English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 14/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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15 آذار/2023

Bible Quotations For today
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you. They were startled and terrified. He said to them: Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself.
Saint Luke 24/36-45: “While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 13-14/2023
Rahi meets Army Commander
Mawlawi meets al-Rahi over municipal vote
French official discussed Lebanese presidency on KSA visit
Mikati calls for cabinet session on wages, elections funds
Berri calls for legislative session to extend municipalities term
Lebanon electricity officials acknowledge unfair electricity costs, promise change
Fayyad announces 'relative' power plan 'success'
Geagea says Hezbollah real reason behind crisis
Geagea: Goal behind disrupting presidential, municipal elections to control all aspects of power in Lebanon
Berri welcomes Iraqi Youth Minister in presence of Kallas
Judge Aoun to lift travel ban on Salameh, a month before Paris hearing
Kheireddine charged, slapped with travel ban in Paris in Salameh probe
Lawyers and media: Beirut Bar Association's decision sparks controversy
The illusion of economic progress: Lebanon's struggle with public sector salaries and customs tariffs
Legislative session tackles municipal election funding and term extension
Lebanon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns arbitrary Israeli measures preventing Christians from entering Church of Holy Sepulcher on Saturday
Container Control Programme highlights success preventing exploitation of global trade supply chain
Lebanon dysfunction hits new peak on 48th anniversary of war/Beatrice Farhat/Al Monitor/April 13/2023
Will Iran Succeed in Changing How Hezbollah Operates?/Huda al-Husseini/Asharq Al Awsat/April, 13/2023
LIC Calls on the Lebanese Government to Disarm Palestinians in Lebanon

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 13-14/2023
Syria, Saudi Arabia move toward restoring embassies, flights
Qatar and Bahrain end feud and re-establish relations
Iran to take harsher actions against women without hijab
Japan Offers Iran Assistance to Complete Nuclear Negotiations
Iran Uses Earthquake Relief Mission to Fly Weapons to Syria
Iran in Secret Talks with China, Russia to Acquire Ballistic Missile Fuel
Holy Land Christians say attacks rising in far-right Israel
Executions surge by 75pc in Iran after anti-government protests
Kyiv calls for NATO to secure Black Sea, integrate Ukrainian defences
Hungary to quit Russian International Investment Bank after U.S. sanctions
Russia may discuss swap for WSJ reporter; airmen taken into custody in leak case: Ukraine live updates
Ukraine's spy chief says 'Russia is the only beneficiary' of US intelligence leak
FBI arrests Air National Guard suspected over Pentagon leaks
Egyptian, Emirati Leaders Discuss Promoting Regional Stability

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 13-14/2023
Intelligence Leaks and the Consequences of Israel's Resistance Coup/Jonathan S. Tobin/Gatestone Institute./April 13, 2023
What Is Really Happening at Jerusalem's Holy Sites?/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./April 13, 2023
Vatican Apologizes to the ‘Infidel Enemies of the Christian Name’/Raymond Ibrahim/April 13/2023
Reconciliations Are Better Than Wars/Samir Atallah/Asharq Al Awsat/April, 13/2023
The Ukraine War of to Be or Not to Be/Omer Onhon/Asharq Al Awsat/April, 13/2023
WTO remains vital despite criticisms/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 13, 2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 13-14/2023
Rahi meets Army Commander
NNA/April 13/2023
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rahi met on Thursday with Lebanese Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, heading a delegation of the military institution, who came to Bkerki to extend Easter greetings. The meeting was also an occasion to discuss the security situation in the country.

Mawlawi meets al-Rahi over municipal vote
Naharnet/April 13/2023
Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi met Thursday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkerki and discussed the municipal elections. "I have stressed on the need to hold the municipal elections," Mawali said, after the meeting. "We are ready for the elections administratively and funding is the only obstacle," Mawalwi affirmed. Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab had announced, after a joint committees session Wednesday, that "it has become impossible to stage the municipal elections," as he blamed the government for failing to secure the needed funds.

French official discussed Lebanese presidency on KSA visit
Naharnet/April 13/2023
French presidential adviser for near eastern affairs Patrick Durel visited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to continue discussions over the file of Lebanon’s presidential vacuum, LBCI television reported. Durel has recently met in Paris with Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh – the presidential candidate of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. Conflicting reports have emerged Saturday over the outcome of the visit. Annahar newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying that Paris would tell Franjieh of “the need to withdraw from the race to the presidential palace in order to facilitate the electoral process, seeing as the election of a partisan president is almost impossible.” Informed sources meanwhile told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that Paris invited Franjieh to France to agree with him over “the public pledges that he can offer over key issues, such as how to deal with the premier, the Syrian refugees, border control, the political-economic-financial reform agenda, and the pledges he can obtain from Hezbollah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the issues of refugees and border demarcation.”And quoting Hezbollah and Amal Movement sources, al-Joumhouria newspaper said “the French want to speed up the election of a president,” adding that “it is not ruled out that Lebanon might have a new president right before or just after the (Easter and Fitr) holidays.”

Mikati calls for cabinet session on wages, elections funds
Naharnet/April 13/2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday called for a caretaker cabinet session on April 18. The session has nine items on its agenda, most notably increasing the salaries and transport allowances of the public and private sectors and the funding needed for the municipal elections.

Berri calls for legislative session to extend municipalities term
Naharnet/April 13/2023
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called Thursday for a legislative session that will take place on Tuesday and during which the MPs will vote on a draft law for extending the municipalities' term. Two draft laws have been submitted by Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab and MP Sajih Atiyeh. The first aims at extending the municipalities' term by 4 months, and the second extends the municipal councils' term by a year. MPs from the Progressive Socialist Party and the Free Patriotic Movement said they will attend the session and vote for extending the municipalities' term, although Parliament cannot legislate before the election of a president. The Lebanese Forces party, for its part, said it won't attend the session. Its leader Samir Geagea said Thursday that the bloc will convene to take the appropriate steps after Berri called for a legislative session. "Parliament is an electoral body and cannot legislate," he said. The Parliament bureau convened later on Thursday to agree on the legislative session's agenda, including the two draft laws regarding the extension of the municipalities' term. "The extension of term is technical to avoid vacuum," Bou Saab said after the parliament bureau's session, adding that in case funding is secured, the municipal elections can still take place.

Lebanon electricity officials acknowledge unfair electricity costs, promise change
LBCI/April 13/2023
Caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad and Electricité du Liban (EDL) Chairman Kamal Hayek have acknowledged that some Lebanese citizens pay higher electricity rates compared to others who don't pay at all. However, they have promised that this situation will not continue, as there will be an increase in power supply and a reduction in generator bills. The ongoing campaign to remove the encroachments on the electricity networks, which is still in areas that can be described as safe, is progressing, and the compliant will be rewarded, and the violators will be punished. Furthermore, the last electricity bill issued in Lebanon was $36 million at a rate of LBP 52,320 per dollar, and $14 million has been collected so far. EDL is working to reduce non-technical waste, particularly in Palestinian and Syrian refugee camps, by requiring official institutions to pay their bills. Fayyad stated that there is a "relatively small success" for the emergency electricity plan, saying that the reforms represent a corrective step in the right direction. He then stressed that the main problem remains with the Lebanese central bank on two axes: First, securing funds to purchase fuel, and second, converting Lebanese pounds to dollars through a mechanism that the central bank has not yet implemented. This mechanism involves purchasing Lebanese pounds from EDL at the Sayrafa exchange rate plus 20% when issuing invoices. However, in addition to issuing new bills, the opening of credits for fuel ships is also awaiting confirmation. Fayyad and Hayek welcomed citizens' efforts to reduce subscription costs and considered it a step towards cost-cutting. They also expressed great appreciation for EDL staff and confirmed that there is a legal solution to ease the burden of electricity bills but not a complete exemption from payment.

Fayyad announces 'relative' power plan 'success'
Associated Press/April 13/2023
Caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad said Thursday that the electricity plan has relatively and slightly succeeded. In a press conference, Fayyad said that power supply has reached four to five hours per day instead of 8 to 10 due to limited funding. Since the collapse of Lebanon's state power grid, many middle and working class families have been forced to spend most of their monthly income to pay shady neighborhood businessmen running private generators. Still, they go without electricity for nearly half the day, according to a report by Human Rights Watch released Thursday. The situation threatens to deepen the poverty of this tiny country embroiled in a devastating economic meltdown. Pushed to the bring of bankruptcy, the state-run power company now provides the Lebanese with less than three hours of power a day. Most families told HRW they compromise on food, education, medications and other basic needs to pay for supplemental electricity. Lebanon's blackouts increased substantially two years ago, when the cash-strapped government could no longer afford importing fuel for its power plants. And while much of the world has looked to renewable sources of energy to tackle climate change, Lebanon relies on noisy, polluting, and expensive private diesel generators to keep the lights on. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and experts have urged Lebanon for years to restructure its electricity sector but authorities have stalled on a host of reforms required for the IMF to approve a bailout program and for the World Bank to put through an electricity deal that would provide natural gas from Egypt through Syria to boost Lebanon's state-run power grid.

Geagea says Hezbollah real reason behind crisis
Naharnet/April 13/2023
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said that the reality of the crisis is the existence of an "illegal armed organization," usurping the strategic decision of the state. "The last example is what we witnessed in the south last week," he added.
Geagea went on to say that this armed group had allied with the most corrupts, hoping that the Saudi-Iranian reconciliation would dissolve all the illegal armed groups from Yemen to Lebanon. "What the free Lebanese from different sects and regions support is to gain back our sovereign, free and diverse country, and to restore its pioneering position among nations," Geagea said.

Geagea: Goal behind disrupting presidential, municipal elections to control all aspects of power in Lebanon
NNA/April 13/2023
"Lebanese Forces" party leader, Samir Geagea, on Thursday said that "the goal behind disrupting presidential and municipal elections is to control all the aspects of power in Lebanon.” “If they had the ability to deliver their candidate to the presidency of the republic, a session would have been held to elect the president against all odds; but since they cannot do so, they intend to disrupt this deadline until they gather their forces one way or another, but they will not be able to do so this time,” Geagea affirmed. Responding to a question in interview with “Free Lebanon” radio station whether he blames the government’s negligence for failure to secure the needed funds to hold municipal elections, Geagea said: "The ball today is entirely in the prime minister's court; the Minister of Interior has stated more than once that he is ready to hold elections despite the strike undertaken by some public sector employees, and he even took upon himself the responsibility of securing the required human cadre to hold elections if the required funds were secured, and today, he reaffirmed this intention from Bkerki,” Geagea added.

Berri welcomes Iraqi Youth Minister in presence of Kallas
NNA/April 13/2023
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Thursday welcomed at his Ain Al-Tineh residence Iraqi Minister of Youth and Sports, Ahmad Mohammad Al-Hussein Qassem Al-Mubarqa', in the presence of Caretaker Minister of Youth and Sports, George Kallas. The meeting, which was also attended by the Chargé d'Affaires of the Iraqi Embassy in Lebanon, Amin al-Nasrawi, discussed the means to boost cooperation between Lebanon and Iraq in various fields, especially at the youth and sports levels. Talks also focused on Iraq's support for Lebanon's program “Beirut the capital of Arab youth”. On emerging, Al-Mubarqa said: "We’ve discussed an array of issues between the two brotherly countries, and we focused on Iraq's support for its dear fraternal Lebanon within the framework of ‘Beirut the Capital of Arab Youth’ program.”“God willing, Iraq will be one of the biggest supporters, contributors, and participants in this program,” the Iraqi sports minister added.

Judge Aoun to lift travel ban on Salameh, a month before Paris hearing
Agence France Presse/April 13/2023
Judge Ghada Aoun will lift Thursday a travel ban imposed on the country's embattled central bank chief, who has been summoned for a hearing in Paris next month, two judicial officials said. Riad Salameh is part of a political class widely blamed for Lebanon's unprecedented economic crisis that the World Bank says is of a scale usually associated with wars. He is the target of a series of judicial investigations both at home and abroad on suspicion of fraud, money laundering and illicit enrichment, among other allegations -- including in France where he has been summoned for a hearing on May 16. Aoun slapped Salameh with the ban in January last year after an activist group filed a lawsuit against the central bank chief, alleging financial misconduct. "He will have no excuse not to go to France" for the hearing, a judicial official said. France, Germany and Luxembourg in March last year seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in a move linked to a probe by French investigators into 72-year-old Salameh's personal wealth. Salameh, who denies wrongdoing, is also being investigated by Lebanese authorities on suspicion of financial misconduct including possible embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion. Lebanon opened its own probe into Salameh's wealth in 2021, after the office of Switzerland's top prosecutor requested assistance with an investigation into more than $300 million allegedly embezzled out of the central bank with the help of his brother Raja. Both Salameh brothers have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. A source close to the French investigation said Raja, Salameh's former assistant Marianne Hoayek and his son Nady Salameh were mentioned as potential accomplices but have not been charged with a crime. A French judge is also investigating Marwan Kheireddine, head of Al-Mawarid Bank, which is suspected of having bypassed proper checks on Salameh's accounts, the source said. Kheireddine is being probed for potential financial crimes including criminal association with the aim of embezzling public funds, aggravated breach of trust and corrupting a civil servant, according to the source.

Kheireddine charged, slapped with travel ban in Paris in Salameh probe
Naharnet/April 13/2023
Al Mawarid Bank chairman and ex-Lebanese minister Marwan Kheireddine has been charged in France and slapped with a travel ban without being detained. Kheireddine “is being mainly questioned over his role in covering up for the money laundering crimes of the Salameh brothers and Marianne Hoayek, especially that Raja Salameh had three bank accounts at Al-Mawarid Bank that grew from $15 million in 1993 to $150 million in 2019,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported. “It seems that Kheireddine, who is stranded in Paris, has no other choice but to cooperate with the (French) judiciary,” the daily said.
Informed French sources meanwhile told al-Akhbar that the judicial measures against Kheireddine would be eased if he provided the judge with “names and details” about the suspects. “Should the file reach the court for a trial over the charges against him, the cost will be 10 years in jail in addition to the freezing of his private assets and properties,” the newspaper added. Unnamed sources meanwhile told al-Akhbar that the charges against Kheirddine require a meeting of the bank’s board of directors aimed at sacking him. “Panic has gripped other Lebanese bankers,” the daily said, adding that Kheireddine is accused of “providing the Salameh brothers with fake documents for the supposed bank accounts of Raja Salameh at Al Mawarid Bank.”

Lawyers and media: Beirut Bar Association's decision sparks controversy
LBCI/April 13/2023
In 2023, a controversial decision by the Beirut Bar Association led to restrictions on lawyers' interactions with the media. The association has amended items of the articles regarding the relationship between lawyers and media outlets, making it mandatory for lawyers to obtain approval from the head of the association before appearing on any media platform. Previously, the item only recommended that lawyers inform the head of the association of their media appearances. However, the amendment was altered to require lawyers to obtain the head's permission. This single-word change has significant implications for freedom of expression. The association has gone even further by prohibiting lawyers from publishing inappropriate photos, videos, posts, or comments that could harm their professional stances or the reputation of their legal profession. Violations of these rules could lead to disciplinary action in addition to any legal liabilities. In response to these amendments, a group of 13 lawyers has filed two lawsuits appealing the association's decision before the Civil Court of Appeal dealing with syndicates' matters. The Beirut Bar Association, on the other hand, remains committed to its decision, which its 12 members unanimously adopted. Moreover, the hearing, which took place on Thursday, was concluded by announcing that a verdict would be delivered on May 4, 2023. It remains to be seen whether the Civil Court of Appeal will defend freedom or allow the implementation of restrictive regulations.

The illusion of economic progress: Lebanon's struggle with public sector salaries and customs tariffs
LBCI/April 13/2023
salaries and customs tariffs On Tuesday, two key points were proposed on the agenda of the cabinet meeting. The first was to increase salaries for public sector employees, while the second was to adjust the customs tariff fees. With the increase in the cost of public sector salaries, the government is once again resorting to raising the customs dollar to cover the deficit. However, the problem is that the state's revenue is in Lebanese lira regardless of how much money enters the treasury. Meanwhile, most of the state's expenses are in dollars, including the salaries of the public sector, which are paid through Sayrafa platform. With the shortage and absence of any dollar revenues, the Banque du Liban (BDL) is burning through what remains of its reserves to cover the expenses of the public sector and the state. This has forced the bank to collect dollars from the market, which raises the price even higher and devalues the salaries. We have been living in the same loop every day since the start of the crisis. Therefore, neither raising the customs dollar nor increasing salaries is a solution to the public sector crisis. It's a game of fake numbers that the government is using to buy time. In reality, there is no solution but to bring dollars into the country by implementing the known reforms.

Legislative session tackles municipal election funding and term extension
LBCI/April 13/2023
The municipal elections have become part of the political bidding war. As soon as Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called for a legislative session next Tuesday, which is known to be for extending the term of municipal and Mukhtar's councils, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for a session that will include addressing the request of the Interior Minister to cover the expenses of the municipal and Mukhtar's elections. However, time is running out, and the extension of the term of the municipal and Mukhtar's councils has become necessary due to logistical obstacles. The executive and legislative powers exchanged messages, saying that each had fulfilled their duties. Furthermore, the legislative session will be held at 11 AM before the cabinet session at 3:30 PM, and the extension will become a reality. According to parliamentary sources, approving the funding in the government means allocating funds for the upcoming elections. Thus, members of the council's office, representing the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), the Democratic Gathering, and the Development and Liberation bloc, with the blessing of Berri, agreed to the extension principle and will attend the legislative session. However, the Change MPs confirmed their refusal to attend any legislative session in the absence of a president, as did the Lebanese Forces, which was confirmed by the head of the bloc, George Adwan. Hence, his colleague Alain Aoun corrected him by saying that the Lebanese Forces participated in legislative sessions in the absence of a president between 2014 and 2016.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns arbitrary Israeli measures preventing Christians from entering Church of Holy Sepulcher on Saturday
NNA/April 13/2023
Lebanon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on Thursday condemned "the arbitrary and illegal Israeli measures aimed at restricting Christians from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, next Saturday, to celebrate the Holy Saturday.”The statement further deemed the Israeli measures “a clear violation of the natural, legal, and human right to freedom of belief and religious practice.” The statement also warned against the growing dangers resulting from the deliberate Israeli escalation against Palestinians by provoking their religious feelings, calling on the international community to “pressure Israel to respect the legal and historical status of the city of Jerusalem, and its holy places, and to stop restricting freedom of worship there."

Container Control Programme highlights success preventing exploitation of global trade supply chain
NNA/April 13/2023
Today, the Container Control Programme (CCP) released its Annual Report for 2022. The CCP continued to deliver impressive results by making a wide variety of seizures, including cocaine, firearms, ammunition and parts of explosives, cigarettes, and products related to crimes that affect the environment. Translating these outcomes into impact, the CCP continues to improve the security, health, and economies of countries and people around the world. Director of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Mr. Pranab Kumar Das, highlights that “the results and impact are thanks to a multitude of partnerships with countries and their law enforcement agencies through interagency cooperation, the private sector, international organizations, academia, and the media.” Mr. Das emphasizes that “due to the recent years of a pandemic, conflict, and economic recession, we have all realized our vulnerability and understood more than ever before, that we can only prevent global challenges together. Similarly, organized crime, illicit trafficking and terrorism and their threat to health, economy, and security, must be tackled by a spirit of joint responsibility while leveraging everyone’s strength and mandate”. Alan Cole, Chief of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Border Management Branch, echoes this sentiment. He said that “recognizing the fragility of traditional supply chain systems and the necessity of remaining relevant by looking into the future, we aligned our border management programmes; placed staff close to operations; advanced the “CCP’s Women’s Network”; launched new training curricula on emerging threats; upgraded technologies and modes of analysis and information sharing; delivered advanced and specialised equipment; expanded into new geographical regions; contributed to the Black Sea Grain Initiative; and strengthened international cooperation”. As the CCP takes a first glimpse into its 19th year of existence, it invites countries, the private sector, and international organizations to join the Programme. To remain relevant, sustainable, and effective, the CCP has developed a strategy for 2022-25. Container and cargo trade through seaports, airports, dry ports, rail terminals, and land border crossings are the lifelines of the globe, but they are also exploited for illicit trafficking, organized crime, and terrorism. The CCP was established as a partnership between the UNODC and WCO in 2004. In 2015, the UNODC also signed a partnership Memorandum of Understanding with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The goal of the CCP is to build capacity in countries seeking to improve risk management, supply chain security, and border management to prevent the trafficking of illicit goods, organized crime, and terrorism and support trade facilitation. In doing so, the mission of the CCP is to safeguard the health, security, and economic situation for people and countries around the world.—UNIC

Lebanon dysfunction hits new peak on 48th anniversary of war
Beatrice Farhat/Al Monitor/April 13/2023
BEIRUT — On the 48th anniversary of the Lebanese civil war Thursday, Beirut is paralyzed. Municipal elections planned for next month are now stalled, the presidential void is entering its sixth month and the judiciary has flip-flopped by lifting a travel ban on the head of the Central Bank, Riad Salameh.  The lifting of the travel ban came ahead of his scheduled hearing in Paris next month concerning a number of alleged money laundering and other financial crimes, The Associated Press reported on Thursday. Judge Ghada Aoun had slapped Salameh with the travel ban in January 2022 amid an investigation into allegations of fraud, abuse of public funds and financial misconduct. Salameh, who has been governor of the Central Bank for three decades, is also being probed by several European countries over his alleged embezzlement of some $330 million to purchase luxury properties in Europe.
A French judge leading a delegation of European judicial officials in Beirut questioned Salameh last month and French prosecutors scheduled a hearing in Paris for May 16. After the travel ban is lifted, Salameh “will have no excuse not to go to France” for the hearing, a judicial official told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday.  The embattled governor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and refused to attend any hearings with Aoun, who he accuses of bias. Aoun has been accused by rivals of serving the agenda of former President Michel Aoun, who throughout his term in office repeatedly blamed Salameh and his financial policies for Lebanon’s financial collapse. The political infighting in Lebanon has left almost all sectors, including the judiciary, ineffective. The political bickering has also left the country without a president for nearly six months, as the deeply divided parliament failed more than 10 times to agree on a presidential candidate. The current parliament was elected in March of last year, in the first elections that were held after massive nationwide protests against the ruling elite broke out in October 2019. Many Lebanese had hoped the vote would bring about change and remove the entrenched political class that has been ruling the country since the civil war, which ended in 1990. But no change has come. Voters elect municipal councils for six-year terms. This week, the highly anticipated municipal elections that were due in May now seem further off than ever after parliament speaker Nabih Berri announced that a legislative session next week would discuss a draft law for extending the municipal terms. The local elections had already been postponed last year, when they would have coincided with the parliamentary elections. Many analysts say there is no real will among politicians to hold the municipal elections, as municipalities have become yet another tool in their hands to expand their influence amid rampant corruption in the country’s institutions. Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawli stressed earlier this month that the polls would be held on time. However, on Wednesday, deputy speaker Elias Bou Saab, who proposed the bill to extend the municipalities' term for another four months, said that the cash-strapped government has failed to secure the necessary funds for the elections. “It has become impossible to stage the municipal elections,” Bou Saab said at the end of a parliamentary session to discuss the issue of funding the polls.

Will Iran Succeed in Changing How Hezbollah Operates?
Huda al-Husseini/Asharq Al Awsat/April, 13/2023
Contradictory reports have been circulating amid the ambiguity around why rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon and who launched them. Hezbollah sources have said that it had not been informed about the operation, claiming the rockets were fired by Hamas in retaliation to Israel’s assault on worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque and that the incident does not change the rules of engagement in South Lebanon. Despite Israel retaliating in Lebanon and escalating its daily strike on the Hezbollah bases in Syria, the party kept quiet and avoided escalation. In turn, Al-Manar TV defended Hezbollah’s silence as the correct course of action. It argued that keeping tight-lipped is a strategy of psychological warfare that intimidates the Israel enemy as they sleep in shelters in anticipation of what the party might do. Everyone knows that Hezbollah has total, unfettered control over South Lebanon. The party even determines the scope of the United Nations Multinational Force In Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) field of operation. When the UNIFIL goes beyond the boundaries set by Hezbollah, the party incites attacks by its supporters, as happened in January 2022, when unidentified men intercepted a UNIFIL patrol in Bint Jbeil, beating UNIFIL forces on patrol and setting fire to their vehicles. They justified the assault with claims that the patrol was filming in the area. Meanwhile, UNIFIL Command said that the patrol had accidentally strayed from its course. And a similar attack was witnessed last December, when an Irish member of the UNIFIL forces was killed. Once again, the pretext was that his patrol had been filming - a claim the UNIFIL spokesperson denied.
It is also a well-established fact the Lebanese army coordinates all of its operations in the South with the military leadership of Hezbollah. Indeed, the Lebanese remember very well the martyrdom of First Lieutenant Samer Hanna. The party shot a rocket at the pilot’s helicopter because it was passing over the town of Sujud, which lies within an area that Hezbollah has declared off-limits to aircraft. Former President Michel Aoun justified the attack egregiously, asking why the martyred First Lieutenant had been flying over this area. Thus, claims that Hamas or any other group could have fired 34 rockets at Israel without Hezbollah’s knowledge are untenable. Hezbollah was either implicated in the attack or, if its claims are to be believed, suffered a serious security breach. Here, we should keep in mind the reports that Haniyeh’s decision to launch Hamas rockets from Lebanon followed a meeting with Nasrallah over iftar that brought them together with Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani and the Iranian Ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani. So, what does Hezbollah hope to achieve from this incident? Sources in contact with the Axis of Resistance in Lebanon have stressed that the party is apprehensive about the rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The party leadership had not been informed about its imminence, and Hezbollah is alarmed by the pace at which events have been unfolding since the two countries agreed on the principles of their new relationship under the auspices of China. Although both Saudi Arabia and Iran are both primarily focused on Yemen, as there is much to be resolved there, we have seen the agreement swiftly precipitate developments on other fronts. There are signs that Syria’s isolation from the Arab world is coming to an end, and all of this inevitably implies scaling down the expansion of Hezbollah in Yemen and Syria.
Hezbollah is aware that in this event, Iran will probably change the nature of the party’s operations after having used it to fight for the Velayat-e Faqih across the region. The reason is simple. There will be no Iranian-Saudi conflict, and a great power, China, will guarantee this peace. Thus, Hezbollah wanted to send messages to its leaders in Iran. It let them know that it would not pay the price for the Saudi-Iranian agreement and that, at any moment, it could turn the tables and set the region alight by sparking a war with Israel, whose outcome and repercussions would be impossible to predict.
Media outlets associated with the Axis of Resistance depicting images of Hassan Nasrallah receiving Ismail Haniyeh signaled that the Hamas missiles were his. However, Benjamin Netanyahu hit back at Haniyeh and Nasrallah swiftly. On Monday evening, Netanyahu warned that he would not allow Hamas to establish a base in South Lebanon.
Will this threat be enough for caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who merely assured the Lebanese that the faction behind the rockets fired from the Lebanese Qulaileh region is not Lebanese, without telling us who had informed him of this fact? Was it a Lebanese party? Did boy scouts, for example, inform Mikati of who had been behind the missiles? Did pigeons land, fire the missiles, and fly away? Najib Mikati tasked Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib with filing a complaint with the Security Council against Israel for attacking Lebanon! In this sense, it was Israel that informed Lebanon of who had fired the missiles, cornering the caretaker prime minister. He and the “republic’s policeman,” Abdullah Bou Habib, did the right thing; when Israel bombards the country, the solution will be in their pockets. For his part, Hassan Nasrallah should know that the region will inevitably change and that it will do so very rapidly. Meanwhile, Hezbollah cannot wrap its head around these changes, let alone prevent them. Accordingly, its confusion will continue to engender blunders domestically.
Tehran will probably not account for the repercussions, as a burden has been removed from its shoulders. Indeed, Iran is now looking forward to a new stage, which it hopes will see sanctions scaled down. In fact, this new stage has already begun. According to recent reports, Iran and Russia are in discussions to increase trade through the Caspian Sea, with senior officials from both countries exploring different options for increasing the volume of goods shipped through .During a meeting held in Tehran last Sunday, the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bezrpash and Russia’s Igor Levitin, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussed bilateral cooperation to boost trade by air, sea, land, and rail. Discussing the long history of cooperation in maritime trade between Iran and Russia, the Iranian minister underlined the need for both countries to benefit from other countries’ ports to facilitate their bilateral trade as well. He also said that, for the first time in 21 years, the massive Russian Ro-Ro ship docked in the Port of Nowshahr (northern Iran) last April, adding that he believes this is a major step in augmenting maritime trade between the two countries. Earlier on in his stay in Tehran, Levitin held a meeting with the Iranian First Vice President, Mohammad Mokhber. On Saturday, they discussed work on the strategically significant International North-South Transport Corridor. During this meeting, Levitin said that Iran and Russia could be turned into regional centers for the export of foodstuffs through joint projects between the countries. Will Nasrallah dare to put a stick in the wheels of these Iranian-Russian initiatives to please Ismail Haniyeh, or is he being asked to do so?!

LIC Calls on the Lebanese Government to Disarm Palestinians in Lebanon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, DC-April 10, 2023
LIC Calls on the Lebanese Government to Disarm Palestinians in Lebanon
The Lebanese Information Center (LIC) issued the following statement:
The recent escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese border is the result of a rocket attack launched from southern Lebanon. On April 6, thirty-four rockets were fired toward northern Israel from Lebanese territory, several of which landed in Israeli areas near the border. Israel responded with airstrikes against targets in southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) announced that its units found and dismantled several additional rockets that were intended to be launched from the Tyre district in Lebanon.
In its close monitoring of these grave developments, the LIC noted the following:
First, Lebanese security forces and open-source reporting indicated that armed Palestinian factions in Lebanon were responsible for the rocket attack. The public threat made by Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas political bureau, while visiting Beirut that “the Palestinian resistance will not stand idly in the face of the Israeli aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque,” reinforces this reporting.
Second, Hezbollah significantly increased its coordination with Hamas lately and Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah met with Haniyeh shortly before the rocket operation to review developments in Palestine and discuss the need for a “unified resistance axis” to fight Israel and its backers. Following the exchange of fire, Hezbollah officials voiced their full support for armed Palestinian operations.
Third, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati affirmed his rejection of any military escalation by armed groups using Lebanese territory. He also instructed the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the United Nations in New York to submit a formal complaint against Israel to the Security Council for their bombardment of areas in southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, several Lebanese leaders condemned the Palestinian abuse of Lebanese territory for their military operations, and criticized Haniyeh's visit to Lebanon, as well as Hezbollah’s involvement with the Palestinian militias.
Fourth, Foreign governments, including France and the US, and the United Nations through its Secretary-General, and its UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) command, condemned the rocket attack from southern Lebanon. They warned of a worsening situation, calling on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, and stressing the need to avoid unilateral action.
As a result,
The LIC calls on the Lebanese Government to urgently disarm the Palestinian factions in Lebanon in accordance with the Taef Accord of 1989 and the abrogation of the Cairo agreement in 1987. During his last visit to Lebanon in 2017, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas himself rejected the presence of weapons in the hands of Palestinians in Lebanon and demanded that the Lebanese legitimate armed forces take charge of the security of Palestinian camps. “There remains no excuse for the Lebanese government to relinquish its authority over its territory and allow unsanctioned armed groups to undermine the sovereignty of the state” stated LIC President Dr. Joseph Gebeily. “Lebanon knows too well of the tragedy of violence and conflict and must avoid letting its territory and people be subjected to threats and attacks.”
Finally, the LIC once again insists the UN Security Council address the Iranian regime unlawful actions of sending weapons to Lebanese and Palestinians militias in Lebanon in violation of UNSC resolutions that forbid the transfer of armed materiel into Lebanon outside of the Lebanese government.
###
The Lebanese Information Center in the U.S. is the largest grassroots organization of Americans of Lebanese descent, committed to building a free, sovereign, and democratic Lebanon for the good of the Lebanese people and in the interest of the United States of America.
LEBANESE INFORMATION CENTER
1101 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202-505-4542 . Fax: 202-318-8409
Email: lic@licus.org www.licus.org

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 13-14/2023
Syria, Saudi Arabia move toward restoring embassies, flights
Associated Press/April 12, 2023
Syria and Saudi Arabia are moving toward reopening embassies and resuming flights between the two countries for the first time in more than a decade, the countries said Thursday in a joint statement. The announcement followed a visit by Syria's top diplomat to the kingdom, the first since Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations with Syria in 2012. Syria was widely shunned by Arab governments over Syrian President Bashar Assad's brutal crackdown on protesters and later civilians, in an uprising turned civil war that began in 2011. The breakdown in relations culminated with Syria being ousted from the Arab League. However, in recent years, as Assad has consolidated control over most of the country, Syria's neighbors have begun to take steps toward rapprochement. The overtures have picked up pace since the massive Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and the Chinese-brokered reestablishment of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, regional rivals that had backed opposing sides in the Syrian conflict. A delegation headed by Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad, at the invitation of Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks about bilateral relations between the two countries, state media from the two countries reported. Saudi state media reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad was received by the kingdom's Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji. The meeting focused on the steps needed to reach a "comprehensive political settlement of the Syrian crisis that would ... achieve national reconciliation, and contribute to the return of Syria to its Arab fold," the two countries said in a joint statement. Saudi Arabia is hosting the next Arab League summit in May, where a restoration of Syria's membership is widely expected to be on the table.
The two sides also discussed "the importance of enhancing security and combating terrorism in all its forms, and enhancing cooperation in combating drug smuggling and trafficking," the statement said. Syria is a primary producer of the amphetamine-based drug Captagon, which is largely smuggled into Gulf markets for sale. The talks also focused on "the need to support ... the Syrian state to extend its control over its territories to end the presence of armed militias and external interference in the Syrian internal affairs," as well as on facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid and the return of Syrian refugees. The visit to Saudi Arabia came after Syria announced Wednesday that it will reopen its embassy in Tunisia, which cut off relations in 2012. Tunisian President Kais Saied announced earlier this month that he had directed the country's foreign ministry to appoint a new ambassador to Syria. His move was reciprocated by the Syrian government, a joint statement from the two countries' foreign ministries said Wednesday, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

Qatar and Bahrain end feud and re-establish relations
Agence France Presse/April 12, 2023
Qatar and Bahrain announced late Wednesday that they had agreed to end a long-running diplomatic feud and re-establish relations. Bahrain in 2017 joined Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in imposing a diplomatic blockade on Qatar. The countries' rivalry goes back even further, however, and Bahrain is the last to renew ties. Agreement on the reconciliation was reached in talks at the Gulf Cooperation Council headquarters in Saudi Arabia, Qatar's foreign ministry said. The neighbors "decided to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries according to the principles of the United Nations charter", said a foreign ministry statement. "The two sides affirmed that this step stems from the mutual desire to develop bilateral relations and enhance Gulf unity and integration," it added. Bahrain's foreign ministry released a similar statement, the country's state news agency reported. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a blockade in 2017, accusing Qatar of supporting extremist organizations in the region and becoming too close to Iran. The four countries banned Qatari planes and ships from using their airspace and territorial waters. A reconciliation accord was sealed in January 2021. The three other states have already renewed relations, though the UAE and Qatar have yet to reopen their embassies. UAE and Qatari officials held their latest reconciliation meeting last week, with a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson describing a "positive atmosphere". Relations between Qatar and Bahrain have been more difficult to restore because of thorny issues including their maritime border. The two sides regularly accuse each other of illegally detaining fishermen from the other country. The Qatar-Bahrain reconciliation comes amid a flurry of regional efforts to resolve disputes. Arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed last month to resume relations seven years after formally breaking off ties.

Iran to take harsher actions against women without hijab
Josephine Harvey/HuffPost/April 12, 2023
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace laughed in disbelief after showing viewers an excerpt from Donald Trump’s recent interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson in which the former president lauded authoritarian leaders as “top of the line.”
“You can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep, or in the case of the twice-impeached, disgraced, now-indicted ex-president, the people they praise loudly on Fox News,” Wallace said Wednesday. She showed viewers a clip from Trump’s Fox News interview, which aired Tuesday. “They’re all top of the line,” Trump said of Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Our guy’s not top of the line ― never was,” he added, referring to President Joe Biden. Trump also called Xi a “brilliant man” and praised Kim and Putin as “very smart.” Hooting with laughter, Wallace said: “I don’t even know where to start. No one called you top of the line. Ever!” The MSNBC host noted that she typically avoids amplifying Trump or Fox News, but said that this rhetoric provided important context on the recent Republican-led efforts to strip back abortion rights, implement voter suppression laws and silence dissent in the Tennessee state legislature. “It’s important to understand they’re not bodily functions. They’re not burping out random policies. They’re following their leader, who’s following the world’s most heinous authoritarians,” Wallace said. “And we showed you that to show you just how dangerous his rhetoric is.” “He’s such an idiot, on top of all else,” she later added. “And he sounds like such a bleepin’ idiot.”

Japan Offers Iran Assistance to Complete Nuclear Negotiations
London – Tehran – Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 13 April, 2023
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi offered his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, help to push through the stalled talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Amir-Abdollahian discussed bilateral ties and regional and international developments over the phone with his Japanese counterpart. They also discussed the indirect talks between Tehran and Washington with the aim of a joint return to the nuclear agreement. The Japanese foreign minister expressed his country's readiness to support the Vienna negotiations, noting Tokyo's satisfaction with the "positive" cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Last month, the IAEA said Iran had given sweeping assurances that it would finally cooperate in a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and reinstall removed monitoring equipment.
Amir-Abdollahian said Iran considers diplomacy and negotiation a way out of regional and global challenges, calling to expand cooperation between Tehran and Tokyo. He reaffirmed Iran's principled stance on the Ukraine crisis and Tehran's opposition to the war. Japan failed to mediate between the US and Iran to reduce tensions after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Several negotiations failed to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in the Austrian capital, Vienna. The agreement imposed restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for lifting international sanctions. Tehran gradually violated the regulations of its nuclear program under the deal. Since last September, indirect talks have stopped between Tehran and the administration of US President Joe Biden to revive the agreement. Israel has recently intensified its threats to take military action against Tehran to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons. Tehran denies it aims to develop atomic weapons. Last month, press reports stated that Israel had informed the US administration and several European countries that it might launch a military strike against Iran if it enriched uranium above 60 percent.

Iran Uses Earthquake Relief Mission to Fly Weapons to Syria
Amman /Asharq Al Awsat/April, 13/2023
Iran used earthquake relief flights to bring weapons and military equipment into its strategic ally Syria, nine Syrian, Iranian, Israeli, and Western sources said. The sources told Reuters that the goal was to buttress Iran's defenses against Israel in Syria and to strengthen Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Reuters is the first to report this development. After the Feb. 6 earthquakes in northern Syria and Turkiye, the sources said hundreds of flights from Iran began landing in Aleppo, Damascus, and Latakia airports bringing supplies, which went on for seven weeks. The sources said two regional sources and a Western intelligence source said the supplies included advanced communications equipment, radar batteries, and spare parts required for a planned upgrade of Syria's Iran-provided air defense system in its civil war. Reuters spoke to Western intelligence officials, sources close to the Iranian and Israeli leaders, a Syrian military defector, and a serving Syrian officer about the flights for this article. When asked if Iran had used humanitarian relief planes after the earthquakes to move military equipment to Syria to enhance its network and help Assad, Iran's mission to the UN in New York said: "That's not true." Regional sources said Israel quickly became aware of the flow of weapons into Syria and mounted an aggressive campaign to counter it. The former head of research in the Israeli army and ex-general director of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser, said Israeli air strikes against the shipments relied on intelligence so specific that Israel's military knew which truck in a long convoy to target.
"Significant Moves"
An Israeli defense official, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Under the guise of shipments of earthquake aid to Syria, Israel has seen significant movements of military equipment from Iran, mainly transported in parts."He said the aid was mainly delivered to Syria's northern Aleppo airport. The official indicated that the shipments were organized by the Unit 18000 Syrian division of the Quds Force, the foreign espionage and paramilitary arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, led by Hassan Mehdoui. The Quds Force's Transport Unit 190, led by Bahanem Shahariri, handled ground transportation. Syrian military defector Colonel Abduljabbar Akaidi, who retains army contacts, indicated that Israel's strikes also targeted a meeting of commanders of Iranian militias and shipments of electronic chips to upgrade weapons systems. A regional source stated that Israel bombed Aleppo's runway just hours after two Iranian cargo planes had landed with arms shipments under the pretext of aid relief, which was confirmed by two other Western intelligence sources. Head of al-Quds Force Brigadier General Esmail Qaani was the first foreign official to set foot in Syria's quake zone a few days before Assad himself arrived.
In a humanitarian catastrophe, UN relief planes can seek landing rights from local authorities, and humanitarian goods are exempt from sanctions. Syrian authorities have granted landing rights to direct flights from Russia and Iran. A regional source close to Iran's clerical leadership said the quake was a sad disaster, but at the same time, "it was God's help to us to help our brothers in Syria fight against their enemies. Loads of weapons were sent to Syria immediately." Israel has for years carried out attacks against what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran's influence has grown since it began supporting Assad in the civil war that started in 2011. A Syrian army officer who asked not to be named said the Israelis were stepping up efforts to defeat Iran in Syria. "Why now? Simply because they have information that something is being developed quickly. They must stop it and hit it to slow it. The quake created the right conditions. The chaos that ensued allowed Iranian jets to land with ease," he said. A regional security source and two Western intelligence sources said that a radar station used for drones was also hit on Apr. 3. "We believe that Iranian militias have transferred huge quantities of ammunition – they have restocked quantities lost in previous Israeli drone strikes," a Western intelligence source said, referring to Iranian flights since the Feb. 6 earthquakes.

Iran in Secret Talks with China, Russia to Acquire Ballistic Missile Fuel
Washington - Elie Youssef/Asharq Al Awsat/April, 13/2023
China and Russia are engaged in secret talks with Iran to supply a key chemical compound used to propel ballistic missiles, according to diplomats familiar with the matter. The move could potentially help Moscow replenish its depleted stock of rockets.Under UN resolution 2231, passed in 2015, countries are prohibited from supplying Iran with the chemical compound without approval from the UN Security Council. According to Politico, which cited informed sources, Tehran has held concurrent negotiations with officials and government-controlled entities from both countries, including the state-owned Russian chemical maker FKP Anozit, to acquire large amounts of ammonium perchlorate, or AP, the main ingredient in solid propellants used to power missiles. In Beijing, Iranian diplomat Sajjad Ahadzadeh, who serves as Tehran’s “technology counselor” in China and the broader region has led the talks to acquire AP, according to the diplomats familiar with the matter. The exact quantity of AP Iran is seeking to purchase isn’t clear, but the diplomats familiar with its plans estimate it would be sufficient to build thousands of rockets, including the Zolfaghar missile, which has a range of 700 km and has been used by both Iran and its proxies in the Middle East in recent years. If the deal goes through, some of those rockets could end up being deployed against Ukraine, said the diplomats. Iran is accused of having supplied Russia with so-called kamikaze drones that it has used to attack Ukrainian civilian targets and has also advised Moscow on how to circumvent the international sanctions. The talks about procuring AP follow a warming of relations between Iran, Russia, and China — which see themselves as a bulwark against US influence — in the wake of Moscow’s all-out war against Ukraine.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited Moscow last month, has stopped short of openly endorsing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine but has left little doubt that Beijing’s allegiances ultimately rest with Russia. China, which recently presented a peace plan that critics say would force Ukraine to cede territory occupied by Russia, wants to make sure the Kremlin doesn’t lose the war, amid fears that could trigger the collapse of its neighbor and wider destabilization. Helping Russia via Iran by supplying the latter with AP, the diplomats familiar with the matter said, is one way China could offer Moscow substantial support behind the scenes. China may be considering flouting UN sanctions it signed off on to help Russia’s war effort betrays deep concern in Beijing over its ally’s prospects, Western analysts said.

Holy Land Christians say attacks rising in far-right Israel
JERUSALEM (AP)/Thu, April 13, 2023
The head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land has warned in an interview that the rise of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government has made life worse for Christians in the birthplace of Christianity. The influential Vatican-appointed Latin Patriarch, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, told The Associated Press that the region’s 2,000-year-old Christian community has come under increasing attack, with the most right-wing government in Israel’s history emboldening extremists who have harassed clergy and vandalized religious property at a quickening pace. The uptick in anti-Christian incidents comes as the Israeli settler movement, galvanized by its allies in government, appears to have seized the moment to expand its enterprise in the contested capital.
“The frequency of these attacks, the aggressions, has become something new,” Pizzaballa said during Easter week from his office, tucked in the limestone passageways of the Old City’s Christian Quarter. “These people feel they are protected … that the cultural and political atmosphere now can justify, or tolerate, actions against Christians.”Pizzaballa’s concerns appear to undercut Israel’s stated commitment to freedom of worship, enshrined in the declaration that marked its founding 75 years ago. The Israeli government stressed it prioritizes religious freedom and relations with the churches, which have powerful links abroad. “Israel’s commitment to freedom of religion has been important to us forever,” said Tania Berg-Rafaeli, the director of the world religions department at the Israeli Foreign Ministry. “It's the case for all religions and all minorities that have free access to holy sites.” But Christians say they feel authorities don't protect their sites from targeted attacks. And tensions have surged after an Israeli police raid on the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque compound set off outrage among Muslims, and a regional confrontation last week. For Christians, Jerusalem is where Jesus was crucified and resurrected. For Jews, it’s the ancient capital, home to two biblical Jewish temples. For Muslims, it’s where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
The scorn heaped upon minority Christians is nothing new in the teeming Old City, a crucible of tension that the Israeli government annexed in 1967. Many Christians feel squeezed between Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Palestinians.
But now Netanyahu’s far-right government includes settler leaders in key roles — such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who holds criminal convictions from 2007 for incitement of anti-Arab racism and support for a Jewish militant group.
Their influence has empowered Israeli settlers seeking to entrench Jewish control of the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, alarming church leaders who see such efforts — including government plans to create a national park on the Mount of Olives — as a threat to the Christian presence in the holy city. Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for state.
“The right-wing elements are out to Judaize the Old City and the other lands, and we feel nothing is holding them back now," said Father Don Binder, a pastor at St. George's Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem. “Churches have been the major stumbling block."
The roughly 15,000 Christians in Jerusalem today, the majority of them Palestinians, were once 27,000 — before hardships that followed the 1967 Mideast war spurred many in the traditionally prosperous group to emigrate.
Now, 2023 is shaping up to be the worst year for Christians in a decade, according to Yusef Daher from the Inter-Church Center, a group that coordinates between the denominations. Physical assaults and harassment of clergy often go unreported, the center said. It has documented at least seven serious cases of vandalism of church properties from January to mid-March — a sharp increase from six anti-Christian cases recorded in all of 2022. Church leaders blame Israeli extremists for most of the incidents, and say they fear an even greater surge.
“This escalation will bring more and more violence,” Pizzaballa said. “It will create a situation that will be very difficult to correct.”In March, a pair of Israelis burst into the basilica beside the Garden of Gethsemane, where the Virgin Mary is said to have been buried. They pounced on a priest with a metal rod before being arrested.
In February, a religious American Jew yanked a 10-foot rendering of Christ from its pedestal and smashed it onto the floor, striking its face with a hammer a dozen times at the Church of the Flagellation on the Via Dolorosa, along which it's believed Jesus hauled his cross toward his crucifixion. “No idols in the holy city of Jerusalem!” he yelled. Armenians found hateful graffiti on the walls of their convent. Priests of all denominations say they’ve been stalked, spat on and beaten during their walks to church. In January, religious Jews knocked over and vandalized 30 graves marked with stone crosses at a historic Christian cemetery in the city. Two teenagers were arrested and charged with causing damage and insulting religion. But Christians allege that Israeli police haven't taken most attacks seriously. In one case, 25-year-old George Kahkejian said he was the one beaten, arrested and detained for 17 hours after a mob of Jewish settlers scaled his Armenian Christian convent to tear down its flag earlier this year. The police had no immediate comment. “We see that most incidents in our quarter have gone unpunished,” complained Father Aghan Gogchian, chancellor of the Armenian Patriarchate. He expressed disappointment with how authorities frequently insist cases of desecration and harassment hinge not on religious hatred but on mental illness. The Israeli police said they have “thoroughly investigated (incidents) regardless of background or religion” and made “speedy arrests.” The Jerusalem municipality is boosting security at upcoming Orthodox Easter processions and creating a new police department to handle religiously motivated threats, said Jerusalem deputy mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum. Most top Israeli officials have stayed quiet on the vandalism, while government moves — including the introduction of a law criminalizing Christian proselytizing and the promotion of plans to turn the Mount of Olives into a national park — have stoked outrage in the Holy Land and beyond.
Netanyahu vowed to block the bill from moving forward, following pressure from outraged evangelical Christians in the United States. Among the strongest backers of Israel, evangelicals view a Jewish state as the fulfillment of a biblical prophecy.
Meanwhile Jerusalem officials confirmed that they're pressing on with the contentious zoning plan for the Mount of Olives — a holy pilgrimage site with some dozen historic churches. Christian leaders fear the park could stem their growth and encroach on their lands. Jewish settlements home to over 200,000 Israelis already encircle the Old City. The Israeli National Parks Authority promised buy-in from churches and said it hopes the park will “preserve valuable areas as open areas." Pizzaballa pushed back. “It's a kind of confiscation," he said. Simmering tensions in the community came to a head over Orthodox Easter rituals as Israeli police announced strict quotas on the thousands of pilgrims seeking to attend the rite of the “Holy Fire" at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Citing safety concerns over lit torches being thrust through massive crowds in the church, authorities capped Saturday's ceremony at 1,800 people. Priests who saw police open gates wide for Jews celebrating Passover, which coincided this year with Easter, alleged religious discrimination on Wednesday. These days, Bishop Sani Ibrahim Azar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem said he struggles for answers when his congregants ask why they should even bear the bitter price of living in the Holy Land. “There are things that make us worry about our very existence,” he said. “But without hope, more and more of us will leave.”

Executions surge by 75pc in Iran after anti-government protests
Campbell MacDiarmid/The Telegraph/April 13, 2023
Iran recorded a 75 per cent increase in executions last year, according to an annual report by two human rights groups, as Tehran grapples to contain an anti-government protest movement. On Thursday, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty said that Iran executed at least 582 prisoners in 2022, the highest number since 2015 and a major increase from 333 executions in 2021. “In 2022, Iran’s authorities demonstrated how crucial the death penalty is to instil societal fear in order to hold onto power,” their annual report on capital punishment in the country said.
The report recorded a particular spike in executions after a nationwide anti-government protest movement began in September following the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic republic’s public dress code.Since then four people have been executed for crimes related to protesting, at least 20 protesters have been sentenced to death in preliminary trials and more than 100 remain at risk of capital punishment. The report credited international pressure and targeted sanctions with “raising the political cost of executing protesters,” but said that “in response” authorities intensified the execution of prisoners convicted of non-political charges. At least 127 people were executed in November and December 2022 on drug and murder charges. So far this year, Iran has executed 151 prisoners, according to IHR.“International reactions to the death sentences against protesters have made it difficult for the Islamic republic to proceed with their executions,” said Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam, IHR’s director.
“To compensate, and in order to spread fear among people, the authorities have intensified the execution for non-political charges. These are the low-cost victims of the Islamic republic’s execution machine,” he added. Fewer than 12 per cent of executions were announced publicly by the government, the report said, calling it the greatest lack of transparency in the use of capital punishment in the past decade. All of the executions were by hanging, two of which were carried out in public, including protester Majidreza Rahnavard, the report said. At least three juvenile offenders were among those executed while at least 16 women were hanged. The report cited the use of forced confessions extracted under torture, denial of access to lawyers, due process and fair trials, and the lack of an independent judiciary as of particular concern in death penalty cases.
It cited the case of Mohsen Shekari who was arrested during protests in September and sentenced to death in a “show trial” after he said he was tortured into signing confessions without a lawyer present. He was executed in December, just 75 days after his arrest.

Kyiv calls for NATO to secure Black Sea, integrate Ukrainian defences
Luiza Ilie and Jason Hovet/Reuters/Thu, April 13, 2023
BUCHAREST -NATO should play a bigger role in security in the Black Sea, and integrate Ukraine's air and missile defences with those of alliance members, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Thursday. The Black Sea and its Ukrainian coast have been crucial theatres of war since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. "The Black Sea is instrumental for making the whole of Europe peaceful and future-oriented," Kuleba, speaking via video link, told a Black Sea security conference in Romanian capital Bucharest. "Sadly, it is also a showcase of how rapidly things can deteriorate if one neglects threats. It's time to turn the Black Sea into what the Baltic Sea has become, a sea of NATO."The remarks were brushed aside in Moscow, where Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a briefing: "The Black Sea can never be a NATO sea." He added: "This is a shared sea, it must be a sea of cooperation, interaction and security for all its littoral states. And this security is indivisible." Both Moscow and Kyiv rely on the sea for trade including supplying grain markets as two of the world's biggest food exporters. A Russian blockade threatened to cause a global food crisis last year until the United Nations and Turkey brokered an accord to keep ports open, with diplomacy ongoing to extend it. "We need to address the common Russia problem together," Kuleba said. "For instance, I support the expert idea to integrate the air and missile defence systems of Ukraine with the ones of the Black and Baltic Sea NATO allies."
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana did not directly comment on Kuleba's call, but said later that the alliance has continued to step up its presence in the Black Sea region. A joint task force with the European Union has been established to deal with critical infrastructure, he said. "I encourage the countries in the Black Sea region to adopt and be active in this new format because the Black Sea has infrastructure ... we need to protect," Geoana said. Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said a strong NATO foothold in the Black Sea going forward was a "must" and his country would continue working with NATO allies and develop a rotational presence in the Black Sea.
BLACK SEA FLEET
Russia's Black Sea fleet is based in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow seized and annexed in 2014, and capturing Ukraine's ports has been a major objective of Russia. Since last year's invasion, Moscow has seized the entire coast of the Sea of Azov that opens into the Black Sea, but its advance along the Black Sea coast was halted about 130 km (80 miles) east of Ukraine's main port Odesa. Kyiv has no comparable navy, but the impact of Russia's superiority at sea has been blunted since Ukraine sank the flagship Russian cruiser Moskva a year ago and recaptured Snake Island, a rocky outcrop near sea lanes to Odesa. In the north of Europe, the security map around the Baltic Sea has been redrawn in the past year by Finland and Sweden's decision to apply to join NATO, leaving Russia soon to be the only coastal country outside the Western military alliance.
Applications by Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO would have the same impact on the Black Sea, where Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey are already members. Kuleba said an upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius would be an opportunity to move forward on Ukraine's long-sought NATO membership, "to show that the door is not only open but that there is a clear plan on when and how Ukraine will enter it."Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Kyiv needed guarantees that would make future Russian aggression impossible. "There is no alternative to Ukraine's accession to NATO," he said. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie and Jason Hovet; additional reporting by Reuters Moscow bureau; editing by Peter Graff, Mark Heinrich and Jonathan Oatis)

Hungary to quit Russian International Investment Bank after U.S. sanctions
BUDAPEST (Reuters)/Thu, April 13, 2023T
Hungary's government has decided to withdraw its representatives from the Russia-controlled International Investment Bank (IIB) and will quit it, the Economic Development Ministry said on Thursday. The decision comes a day after the United States imposed sanctions on three top officials of IIB in Budapest: two Russians and a Hungarian. Despite agreeing to withdraw from the bank, Hungary expressed frustration at being pushed to do so. "We accept and understand that we represent different positions, but we don't understand why pressuring other states to change theirs is necessary," Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at a press conference. "Hungary is a state, therefore it should be treated as one, instead of a colony."Washington has said Hungary had ignored U.S. concerns raised over the "opaque Kremlin platform", a bank that moved its headquarters to Budapest from Moscow in 2019. One representative at IIB had been Economic Development Minister Marton Nagy, sitting on the board of governors. Hungary, a NATO and European Union member, has fostered good ties with Moscow since 2010 under nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has avoided personally criticising President Vladimir Putin despite condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Orban's stance has been criticised by U.S. and European allies, and the U.S. has repeatedly called on Hungary to quit the IIB. The Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia have completed their withdrawal from the IIB, while Romania will exit in June. At the end of January, Hungary held a 25.27% stake in IIB, the second biggest stake after Russia with 45.44% according to the bank's website.

Russia may discuss swap for WSJ reporter; airmen taken into custody in leak case: Ukraine live updates
John Bacon, USA TODAY/April 13, 2023
Russia may be willing to discuss a prisoner swap involving jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich after a court delivers its verdict on espionage charges, a top Russian diplomat said Thursday. “We have a working channel that was used in the past to achieve concrete agreements, and these agreements were fulfilled,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state-run Tass news agency. Not guilty verdicts are almost unheard of in Russian courts. U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, who played in Russia during the WNBA off season, was convicted on drug charges and spent 10 months in prison before her December release in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. President Biden on Tuesday called Russia's detention of the American journalist "totally illegal,'' and the U.S. State Department elevated his case by formally categorizing him as wrongfully detained. Gershkovich, 31, was detained by Russian authorities two weeks ago in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. Russia alleged that Gershkovich "was acting on the U.S. orders to collect information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military industrial complex that constitutes a state secret."
The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have repeatedly denied that Gershkovich is a spy.
'TOTALLY ILLEGAL': Biden blasts Russian arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich
Latest developments:
►Norway said it is expelling 15 Russian diplomats suspected of spying while working at the Russian Embassy in Oslo. Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt described the expelled Russians as “intelligence officers under diplomatic cover.”
►Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Thursday that his country remains firm in its demand that Russia withdraw its forces from Crimea, as well as from parts of Ukraine that Moscow illegally annexed since the invasion began in February 2012.
LEAK PROBE: US 'getting close' to wrapping up investigation into classified documents leak,
Biden says PENTAGON LEAK: Information won't impact Ukraine, experts say. But what is the 'political cost' to come?
Air National Guard member linked to documents leak taken into custody
A Massachusetts Air National Guard member who has emerged as a main person of interest in the disclosure of highly classified military documents on the Ukraine war was taken into custody Thursday by federal agents, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it hadn’t been publicly announced. Investigators believe that the guardsman, who specializes in intelligence, led the online chat group where the documents were posted. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, citing documents and U.S. officials, identified the leader as Jack Teixeira, who oversaw a private online group named Thug Shaker Central, where a group of mostly young men and teenagers "shared love of guns, racist online memes and video games," the Times reports.The Defense Department issued a statement: “We are aware of the investigation into the alleged role a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman may have played in the recent leak of highly-classified documents.” Members of the group told the Times that the airman was not a whistleblower, and the secret documents were never meant to go beyond their group. Two U.S. officials confirmed to the Times that investigators want to talk to the airman, described as a member of the Guard's intelligence wing. Russia names suspect in restaurant bombing that killed blogger Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, on Thursday accused a Ukrainian man of organizing the St. Petersburg restaurant bombing that killed pro-Kremlin military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky and wounded dozens more. The agency said Yuriy Denysov, who it said was a working for Ukrainian security services, arrived in in Moscow from Kyiv, traveling through Latvia, in February. He rented an apartment next to Tatarsky and collected information about his "daily routine," the agency said. Denysov also is accused of giving Darya Trepova the plaster statuette of Tatarsky stuffed with explosives that Trepova presented to Tatarsky moments before the blast. Trepova, being held in Russia, reportedly has denied knowing there was a bomb in the statuette. The day after the explosion Denysov flew to Turkey. The FSB said it would put Denisov on the international wanted list.

Ukraine's spy chief says 'Russia is the only beneficiary' of US intelligence leak
ABC/Thu, April 13, 2023
Ukraine's most senior military intelligence official said Russia has the most to gain from the massive leak of U.S. government secrets that has dominated headlines in recent days. In his first interview since classified documents from the U.S. Department of Defense were leaked online last week, Ukrainian Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told ABC News in Kyiv on Wednesday evening that information warfare of this kind is nothing new. "Russia is the only beneficiary of this," Budanov said. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday that a member of the Massachusetts Air Force National Guard was arrested by FBI agents in North Dighton, Massachusetts, in connection with the leaked documents probe. Jack Teixeira, 21, was taken into custody in relation to the investigation into "alleged authorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information," Garland said.
Budanov confirmed he spoke with his U.S. counterparts soon after the leak came to light. "We have communication with relevant services in the U.S.," he added, "and from literally the first few hours, we started to talk." The Ukrainian intelligence chief insisted there was "no risk" that the matter would damage the relationship between his war-torn country and the United States. Instead, he downplayed the likely impact the shocking revelations will have on the battlefield, as Ukraine endures a second year of Russia's invasion. "If there is a problem, it will be solved," he told ABC News. "If there is no problem, even better. This will not be able to affect the real results of the offensive operation."Budanov, who has been credited with predicting the precise date and time of the Russian invasion, talked up the Ukrainian military's ability to make headway in an upcoming and long-awaited counteroffensive against Russian forces, despite U.S. officials suggesting in private that any prospective gains will likely be more modest than last year's lightning operation that returned huge swathes of territory to Ukrainian government control. "What will be the results of these actions? I think that, in the near future, everyone will see and feel it," he said.
However, Budanov admitted that the "success of this offensive operation is badly needed" -- not just for Ukrainians but also their allies who are supplying them with funds and ammunition. While he noted that the "taxpayers" of countries supporting Ukraine's defensive, such as the U.S., expect to see results, Budanov said he was not aware of any demands made by Western allies nor that continued support would be conditional on battlefield success. "Without victories, sooner or later, questions will be asked whether it's worth continuing to support Ukraine," he told ABC News. Budanov sat down with ABC News in his office in the Ukrainian capital just days after the leaked cables, which was described by analysts as the most serious breach of U.S. intelligence in over a decade. Budanov refused to be drawn in on some of the more explosive claims, including what appears to be evidence that U.S. officials were listening in on internal Ukrainian discussions about striking targets deep within Russia. Further evidence of U.S. assistance for Ukraine emerged earlier Wednesday. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that a small military special operations team based at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv has been providing intelligence assistance to Ukrainian special forces and security assistance to VIPs since the early phase of Russia's war. A former U.S. official told ABC News that, in addition to providing assistance with the oversight of U.S. equipment and supplies being sent to Ukraine, they have also assisted Ukrainian military planners with their operations that have resulted in hundreds -- if not thousands -- of Russian military casualties. The sources stressed that they were not in combat. When talking about Russia, Budanov was characteristically bullish. He made headlines last year when he told ABC News that the Ukrainian military would strike at targets "deeper and deeper" inside Russian territory. Speaking to ABC News on Wednesday evening, Budanov vowed to take back the Crimean Peninsula and mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin's not-so-veiled nuclear threats and failed "winter offensive," the latter of which has seen minimal gains and heavy losses. While studying a map of Russia, Budanov predicted seismic change within the neighboring country that he believes will play a part in ending Putin's war in Ukraine's favor. "Borders can be changed," he said. "This is an artificially created mistake and, now, the moment has come for this country to collapse." ABC News' Luis Martinez, Fidel Pavlenko and Natalia Popova contributed to this report Ukraine's spy chief says 'Russia is the only beneficiary' of US intelligence leak originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

FBI arrests Air National Guard suspected over Pentagon leaks
Susie Coen/The Telegraph/April 13, 2023
The FBI last night arrested a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard on suspicion of leaking hundreds of US intelligence documents. Jack Teixeira is accused of uploading a tranche of classified material on the US's assessment of the war in Ukraine, as well as sensitive information on its allies, to an online gaming chat group. FBI agents on Thursday swarmed Mr Teixeira's North Dighton, Massachusetts home and heavily armed tactical agents took a man wearing a T-shirt and shorts into custody outside the property. The leak of US military documents was a "deliberate, criminal act", Patrick Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary, told reporters. "The department is taking the issue of this unauthorised disclosure very seriously." Mr Ryder said officials are working "around the clock" to "better understand the scope, scale and impact" of the classified documents leak.
He said the departments of justice and defence were now reviewing restricting access to sensitive information in light of the breach. According to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Mr Teixeira will make an initial court appearance at the US District Court in Massachusetts. Attorney General Garland said Mr Teixeira would likely face charges under the Espionage Act. It criminalises the unauthorised removal, retention, and transmission of documents related to national defence that could be used to harm the US or aid a foreign adversary. Each such document would be its own charge; a conviction carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison per count. The Pentagon has already begun removing some people from distribution lists for classified briefings. Some US officials stopped receiving them in recent days after all email lists were reviewed. It later became clearer how Mr Teixeira would have had access to the intelligence. The 102nd Intelligence Wing is part of the Air Force's Distributed Common Ground system, which processes intelligence from abroad. Retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton said: "It [the unit] had a "global mission. They get data from overseas and analyse that data. They help the intelligence community analyse things in real time in theatres around the world. "It could very well be the case that unit is working issues such as Ukraine, so they would have to have access to some of that information." Mr Teixeria's mother, Dawn, told reporters outside their home in Massachusetts on Thursday that her son had recently been working overnight shifts at a base on Cape Cod and in the last few days had changed his phone number.
Documents include Ukraine war battle maps
More than 100 classified documents relating to Ukraine, China, the Middle East, the Pacific and international terrorism are now believed to be in the public domain. The documents, which included battle maps and casualty estimates, then began to surface on other platforms, including the online messaging board 4Chan, the encrypted global messaging app Telegram, and Twitter. The US Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the leak. Officials have said Russia or pro-Russian elements were likely behind the breach. The Washington Post claims to have reviewed around 300 photographs of classified documents, including a US Defence Intelligence Agency assessment saying that the war in Ukraine is expected to continue into 2024 as both sides refuse to negotiate. Thousands of military personnel and government employees of a similar age could have had access to the documents, US officials told the newspaper.
‘He’s strong. He’s armed’
A member of the online group said the alleged leaker, who went by the nickname “OG”, began sharing typed out transcripts of official documents complete with annotations to help his online friends understand their content. There was a “strict” “pecking order” for the group, and if members did not engage with the classified information he would get angry and “upset”, one member said. He then allegedly began sharing photographs of the documents instead. “He’s fit. He’s strong. He’s armed. He’s trained. Just about everything you can expect out of some sort of crazy movie,” one member of the chat group, a teenager who met OG four years ago, and spoke with the permission of his mother, said. “He’s a smart person. He knew what he was doing when he posted these documents, of course. These weren’t accidental leaks of any kind.” The member said he had been in contact with OG in recent days and he “seemed very confused and lost as to what to do”. “He’s fully aware of what’s happening and what the consequences may be. He’s just not sure on how to go about solving this situation … He seems pretty distraught about it.”

Egyptian, Emirati Leaders Discuss Promoting Regional Stability
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 13 April, 2023
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met on Wednesday with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in Cairo where discussions focused on promoting regional peace and stability. The meeting took place at Al-Ittihadiya Palace following a formal reception ceremony marking the Emirati President’s visit to Cairo. Egypt’s Presidential spokesperson Ahmed Fahmy, stated that the talks focused on ways to develop cooperation in all fields to serve the interests of both nations, in addition to coordination regarding regional developments. He added that discussions reflected a mutual understanding to deal with regional matters and to continue joint efforts to strengthen cooperation between Arab States to confront the growing challenges at all levels. The Egyptian President affirmed Egypt's appreciation of its close historical ties with the UAE.
For his part, the UAE President stressed his country's keenness on boosting distinguished ties binding Egypt and the UAE and its appreciation to the people and leadership of Egypt. “We explored opportunities to further strengthen the deep-rooted ties between the UAE and Egypt and discussed our shared interest in promoting regional stability and progress,” Sheikh Mohamed tweeted.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 13-14/2023
Intelligence Leaks and the Consequences of Israel's Resistance Coup
Jonathan S. Tobin/Gatestone Institute./April 13, 2023
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19575/intelligence-leaks-israel-coup
What the demonstrators are attempting is — despite their virtue-signaling about their devotion to democracy, and venting their fears about Netanyahu and his allies installing a dictatorship — nothing less than an anti-democratic coup of their own.
President Joe Biden is supporting their efforts for reasons of his own, which have to do with Washington's desire for a weaker Israeli government that won't make trouble about appeasing Iran.
The truth is that those... who are cheerleading for the protests, are not primarily interested in preserving the unchecked power of the judicial establishment that is essentially anti-democratic. What they want is to overturn the results of the last election, and somehow ensure that the nationalist and religious voters who gave Netanyahu a clear Knesset majority are essentially disenfranchised.
Israel's liberal establishment fears that the leftist parties that represent its interests can never win another election, and so they have done everything they can to undermine Netanyahu with protests akin to the color revolutions that sought regime change in the former Soviet Union.
Having succeeded in creating chaos, they now have the chutzpah to blame Netanyahu for the dangers they have brought about that are undoubtedly harming Israel's security as well as sowing dissension with its allies.
Having convinced themselves that the lies about Netanyahu threatening democracy are true, the Israeli left and its foreign enablers may have rendered themselves insensible to the potentially catastrophic repercussions of their efforts.
Having convinced themselves that the lies about Netanyahu threatening democracy are true, the Israeli left and its foreign enablers may have rendered themselves insensible to the potentially catastrophic repercussions of their efforts. Pictured: Anti-government protesters burn pictures of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 27, 2023 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
Israel's government was doing damage control this past weekend and, for a change, it wasn't about its losing battle to pass judicial reform, dissension over the surge in Palestinian terrorism or the threat from Iran. Or at least, not directly. Instead, it was put in the unenviable position of having to deny a report published in The New York Times and widely reported elsewhere about leaks from secret Pentagon documents detailing the U.S. intelligence activity.
Yet as controversial as the contents of the report may be, the main concern shouldn't be about the Biden administration's involvement in Israel's internal affairs. Rather, the focus should be on the consequences of the debate going on inside Israel that Washington wants to influence. Even the Israeli government's fiercest and most unfair critics now believe that the Jewish state's enemies regard the current atmosphere of political chaos as evidence of weakness. That means the price for the upheaval inside Israel will continue to be paid not in losing media cycles for the ruling coalition but in the blood of its citizens.
Most of the attention from the shocking exposure of U.S. internal reports centers on the revelations about American espionage that targeted Russia and its impact on the war in Ukraine. But the dump of classified documents that have been spread around the Internet also discussed U.S. spying on friendly countries, including Ukraine, and allies like South Korea and Israel. That included reports about American pressure on Israel to supply lethal aid to Ukraine despite it being in the interests of the Jewish state to stay out of direct involvement in that conflict.
What happened inside the Mossad?
But as concerning as all that might be, the documents that speak about the Mossad — Israel's foreign intelligence agency — are especially troubling.
According to an internal report produced by the CIA, the Mossad's leadership had encouraged its personnel, as well as other Israeli citizens, to participate in the anti-government protests that have shaken Israel over the past three months. If true, it would be an inexcusable violation of the agency's responsibility to remain above politics and to follow the orders of the country's democratically elected government. More than that, it would give some credence to claims by some of the government's supporters, including Netanyahu's son Yair, that hostile elements inside Israel's intelligence community had colluded with the Biden administration to help fuel the protests with the ultimate goal of toppling the government.
The response from Jerusalem was immediate and emphatic.
It stated that the report "is mendacious and without any foundations whatsoever. The Mossad and its senior officials did not—and do not—encourage agency personnel to join the demonstrations against the government, political demonstrations or any political activity. The Mossad and its serving personnel have not engaged in the issue of the demonstrations at all and are dedicated to the value of service to the state that has guided the Mossad since its founding."
Israel's citizens and its friends elsewhere can only pray that the denial is more truthful than the American intelligence report. And although there appears to be no doubt about the authenticity of the documents that were published in the Times, it does not guarantee that the assessments made by American intelligence were completely accurate.
Still, some elements of this report are rooted in the truth. It has also been reported that some in the Mossad requested and apparently received permission to participate in the demonstrations as private citizens. Mossad director David Barnea, reportedly in consultation with Israel's attorney general, seems to have ruled that lower-level staff could join in the protests as long as they didn't openly parade their affiliation.
This fact is still shocking since it shows that Mossad personnel were not instructed that, whatever their private beliefs, their responsibilities as members of a service actively engaged in the country's defense should mean that they must stay out of overt political activities. And by letting them do so—even if there was no encouragement or conspiring with the opposition or foreign government on the part of senior intelligence officials—the defense establishment was sending a message of its acquiescence to an unprecedented effort to topple a government that had been elected only months before.
Disregard conspiracy theories
Some may seize on the Pentagon document and use it to back claims that the protests are primarily the work of some sort of a conspiracy. Allegations about a conspiracy, however, are clearly unfounded. What the demonstrators are attempting is — despite their virtue-signaling about their devotion to democracy, and venting their fears about Netanyahu and his allies installing a dictatorship — nothing less than an anti-democratic coup of their own. Nevertheless, the protests are the product of a widespread belief on the part of secular liberal Israelis that their country is in peril.
That these fears, which have been incited by the biased reporting of Israel's leftist-dominated media and the maneuverings of its legal, economic and academic establishments, are wholly unfounded is beside the point.
The hundreds of thousands who have taken to the streets, blocked highways and sought to sabotage the country's economy and defense believe what they are saying. President Joe Biden is supporting their efforts for reasons of his own, which have to do with Washington's desire for a weaker Israeli government that won't make trouble about appeasing Iran. But though the demonstrators are foolishly welcoming American intervention to help them overturn the results of an election that their side lost in November, they'd be in the streets even if Biden had not sought to intervene in Israel's internal politics.
Still, Netanyahu's critics understand that the paralysis of Israeli society and its government that they have brought about is being closely observed by Iran and its terrorist auxiliaries and allies, as well as by an intransigent Palestinian leadership. They are now testing Israel, as seen by a surge in bloody Palestinian terrorism, coupled by rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
David Horovitz, the editor of The Times of Israel, spoke the truth when he wrote last week that "our enemies smell weakness" as the country seemed to be spiraling out of control due to the fight over judicial reform. Under his leadership, TOI has not just been a cheerleader for the protests but has actively sought to exacerbate divisions over the government's efforts to pass legislation aimed to restrain the untrammeled power of the country's Supreme Court. Indeed, Horovitz even penned a holiday-themed Passover column in which he argued for using the seder as a platform for efforts to demonize Netanyahu rather than encouraging viewing the festival as a moment to work for Jewish unity.
Of course, when speaking of the way the protests have weakened Israel, he and other Netanyahu critics are, like the Biden administration, blaming it all on Netanyahu and his supposedly extremist allies. The truth is that those like Horovitz, who are cheerleading for the protests, are not primarily interested in preserving the unchecked power of the judicial establishment that is essentially anti-democratic. What they want is to overturn the results of the last election, and somehow ensure that the nationalist and religious voters who gave Netanyahu a clear Knesset majority are essentially disenfranchised.
Israel's liberal establishment fears that the leftist parties that represent its interests can never win another election, and so they have done everything they can to undermine Netanyahu with protests akin to the color revolutions that sought regime change in the former Soviet Union. Indeed, they are so determined to oust the government that they even consider measures that could harm the country's finances or undermine its defense, like the refusal of military reserve duty by supporters of the protests, to be legitimate tactics.
Under the circumstances, it's hardly surprising that Iran, Hezbollah and the Palestinians are seeking to exploit the situation. Whether that leads to a major escalation or just an increase in the number of Israelis killed in attacks, any perception of weakness is a standing invitation to just the sort of miscalculation that can lead to more violence and bloodshed.
While the right to protest should not be questioned, the measures undertaken by the prime minister's political foes go beyond normal political activism. Having succeeded in creating chaos, they now have the chutzpah to blame Netanyahu for the dangers they have brought about that are undoubtedly harming Israel's security as well as sowing dissension with its allies.
The Pentagon leaks ought to be a wake-up call that demonstrates that the extremism of the anti-Bibi resistance has gone too far. Unfortunately, the divisions within Israel and among those who care about it may now be so great that a sober re-evaluation of the impact of the anti-government hysteria may be impossible. Having convinced themselves that the lies about Netanyahu threatening democracy are true, the Israeli left and its foreign enablers may have rendered themselves insensible to the potentially catastrophic repercussions of their efforts.
*Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Reprinted with kind permission of JNS.
© 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.

What Is Really Happening at Jerusalem's Holy Sites?
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./April 13, 2023
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19579/jerusalem-holy-sites
[T]ens of thousands of Muslims from Israel and the West Bank were able to attend prayers at the mosque, especially on Fridays, in the first two weeks of Ramadan. That is until a group of extremist Muslims decided to turn the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound into a scene of anarchy and lawlessness, violating the sanctity of the holy site and endangering the lives of the remaining peaceful worshippers who came to the holy site with the sole purpose of praying and not engaging in any acts of violence.
These extremists, some wearing masks, seemingly did not come to pray. They came, on the face of it, with the aim of rioting and causing disorder. They came with stones, fireworks, wood planks and iron rods. That is not what Muslim worshippers usually bring to a mosque. They prevented worshippers from leaving the mosque. Their intention was, to all appearances, to create a violent riot against Jewish visitors and the police. In addition, they desecrated the mosque by smuggling fireworks, clubs and stones into the mosque and barricading themselves inside it using iron rods and furniture among other objects.
When the Israeli police moved to evict the agitators, Israel found itself under attack from a number of countries, as well as many in the Western mainstream media, for "assaulting peaceful worshippers" and sending its troops to "storm" one of Islam's holiest sites.
Ironically, Israel is being accused of "obstructing" Muslims' access to the mosque at a time when -- thanks to Israel's hundreds of cost-free coaches that bus Muslims to Jerusalem during Ramadan from all over Israel -- a record number of 200,000 worshippers attended the most recent Friday prayer.
These figures were not provided by the Israeli authorities, but by the Jordanian-controlled Islamic Waqf Department, which oversees the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.
The latest tensions began when a few hundred extremists barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque after evening prayers. The instigators claimed that they had decided to spend the night inside the mosque to prevent Jews from "storming" the compound. This claim was totally false: no Jew was planning to set foot inside the mosque.
Jews have, for the past few years, been conducting peaceful outdoor tours of the Temple Mount compound, which is also the holiest site for Jews.
There is no law prohibiting non-Muslims, including Jews, from touring the site. In fact, the Islamic religious authorities have long welcomed non-Muslims as visitors at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
[Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas and other Muslim figures, such as his prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, continue to deny any Jewish religious and historical connection to Jerusalem in particular and Israel in general, despite massive archeological and archival evidence to the contrary. This includes the Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus Flavius, and even the Qur'an, which mentions the presence of the Jews and Moses in the "Holy Land" multiple times (eg: 17:104; 2:47-48; 9:30; 2:83; 3:110; 3:199; 7:159; 2:62; 22:40; 5:5; 7:145).
Since Abbas's false -- actually, slanderous - accusation ["The Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are ours. They are all ours, and they (Jews) have no right to defile them with their filthy feet. We salute every drop spilled for the sake of Jerusalem."], dozens of Jews have been murdered in various terror attacks, including stabbings, car-rammings, shootings and bombings, under the pretext of defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque from Jewish "aggression."
If there is any violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, it comes from Muslims who resort to verbal and physical abuse against the Jewish visitors and police officers accompanying them. The Muslims have even set up groups of men and women called Murabitun ("defenders of the faith") as part of an effort to harass and intimidate Jews who visit the Temple Mount.
The full responsibility for the latest tensions between Israel and the Palestinians lies solely on the Muslims who hijacked Ramadan, evidently to incite violence and spew hatred against Israel and Jews.
By allowing these violent extremists to barricade themselves inside the mosque, the Islamic Waqf Department is acting against its own instructions. On March 21, the Islamic Waqf Department issued a directive in which it stated that Muslims should not stay overnight at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This was agreed to during the recent Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh summits between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as by Jordan and Egypt....
Those who are desecrating the mosque are the people hiding inside it and attacking police officers with fireworks and rocks. Those who are desecrating the mosque are the people who damaged the interior of the mosque by using fireworks as weapons.
By initiating the latest tensions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the Palestinian extremists are seeking to rally the world against Israel by depicting it as an oppressive state that has no respect for Islamic holy sites. These instigators are hoping to drag Israel into a military confrontation with other Arabs and Muslims, especially in neighboring Syria and Lebanon, from where Palestinians have fired rockets at Israel in the past few days.
These extremists do not hide their affiliation with Hamas and other Iran terror proxies such as Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran's mullahs say they want to see Israel "wiped off the map." So do Iran's proxies in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
The Palestinians who are desecrating the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem are inspired and empowered by Iran's mullahs. The Iranian regime does not care if the mosque is vandalized or burned down by Palestinian terrorists: it knows that many in the international community will continue to blame Israel, and exonerate those who declare Jihad (holy war) on Israel and the Jews.
The mainstream media in the West -- who spout misinformation and outright lies about what is really taking place at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound -- are fully complicit in this naked Jihad to wipe out the Jews.
Those who are desecrating Al-Aqsa Mosque are the people hiding inside it and attacking police officers with fireworks and rocks, and who damaged the interior of the mosque by using fireworks as weapons. "The Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are ours. They are all ours, and they [Jews] have no right to defile them with their filthy feet. We salute every drop of blood spilled for the sake of Jerusalem. This blood is clean, pure blood, shed for the sake of Allah. Every martyr will be placed in Paradise, and all the wounded will be rewarded by Allah." — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. (Image source: MEMRI)
Since the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan on March 22, Israeli authorities have taken a series of measures to enable free access for Muslim worshippers to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known as the Temple Mount or Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), in Jerusalem.
The measures include providing free-of-charge shuttle services for the worshippers, as well as sealing off several main streets in Jerusalem to traffic so that the Muslims will be able to enter and exit the city without delay.
As a result, tens of thousands of Muslims from Israel and the West Bank were able to attend prayers at the mosque, especially on Fridays, in the first two weeks of Ramadan. That is until a group of extremist Muslims decided to turn the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound into a scene of anarchy and lawlessness, violating the sanctity of the holy site and endangering the lives of the remaining peaceful worshippers who came to the holy site with the sole purpose of praying and not engaging in any acts of violence.
These extremists, some wearing masks, seemingly did not come to pray. They came, on the face of it, with the aim of rioting and causing disorder. They came with stones, fireworks, wood planks and iron rods. That is not what Muslim worshippers usually bring to a mosque. They prevented worshippers from leaving the mosque. Their intention was, to all appearances, to create a violent riot against Jewish visitors and the police. In addition, they desecrated the mosque by smuggling fireworks, clubs and stones into the mosque and barricading themselves inside it using iron rods and furniture among other objects.
When the Israeli police moved to evict the agitators, Israel found itself under attack from a number of countries, as well as many in the Western mainstream media, for "assaulting peaceful worshippers" and sending its troops to "storm" one of Islam's holiest sites.
Ironically, Israel is being accused of "obstructing" Muslims' access to the mosque at a time when -- thanks to Israel's hundreds of cost-free coaches that bus Muslims to Jerusalem during Ramadan from all over Israel -- a record number of 200,000 worshippers attended the most recent Friday prayer. The number of Muslims who attend the prayers on other days of the year has always been much less.
If Israeli authorities were "hindering" the arrival of worshippers to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, how have up to 200,000 worshippers been reaching the site since the beginning of Ramadan? These figures were not provided by the Israeli authorities, but by the Jordanian-controlled Islamic Waqf Department, which oversees the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem. On March 31, for example, the department announced that 250,000 worshippers attended the Friday prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is not unusual for such a large number of Muslims to attend prayers at the mosque during Ramadan.
Last year, Muslims reported that more than 200,000 worshippers attended one of the Friday prayers during Ramadan. Previous years saw similar numbers of Muslims converging on the holy site in Jerusalem, mainly thanks to Israel's measures facilitating their entry into, and stay inside, the city.
The latest tensions began when a few hundred extremists barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque after evening prayers. The instigators claimed that they had decided to spend the night inside the mosque to prevent Jews from "storming" the compound. This claim was totally false: no Jew was planning to set foot inside the mosque. This is also not the first time that this lie has been used to incite violence against Israel and Jews. It is also not the first time that a relatively small group of violent extremists have barricaded themselves inside the mosque during Ramadan.
Jews have, for the past few years, been conducting peaceful outdoor tours of the Temple Mount compound, which is also the holiest site for Jews.
There is no law prohibiting non-Muslims, including Jews, from touring the site. In fact, the Islamic religious authorities have long welcomed non-Muslims as visitors at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The issue here, however, is that some Muslims have decided that they do not want to see any Jews visiting the site. That is apparently because Muslim leaders, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, have been telling their people that the Jews have no right to visit Judaism's holiest site.
Abbas and other Muslim figures, such as his prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, continue to deny any Jewish religious and historical connection to Jerusalem in particular and Israel in general, despite massive archeological and archival evidence to the contrary. This includes the Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus Flavius, and even the Qur'an, which mentions the presence of the Jews and Moses in the "Holy Land" multiple times (eg: 17:104; 2:47-48; 9:30; 2:83; 3:110; 3:199; 7:159; 2:62; 22:40; 5:5; 7:145).
Here is what Abbas had to say in 2015 about Jews visiting the Temple Mount:
"The Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are ours. They are all ours, and they (Jews) have no right to defile them with their filthy feet. We salute every drop spilled for the sake of Jerusalem."
Since Abbas's false -- actually, slanderous -- accusation, dozens of Jews have been murdered in various terror attacks, including stabbings, car-rammings, shootings and bombings, under the pretext of defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque from Jewish "aggression."
If there is any violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, it comes from Muslims who resort to verbal and physical abuse against the Jewish visitors and police officers accompanying them. The Muslims have even set up groups of men and women called Murabitun ("defenders of the faith") as part of an effort to harass and intimidate Jews who visit the Temple Mount.
The full responsibility for the latest tensions between Israel and the Palestinians lies solely on the Muslims who hijacked Ramadan, evidently to incite violence and spew hatred against Israel and Jews.
Instead of condemning the violent extremists for defiling the mosque, Palestinian leaders and their supporters are blaming Israel for using force to remove them from the mosque to ensure free access to the site for tens of thousands of Muslims who did want to worship.
Instead of calling out the agitators for bringing stones, iron rods and fireworks into the mosque, Palestinian leaders and some Western media outlets continue to issue false accusations and libelous accusations against Israel and the Jews.
By allowing these violent extremists to barricade themselves inside the mosque, the Islamic Waqf Department is acting against its own instructions. On March 21, the Islamic Waqf Department issued a directive in which it stated that Muslims should not stay overnight at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This was agreed to during the recent Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh summits between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as by Jordan and Egypt, to tamp down tensions at the holy site.
Those who are desecrating the mosque are the people hiding inside it and attacking police officers with fireworks and rocks. Those who are desecrating the mosque are the people who damaged the interior of the mosque by using fireworks as weapons. Those who are desecrating the mosque are the people who, after almost every prayer, raise flags and banners of terror groups such as Hamas and chant slogans in support of terrorism.
Where in the Koran does it say that a Muslim who goes to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque is required to chant slogans in support of Mohammed Deif, a Hamas arch-terrorist wanted for his involvement in a series of terror attacks that wounded and killed dozens of Jews?
It is Hamas's charter that openly calls for the elimination of Israel -- Hamas, that has been designated as a terrorist group by the US, the European Union, Canada, as well as other countries.
Is there a fatwa (Islamic religious ruling) that encourages Muslims to use a mosque to chant slogans denouncing Mahmoud Abbas as a "spy" for Israel and threatening that Muslims will "stomp on your [Abbas's] head"? Abbas is often criticized by many Palestinians for allegedly displaying a "moderate" policy towards and allowing his security forces to conduct security coordination with the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank.
By initiating the latest tensions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the Palestinian extremists are seeking to rally the world against Israel by depicting it as an oppressive state that has no respect for Islamic holy sites. These instigators are hoping to drag Israel into a military confrontation with other Arabs and Muslims, especially in neighboring Syria and Lebanon, from where Palestinians have fired rockets at Israel in the past few days.
These extremists do not hide their affiliation with Hamas and other Iranian terror proxies such as Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran's mullahs say they want to see Israel "wiped off the map." So do Iran's proxies in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
The Palestinians who are desecrating the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem are inspired and empowered by Iran's mullahs. The Iranian regime does not care if the mosque is vandalized or burned down by Palestinian terrorists: it knows that many in the international community will continue to blame Israel, and exonerate those who declare Jihad (holy war) on Israel and the Jews.
The mainstream media in the West -- who spout misinformation and outright lies about what is really taking place at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound -- are fully complicit in this naked Jihad to wipe out the Jews.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
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Vatican Apologizes to the ‘Infidel Enemies of the Christian Name’
Raymond Ibrahim/April 13/2023
According to a recent report,
The Vatican has abrogated three papal bulls, claiming that the documents are offensive to indigenous peoples and “have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith.”The bulls Dum Diversas (1452), Romanus Pontifex (1455) and Inter Caetera (1493) contain the basis for the “doctrine of discovery,” which “is not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church,” the Vatican has announced.
“The Church acknowledges that these papal bulls did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of indigenous peoples,” the dicasteries for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development said in a joint statement published Thursday [March 30, 2023]. While the above sounds open-minded and “progressive,” the all-important context is, as usual, missing. The above referenced bulls, or edicts, were primarily focused on neutralizing Muslim powers that were otherwise terrorizing virtually every corner of Christendom.
For example, Dum Diversas was issued the same year (1452) that Sultan Muhammad II laid siege to Constantinople, leading to that ancient Christian city’s brutal fall in 1453. At the same time, Muslims from North Africa were terrorizing Spain and the broader Mediterranean through constant and devastating slave raids. Whether in Christendom’s furthest east (Constantinople), then, or furthest west (Spain), Muslims were massacring and enslaving countless Christians.
As such, these bulls, like so many before them, were designed to inspire Europeans to rise up and defend Christendom against Muslims—to “restrain the savage excesses of the Saracens and of other infidels, enemies of the Christian name,” to quote from the Romanus Pontifex.
Because some of these bulls deal with Christians invading and seeking to conquer North Africa, modern day “enemies of the Christian name” have sought to spin these as unprovoked wars of conquest and colonization. For example, the Romanus Pontifex authorized King Alfonso V of Portugal (1432–1481) to “invade [North Africa], conquer, defeat and subjugate all Saracens and pagans and other enemies of Christ,” and to “enslave their persons perpetually” and seize their possessions for profit.
Again, such ruthless language must not be read in a vacuum. The atrocities Muslims were committing against nearby Christians, especially against the subjects of Spain and Portugal, make Islamic State (“ISIS”) atrocities seem like child play. It was all out war to the death.
Moreover, while expeditions into North Africa were very similar to the Crusades, in that they featured Christians traveling to and seeking to conquer Muslim lands, often left out is that all of these “Muslim lands”—all of North Africa and the Middle East—were Christian centuries before Islam invaded and conquered them in the seventh century. The popes and other Christians were well aware of this, and, as such, these expeditions were seen as Just Wars, both to quell Muslim aggression, but also to return North Africa and the Middle East to the fold of Christendom—including by liberating the indigenous Christians, who, in the fifteenth century, were experiencing especially severe bouts of persecution. For example, contemporary sources concerning Egypt’s Coptic Christians under the Mamluk dynasty (1250-1517) are riddled with accounts of Christians being slaughtered, immolated, crucified, their women and children raped and enslaved, and their churches razed to the ground.
Most of these bulls were further issued at a time when Muslims made it impossible for Christians to reach the East by land. Any merchant or traveler caught was instantly slaughtered or enslaved in keeping with Islamic law. Indeed, it is often forgotten, but all of the Spanish and Portuguese vessels that set sail and eventually found the New World in the late fifteenth century, including Christopher Columbus’s, did so in the context of their long war with Islam—not in search of “spices,” as is today taught in classrooms.
By conflating and condemning these bulls as “xenophobic” calls to justify the mistreatment of Native Americans — without bothering to cite the unbridled ferocity of the times that prompted them in the first place — the Vatican accomplishes several things. It appeases “wokeism,” and it openly bows to “indigenous peoples” while clandestinely bowing to Muslims — all while condemning the “sins” of Christians, with zero context.

Reconciliations Are Better Than Wars
Samir Atallah/Asharq Al Awsat/April, 13/2023
On January 22, 1963, French President Charles de Gaulle and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer signed the Treaty of Cooperation, which was called the ‘Elysée Treaty’. The two leaders ended the worst history of conflicts in Europe, including the two world wars. Their countries turned into the two most important allies on the continent, and the sons of warlords in Nazi Germany became “guests of honor” at the July 14th military parade. Arab and foreign commentators are now wondering: Will the Beijing agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran succeed? Before I try to answer, I must pause at Ireland’s celebration on Monday of the 25th anniversary of the reconciliation agreement between North and South, Catholics and Protestants, foes for centuries. Neither the Elysée Agreement was possible nor was the Ireland reconciliation expected. But the two covenants worked. Thanks to both respective teams, not just one. The Beijing agreement will succeed if Iran adheres to what Saudi Arabia has been doing for decades, which is building schools and hospitals and sending aid to Yemen, instead of weapons, instigators and drones.
It will succeed if Tehran follows the behavior of Germany and France, and decides to respect the sovereignty of states and the dignity of peoples.
It will prosper if it participates with Saudi Arabia now in the reconstruction of countries that wars have ravaged, impoverished, and destroyed the lives of their people. In principle, the ‘Beijing Agreement’ is a gateway to a new history and deep reconciliation similar to the ‘Elysée Treaty’. Great partnership in peace, construction and well-being of the peoples of the region. The French-German reconciliation seems nothing compared to the potential of Saudi-Iranian cooperation. All of this depends on eliminating the spirit of war and focusing on investing enormous wealth in progress and development.
The Saudi model is almost becoming a global model similar to the Chinese example, while Iran’s wealth is still restrained by sanctions and the spending on absurd wars. Reconciliations cannot take place if the future remains hostage to the past. The past is a psychological barrier that will continue to grow if wisdom and courage do not transcend hatred and complexities. The course of the Saudi-Iranian agreement has been astonishing so far. Every move is a step by statesmen. Every day witnesses a new breakthrough in the region. With every stride, the peoples of the region increase their hope that the windows of life and tranquility are getting wider. History is moving here, in Asia, and at an amazing pace. Here is the heir to the French Empire, Emmanuel Macron, going to Beijing, asking for support for France and Europe. China is no longer a source of fear that the West struggles to confront, but rather a reality that must be dealt with consciously. As the American saying goes: “If you can’t beat them, join them.”We don’t want to simplify matters too much. But the world is not only about grudges and wars. The German-French and Irish examples are evidence and proof.

The Ukraine War of to Be or Not to Be
Omer Onhon/Asharq Al Awsat/April, 13/2023
Ukrainians appreciate Western support but they also point out that one of the main reasons which emboldened Russia to act aggressively was the mild reaction when it annexed Crimea. Ukrainians also claim that the West was hesitant at first when Russia attacked Ukraine last February. It was only after seeing hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees, acute humanitarian crises, and the determination of Ukrainians to resist the occupation that the West decided to assist.
Practical assistance and extensive economic sanctions by the West have been a major part of the resistance against Russia. But nothing is ever enough for a country that is engaged in a war of that sort. The Ukrainians are seeking more of everything including antiaircraft systems, armored vehicles, and electronic warfare equipment.
Economic sanctions by the West have hurt Russia but not to the point of giving up. Russia’s energy resources are plenty and it continues to flow into the global market. It is true that Russia’s energy exports to Europe have diminished, but other big buyers such as China and India make up for the loss.
The war has changed the global strategic setting, most visibly in Europe. Sweden and Finland have buried their long-standing policy of neutrality in the pages of history. Finland has become the 31st member state of NATO, as a result of which, now has an extra 1300 km of border with Russia. Sweden is waiting for the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments to ratify its accession protocol. This procedure is hoped to be completed by the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.
The Minister of Defense of Switzerland, the country which has been the symbol of neutrality for centuries, visited NATO headquarters and met with Secretary General Stoltenberg last March. Not that Switzerland is going to apply for NATO membership, but this first-ever visit of its kind demonstrates the inclination of Switzerland. Stoltenberg emphasized that neutrality is not an obstacle to working together. On the other hand, Türkiye, a NATO member since 1952, has not ceased relations with Russia. On the contrary, its policy since last February has been to make the best out of the situation by using the advantages of its geographic location and relations with both Russia and Ukraine.
Türkiye had a major role in closing the grain deal which established a mechanism to transport Ukrainian and Russian grain products to world markets. Since then, around 27 million tons of Ukrainian grain passed through the Turkish straits to their destinations.
However, now, there are problems. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was in Turkey last week, said at the press conference with his Turkish counterpart that part of the deal about Russia’s products is not being implemented. Lavrov complained that Russia could not enter the swift payment system, could not insure its cargoes, its ships could not enter Mediterranean ports and foreign ships could not enter Russia’s ports. He said under these circumstances, unless these difficulties were removed, the agreement would no longer be needed.
China, the rising world power, is becoming a major player here too. At first, China refrained from positioning itself explicitly next to Russia. Recently, it has been engaging with Russia more. Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s most recent official visit to Moscow, even though not groundbreaking, was a main event in the global geostrategic chess game.
China has stated its position that sanctions and political pressure will not solve the problem and has called for peace talks.
Having facilitated rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, China also came up with a 12-point paper titled "China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis". This position paper, not an official peace plan, probably intended to test the waters, was met with mixed reactions from all sides.
Still, many players on the global stage believe that China could facilitate things with Russia for a peace process.
The Chinese Foreign Minister has also made the point that his country has not provided weapons to either side of the conflict. Whether China may contribute to facilitating peace talks or not, China’s holding back from providing war material to Russia is a plus or an achievement for Ukraine and the West.
Nuclear security has become an increasingly alarming issue. Russia’s use of tactical nuclear weapons would lead to catastrophic consequences. Putin’s talk about further enhancing ties with Belarus in the security field and deploying tactical nuclear weapons on Belarus territory is raising stakes.
Direct channels between Russia and Ukraine, between Russia and the USA and the West are not closed. Public or outside of public domain contacts continue to take place. The question is whether diplomacy stands any real chance at least at this stage. Both Ukraine and Russia have strong feelings on their domestic fronts. The leaders cannot ignore these.
The positions of the two fighting nations are at opposite extremes and both seem determined to continue to fight. Russia demands Ukraine's recognition of Russian-occupied Crimea, independence for separatist-controlled Luhansk and Donetsk, and "demilitarization" and "denazification".
Ukraine on the other hand, says that it will only engage if Russia agrees to return Crimea and the Donbas region to Ukraine and withdraw.
With Russia and China as permanent members of the UNSC, the United Nations is unable and ineffective. The UN Charter cannot be upheld and the so-called world order has been diminished to a notion where the strong see in themselves the right to do anything. Ironically, Russia has assumed the UNSC presidency as of April 1. It is another irony that the Russian army attacked and invaded Ukraine last February when Russia was again holding the Presidency of the UNSC.
Russia’s credibility opens into question how a possible peace agreement in the future would hold. However, even though international documents may be rendered meaningless, they remain relevant and essential.
The 1994 Budapest Memorandum was a guarantee by the USA, UK, and Russia to Ukraine, in return for giving up nuclear weapons on its territory. But it was one of the signatories of this memorandum that invaded Ukraine. On the other hand, it is this memorandum, as the only direct reference document, which justifies and legitimizes US and UK military and political support to Ukraine.
For the time being the West stands with Ukraine. Eastern and Central Europeans and Baltic countries are particularly determined and forthcoming in their support. West Europeans are less so, or more cautious, even though they continue to support Ukraine.
In international politics, nothing could be taken for granted. Prioritizing interests and fatigue are important factors while deciding policies. Especially if economic conditions deteriorate, governments may have to face the dilemma of strategic considerations versus domestic considerations. In such cases, domestic considerations are more likely to prevail. This is something that should be considered by all sides and in this case, especially by Ukraine.
I will end with a popular saying in Ukraine, which was quoted by a high-level Ukrainian official recently at a meeting in which I also participated: “If Russia stops shooting, the war will end. If Ukraine stops shooting it will cease to exist”.

WTO remains vital despite criticisms
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 13, 2023
What came to be known as the “greatest trade agreement in history” was signed in Marrakesh, Morocco, 29 years ago on Saturday during a gathering of representatives from more than 120 countries. The Marrakesh Agreement led to the creation of the World Trade Organization, whose membership has now grown to 164 states and organizations. For 2023-2024, the World Trade Organization General Council has selected Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the WTO Saqer Abdullah Almoqbel to chair its Trade Policy Review Body.
It took a significant amount of political capital to establish the WTO, which is considered to be the largest international economic body in the world. It is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which was founded after the Second World War by a multilateral treaty signed by 23 countries in order to enhance economic cooperation between nations.
Several rounds of negotiations, including the Kennedy and Tokyo Rounds, led to agreements on reducing tariffs and removing non-tariff barriers. Due to globalization, the Uruguay Round of negotiations between 1986 and 1994 expanded the trading system to include other areas, such as intellectual property rights and trade in services. This led to the Marrakesh Agreement and the establishment of the WTO.
“The agreements you will sign here this week mean opportunities to expand trade, economic growth and employment,” said Peter Sutherland, the last GATT director-general and the first WTO director-general, at the opening of the Marrakesh meeting. “They mean opportunities to promote sustainable development. And they also mean an opportunity — the most significant one we have had for 50 years — to build a new basis for global economic cooperation.”
Nearly 20 years after its establishment, the first multilateral agreement was reached in 2013 — the Trade Facilitation Agreement, which aimed to lower the cost of international trade. The WTO estimated that this would add more than half a percentage point to annual global gross domestic product. It stated: “Computable general equilibrium simulations predict export gains from the TFA of between $750 billion and well over $1 trillion dollars per annum, depending on the implementation time frame and coverage. Over the 2015-30 horizon, implementation of the TFA will add around 2.7 percent per year to world export growth and more than half a per cent per year to world GDP growth.”
When a multilateral agreement is reached at the WTO, it is more likely to be effective in its enforcement and implementation
One of the criticisms of the WTO is linked to the length of time that is often required to reach a major multilateral agreement. But this is partially due to the fact there are 164 members and it is natural that reaching a consensus — with each member having different economic goals and objectives — would be inherently difficult. Unlike the UN Security Council, whose five permanent members (the US, Russia, China, the UK and France) can vote to pass a resolution, the agreement of two-thirds of WTO members is required to ratify a multilateral agreement.
On the other hand, when a multilateral agreement is reached at the WTO, it is more likely to be effective in its enforcement and implementation, and it is more likely to be a firm and durable agreement because it was accepted by all of its members, rather than being imposed by a few powerful states.
One solution that could enhance the functionality of the WTO would be to encourage plurilateral agreements, which are reached by fewer members. These are agreements that do not require ratification from non-signatory members. They are also more specific in nature. What usually happens after such agreements are reached is that other member states subsequently begin to join.
For example, the Information Technology Agreement, which aims to reduce taxes and tariffs on information technology products, was first concluded by only 29 participants at the 1996 Singapore Ministerial Conference. But the number of participants has since grown to 82, accounting for more than 95 percent of global trade in IT products. According to a 2017 study in the World Trade Review, the Information Technology Agreement and its expansion was “the most successful attempt at trade liberalization under the auspices of the WTO since its inception in 1995.”
Finally, the role that the WTO plays in resolving disputes should not be disregarded or underestimated. If not resolved properly, trade disputes can lead to political conflicts or to countries increasing tariffs or adopting protectionist policies that only harm their own economic growth. This was witnessed during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The WTO states that it has “one of the most active interest dispute settlement mechanisms in the world. Since 1995, 616 disputes have been brought to the WTO and over 350 rulings have been issued.”
In a nutshell, international trade stimulates economic growth and increases GDP. In spite of their critics, international organizations such as the WTO are needed to facilitate global trade and to prevent trade disputes between nations from spiraling out of control and turning into political conflicts or even military confrontations.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh