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and "maximum pressure"
campaign have accelerated volatility in the Middle East and unleashed Iran's
nuclear enrichment program, which is inching dangerously close to weapons-grade.
The new Iran-Saudi agreement, however, creates new openings for diplomacy
alongside regional stakeholders to put Iran's nuclear program back in the box
peacefully. It may also pave the way for resolutions to other areas of dispute.
Congress and the Biden administration should now take immediate steps along this
path and adopt a more neutral posture across the Middle East if it wants to stay
relevant in this new moment.
Policymakers can start by ending military support and weapons for the Saudi-led
war in Yemen and pushing for a diplomatic end to the conflict and humanitarian
crisis. The administration can also push for new trust-building measures such as
prisoner swaps with Iran and some safeguards agreements for more limits and
oversight on Iran's nuclear facilities in exchange for targeted sanctions
relief, as it seeks to fully restore the nuclear deal.
The Saudi-Iran normalization deal is an end of one era of US-primacy in the
Middle East and the start of a new multi-polar reality. Policymakers in the
United States have two choices: get on the diplomacy train or watch it leave the
station without them.
If Washington rejects regional power-sharing and obstructs a world in which
other nations have a vested interest in peace, it risks jeopardizing America's
own economic and security interests and its international reputation. Now is the
time to prioritize and reap the benefits of diplomacy, not reject those who
advocate for it.
*Hassan El-Tayyab is the legislative director for Middle East policy at the
Friends Committee on National Legislation.
France: A 'Field of Ruins'
Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/April 5, 2023
France, once again, is on the verge of chaos.
The subject of the discontent is the adoption of a law reforming the pension
system in a minimal way: the legal retirement age in France has been set at 62
since 2010; the law raises it two years, to 64.
Neither members of the government nor economists on television dare to speak the
truth: The French pension system is collapsing. The reform just adopted will not
be enough to save it; just allow it to survive a bit longer.
The system has been bankrupt for years, but its bankruptcy is growing more
costly.
The French pension system is not the only system collapsing. The country is
facing a much larger crisis.
The French health insurance system, also based on mandatory contributions
deducted from salaries, also is in terrible shape.
Food prices in 2022, meanwhile, increased 14.5%.
The center-left and center-right parties are dead. Neither the Rebellious France
Party nor the National Rally Party would be able gather enough votes to
constitute an alternative majority. The political situation is blocked.
France seems deadlocked, the possibilities of unblocking it nowhere in sight.
"A modest reform based on an implacable demographic observation has tipped
France into an existential crisis in which everything is wavering... A much
deeper malaise is rising to the surface. That of a country haunted by its
decline". — Vincent Trémollet de Villers, Le Figaro, March 23, 2023.
"Have we hit rock bottom?" asked journalist Franz-Olivier Giesbert. "No, not
yet."
France, once again, is on the verge of chaos. The French pension system is not
the only system collapsing. The country is facing a much larger crisis.
Pictured: Rioters in Nantes, France, on March 28, 2023. (Photo by Sebastien
Salom-Gomis/AFP via Getty Images)
Paris, France. March 23, 8 p.m. A demonstration took place; as usual now, riots
followed the demonstration and swept through the center of the city, then to
other cities. Cars were burned, shop windows smashed, garbage dumpsters set on
fire. A garbage collectors' strike began two weeks earlier; nearly ten thousand
tons of garbage, still strewn on the sidewalks, almost completely block some
streets. The proliferation of rats threatens disease. Oil refineries are shut
down; gas stations are running dry. More demonstrations took place March 28 --
and more riots.
France, once again, is on the verge of chaos.
The subject of the discontent is the adoption of a law reforming the pension
system in a minimal way: the legal retirement age in France has been set at 62
since 2010; the law raises it two years, to 64.
As soon as the law was presented by the government, all the trade unions called
for strikes. Philippe Martinez, general secretary of the General Confederation
of Labour (CGT), a union with communist roots, said that a compromise with the
authorities is "not an option". Leaders of the leftist railway workers' union,
vowed to bring the French economy to its knees. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader
of Rebellious France, the main left-wing party in France, told his followers:
"Block everything you can". Members of the rightist National Rally were
essentially on the same position as Rebellious France: a year ago, they
campaigned for the retirement age to be set at 60.
Neither members of the government nor economists on television dare to speak the
truth: The French pension system is collapsing. The reform just adopted will not
be enough to save it; just allow it to survive a bit longer.
The system, created in 1945, is essentially a system of redistribution:
mandatory contributions deducted from the salaries of today's employees are used
to pay the pensions of today's retirees; today's employees rely on future
contributions that will be deducted from the salaries of people employed at the
time they retire. It seemed, when it was created, that the system could work:
the ratio then was five employees per retiree. Life expectancy in France then
was 65 years (68 for women, 63 for men). The retirement age was set at 60. On
average, pensions had to be paid to retirees for only five years.
If, however, the ratio of employees per retiree decreased and life expectancy
increased, the contributions paid by the employees would have to increase until
reaching unbearable amounts. After the post-war baby boom, the number of
children per woman fell, and the ratio of employees per retiree fell as well:
today there are only 1.7 employees per retiree. Life expectancy in France has
increased to nearly 82.5 years (85.3 for women, 79.4 for men). On average,
pensions must be paid to retirees for more than 20 years.
The system has been bankrupt for years, but its bankruptcy is growing more
costly.
The French government is in a situation where it had to "do something." Raising
taxes to partially offset the deficit of the pension system is effectively
impossible: France already has one of the highest tax burdens in the developed
world (45.4 percent of GDP); at the same time, the country's economic
competitiveness is crumbling. French public expenditures are already the highest
in the developed world and increasing. Increasing taxes would mean further
crushing the taxpayers and indebting the country. Reducing public spending would
imply cuts to welfare spending (a third of public spending), but a large part of
the benefits paid go to immigrant and non-integrated populations in the "no-go
zones." The cuts would trigger the risk of even more violent uprisings.
The budgets of successive French governments have been in deficit every year
since 1970; the country's debt has reached alarming levels. The French debt to
GDP ratio reached 100% in December 2019. It now stands at 113.7%.
The French pension system is not the only system collapsing. The country is
facing a much larger crisis.
The French health insurance system, also based on mandatory contributions
deducted from salaries, also is in terrible shape. The decline in the ratio of
workers to retirees and the increase in life expectancy similarly cause public
healthcare expenditures to increase faster than the sum of contributions, and
the system is in increasing deficit. In 2000, a socialist government created a
state medical benefit, which finances "free" medical care for illegal immigrants
in France – a benefit further skyrocketing the deficit.
Food prices in 2022, meanwhile, increased 14.5%. The French standard of living
is deteriorating.
In the face of a crime wave, insecurity is sharply rising. The number of
assaults increased by 33% percent between January 2017 and January 2022. Last
year, the number of rapes reached an alarming figure, 84,500, an increase of 11%
compared to 2021.
According to surveys, the French population is the world's most pessimistic. A
poll published in March 2021 indicated that only 9% of French people thought the
economic situation had a chance of improving (the figure for Mexico, where the
situation is far more difficult than in France, was 46%; for India, 62%).
The crisis that France is going through is also a political one. In May 2017,
Emmanuel Macron was elected president -- not due to the enthusiasm of voters for
his program, but due to their rejecting his opponent, the National Rally party
leader Marine Le Pen, whom Macron had described as an incarnation of fascism and
as a dangerous extremist. Macron had formed a party by gathering around him the
main political leaders of the center left and center right, "The Republic on the
Move". Having thus destroyed the center-left and center-right parties that had
ruled the country for decades, he easily won election by an overwhelming
majority.
Before 2017, he had declared that workers in a factory about to close were
"illiterate", and spoke of the difference between "those who succeed and those
who are nothing". Even after becoming president, he showed contempt for the
poor: "Some are concerned about having end-of-the-month problems", he said, but
he takes care of problems concerning "the end of the world". In November 2018,
he was confronted with a revolt -- the "yellow vests" (gilets jaunes) -- largely
motivated by the anger that many French people felt towards him and rising fuel
costs. Portraits of Macron were burned in the streets; effigies of Macron were
hanged and trampled on.
Macron responded to the uprising with fierce police repression. Police threw
sting-ball grenades into crowds and fired rubber bullets at close range.
Hundreds of demonstrators were wounded, dozens mutilated with the loss of an
eye, hand or foot. The uprising, which lasted for months, was followed by a long
public transportation strike along, of course, with riots.
Calm returned only in March 2020 with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic --
and with extraordinarily strict lockdown rules by the government. The French
were forced to stay in their homes for weeks and only allowed out for one hour a
day, at a maximum distance of half a mile. They also had to have on them a
document indicating their address and the time at which they left their house to
present to the police, if asked.
When vaccines became available, freedom of movement was gradually restored, but
only for vaccinated people, who at all times had to carry a vaccination passport
to enter shops, restaurants and all administrative services. These restrictions
were lifted only a few weeks before the presidential election.
In May 2022, Macron was re-elected by the voters' rejection of Marine Le Pen.
The abstention rate was unusually high.
In the parliamentary elections that followed the presidential election, the
party created by Macron (now called Renaissance) obtained only a thin majority,
making it harder to pass laws.
Macron evidently saw that modifying the pension system was an imperative. Rather
than trying to convince his opponents, he decided to use Article 49.3 of the
French constitution, which allows a law to be passed without being debated, by
asking parliament to vote for or against the government. The pension law, though
controversial, was passed, but with disorder sure to follow.
The anger that had been silenced by lockdowns and police repression two years
earlier resurfaced. Polls show that 68% of the French disapprove of the reform.
Macron has reacted the same way as when he faced the uprising of the yellow
vests. On March 22, he said that the street will not dictate his political
agenda, and again resorted to fierce police repression.
He seems to fear that if he gives in and abandons his latest reform, he will be
extremely weakened. Carrying out any other reforms during the rest of his
presidency would be impossible. Clearly, he does not intend to give in. He also
seems to understand that without reform to extend the retirement age by two
years, France could find itself in insolvency fairly fast.
Macron likely also fears that if he decides to dissolve the National Assembly
and call for new parliamentary elections, he would not again win a majority
giving him more freedom of action. The center-left and center-right parties are
dead. Neither the Rebellious France Party nor the National Rally Party would be
able gather enough votes to constitute an alternative majority. The political
situation is blocked. Commentators with access to Macron say he hopes the
crackdown will be enough to push protesters into giving up. That response,
however, is not what happened in 2020. And this time, there is no pandemic to
confine the population.
France seems deadlocked, the possibilities of unblocking it nowhere in sight.
Vincent Trémollet de Villers, opinion page editor of the daily Le Figaro, on
March 23 described France today as a "field of ruins", adding:
"A modest reform based on an implacable demographic observation has tipped
France into an existential crisis in which everything is wavering... A much
deeper malaise is rising to the surface. That of a country haunted by its
decline"."Have we hit rock bottom?" asked journalist Franz-Olivier Giesbert.
"No, not yet."
*Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27
books on France and Europe.
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not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
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or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Prosecuting Political Foes Is Incompatible
With Democracy
Jonathan S. Tobin/Gatestone Institute/April 5, 2023
Their [the left's] claim is that both Trump and Netanyahu are enemies of
democracy. That makes achieving their downfall... a righteous cause.... Actions
that would easily be seen as an abuse of power are justified because of a
supposedly higher purpose....
[B]oth men are political leaders being singled out by prosecutors for charges
that weren't so much tailored to their circumstances as they were invented for
the sole purpose of taking them down.
[T]he only reason any prosecutor is looking for a way to charge him is because
he's a hated political foe.
[T]heir foes justify using the legal system against them because they claim they
are enemies of democracy but whose main purpose appears to be toppling the
government.
[T]he willingness of so much of the chattering classes to justify attempts to
jail political opponents is antithetical to the survival of democracy in both
countries.
Such prosecutions only serve to undermine public confidence. They convince
supporters of those charged that there is a two-tiered system where political
foes not favored by the legal apparatus are treated differently.
[D]emocracy, which relies on both sides, accepting each other's legitimacy, is
in real jeopardy of failing. The real threat to it doesn't come from
conservatives in either country. It can be found in a political culture that has
been embraced by the left that is willing to stop at nothing to crush opponents.
As different as the cases against Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are, what they have in common is that both men
are political leaders being singled out by prosecutors for charges that weren't
so much tailored to their circumstances as they were invented for the sole
purpose of taking them down.
These are heady times for those who hate both Donald Trump and Benjamin
Netanyahu. The news that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had persuaded a
grand jury to indict the former president was greeted with chortles of
satisfaction from the Jewish left, which was already celebrating the recent
setback suffered by the Israeli prime minister after he put judicial reform on
hold.
Trump being booked in New York is not only being celebrated by those who call
Netanyahu "crime minister" because of the long-running legal case on corruption
charges that he has been fighting in and out of the courts for years. It has
also allowed them to see the pair, despite the obvious differences between the
two men and the legal stratagems that have been deployed against them, and their
predicaments as part of a common struggle against what Haaretz called the way
they both attack their respective countries' democratic institutions.
To the left, that's the important point.
Their claim is that both Trump and Netanyahu are enemies of democracy. That
makes achieving their downfall not so much a matter of alleged wrongdoers
getting their comeuppance but can be portrayed as a righteous cause in which
threats to the common good are eliminated by lawfare. In that way, even the
flimsiest of charges or the use of tactics that target an individual rather than
enforcing the law is normalized rather than condemned as violating legal ethics.
Actions that would easily be seen as an abuse of power are justified because of
a supposedly higher purpose to the prosecution.
As different as the cases against Trump and Netanyahu are, what they have in
common is that both men are political leaders being singled out by prosecutors
for charges that weren't so much tailored to their circumstances as they were
invented for the sole purpose of taking them down.
The cases against Trump and Netanyahu
The indictment of Trump is driven largely by a novel legal tactic focused on his
alleged payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels. While such actions
are deplorable, they are not illegal; nevertheless, it's being treated as a form
of fraud because it is considered an unreported campaign contribution. This is
an absurd argument that has never been successfully used against any politician
and is unlikely to withstand scrutiny by higher courts even if the deep-blue
courts of New York City railroad it through. It's possible that Trump's
businesses have also been scrutinized for some possible illegal behavior in ways
that practically no other New York real estate firm has been treated.
Other charges that may be pending against Trump in either the District of
Columbia, where he might be charged for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, or in
Georgia, where he is accused of trying to swing the 2020 presidential election
in his favor by looking for more votes, may have more merit. Still, both of
those cases run afoul of other pitfalls, such as the fact that even foolish or
bad speech isn't normally treated as criminal.
But while Trump is a singular figure who has shattered all sorts of precedents,
both good and bad, the only reason any prosecutor is looking for a way to charge
him is because he's a hated political foe.
The same is true of the charges against Netanyahu, even if the person ultimately
responsible for the case—former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit — was a
former supporter turned political enemy.
The three cases against him that are being tried in a Jerusalem District Court
have, if anything, even less substance to them than the ones against Trump. One
concerns his acceptance of expensive gifts of champagne and cigars from
admirers, though the notion that doing so constituted a breach of trust or fraud
is absurd. The second involves discussions between the prime minister and the
publisher of the hostile Yediot Achronot newspaper in which Netanyahu suggested
that he might support legislation that undermined the Israel Hayom newspaper (Yediot's
pro-Netanyahu competition) in exchange for favorable coverage. The prosecutors
involved labeled that a "breach of trust" but, here again, it's not clear what
existing law the conversation (which led to nothing) broke. The third charge
sounds more substantial since it alleges that Netanyahu traded regulatory
decisions that favored the Bezeq Company for favorable coverage on its Walla
news site. But since Walla remained critical of the prime minister, the claim
that it was bribery lacks substance. Even if the outlet had changed its tune,
here again, there is no law in Israel that states that obtaining favorable
coverage is bribery.
As with the complicated attempt to use the Stormy Daniels affair against Trump,
Netanyahu's foes don't care that the cases against him lack substance. They
believe him to be a criminal simply because he is a hated political foe who is
difficult to beat at the ballot box. If it takes cases in which a man will be
convicted of violating laws that don't actually exist on fake claims of fraud,
that's OK because they see it as similar to charging Jazz Age crime boss Al
Capone with not paying his taxes rather than for murder.
The difference is that Capone really was the head of a criminal enterprise.
Dislike or disagree with them all you want, but Trump and Netanyahu are not
criminals. They are political opponents. And so, their foes justify using the
legal system against them because they claim they are enemies of democracy
against whom the normal rules of political conduct cannot apply.
The real threat to democracy
In recent years, one of the standard talking points of the political left in
both Israel and the United States has been to state their fears about an alleged
war on democracy being waged by their political rivals. In the United States,
the claim that Republicans were "semi-fascists" and bigots who had to be
defeated in order to save democracy was a rallying cry for Democrats in the 2022
midterm elections. In Israel, in the past three months, hundreds of thousands of
opponents of Netanyahu have also been employing the same kind of hyperbole about
saving democracy. They believe that the stakes are sufficiently high to justify
blocking highways and sabotaging their country's economy and national defense
purportedly to stop judicial reform legislation, but whose main purpose appears
to be toppling the government.
The arguments in favor of their opposition to judicial reform don't stand up to
scrutiny and, when stripped down to their essentials, amount to a belief on the
part of many Israelis that the nationalist and religious voters who favor
Netanyahu and his allies can't be allowed to govern. That is why even people
like opposition leader Yair Lapid and others in his camp — once ardent critics
of the out-of-control and essentially lawless Israeli Supreme Court — now oppose
judicial reform.
The claims of Democrats that Republicans oppose democracy because of differences
over voter integrity laws are just as lacking in substance. Trump may be
deserving of criticism for not accepting the legitimacy of election results, yet
the willingness of Democrats to shamelessly sabotage his administration with
conspiracy theories about Russian collusion, and to use their media and Big Tech
allies to silence negative stories about the Biden family corruption in 2020,
shows that they are just as guilty of behaving badly in pursuit of political
power.
That's why we should ignore the claims that the defense of democracy requires
political prosecutions.
On the contrary, the willingness of so much of the chattering classes to justify
attempts to jail political opponents is antithetical to the survival of
democracy in both countries. Contrary to the claims of their detractors, the
legal wars against Trump and Netanyahu are not a matter of demonstrating that no
one, no matter how powerful, is above the law. In fact, both men are being
treated as if they are below the law.
Such prosecutions only serve to undermine public confidence in the justice
system. They convince supporters of those charged that there is a two-tiered
system where political foes not favored by the legal apparatus are treated
differently.
No matter what they think of the two men, Israelis and Americans who care about
preserving democracy should be hoping that the cases against Trump and Netanyahu
end as quickly as possible with neither man being convicted. The alternative is
a scenario in which democracy, which relies on both sides accepting each other's
legitimacy, is in real jeopardy of failing. The real threat to it doesn't come
from conservatives in either country. It can be found in a political culture
that has been embraced by the left that is willing to stop at nothing to crush
opponents.
*Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate).
© 2023 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.
British travel chaos a result of ill-conceived Brexit
Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/April 05/2023
A tired country needs a vacation, but even that seems problematic for British
holidaymakers trapped in lengthy queues while trying to cross to mainland Europe
through the port of Dover. After months of strikes, by train drivers, health
workers, border control officers, teachers, and others, the year’s greatest
getaway period for the British has been dampened by heavy traffic and
passport-processing delays by French authorities. “Oui, blame the French,” as
this, too, has nothing to do with Brexit, of course.
Months of shortages, the ballooning cost of living, inflation and high energy
prices did not deter those who managed to save enough to escape the country with
their children during the two-week spring break, but who found themselves
waiting helplessly in queues, a frequent feature of cross-Channel travel since
Britain’s exit from the EU. Britain in 2016 voted to “take back control” and
extract itself from the EU, the UK's closest trading partner and neighbor, in
pursuit of the myth of a “global Britain,” free from the shackles and
constraints of European regulation. The British were led to believe that they
would be free to strike deals with nations as far away as Australia and
Colombia, creating a “Singapore on Thames” business and trading hub that would
be the envy of all 27 members of the European bloc. So far the UK has signed
trade deals in principle with 71 countries and one with the EU. However, these
are simply “rollover” deals, with copied terms of agreements the UK had when it
was a member of the EU. Last week, Britain became the first new member of the
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP,
since the group was created in 2018. This development fulfills a key Brexit
pledge that once outside the EU, the UK could capitalize on joining blocs with
faster-growing economies than those closer to home. Nevertheless, the expected
cumulative impact of this deal in the long term is no more than 0.08 percent of
gross domestic product, compared with the clear 4 percent the UK has lost from
its economy as a result of leaving the EU.
The sooner the effects of Brexit are taken seriously by leading ministers, the
sooner its negative impact can be addressed. Since Britain left the EU single
market in 2021, it has been trying to strike bilateral deals to boost its
international trade and flagging economy. Now, it has beaten even China, which
applied to join in 2021, for a place at the CPTPP table, joining global players
such as Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Brunei,
Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. However, King’s College, London economist
Jonathan Portes noted that the CPTPP was not a “deep multilateral agreement,”
and might prove a mere geostrategic step, while its impact in lowering trade
barriers would be “quite small” compared with its predecessor with the EU, or
even highly prized pacts expected with the US or India.
Ignoring comments in the British media describing Conservative government
officials as “delusional” for blaming the holiday misery in Dover on poor
weather, the fact is that while the UK has been out of the EU since Jan. 31,
2020, the agreed transition period has meant that until recently there has been
no need to stamp passports. An end to freedom of movement means passports need
to be scanned and stamped, and that surely takes more time for every traveler
crossing to the EU or back.
Brexiteer ministers of the UK government surely know that. A statement by
Downing Street on the queues at Dover shows that at last some sense of reason is
finally appearing, with Brexit mentioned by the spokesperson as a key factor in
the Easter travel chaos.
The sooner the effects of Brexit are taken seriously by leading ministers, the
sooner its negative impact on farming, fishing, manufacturing, investment,
supply chains, lack of skilled labor and, of course, travel, can be addressed.
• Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist, media consultant and trainer
with more than 25 years of experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current
affairs and diplomacy.
Canada’s immigration policy benefits all, nationally and
globally
Tala Jarjour/Arab News/April 05, 2023
The bodies of eight people who died while trying to cross from Canada into the
US were recovered near the border area last week, while the bodies of four other
victims were found elsewhere in January. According to the BBC, 367 people were
stopped from making illegal crossings by the US Border Patrol in January alone,
the largest number apprehended in the past 12 years. These events are prompting
questions and, in some cases, multinational investigations.
Canada has a reputation for being more welcoming to immigrants than its southern
neighbor, and a record 40,000 people are believed to have entered the country
last year from the US through unofficial routes. In response, Canada has
announced a new program to accept 15,000 immigrants from Latin American
countries. Canadian government statistics show that the country’s population has
increased by a million, primarily as a result of its efforts to address labor
shortages by accepting large numbers of immigrants. Almost 96 percent of this
increase comes from international immigration, which Canada also hopes will help
address the problem of its aging population. An increased immigrant intake has
been part of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s policy since his election.
In recent years, Canada has been particularly open to immigration from
crisis-stricken countries, such as Afghanistan, where the humanitarian situation
has been deteriorating. More recently, an increase in immigration from Syria has
been announced following the devastating earthquake in early February. Syria has
long benefited from Canada’s immigration policy. As well as individual asylum
applications that were processed in temporary refugee stations during the Syrian
conflict, Canada opened direct immigration routes to Syrians. At one point, the
host country flew over twice the number it had initially invited after opening a
waiting list to bring people out of the war zone. While critics say that some
parts of Canada face a shortage of housing and other resources that might
complicate accepting new immigrants, Canada as a whole can absorb large numbers.
The recent increase has brought its population to almost 40 million, which
occupies one of the largest national territories on the planet, but is almost
half the population of the UK, a much smaller country.
The current 2.7 percent population growth rate is the country’s highest since
1957 and the fastest among the G7. Canada also has the highest ratio of
immigrants in the population, or one in four. Compare this to the US and UK,
where about 14 percent of the population arrived as immigrants. But its ambition
goes further. Consistent with the government’s projected growth, immigration
currently accounts for almost all of Canada’s labor force growth.
In one year, Canada has already achieved two-thirds of the three-year target it
set itself in 2022: To bring in 1.5 million immigrants by 2025. While a
controversial plan by some measures, this policy is a continuation of Canada’s
immigration ethos, which combines humanitarian considerations with attracting
skill and young talent. Consistent with the government’s projected growth,
especially in relation to challenges in the labor market, immigration currently
accounts for almost all of Canada’s labor force growth. What is more,
immigration is likely to be the main source of population growth by 2032.
For aspiring immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, such as Syria and
Lebanon, Canada has operated a points-based immigration system for decades,
attracting young, ambitious and bright individuals, along with their families.
Canada was already home to significant communities from both countries when
conflict erupted in Syria. During the war years, and through targeted
humanitarian schemes, hundreds more were resettled across many provinces. Rescue
schemes brought over extended families from particularly difficult areas,
fast-tracking their integration and document processing. Students were quickly
enrolled in schools, and individual efforts were soon rewarded by university
acceptances, degrees and employment opportunities. Many lives were dramatically
changed in the course of five years.
A large number of these new citizens and permanent residents are now
economically productive. This is important not only because it fulfills the
country’s goals in meeting its labor challenges. With the deteriorating economy
in Lebanon and the scarcity of resources in Syria, immigrant remittances are
proving vital lifelines to a significant part of the populations in both
countries. According to the International Organization for Migration,
remittances to Lebanon in 2021 totaled $6.6 billion. Now, with a decline in aid
pledges by several countries, Syrian and Lebanese immigrants are effectively
taking on part of the international burden of providing basic sustenance to
these populations.
In the current global economic climate, aiding — rather than blocking
immigration — is the smarter policy for all involved. Whether they have
attempted to walk in subzero temperatures or were abandoned by a smuggler on a
boat, people who come knocking at a rich country’s doors are not a burden. In
the long term, immigrants are an asset to the host country’s internal economy as
well as its global obligations.
• Tala Jarjour, Ph.D. (Cantab), is the author of “Sense and Sadness: Syriac
Chant in Aleppo.” She is Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London and
Associate Fellow at the Yale College.