English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 25/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
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Bible Quotations For today
Who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be
exalted
Luke 14/07-11/”When he noticed how the guests chose the
places of honour, he told them a parable. ‘When you are invited by someone to a
wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more
distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited
both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place”, and then in
disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go
and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to
you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honoured in the presence of all
who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and
those who humble themselves will be exalted
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on February 24-25/2023
The UAE includes Hassan Moqalled and his two sons on its list of
terrorism
Attitude of Lebanese politicians raises questions as central bank governor is
charged with corruption
Judge Aoun lauds Higher Judicial Council for chiding Mikati and Mawlawi
Association of Banks in Lebanon suspends strike for one week upon Mikati’s
request
Association of Banks suspends strike for a week
Mikati discusses Qarqaf mosque imam’s disappearance case with Akkar Mufti, meets
Caretaker Social Affairs Minister, ABL delegation
Berri discusses situation with MP Chamoun, meets former Iraqi Prime Minister
Geagea: Whoever crosses this desert and survives politically will be the winner
Parliamentary delegation bound for Baghdad to participate in Arab Parliaments’
Union’s conference
Army Commander welcomes Congress delegation, says US support plays fundamental
role enabling Army to carry out its mission
Mikati addresses Lebanese rescue teams to Syria and Turkey: We are beyond proud
Embassies of United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Denmark in Lebanon light up in
colours of Ukrainian flag marking one year since Russia’s invasion
Three students killed in horrific accident in Chekka
Gasoline and diesel prices drop, gas price increases in Lebanon
Lebanon needs help with Beirut port blast probe/Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/February
24, 2023
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 24-25/2023
Iran says it has developed long-range cruise missile
Iran Admits Executing Political Prisoner Amid Condemnations by Human Rights
Organizations
IRGC: Europe Officially Entered into Soft War Against Us
Iran Calls 84% Uranium Enrichment Allegation a ‘Conspiracy’
Canada sending four more battle tanks, ammunition to Ukraine
Oman Joins Saudi Arabia in Opening Airspace to Israel
Israel's outpost approvals boost settlers, deepen conflict
Israel approves 7,000 West Bank settlement homes in largest single expansion
Israeli West Bank settlers 'sing and dance' after outpost recognised
Israeli settlers shoot, wound 2 Palestinians in West Bank
Shipping community calls on UN to urgently evacuate seafarers trapped in Ukraine
Russia Celebrates Ukraine Anniversary With Threat to Invade Another Country
NATO and EU react reservedly to Chinese ceasefire proposal for Ukraine
Ukrainian parliament passes transparency law after defence ministry scandal
What is China's peace proposal for Ukraine War?
UK Issues Export Bans on Every Item Used by Russia in War
Ukraine tensions flare at G-20 finance meetings in India
Presenter threatens 'serious action' against Putin defender 'if I catch you
listening to my show again'
February 24, 2022: the day Russia invaded Ukraine
Russia warns West over threatening its troops in Moldovan region
Ukraine tensions flare at G-20 finance meetings in India
Blinken heads to Asia, with China, Russia tensions soaring
EU Eases Sanctions on Syria to Speed up Aid to Quake Victims
Türkiye Says Istanbul Bomb Suspect Killed in Syria Operation
Titles For
The Latest
English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on February 24-25/2023
Earthquake Unveils Turkey’s Many Ugly Faces/It was not the quake that
killed tens of thousands, but politics and suicidal profit-maximization behavior
on individual level./Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/February 24/2023
Iran: ‘Al-Qaeda’s New Home Base’/Jebril Elabidi/Asharq A-Awsat/February 24/2023
Syria’s Aid Problems, Needs/Fayez Sara/Asharq A-Awsat/February 24/2023
Question: “Why is God so different in the Old Testament than He is in the New
Testament?”/GotQuestions.org?/February 24/2023
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on February 24-25/2023
The UAE includes Hassan
Moqalled and his two sons on its list of terrorism
Sky News Arabia/LCCC/24 February/2024
Today, Friday, the UAE Cabinet issued Ministerial Resolution No. 9 of 2023
regarding the inclusion of 3 individuals and a terrorist entity in the approved
local list of persons, entities and organizations supporting terrorism. The
decision comes within the framework of the UAE's keenness to target and disrupt
networks associated with facilitating the financing of terrorism and its
associated activities, according to the Emirates News Agency.
The council stated, “All regulatory authorities must take stock of any
individual or entities affiliated with or linked to any financial or commercial
relationship, and take the necessary measures according to the laws in force in
the country, including the freezing procedure in less than 24 hours.”This
measure comes to enhance international cooperation to combat the financing of
terrorism.
The list includes the following names:
1- Hassan Ahmad Muqalled
2- Rani Hassan Makled
3- Rayan Hassan Makled
The entity included in the list is CTEX Exchange.
The US Treasury Department, earlier, included the Lebanese economist, Hassan
Makled, and his two sons, Rayan and Rani, on the sanctions list, considering
that they “contributed, through the CTEX exchange company, to financial
activities in support of Hezbollah.” She explained that it "plays a major role
in enabling Hezbollah to continue to exploit and exacerbate the economic crisis
in Lebanon." She pointed out that they "are linked to Hezbollah and played a
role in facilitating the party's financial activities, and enabling Hezbollah to
exploit the economic crisis in Lebanon," adding, "Hassan Muqlled facilitated
Hezbollah's obtaining weapons from Russia." The Banque du Liban also froze the
accounts of the aforementioned individuals and the Styx Exchange Company s.a.l.,
after their names were included in the lists of the Office of Foreign Assets
Control OFAC on January 24, with all banks and financial institutions operating
in Lebanon.
Attitude of Lebanese politicians raises
questions as central bank governor is charged with corruption
The Arab Weekly/February 24/2023
There has been speculation Hezbollah had wind of the results of the central bank
probe and the findings of the European investigative team which visited Beirut
in January.
Lebanon central bank governor charged with money-laundering, embezzlement
The attitude of Lebanese politicians towards the probe into alleged corrupt
practices by Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh raises questions, analysts in
Beirut say. The analysts suspect that for some three decades influential
Lebanese political figures covered up murky banking practices, including those
linked to the central bank because they had a vested interest in the
continuation of these depredations.
Many question Hezbollah’s silence about the suspicions of money-laundering,
embezzlement and illegal enrichment which now underpin the accusations against
Salameh, not least since the militant party exerts de facto control over vital
sectors in the country including banking.
Hezbollah has been reluctant to clarify its position on the Salameh case even
after Naim Qassem, the deputy secretary-general of the Iran-backed party,
announced its opposition to renewing the bank governor’s term in office. There
has been speculation Hezbollah had wind of the results of the central bank probe
and the findings of the European investigative team which visited Beirut in
January.
Qassem took his position against the stance of many other political factions who
favoured extending of Salameh’s term as they argued that the difficulty of
agreeing on a successor could create yet another vacancy at the helm of a key
institution in the country, on top of vacancies for the president and the
commander of the army.
Many Lebanese stakeholders, regardless of their political hues, are said to be
wary of what Salameh might reveal about the involvement over the years of many
officials and party activists in shady practices.
Risk of paralysis
This at least explains in part why Salameh, who has been central bank governor
since 1993, has enjoyed the backing of powerful Lebanese leaders, while many
judges largely owe their appointments to politicians. In his long leadership of
the central bank, Salameh was often celebrated, until 2019 when the economy
began to unravel. His current term is set to end in July. He said he will not
seek to stay on but Lebanon’s finance minister said that he would be difficult
to replace.
On Thursday, after months of delays, a Lebanese judge charged Salameh, his
brother Raja and one of his assistants with money-laundering, embezzlement and
illicit enrichment.
In comments to Reuters on Thursday, Salameh said the charges were “not an
indictment” and pledged to abide by the judicial procedures.
“And as you know one is innocent till proven guilty by a court of law,” he said
in a written response to questions.
The charges are the product of an 18-month probe by Lebanon into whether Salameh
and his brother Raja embezzled more than $300 million from the Central Bank
between 2002 and 2015.
Judicial authorities in at least five European countries are investigating the
Salameh brothers over the same allegations.
Both brothers have denied the charges. The governor has described accusations of
illicit enrichment as part of an effort to make him a scapegoat for Lebanon’s
financial collapse.
The charges filed by Lebanese judge Raja Hamoush against the Salameh brothers
and an adviser Marianne Hoayek included embezzlement, money-laundering, illicit
enrichment, fraud and tax evasion. They represent the first development in the
broader case against Salameh since June 2022, when investigating Judge Jean
Tannous completed his probe and referred it to the country’s top prosecutor
Ghassan Oueidat. European investigators are expected to return to Lebanon in
early March to continue their probe after a January visit in which they
questioned a dozen witnesses, including bankers.
Nizar Saghieh of rights watchdog Legal Agenda said the charges could be
interpreted as a positive step in the right direction after months of delay.
“But the second interpretation is that this is just to tell the foreign
investigators that we are doing our own probe” and thereby slow down cooperation
with the European officials, he told Reuters. Saghieh said that legal complaints
against the judiciary could still slow down the prosecution. “The risk of
paralysis and blockage is still present. We cannot say that this will definitely
yield a result,” he said.
Judge Aoun lauds Higher Judicial Council for
chiding Mikati and Mawlawi
Naharnet/February 24, 2023
Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun on Friday thanked the Higher Judicial
Council and all its members for issuing a statement that called on caretaker PM
Najib Mikati and caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi to reverse two
controversial decisions.
“You gave hope to this people that despite all plights and difficulties, there
are still judges who are loyal to their oath and who believe in the principle of
the separation of powers and in the independence of the judicial authority,”
Aoun tweeted. The Higher Judicial Council had on Thursday called on Mikati and
Mawlawi to reverse their latest two decisions, after they asked security forces
not to enforce any writ issued by Aoun. Calling for respecting “the principles
of the separation of powers and the independence of the judicial authority,
which are enshrined in the constitution and the law,” the Council said the
decisions of Mikati and Mawlawi breached these two principles. The Council also
reassured that it is “working on securing the conditions for the regularity of
judicial work and the proper conduct of justice in line with the applicable
norms and legal rules and in line with the public interest and the state’s
higher interest.”
Aoun had on Wednesday told the European Parliament that Mikati was “blatantly
interfering in the judiciary,” after he called for legal measures against her.
“Urgent appeal to international authorities in the European Parliament .. Mr.
Mikati is interfering in a flagrant way with justice in order to stop the
investigations that I am conducting in the case of banks and money laundering.
For the defense of the sovereignty of law help us,” Aoun tweeted in French. She
also accused Mikati of “attacking the public prosecutor's office of Mount
Lebanon by asking the Minister of Interior not to execute her orders.”Mikati
later called on Mawlawi to take legal measures against Aoun, accusing her of
refusing to receive recusal notices and usurping power. Mawlawi for his part
asked the Internal Security Forces and General Security not to enforce Aoun's
orders.
Association of Banks in Lebanon suspends
strike for one week upon Mikati’s request
NNA/February 24, 2023
The Association of Banks of Lebanon (ABL) decided in a statement "to temporarily
suspend its strike for a period of one week upon the request of Caretaker Prime
Minister Najib Mikati and in view of the deteriorating economic situation.”
Association of Banks suspends strike for a week
Naharnet/February 24/2024
The Association of Banks in Lebanon on Friday announced the temporary suspension
of the banking sector strike for a period of one week. “Following an appeal from
Prime Minister Najib Mikati and out of banks’ understanding of the difficult
economic situations and of the need to provide banking services to all citizens
at the end of the month, the Association of Banks in Lebanon has decided to
temporarily suspend the strike for one week,” ABL said in a statement. “The
general assembly will be asked to take the appropriate decision in light of the
possible practical solutions,” the Association added.
Media reports meanwhile said that Mikati has promised the banks to address the
judicial measures against them. Lebanon's banks, which have restricted cash
withdrawals since late 2019, have been shuttered since early February in what
they call an "open-ended strike," following a court case that ruled in favor of
a Lebanese depositor demanding their trapped savings. Mount Lebanon Prosecutor
Judge Ghada Aoun has also launched legal proceedings against a number of banks,
accusing them of making illegal overseas transfers in the wake of the beginning
of the financial crisis in 2019.
Mikati discusses Qarqaf mosque imam’s
disappearance case with Akkar Mufti, meets Caretaker Social Affairs Minister,
ABL delegation
NNA/February 24, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, on Friday received at the Grand Serail,
Mufti of Akkar, Sheikh Zaid Bakkar Zakaria, and discussed with him the issue of
the disappearance of Imam of Akkar’s Al-Qarqaf town mosque, Sheikh Ahmed Shuaib
Al-Rifai. Premier Mikati affirmed that he is in constant communication with the
security services in order to uncover the circumstances of this case and to
secure the safe return of Sheikh al-Rifai. Premier Mikati also met with
Caretaker Social Affairs Minister, Hector al-Hajjar, who said on emerging that
he discussed with the Premier issues related to “AMAN Program”.The Caretaker
Prime Minister also met with a delegation from the Association of Banks of
Lebanon (ABL). Speaking in the name of the delegation, the Association’s lawyer,
Akram Azouri, said that the Association’s Board decided to temporarily suspend
its strike for a period of one week upon the request of Caretaker Prime Minister
Najib Mikati and in view of the deteriorating economic situation, and in order
to serve the interests of employees.
Berri discusses situation with MP Chamoun, meets former Iraqi Prime Minister
NNA/February 24, 2023
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Friday received at the Second Presidency in Ain
El-Tineh, Head of the National Liberal Party, MP Camille Dory Chamoun, who
visited him with a delegation from the party. Discussions reportedly touched on
the current general situation and the latest political developments. Speaker
Berri also received former Iraqi Prime Minister, Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi, in the
presence of the "Liberation and Development" bloc MP Qabalan Qabalan.
Discussions touched on the situation in Lebanon and the region and the bilateral
relations between the two countries. This afternoon, Berri received former
Environment Minister Tarek al-Khatib.
Geagea: Whoever crosses this desert and survives
politically will be the winner
NNA/February 24, 2023
"Lebanese Forces" party leader, Samir Geagea, on Friday said in an address
during an LF council meeting that "the main challenge at this stage is to cross
the political desert, in which Lebanon is struggling in the shadow of a
presidential vacancy, financial collapse, political division, and popular
anger.”“Whoever crosses this desert and survives politically will be the
winner,” Geagea added.
Parliamentary delegation bound for Baghdad to participate
in Arab Parliaments’ Union’s conference
NNA/February 24, 2023
A Lebanese parliamentary delegation on Friday left for Baghdad to participate in
the conference of the Union of Arab Parliaments. The delegation comprises MPs
Ayyoub Hmayid, Qassem Hashem and Michel Moussa, and Parliament Secretary General
Adnan Daher, and Riad Ghannam.
Army Commander welcomes Congress delegation, says US
support plays fundamental role enabling Army to carry out its mission
NNA/February 24, 2023
Lebanese Army Commander-in-Chief, General Joseph Aoun, on Friday welcomed at his
Yarzeh office a US Congress delegation of the Democratic and Republican parties,
in the presence of US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea. Members of the
delegation praised "the professionalism of the Lebanese Army and its good use of
US aid, which strengthens its operational readiness, its cohesion, and its
ability to maintain the security and stability of Lebanon despite the difficult
circumstances.”The delegation further emphasized "the need to continue
cooperation and continue to provide assistance to overcome the current stage."
For his part, General Aoun affirmed that "the US support plays a fundamental
role in enabling the Lebanese Army to continue to carry out its missions, and to
alleviate the difficulties of the prevailing crisis.”
Mikati addresses Lebanese rescue teams to Syria and Turkey:
We are beyond proud
NNA/February 24, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Friday welcomed in the presence of
Caretaker Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Bassam Mawlawi, and Caretaker
Minister of Environment, Nasser Yassin, members of the two Lebanese rescue teams
responsible for providing support and assistance to the Turkish and Syrian
states after the devastating earthquake. Both teams included members of the
Lebanese military, civil defense, Beirut firefighters, and the Lebanese Red
Cross. On this occasion, the Prime Minister said: "I’m aware of the difficult
conditions through which you worked in Turkey, yet despite the great sadness
caused by this disaster, and the death of many victims, you have shown a spirit
of solidarity and support. (...) The same goes for the team that went to Syria.
We are beyond proud of you in all circumstances and appreciate all your
sacrifices.""Our hope is to remain united, not only in times crises, but in all
times, and this is a message I address to all politicians,” Mikati added. In
addition, Mikati successively met with President of the land transport sector,
Bassam Tleiss, the President of the Lebanese University, Bassam Badran, and the
leader and founder of the Talal Abou Ghazaleh group, Talal Abou -Ghazaleh.
Embassies of United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Denmark
in Lebanon light up in colours of Ukrainian flag marking one year since Russia’s
invasion
NNA/February 24, 2023
The Embassies of the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Denmark in Lebanon lit
up on Friday night their shared Embassies' complex in Beirut in the colours of
the Ukrainian flag to mark one year since Russia’s brutal invasion. "Tonight we
light our Embassies in the colours of the Ukrainian flag to mark one year since
Russia’s brutal invasion. They are defending the right of everyone to live in
freedom."
Three students killed in horrific accident in Chekka
NNA/February 24, 2023
Three students were killed and two injured at dawn on Friday after a truck hit
their four-wheel drive GMC on the eastern lane of the highway -- after Hamat
Tunnel towards Chekka. Two of the accident victims have been identified to hail
from Hasbaya. The corpses of the deceased and the two injured students have been
transferred to the region's hospitals. The driver fled with his truck to an
unknown destination. The truck’s license plate, which was found at accident’s
scene, is Syrian. Meanwhile the security forces have launched an investigation
for further details about this horrific accident.
Gasoline and diesel prices drop, gas price increases in
Lebanon
NNA/February 24, 2023
Oil prices in Lebanon have dropped on Friday as the price of the can of gasoline
(95 octanes) has decreased by LBP 11,000 and (98 octanes) has decreased by LBP
12,000. The price of diesel has decreased by LBP 21,000, and the gas canister
has increased by LBP 5000.
Consequently, the new prices are as follows:
95 octanes: LBP 1473000
98 octanes: LBP 1508000
Diesel: LBP 1396000
Gas: LBP 980000
Lebanon needs help with Beirut port blast
probe
Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/February 24, 2023
For the second time in 20 years, calls have been made for international
assistance in solving a major crime in Lebanon. In both cases, people have asked
for the truth, the first time relating to the assassination of Rafik Hariri in
2005 and this time for the Beirut port blast on Aug. 4, 2020. The fact that such
international interventions have been fought vigorously by those responsible for
the crimes should be an incentive rather than a deterrent to pursue
accountability.
There are two main challenges for those who are calling for international
assistance in the investigation into the port blast. The first is the
international appetite for renewed involvement in Lebanon and the second is that
they should expect such an international investigation to be strongly resisted.
If the experience of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is anything to go by, then
it is not going to be easy.
It is indisputable that Lebanon needs help. After two and a half years, it is
obvious that the local investigation into the port blast is going nowhere. There
are endless legal and procedural complications, mainly related to jurisdiction
and the immunity of officials. Not least is the political sensitivity of the
matter.
Calls for an international investigation appeared early on, leading to the
involvement of the FBI and the French forensic police. There is the potential
for more foreign involvement because of the several different nationalities
among the port blast victims.
The investigation is complicated and paralyzed. The first judge involved in the
case, Ghassan Oueidat, recused himself, while the second, Fadi Sawwan, was
removed for accusing two former ministers. The third and current judge, Tarek
Bitar, has become a national hero for persevering with the case despite
receiving threats and being recused from the investigation. He made a comeback
but was again blocked by Oueidat, who returned to the scene and released all the
detainees before withdrawing again. This stalling can go on for a long time.
Calling for an international investigation is one thing, but getting the
international community to mobilize and devote the skills, resources and
political capital to execute it is another. Amnesty International and Human
Rights Watch, along with Lebanese nongovernmental organizations, last month
called for international assistance with the investigation and suggested going
through the UN Human Rights Council to request a fact-finding mission. This is
also highly political and will require getting enough countries to support the
move.
We have been here before. In 2005, after the assassination of former Prime
Minister Hariri, there was a call for assistance and an international tribunal
for more or less the same reasons. There was an expectation that the local
judiciary and security establishment had been compromised and there was little
confidence that it would deliver. A UN fact-finding mission then reported that
the local investigation had not been conducted to acceptable standards.
The international response after 2005 was swift and positive, triggering an
extensive operation that lasted more than 15 years. The UN Security Council set
up the Independent International Investigation Commission. Then, the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon was established in The Hague as a hybrid institution based
on Lebanese law with international standards.
The process involved close to 30 countries, which contributed expertise,
funding, staff and political support. They saw it through to several
indictments, a trial and an appeal, with three guilty verdicts and a 3,000-page
judgment that reads like the country’s recent history.
Mobilizing the international response with the same enthusiasm and energy as in
2005 is more challenging.
The Lebanese response to the special tribunal and its verdict, however, was less
than lukewarm. They expressed either disappointment or minimized the
significance of the verdict. This was one of the principal reasons for the
ultimate shutting down of the tribunal last year.
Why the negative Lebanese reaction after all that effort? At best, the truth may
have been too hot to handle and was ignored; at worst, the opposition to the
tribunal succeeded in discrediting it and the result was not explained or
understood properly. The answer may also be in the general apathy and atmosphere
of defeat in the country.
This time around, the international response may not show the same enthusiasm
and energy as it did in 2005. First of all, there is already an abundance of
crises that need attention and the UNSC is paralyzed, meaning there is no chance
of getting any resolution through. The Human Rights Council is a possibility and
what the Lebanese are asking for this time is also much less than before. A
fact-finding mission would not have much teeth and would not be as extensive as
the Independent International Investigation Commission, while also having far
less power. What is being discussed is assistance for the local process, which
can still be blocked. They are not asking for a full-blown international
intervention.
Most importantly, the institutions, parties and individuals behind the current
campaign for international assistance are the same ones that ignored the results
of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and did not give it the importance it
deserved. In the case of human rights and legal organizations, it goes beyond
culpable negligence. Their call for accountability sounds a bit hollow now when
they dismissed the results of the tribunal. Why should the international
community mobilize all its resources and exert all that effort when it was not
appreciated the first time around?
We are also still far from any results. In 2005, the UNSC sent a fact-finding
mission within a couple of months of the Hariri assassination. Today, the
organizations concerned are still discussing the modalities of a request and it
will be at least three years after the event before they mobilize to even ask
for it. By this stage last time, the UN Independent International Investigation
Commission had already produced its results and the process of establishing the
special tribunal was well underway.
Another important factor to remember is that any international effort will
encounter very tough opposition in Lebanon, principally from Hezbollah, which
will feel targeted and which has already intervened to block the local Lebanese
process.
The special tribunal was not only fought through media and disinformation
campaigns, but there were at least three assassinations linked to it and Beirut
was occupied and the country paralyzed for more than 18 months between 2006 and
2008 as part of the effort to sabotage its creation. Then there was the coup
that brought down the government of Saad Hariri in January 2011. The country was
terrorized for years in an attempt to sabotage the tribunal.
There have already been at least three or four assassinations that people
suspect have a connection with the port blast investigation. The victims include
two retired port customs officers and a freelance photographer for the Lebanese
Army, who was one of the first people to arrive at the scene of the blast and
took photos that may be of forensic significance. It is not unrealistic to
expect that any serious effort to investigate the port blast will also be fought
tooth and nail.
The success they had in derailing the special tribunal may embolden those
responsible for the port blast to sabotage the process again. The international
community should not be deterred either by the attitude of the traumatized
Lebanese or by the opposition they will encounter while helping to achieve
accountability.
• Nadim Shehadi is a Lebanese economist. Twitter: @Confusezeus
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on February 24-25/2023
Iran says it has developed long-range cruise missile
DUBAI (Reuters)/Fri, February 24, 2023
Iran has developed a cruise missile with a range of 1,650 km (1,025 miles) a top
Revolutionary Guards commander said on Friday, in a move likely to raise Western
concerns after Russia's use of Iranian drones in the Ukraine war. "Our cruise
missile with a range of 1,650 km has been added to the missile arsenal of the
Islamic Republic of Iran," Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary
Guards Aerospace Force, told state TV. The television broadcast what it said was
the first footage showing the new Paveh cruise missile. Iran has expanded its
missile programme, particularly its ballistic missiles, in defiance of
opposition from the United States and expressions of concern by European
countries. Tehran says the programme is purely defensive and of a deterrent
nature. Iran has said it had supplied Moscow with drones before the war in
Ukraine. Russia has used the drones to target power stations and civilian
infrastructure. In November, the Pentagon said the United States was skeptical
of reports quoting Hajizadeh as saying Iran had developed a hypersonic ballistic
missile.
Iran Admits
Executing Political Prisoner Amid Condemnations by Human Rights Organizations
London -Tehran: Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 24 February, 2023
London, Tehran: Iran on Wednesday secretly executed a political prisoner who had
been convicted of killing a police officer in 2018 and of being a member of an
opposition Kurdish party, rights groups revealed. This came two days after
activists reported the execution of another political prisoner. On Thursday, the
Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group, Kurdish-focused Hengaw group and
Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network said in separate statements that
Arash Ahmadi was hanged on Wednesday morning at a prison in the western city of
Kermanshah. The execution was carried out in secret without his family being
notified in advance, they added. A political activist, Ahmadi had been a member
of the Kurdish Komala political party, which pushes for greater autonomy for
Iran’s Kurdish minority but is banned as a terror group by Tehran, they said.
Ahmadi had spent some time in neighboring Iraq where Komala’s leadership is
based, before returning to Iran, the separate statements added. “The execution
of this Kurdish political prisoner was carried out without notifying the family
and conducting a last meeting,” IHR said. Also, Kurdistan Human Rights Network
said, citing relatives, that Ahmadi had been “subjected to severe torture to
accept the accusations against him and make forced confessions.”Later, AFP
quoted Iranian state television as saying that, “Arash Ahmadi, also known as
Sarkot, a member of the Komala terrorist group, was executed this morning
(Wednesday).”The television said Ahmadi, 29, had assassinated police major
Hassan Maleki in Ravansar, a town in the western province of Kermanshah, in
August 2018. The channel showed videos of Ahmadi “confessing” that he had been
behind the attack. Such videos are common in Iran and are frequently condemned
by rights groups, arguing that confessions are often forced and the result of
torture. Foreign-based rights groups said Ahmadi was arrested in early 2021
while attempting to flee overland to Europe after being convicted of the murder.
He had always denied the charges.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International (AI) said on Wednesday that Iranian authorities
had “forcibly disappeared” four Kurdish dissidents linked to Komala who were now
at “grave risk” of unfair trials on charges that carry the death penalty. The
four men -- Pejman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar, Mohammad Faramarzi and Mohsen Mazloum
-- were arrested in July 2022 and are believed to be facing spying and terror
charges. Amnesty accused Iran of “concealing their fate and whereabouts from
their families and lawyers since their arrests.”Two days prior to Ahmadi’s
execution, activists said Iran executed Hassan Abeyat, an ethnic Arab. Abeyat
had been in prison since 2011 on charges of membership in an opposition group.
Earlier, rights groups said the Iranian authorities had sentenced six Arab
political prisoners to death in the southern city of Ahvaz. The prisoners are
identified as Ali Majdam, Moin Khanfari, Mohammad Reza Moghadam, Salem Mousavi,
Adnan Mousavi and Habib Edris. Six other Arab citizens have also been sentenced
to long prison terms between 5 to 35 years, the groups said.
IRGC: Europe Officially Entered into Soft War Against Us
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 24 February, 2023
The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami,
announced that Iran was facing a clear and open soft, low-level war with the
Europeans, accusing enemies of being behind the protests that have rocked the
country since mid-September. The Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the IRGC,
quoted Salami as saying that Iran is "never at peace" and that "enemies of the
revolution" were working against the country. "The enemy's work has reached the
point where it has brought in the wandering opposition and those who are
political bankrupts who are rejected by the Iranian nation," said the commander
about Western countries backing protests in Iran and hosting opposition figures.
Salami said Wednesday that the threats against Iran International, which forced
the channel to stop broadcasting in London and relocate to Washington, "show how
far the Islamic Revolution's realm of power, a field of infiltration and radius
of influence has extended."Six months after the outbreak of the protests in
Iran, officials gave different explanations. In a previous speech, Iranian
President Ebrahim Raisi said that the West supported the protests to abandon the
nuclear negotiations and prevent Iran from advancing. On Monday, the European
Union imposed asset freezes and visa bans on 32 Iranian entities and officials
in Iran in the fifth package of sanctions against Tehran for its suppression of
protests. The British Foreign Office summoned the Iranian chargé d'affaires in
London to protest serious threats against journalists living in Britain,
especially the Iran International staff. "I am appalled by the Iranian regime's
continuing threats to the lives of UK-based journalists and have today summoned
its representative to make clear this will not be tolerated," Foreign Secretary
James Cleverly said in a statement. Earlier, the channel issued a statement
announcing that after a significant escalation in state-backed threats from Iran
and advice from the Metropolitan Police, it has reluctantly closed its London
studios and moved broadcasting to Washington DC. Ahead of the move, Scotland
Yard revealed that police and MI5 foiled 15 plots since the start of 2022 to
either kidnap or kill UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the Iranian
regime. On Thursday, the Daily Telegraph revealed that US diplomats are pressing
the UK government not to formally declare IRGC a terrorist group, despite the
Home Office backing the move.
The British newspaper reported that the US State Department, trying to revive
the faltering nuclear agreement, believes the UK can play a crucial role as an
interlocutor with Tehran, which the designation would undercut. In 2019, the
Trump administration classified the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and the
Biden administration refused to backtrack the move. However, the issue was among
the Iranian demands in the stalled negotiations to revive the nuclear deal. The
director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation,
Nile Gardiner, condemned the implications of the news, describing it as
"absolutely disgraceful." "The Biden Administration is groveling to the
terrorist regime in Tehran," Gardiner said. Last January, the Telegraph revealed
that the British government planned to put the Guards on the terrorist list,
with the support of the Minister of Security.
However, in early February, the daily reported that the government "temporarily"
suspended the plan to include the IRGC on the terrorist list over fears that the
move could harm diplomatic communication channels between London and Tehran. A
source told The Times that the Foreign Office officials are concerned about
proscription because they want to maintain access. Home Secretary Suella
Braverman and Minister of State for Security Tom Tugendhat supported the
decision to outlaw the IRGC.
Iran Calls 84% Uranium Enrichment Allegation a
‘Conspiracy’
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 24 February, 2023
Iranian state television on Friday offered an extended defense against an
accusation attributed to international inspectors that it enriched uranium to
84% purity, with an official calling it part of a “conspiracy” against Tehran
amid tensions over its nuclear program.
The comments by Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for Iran's civilian nuclear
program, sought to portray any detection of uranium particles enriched to that
level as a momentary side effect of trying to reach a finished product of 60%
purity — which Tehran already has announced producing. However, uranium at 84%
is at nearly weapons-grade levels of 90% — meaning any stockpile of that
material could be quickly used to produce an atomic bomb if Iran chooses. Tehran
long has insisted its program is for peaceful purposes, though the International
Atomic Energy Agency, Western intelligence agencies and nonproliferation experts
say Iran pursued a secret nuclear weapons program up until 2003. The allegation
IAEA inspectors found 84% enriched uranium threatens to further escalate
tensions between Iran and the West. Already, Israel's recently reinstalled Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened military actions against Tehran.
Bloomberg first reported Sunday that inspectors had detected uranium particles
enriched up to 84%. The IAEA, a United Nations agency based in Vienna, has not
denied the report, saying only “that the IAEA is discussing with Iran the
results of recent agency verification activities.”In an interview with Iranian
state television's English-language arm, Press TV highlighted Friday, Kamalvandi
dismissed what inspectors may have found as “a particle of an atom that cannot
be seen even under a microscope." He described Iran's uranium centrifuge
cascades as producing particles at varying purity that later form a final
product of 60%. “It doesn’t matter because the end product is what matters,”
Kamalvandi said. “If we really want to enrich 20% more, we will announce it very
easily. So it is clear that there is a conspiracy here.”Iran's 2015 nuclear deal
limited Tehran's uranium enrichment to 3.67% — enough to fuel a nuclear power
plant. The US unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018. Since then, a
shadow war between Israel and Iran has erupted across the wider Middle East.
Iran now produces uranium enriched to 60% purity — a level at which
nonproliferation experts already say Tehran has no civilian use. Any accusation
of enrichment higher than that further ratchets up tension over the program,
something Iran has appeared to acknowledge through a series of comments this
week about the allegation attributed to the international inspectors. While the
IAEA’s director-general has warned Iran now has enough uranium to produce
“several” nuclear bombs if it chooses, it likely would take months more to build
a weapon and potentially miniaturize it to put on a missile. As recently as last
March, the US intelligence community assessed Iran “is not currently undertaking
the key nuclear weapons-development activities that we judge would be necessary
to produce a nuclear device.”Meanwhile late Thursday night, online videos showed
explosions and anti-aircraft fire in Karaj, a city about 40 kilometers (25
miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Tracer rounds lit up the night
sky, with the thud of blasts heard in the videos. Iran’s state-run IRNA news
agency later attributed the activity to an unannounced drill at a base for the
paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. In 2021, a suspected Israeli strike drone
damaged a centrifuge assembly facility in Karaj.
Canada sending four more battle tanks,
ammunition to Ukraine
OTTAWA/The Canadian Press/February 24, 2023
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today that Canada is providing Ukraine
with more weapons, which he says will help the country win on the battlefield
against Russia. Canada will donate four additional Leopard 2 main battle tanks
to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, growing Canada's contribution to eight
tanks in total, Trudeau said. Canada will also donate an armoured recovery
vehicle and over 5,000 rounds of ammunition. New sanctions are being imposed on
122 people and 13 entities that are complicit in Russia's ongoing war with
Ukraine, Trudeau said. This includes members of the lower house of Russia's
parliament who have voted in favour of legislation related to the invasion and
attempted annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions
of Ukraine. Other sanctioned individuals include family members of previously
sanctioned people, Russian deputy prime ministers and ministers, people in the
office of President Vladimir Putin and the Russian military. On the one year
anniversary of the invasion, Trudeau called Putin a coward and weak, and
reinforced that Canada is a friend of Ukraine. "Putin thought his invasion would
be a quick victory, but he was mistaken. Ukrainians have stood strong over the
last 365 days and counting, and as Russia continues its brutal war against
Ukraine, Canada and Canadians will stand by the Ukrainian people for as long as
it takes," Trudeau said in a written statement. More weapons will allow
Ukrainian people to regain their territory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy told reporters in a press conference on Friday in Kyiv. "We're getting
ready. We're ready in spirit. And we're getting ready as far as weapons are
concerned, as far as forming attack brigades are concerned," Zelenskyy said
through a translator.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 24, 2023.
Oman Joins Saudi Arabia in Opening Airspace to
Israel
FDD/February 25/2023
Latest Developments
Oman announced today that it would open its civilian airspace to all countries,
a de facto granting of overflight rights to Israeli carriers by the Gulf
sultanate, which has no formal ties with Jerusalem. The decision by Muscat
creates a Saudi-Omani air corridor for Israel that would shorten flights by El
Al and other carriers from Ben Gurion Airport to destinations in Asia by around
two hours.
Expert Analysis
“While Oman — like Saudi Arabia — may not yet be ready to join the Abraham
Accords, it is signaling that it is prepared for more discreet accommodation of
Israel. This is a welcome development after parliament in Muscat in December
reportedly moved forward on a bill that would expand bans on contacts with
Israel.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO
“By fulfilling its obligations under the Chicago Convention of 1944, Oman is
signaling that — like Saudi Arabia — its new leadership prioritizes Omani
national interests, away from politicking and populist sloganeering. Like Saudi
First, an Omani First policy is incumbent on growing its knowledge and services
economy, which, in turn, requires building strong bilateral relations with
countries with vibrant economies, especially Israel.” — Hussain Abdul-Hussain,
FDD Research Fellow
Warming Ties
The opening of Omani airspace suggested a potential warming toward the Jewish
state by the current sultan, Haitham bin Tariq, who had, up to now, not evinced
the enthusiasm of his late predecessor, Qaboos bin Said, for the idea of
normalization.
Since 2020, Saudi Arabia has signaled its tactical support for the Abraham
Accords by allowing Israeli airlines to overfly its territory to signatories
United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Last July, President Joe Biden announced that
Riyadh would extend this overflight permission so that Israeli airlines could
overfly Saudi territory to other eastward destinations. But as that corridor
also extended over Oman, it could not be implemented without Muscat’s consent.
Israel's outpost approvals boost settlers, deepen
conflict
GIVAT HAREL, West Bank (AP)/Fri, February 24, 2023
One day in the fall of 1998, Shivi Drori, a young farmer fresh out of the
Israeli army, brought three trailers to a rugged hilltop deep in the occupied
West Bank and began to plant raspberries. It was an unauthorized settlement in
the heart of territory claimed by the Palestinians, but Drori, now 49, said he
considered himself to be “in a way, working with the government.”Today, more
than 90 Jewish families live in what has become the thriving village of Givat
Harel — full of concrete homes with breathtaking views, a crowded nursery and an
award-winning vineyard. Just down the road is Turmus Aya, a Palestinian village
that lost part of its land to the nearby Shilo settlement two decades ago. One
of the villagers, Amal Abu Awad, 58, has watched her world shrink since the
settlers arrived. She said settlers prevented her late husband from reaching his
grazing land and periodically uprooted her olive trees. Last week, masked
vandals attacked her house, armed with clubs and knives, shouting insults as
they smashed windows and broke her solar panels. Her seven sons now take turns
perching on the roof overnight, watching out for vigilantes. “This was our land
long before they thought to claim it,” she said. Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s new far-right government announced last week it would legalize Givat
Harel, along with nine other unauthorized West Bank outposts, boosting settlers'
morale and strengthening their hold on the land. Drori’s village, on a ridge
between the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Nablus, is part of an extensive
network of 150 outposts now home to some 20,000 settlers, according to
anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now. The outposts appeared over the past three
decades, many built at least partially on private Palestinian land, Peace Now
says. While the outposts were established without formal government
authorization, they often received tacit government support or even public
funding. Over 20% of the outposts, like Givat Harel, have been retroactively
legalized, and more are in the pipeline. Anti-settlement groups and experts
describe a steady government effort to entrench Israeli rule over the West Bank
and grab more occupied land that Palestinians seek for a future state. Strings
of strategically located outposts have changed the landscape of the territory —
threatening to make a future Palestinian state little more than a shriveled
constellation of disconnected enclaves.
“We see this as a very big move toward annexation,” said Ziv Stahl, director of
Israeli rights group Yesh Din. “Cementing the existence of these places blocks
any hope for Palestinians to ever get their land back.”On Monday, days after the
government’s outpost approvals triggered widespread condemnation, Netanyahu
declared a six-month freeze in recognizing new outposts — part of a
U.S.-brokered agreement to avert a diplomatic crisis at the United Nations.
As a result, the U.N. Security Council approved a watered-down statement
opposing Israel’s expansion of settlements, derailing a legally binding
resolution that would have demanded a halt to Israeli settlement activity. But
Netanyahu made no public commitment to halt settlement construction. On
Thursday, his government granted approval for over 7,000 new homes in Jewish
settlements across the West Bank. Some of those homes, settlement opponents
said, are located in four outposts that remain unauthorized. Netanyahu's freeze
“is meaningless,” said Lior Amihai from Peace Now. Settlement critics describe a
wink-and-nod policy toward outposts traced back to efforts by successive
governments to deflect international pressure. Most of the world considers all
Israeli settlements — home to some 700,000 people in the West Bank and annexed
east Jerusalem — as a violation of international law.
In 1996, Israel pledged it would not establish new settlements as part of
peace-making efforts with the Palestinians, but said it would need to keep
building in existing ones to accommodate natural growth. Since then, successive
governments have made a distinction between authorized settlements and “illegal”
outposts, such as Dori's Givat Harel. Like many others, Givat Harel straddles
both public and private land — including agricultural land belonging to the
Palestinian villages of Sinjil and Qaryout, according to Dror Etkes, an
anti-settlement activist who follows Israeli land policy in the West Bank. From
the outpost, both villages, along with other Palestinian towns, can be seen
nestled in the undulating hills. Drori dismissed claims of Palestinian
ownership, saying the hilltop had long been vacant. “We were fulfilling
government desires, just in a weird way,” he said, speaking at the settlement’s
vineyard, which exports some 100,000 bottles a year of locally produced Merlot,
Cabernet Sauvignon and marquee blends named “Dancing Hills.”
"It’s always hush-hush," he said.
Givat Harel popped up during the first outpost building boom in the 1990s.
Encouraged by Ariel Sharon, Israel's foreign minister in 1998 who famously
exhorted settlers to “run and grab" Palestinian hilltops, Drori arrived at the
scenic ridge. Sharon even gifted Givat Harel its first water tankers, Drori
said. The Ministry of Construction poured money into new houses. The local
settler council installed electric towers, paved roads and piped water to the
homes. In a sign of legitimacy, Israeli soldiers guarded the front gate.
Neighboring Palestinians, who could only obtain power from solar panels and
routinely faced home demolitions because they lacked building permits in the
Israeli-controlled part of the West Bank, warily eyed the outpost’s fresh paint
and irrigated gardens. Drori says he's a pioneer willing to live in a hostile
land promised by God. As for the Palestinians, he said, “If you want to stay
here, you have to get used to the Israeli government.”A 2005 government report
revealed widespread collusion among officials to illicitly divert state funds to
unauthorized outposts. Its author, Talia Sasson, called for the immediate
removal of outposts on private Palestinian land. Yet no action was taken against
more than 100 outposts she identified. Over the years, the United States and
other Israeli allies decried settlements as an obstacle to peace. To avoid
international censure, Israel repeatedly promised to dismantle the rogue
outposts — but only two major ones were evacuated. Others were strategically
registered as new neighborhoods of established settlements. Now, settlers find
their closest allies at the highest government levels. On Thursday, Netanyahu’s
new coalition officially granted Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler
leader, authority over settlement construction. Drori said Smotrich, a long-time
friend, prayed and celebrated at Givat Harel the night of the recognition
decision.
“Things will really change here for the good,” Drori said, describing his dreams
to build an elementary school and expand the synagogue. Smotrich and other
far-right ministers plan to spend billions expanding and investing in
settlements. Rights groups warn this will deepen the conflict with the
Palestinians and lead to more bloodshed. Down an unpaved dirt road in Turmus Aya,
Abu Awad fixed her eyes on the hilltop overlooking her home. Last month settlers
tried to set fire to a nearby house, burning the car in the driveway. Then last
week came the attack on her home. Police said they arrested two suspects over
the arson attack. Palestinians, who are prosecuted in military courts with an
extremely high conviction rate, have long complained about impunity enjoyed by
settlers, who are charged, if at all, in civil ones. “They cut the electricity
so it was pitch black,” Abu Awad said. “In the dark, they could do whatever they
wanted.”
Israel approves 7,000 West Bank settlement homes in
largest single expansion
Campbell MacDiarmid/The Telegraph/February 24, 2023
Israeli settlers shot and seriously wounded two Palestinians in the West Bank on
Friday, the day after Israel’s new far-Right government approved plans for 7,000
new settlement homes in the occupied territory. Armed settlers from a nearby
outpost descended on the village of Qusra near Nablus and opened fire in an
unprovoked shooting, according to Ghassan Douglas, the Palestinian official who
monitors Israeli settlements in the Nablus region. The incident came after the
Israeli government on Thursday approved the largest-ever single tranche of
settlement homes, despite growing international opposition to new construction
on occupied territory. “We see this as a very big move toward annexation,” Ziv
Stahl, director of Israeli rights group Yesh Din, told the Associated Press.
“Cementing the existence of these places blocks any hope for Palestinians to
ever get their land back.” On Monday, the United Nations Security Council
criticised Israeli settlement construction on occupied lands claimed by the
Palestinians, saying a Feb 12 decision to retroactively recognise outposts was
“dangerously imperilling the viability of the two-state solution based on the
1967 lines”. The statement was the first time in six years that the US had not
used its veto power to block the council from taking action against Israel. But
the US reportedly blocked a tougher legally binding resolution after Israel
assured diplomats it would refrain from unilateral action for six months. Peace
Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group, said an Israeli government planning
committee scheduled a meeting next month to discuss plans to develop a strategic
area east of Jerusalem known as E1. The US in the past has blocked the project,
which would largely bisect the West Bank; critics say it would make it
impossible to establish a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had
pledged not to legalise any more wildcat outposts. He made the promise after
retroactively legalising 10 existing outposts earlier this month. The US
criticised the decision. “We view the expansion of settlements as an obstacle to
peace that undermines the geographic viability of a two-state solution,” said a
US National Security Council statement. The international community, along with
the Palestinians, considers settlement construction illegal or illegitimate.
Over 700,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem —
territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for a
future independent state. The planned construction is likely to add to already
heightened tensions following an Israeli military raid that killed 11
Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday. Thousands of
Palestinians demonstrated in cities across the West Bank and Gaza on Friday in
protest at a major Israeli military raid earlier this week that killed 11
Palestinians. Palestinian protesters gathered in Nablus, Hebron, Ramallah and
Bethlehem, among other towns and cities, as well as in East Jerusalem. In Gaza,
there were reports of Palestinians heading to the border fence with Israel to
mount similar protests. The demonstrators appeared to be responding to a call to
action from the Lions’ Den, a small but influential Palestinian militant group
based in the northern West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus.
Israeli West Bank settlers 'sing and dance' after
outpost recognised
Emily Rose/JERUSALEM (Reuters)/Fri, February 24, 2023
Drama therapist Yael Drori left bustling Jerusalem 16 years ago to live in an
unrecognised outpost in the Israeli occupied West Bank. As a youth, she was
active in the Israeli settler movement supporting new communities in the West
Bank and protesting against Israeli disengagement from Jewish communities in
Gaza. She moved to the West Bank out of ideology, but what she found was a sense
of community. As the mother of a severely disabled child, she teared up
explaining that her neighbours had become her "family". Last week, Drori, 38,
celebrated when the settlement of Givat Harel became one of nine to be
recognised retroactively by Prime Minister Netanyahu's nationalist right-wing
government. "I thought it was something they promised but it would never
happen,” she said. "It was a good surprise that made me joyful.” Violence has
surged in the West Bank in the past year with frequent clashes between the
Israeli military and Palestinians. Authorisation of the settlements, which the
government said was a response to Palestinian attacks, sparked U.N.
denunciation. Along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, the Palestinians seek the
occupied West Bank for a state. Most world powers view settlements as illegally
built on land Israel captured in a 1967 war with Arab powers. Israel disputes
that and cites biblical, historical and political links to the West Bank, as
well as security interests. The first to publish the decisions by Netanyahu's
security cabinet were two pro-settler politicians whose inclusion in the
coalition he built after a Nov. 1 election had already signalled a hard-right
tack. In a sharp move, the U.N. Security Council issued a formal statement on
Monday expressing “deep concern” about the Feb. 12 retroactive outpost
recognition, saying the decision was “dangerously imperilling the viability of
the two-state solution based on the 1967 lines”.The statement was the first
action the United States, with veto powers, has allowed the body to take against
its ally Israel in six years.
DREAM COME TRUE
According to Peace Now, an NGO which monitors settlement expansion, 132
settlements have been established in the West Bank with another 147 outposts not
considered legal under Israeli law. In recent years, settlers have erected
scores of outposts without government permission. Some have been razed by
police, others authorised retroactively. While Western powers found the
authorisation unsettling, residents say it simply shows Israeli policy is
catching up with facts on the ground which are changing, one structure at a
time. Givat Harel, established in 1998, is now home to some 90 families. Rocky
terrain peaks out between patches of grass in the majestic hills. Winding high
above the green valley below, the road up to the outpost is flanked by crops and
signs advertising the community’s winery. An hour outside Jerusalem, the lack of
cars on the highway leaves a void filled with clean air and the sound of
chirping birds echoing between the mountains. For the residents, Israeli
authorisation was nothing short of a dream come true. “We didn’t think it would
happen so quickly,” said resident Morya Tassan Michaeli. “When we suddenly
realised, it was 10 or 11 o’clock at night and the excitement and elation
emerged and the next day we gathered and danced and sang.” Power outages and
basic infrastructure gaps are part of life in a settlement built without
government approval. Drori says she’s excited at the prospect of having an
official postal address and paved sidewalks. The streets of this community
remain quiet during the day, most parents commute daily for work and high school
children are often sent to boarding schools. Residents are now hopeful the
recognition will lead to official bus routes, easier access and the ability to
build and grow. Palestinians say recognition and normalisation of settlements
will hinder U.S. and Arab state peace efforts and lead to more tension and
escalation.
'THIS IS OUR HOME'
Shirat Yulis, an architect and resident of Givat Harel, designs homes both in
recognised and unrecognised communities where she says homeowners worry more
about building something new. Recognition means prospective residents can take
out a mortgage from a national bank. “There’s no happier person than me today,”
Yulis said. ”I know that now people can enjoy their homes.”In another triumph
for the settler movement, a far-right Israeli cabinet minister formally gained
responsibilities over Jewish settlements in the West Bank on Thursday that he
said included bringing their legal status closer to that of communities within
Israel. Under the new division of powers, "legislation on all (settlement)
civilian matters will be brought into line with Israeli law", as opposed to
being classified under the military. Critics and human rights organisations say
this normalises the status of settlements. In practice for residents, it removes
the need to go through military bureaucracy on matters of infrastructure and
construction. The clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli military won’t
deter residents like Michaeli. She said there had been waves of violence her
entire life. "Fear doesn’t govern our lives,” Michaeli said. "This is our life
and this is our home.”“If they approve a few more settlements, I don’t think
that will change anything in the calculation or thinking of the Palestinians,”
said Bracha Kaplan, a social worker who moved to Givat Harel 10 years ago. "The
question is whether one needs to ask for recognition from the outside or believe
in what one is doing. “I raise my children to believe that this is our place and
we don’t have another. If this is our home and we won’t have a partner for
peace, then this is what we have.”
Israeli settlers shoot, wound 2 Palestinians in West
Bank
JERUSALEM (AP)/Fri, February 24, 2023
Israeli settlers shot and seriously wounded two Palestinians in the northern
occupied West Bank early Friday, Palestinian health officials said, in what
authorities describe as the latest incident in a wave of settler violence. The
Palestinian Health Ministry said the two wounded Palestinians were being treated
at a hospital in the village of Qusra, near the West Bank city of Nablus. It did
not identify the men. A group of armed settlers from a nearby outpost descended
on the village and Palestinians went into the street to see what was happening
late Thursday, said Ghassan Douglas, the Palestinian official who monitors
Israeli settlements in the Nablus region. One of the settlers opened fire at the
residents, hitting one man in the s tomach and another in the thigh. Douglas
said the shooting was unprovoked. The Israeli army said soldiers arrived to
disperse the confrontation. It said it was aware Palestinians were evacuated to
a hospital with gunshot wounds. Israeli police said they were investigating. The
northern West Bank in particular has seen a surge of settler attacks. Many
villages in the area have gradually become sandwiched between settlements and
unauthorized outposts that house particularly ideological settlers. Last month,
leading Israeli human rights group B'Tselem recorded a string of incidents near
Nablus — from settlers attacking Palestinians with stones in Qusra to torching
Palestinian cars in Aqraba. Earlier this month, a settler shot and killed a
Palestinian in the farming town of Salfit. “This kind of event we are now seeing
here every few weeks," said Douglas, describing the settler violence as an
attempt to push villagers off their land. The United Nations recorded over 820
settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank last year, up from 496 in
2021. That includes property damage as well as physical assaults. The UN's
humanitarian office said it was the highest number it had recorded since 2006.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in
the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians seek those lands for a hoped-for independent
state. At least 700,000 Israeli settlers now live in dozens of settlements that
spread across the West Bank and are protected by the Israeli military.
Shipping community calls on UN to urgently
evacuate seafarers trapped in Ukraine
Naharnet/Fri, February 24, 2023
The world’s leading maritime organizations and companies have released an open
letter calling on United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to urgently
prioritize the evacuation of 331 seafarers -- including Lebanese seafarers --
and 62 ships that remain trapped in Ukrainian ports. The 34 signatories,
including the International Chamber of Shipping, NKY Line, the Union of Greek
Shipowners, Danish Shipping, and seafarer charities, called the situation an
‘unacceptable risk to life.’In February 2022, 112 vessels crewed by more than
2,000 seafarers were berthed in Ukrainian ports across the Black Sea and the Sea
of Azov. Since then, 1,700 have been safely evacuated and have been able to
return to their families or return to their work of keeping global trade
flowing. The remaining 331 seafarers from Lebanon and other countries such as
Bangladesh, Philippines, Turkey, Syria, China, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Ghana,
India, Azerbaijan and Georgia, remain to maintain the safety and protect against
environmental harm. No other industry have non-combatants in the area over a
year on from the start of the conflict, as they can only leave when the ships
leave. Some of the ports where these seafarers remain have resumed operability,
facilitating the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Shipping has been integral in
carrying out this U.N.-brokered humanitarian effort, with crews sailing along
the borders of the conflict zone to ensure the world continues to receive vital
grain deliveries. However, ships who are not able to transport grain are
excluded and remain trapped. Since the onset of the war, shipping companies,
charities, and unions have continually called for the safe and immediate
evacuation of the trapped seafarers. They have also worked in coordination with
international organizations to facilitate the evacuation effort, supported the
trapped seafarers’ families, and provided the seafarers with provisions
including food, clean water, and medical supplies. To mark the one-year
anniversary of the war in Ukraine, the shipping community sent this open letter
to UNSG Guterres, calling on him to use his diplomatic abilities to evacuate the
remaining seafarers ships.
Russia Celebrates Ukraine Anniversary With Threat to
Invade Another Country
Dan Ladden-Hall/The Daily Beast/February 24, 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday marked the first anniversary
of a full-scale invasion of his country with a stirring message of mourning,
defiance, and hope. “On February 24, millions of us made a choice,” Zelensky
tweeted. “Not a white flag, but the blue and yellow one. Not fleeing, but
facing. Resisting and fighting.” His words were accompanied by a video showing
Ukrainians weeping with their loved ones, sheltering from explosions, and
fighting on the battlefield. “It was a year of pain, sorrow, faith, and unity,”
he added. “And this year we remained invincible. We know that 2023 will be the
year of our victory!”In Moscow, there were no major public events planned to
mark the grim milestone in the war on Friday. Earlier in the week, President
Vladimir Putin briefly appeared at a concert rally at Russia’s biggest stadium
where images of the mayhem in Ukraine were played on giant screens to a cheering
crowd as pop stars performed. Firework displays lit up the skies over Russia on
Thursday to mark its Defender of the Fatherland Day. Zelensky’s message of
victory in 2023 was mirrored by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who on
Friday insisted that “victory will be achieved” for Russia. “We all want it to
happen as soon as possible. And that day will come,” Medvedev, who is now deputy
chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote on his Telegram account.
Alarmingly, Medvedev argued that a deal will eventually have to be negotiated to
end the bloodshed, but that such an agreement won’t have “fundamental agreements
on real borders.”“That is why it is so important to achieve all the goals of the
special military operation,” Medvedev added, using the Kremlin’s preferred
euphemism for the war. “To push back the borders that threaten our country as
far as possible, even if they are the borders of Poland.”Any attack on Poland’s
borders would put Russia into direct conflict with NATO. In Poland this week,
Joe Biden vowed to “defend literally every inch of NATO.” Medvedev’s threat to
Poland comes after Russian intelligence claimed this week that Ukraine is
preparing a false-flag attack on Moldova, in which Kyiv’s forces would dress in
Russian fatigues during a fake invasion. It’s not clear how many have been
killed in the war in Ukraine so far, though Russia’s independent Conflict
Investigation Team suggested earlier this month that between 130,000 and 270,000
Russians had been killed or wounded in the fighting. The Norwegian military in
January claimed Ukraine may have suffered as many as 100,000 military casualties
of its own, along with 30,000 civilian deaths. Zelensky’s message was echoed
across the world with international displays of solidarity. German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz released his own video message condemning Russian President Vladimir
Putin’s “relentless war of aggression.” Landmarks including the Eiffel Tower in
Paris and the Sydney Opera House were illuminated with the colors of the
Ukrainian flag on Wednesday night.
The symbolic displays of unity were coupled with a concrete statement of support
from the U.N. which overwhelmingly voted on Thursday in favor of a resolution
demanding that Russian forces leave Ukrainian territory. Some 141 nations backed
the non-binding resolution while 32 countries—among them India and
China—abstained. Just seven countries, including Russia and its allies Belarus
and North Korea, voted against.
NATO and EU react reservedly to Chinese ceasefire
proposal for Ukraine
TALLINN (Reuters)/Fri, February 24, 2023
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday reacted reservedly to a
Chinese proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying Beijing did not have a lot
of credibility as a mediator. "China doesn't have much credibility because they
have not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine," he told
reporters in Tallinn, adding Beijing had signed an agreement with Russian
President Vladimir Putin only days before the invasion. European Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen said China had not shared a peace plan but some
principles. "You have to see them against a specific backdrop, and that is the
backdrop that China has already taken sides by signing, for example, an
unlimited friendship right before the invasion," she noted. "So we will look at
the principles, of course, but we will look at them against the backdrop that
China has taken sides," she added.
Ukrainian parliament passes transparency law after
defence ministry scandal
KYIV (Reuters)/Fri, February 24, 2023T
Ukrainian lawmakers passed legislation aimed at boosting transparency in defence
procurement on Friday as Kyiv tries to clamp down on corruption following a
scandal at the defence ministry. The measure, which now goes to President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy for approval, will in part require defence ministry
officials to publicly disclose the prices of purchases not related to arms.
Passage of the draft law, on the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale
invasion of Ukraine, followed the publication of a media report in January
alleging the ministry bought food at inflated prices. The report caused a public
outcry and was followed by a political shake-up, including at the defence
ministry. "In several months, we should see the unit prices for purchases of
food and other goods and services for the military," co-author Anastasia Radina
wrote on Facebook. "I will monitor the implementation of the law."The European
Union has made anti-corruption reforms one of its key requirements for Ukraine's
membership after granting Kyiv the candidate status last year. Defence Minister
Oleksii Reznikov said earlier this month he had "zero tolerance" for corruption
and has also pledged to reboot his ministry's anti-graft department and include
experts and civic activists in reform efforts.
What is China's peace proposal for Ukraine War?
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)/Fri, February 24, 2023
One year into Russia's war against Ukraine, China is offering a 12-point
proposal to end the fighting. The proposal follows China's recent announcement
that it is trying to act as mediator in the war that has re-energized Western
alliances viewed by Beijing and Moscow as rivals. China's top diplomat indicated
that the plan was coming at a security conference this week in Munich, Germany.
With its release, President Xi Jinping's government is reiterating China's claim
to being neutral, despite blocking efforts at the United Nations to condemn the
invasion. The document echoes Russian claims that Western governments are to
blame for the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion and criticizes sanctions on Russia. At the
Munich meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed skepticism
about Beijing's position before the plan's release. He said China has provided
non-lethal assistance that supports Russian President Vladimir Putin's war
effort and said the U.S. has intelligence that Beijing is “considering providing
lethal support.” China has called the allegation a “smear” and said it lacks
evidence.
WHAT HAS CHINA PROPOSED?
China’s proposal calls for a cease-fire and peace talks, and an end to sanctions
against Russia. China placed responsibility for sanctions on other “relevant
countries” without naming them. These countries, it says, “should stop abusing
unilateral sanctions” and “do their share in de-escalating the Ukraine crisis.”
Many of the 12 points were very general and did not contain specific proposals.
Without mentioning either Russia or Ukraine, it says sovereignty of all
countries should be upheld. It didn't specify what that would look like for
Ukraine, and the land taken from it since Russia seized Crimea in 2014. The
proposal also condemns a “Cold War mentality,” a term that often refers to the
United States and the U.S.-European military alliance NATO. “The security of a
region should not be achieved by strengthening or expanding military blocs,” the
proposal says. Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded a promise that Ukraine
will not join the bloc before the invasion. Other points call for a cease-fire,
peace talks, protection for prisoners of war and stopping attacks on civilians,
without elaborating, as well as keeping nuclear power plants safe and
facilitating grain exports. “The basic tone and the fundamental message in the
policy is quite pro-Russia,” said Li Mingjiang, a professor of Chinese foreign
policy and international security at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological
University.
DOES CHINA BACK RUSSIA IN ITS WAR ON UKRAINE?
China has offered contradictory statements regarding its stance. It says Russia
was provoked into taking action by NATO’s eastward expansion, but has also
claimed neutrality on the war. Ahead of Russia's attack, Xi and Putin attended
the opening of last year's Winter Olympics in Beijing and issued a statement
that their governments had a “no limits” friendship. China has since ignored
Western criticism and reaffirmed that pledge. Putin has said he expects Xi to
visit Russia in the next few months. China has yet to confirm that. China is
“trying to have it both ways,” Blinken said Sunday on NBC. “Publicly, they
present themselves as a country striving for peace in Ukraine, but privately, as
I said, we’ve seen already over these past months the provision of non-lethal
assistance that does go directly to aiding and abetting Russia’s war effort.”
HAS CHINA PROVIDED SUPPORT TO RUSSIA?
China’s support for Russia has been largely rhetorical and political. Beijing
has helped to prevent efforts to condemn Moscow at the United Nations. There is
no public evidence it is currently supplying arms to Russia, but the U.S. has
said China is providing non-lethal support already and may do more. Blinken, at
the Munich conference, said the United States has long been concerned that China
would provide weapons to Russia. “We have information that gives us concern that
they are considering providing lethal support to Russia,” he said. Blinken said
he expressed to the Chinese envoy to the meeting, Wang Yi, that “this would be a
serious problem.”NATO's chief said Wednesday he had seen some signs that China
may be ready to provide arms and warned that would be it would be supporting a
violation of international law. Russian and Chinese forces have held joint
drills since the invasion, most recently with the South African navy in a
shipping lane off the South African coast. Ukraine’s defense minister Oleksii
Reznikov expressed doubt about China's willingness to send lethal aid to Russia.
“I think that if China will help them … it will not (be) weaponry. It will (be)
some kinds of like clothes,” Reznikov said in Kyiv Monday.
UK Issues Export Bans on Every Item Used by Russia
in War
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 24 February, 2023
Britain marked the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by issuing
more sanctions against Russia, including export bans on every item it has used
on the battlefield. The Foreign Office said on Friday the internationally
coordinated sanctions and trade measures would target aircraft parts, radio
equipment and electronic components. It will also target more Russian executives
including those at the nuclear power plant Rosatom and others who work at
defense groups and Russian banks. "Military intelligence has shown that a
shortage of components in Russia as a result of sanctions is already likely
affecting their ability to produce equipment for export, such as armored
vehicles, attack helicopters and air defense systems," the Foreign Office said.
Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations will meet virtually on Friday with
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy where they are expected to discuss
further sanctions on Russia.
Ukraine tensions flare at G-20 finance meetings in India
BENGALURU, India (AP)/Fri, February 24, 2023
Tensions over Russia’s war on Ukraine flared Friday at meetings of financial
chiefs of the Group of 20 leading economies, where geopolitics affected the
atmosphere if not the agenda of the gathering in the Indian technology hub of
Bengaluru. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen condemned the “illegal and
unjustified war against Ukraine” at a session attended by Russian officials and
reiterated calls for G-20 nations to do more to support Ukraine and hinder
Moscow's war effort. “I urge the Russian officials here at the G-20 to
understand that their continued work for the Kremlin makes them complicit in
Putin’s atrocities," Yellen said. “They bear responsibility for the lives and
livelihoods being taken in Ukraine and the harm caused globally.”As the meetings
convened on the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, such
issues were bound to crop up, despite host India's reluctance to be caught
between allies of Ukraine and Russia and other countries supporting Moscow, such
as China. In kicking off the meetings Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi avoided mention of Ukraine. Meeting on the G-20 sidelines, Yellen and
British Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt condemned the war and said they were working
together to deal with the crisis. Hunt praised efforts to support Ukraine,
according to remarks provided by U.S. Treasury officials. “We are pleased that
there is such unity among democracies that this cannot be allowed to happen. We
don’t think the job is by any means done,” he said. “There is no choice between
whether we focus on Ukraine or focus on other important global issues like
climate change. In the end if we don’t resolve global security threats, there
can be no progress on these other areas,” Hunt said. The wording of a communique
due to be issued Saturday when the talks wrap up was evidently still under
discussion, as other forums such as the Group of Seven prepared to announce new
sanctions against Russia. At the last major G-20 meeting, in Bali, Indonesia,
G-20 leaders strongly condemned the war, warning that the conflict is
intensifying fragilities in the world’s economy. They finessed divisions among
them given that the group includes Russia and also countries like China and
India that have significant trade ties with Moscow and have stopped short of
outright criticism of the war. “In Bali, high level leaders decided on strong
condemnation of the brutal attack by Russia and as finance ministers we must
stick to it,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters at a news
conference. He said he would walk out if the gathering failed to evince a strong
stance against the war. A senior Indian official, speaking on condition they not
be named because the talks were confidential, said as hosts India was determined
to work toward a consensus and come out with a communique.
In welcoming the G-20 policymakers, Modi urged them to focus on helping the
world's most vulnerable people.
“You represent the leadership of global finance and economy at a time when the
world is facing serious economic difficulties," Modi said in a video address. As
countries deal with slew of challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic,
including unsustainable debt, conflict, inflation and eroding trust in
international financial institutions, “It is up to you, the custodians of the
leading economies and market systems ... to bring back stability, confidence and
growth to the global economy," he said. The meetings in Bengaluru were due to
touch on a wide range of issues including digital currencies and payments,
reform of institutions like the World Bank, climate change and financial
inclusion. Multiple meetings between various leaders were also taking place,
including talks between India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, and her
counterparts from France and Brazil. The G-20 meetings offer a chance for
leaders to consider how to coordinate their policies: many central banks
including the U.S. Federal Reserve have been raising interest rates sharply to
try to rein in decades-high inflation brought on by various factors including
the war and rebounding demand for travel, goods and services following the
COVID-19 pandemic. With increases in income lagging behind, rising costs for
food, housing, fuel and fertilizer impose huge burdens, especially on the poor
and in developing nations, where debt burdens have surged both at the national
and household levels. As the G-20 host this year, India is taking the
opportunity to showcase its ascent as an economic power. Modi suggested the
gathering could “draw hope from the vibrant Indian economy," which is forecast
to grow at a more than 6% annual pace this year, making it one of the fastest
growing in the world. He also pointed to the country’s digital payments
technology as a model to be emulated.
Presenter threatens 'serious action' against Putin
defender 'if I catch you listening to my show again'
James Cheng-Morris/Yahoo News UK/February 24, 2023
A radio presenter has “banned” a Vladimir Putin and Russia defender from
listening to his show in an extraordinary outburst. LBC’s Nick Ferrari said he
would take “serious action” against the caller “if I ever catch you listening
again”. It came on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of
Ukraine. According to the United Nations, at least 8,000 civilians have been
killed with 13,300 injured, though the actual number is likely to be far higher.
More than 10 million people have been forced to leave their homes. The caller,
named Chris, told Ferrari there is a “US/NATO narrative… without any proper
historical context” about Russia’s invasion. NATO has backed Ukraine in the
defence of their country ever since the invasion began, which has infuriated
Russia. Ferrari told the caller: “Why don’t you just look yourself in the mirror
and ask yourself… why you would reach for the phone to call LBC and start saying
Putin is being in some way, shape or form, unfairly treated? He’s a brutal
dictator who picked a war that’s he going to lose and his troops behave in an
almost subhuman way. “You are banned from listening to this show. I’m glad
you’re laughing, you can listen to all the other shows. If I ever catch you
listening again I will take serious action because I am sick and tired to my
bloody back teeth of people trying to pretend that this is anything but an
attack on the Ukraine people… listen to the rest of the station, don’t ever
listen to me.”Ferrari did not specify what his “serious action” against the
caller would entail. His opinion-driven show, and that of fellow morning
presenter James O’Brien, is known for ill-tempered back and forths with callers.
It’s a format that has succeeded, with figures released last year showing both
shows have about 1.3 million listeners.
February 24, 2022: the day Russia invaded
Ukraine
Associated Press/February 24/2024
On February 24, 2022, Europe wakes up to a war on its eastern flank as Russia
invades neighboring Ukraine, sparking the worst conflict on the continent since
World War II. After weeks of speculation about President Vladimir Putin's
intentions following a massive troop build-up on the border, AFP reports in a
high-priority alert shortly before 6:00 am (0300 GMT): "Russia's Putin announces
a 'military operation' in Ukraine".
'Full-scale invasion'
In a television address Putin says he aims to demilitarize and "de-Nazify"
Ukraine, reiterating his unsubstantiated allegation that Ukrainian forces are
carrying out a "genocide" in breakaway pro-Russian territories in the east. He
warns Western countries against coming to Ukraine's assistance, saying they face
unforetold consequences.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accuses Putin of launching a
"full-scale invasion". Explosions ring out across the country, from the capital
Kyiv to the Black Sea port of Odesa and Kharkiv on the border with Russia.
Within hours, Ukrainian border guards announce that Russian ground forces backed
by tanks and other heavy equipment have crossed into Ukraine from the north,
south and east. As air raid sirens blare, a deeply shaken Ksenya Michenka whisks
her teenage son and their cat to the safety of an underground metro station off
Kyiv's historic Maidan Square. "We need to save our lives," she says tensely.
Flights over Ukraine and from cities in southern Russia are cancelled. Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky imposes martial law, preventing men of fighting age
of leaving the country.
Shockwaves and sanctions
International condemnation is swift, with U.S. President Joe Biden saying "the
world will hold Russia accountable". He calls Zelensky, vowing "support and
assistance", addresses the American people, and announces the U.S. and Group of
Seven biggest economies will impose "devastating" economic sanctions on Russia.
He vows to defend "every inch" of NATO territory but reiterates that the U.S.,
which is wary of being drawn into direct conflict with Russia, will not send
troops to non-NATO-member Ukraine. Oil prices break $100 for the first time in
more than seven years at the start of a day in which prices for aluminum, of
which Russia is a key producer, and wheat, of which Ukraine is a top grower,
reach record highs. The Russian ruble falls nine percent against the dollar
several hours after the invasion. In the afternoon NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg
says the alliance is activating its "defense plans" for members. EU leaders
impose stinging sanctions targeting Russia's financial, energy and transport
sectors. China goes against the tide of international condemnation, telling
Russia's foreign minister it understands Moscow's "reasonable concerns on
security issues" in Ukraine.
Air superiority
Russia moves quickly to try hobble Ukraine's defense capabilities, claiming to
have destroyed more than 70 military targets, including 11 airfields. Ukraine,
meanwhile, says it has downed five Russian planes and a helicopter. In the
eastern town of Chuguiv, AFP sees a man in his thirties weeping over the body of
his father who was killed in a missile strike and meets Olena Kurilo, a
52-year-old teacher, her face covered in bandages from flying glass. Kurilo,
whose bloodied features become one of the iconic images of the war, tells AFP
she "never thought" that Russia would invade Ukraine but is ready to resist.
"Never, under any conditions will I submit to Putin. It is better to die," she
says.
Zelensky stays in Kyiv
Russian forces break in the early afternoon into the region north of the capital
Kyiv, attacking Ukrainian positions with Grad missiles. Some of the fiercest
fighting takes place at Gostomel airfield to the northwest of Kyiv, which is
occupied by Russian forces but later recaptured by the Ukrainians. A U.S.
defense official says Russia appears intent on "decapitating" Ukraine's
government and installing a pro-Russian regime in its place. Zelensky makes the
first in a series of dramatic self-shot videos from Kyiv, vowing to stay and
defend the country.In the evening Ukraine announces that after a fierce battle
Russian forces have captured the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which suffered a
catastrophic meltdown in 1986.
Reaction and refugees
Poland opens nine reception centers along its border with Ukraine to prepare for
what will turn out to be the biggest movement of refugees since World War II.
Giant tailbacks form on roads leading west out of Kyiv towards the Polish
border. Putin begins a clampdown on opposition to the war at home, with more
than 1,400 anti-war protesters arrested in Moscow and St Petersburg. The first
signs of disapproval come from the world of sports, with the International
Olympic Committee harshly criticizing Russia for violating the "Olympic Truce"
for the Beijing Winter Games. By the end of the first day of fighting, at least
137 military and civilian Ukrainian "heroes" have been killed and 317 wounded,
according to Zelensky. The U.N. refugee agency says some 100,000 people have
been displaced, thousands of whom have fled abroad.
Russia warns West over threatening its troops in
Moldovan region
(Reuters)/Fri, February 24, 2023
Russia told the West on Friday that it would view as an attack on itself any
actions that threatened Russian peacekeepers in Moldova's breakaway
Transdniestria region, one day after Moscow accused Ukraine of deploying troops
near the region's border.
The warning comes amid increased concerns in Moldova, a small ex-Soviet republic
bordering Ukraine, of a possible Russian threat to its own independence. Its
pro-European president, Maia Sandu, this month accused Moscow of plotting to
overthrow Moldova's government. On Thursday, Russia accused Kyiv of planning to
invade Transdniestria, which borders Ukraine. The mainly Russian-speaking
territory broke from Moldova's control in 1990, a year before the collapse of
the Soviet Union."We warn the United States, NATO member states and their
Ukrainian wards against taking yet another reckless step," Russia's foreign
ministry said on Friday. "Any action that threatens their security will be
considered under international law as an attack on the Russian
Federation."Moldova's defence ministry has dismissed Russia's claims of a
Ukrainian troop build-up. "We note that there are currently no direct threats to
the state's military security... If possible threats to the security of the
country are identified, the ministry will immediately inform the public," the
Moldovan ministry said. "The false information being spread is intended to cause
panic and confusion among the population on both banks of the Dniester river. We
urge citizens to remain calm and receive information only from official
sources." Kyiv has not responded to Russia's latest claims of a Ukrainian troop
build-up near Transdniestria. Last week, however, Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskiy said it was "obvious" that his country was not the last country in
Moscow's sights and that the Kremlin was thinking about ways to "strangle"
Moldova.
Ukraine tensions flare at G-20 finance meetings in
India
BENGALURU, India (AP)/Fri, February 24, 2023
Tensions over Russia’s war on Ukraine flared Friday at meetings of financial
chiefs of the Group of 20 leading economies, where geopolitics affected the
atmosphere if not the agenda of the gathering in the Indian technology hub of
Bengaluru. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen condemned the “illegal and
unjustified war against Ukraine” at a session attended by Russian officials and
reiterated calls for G-20 nations to do more to support Ukraine and hinder
Moscow's war effort. “I urge the Russian officials here at the G-20 to
understand that their continued work for the Kremlin makes them complicit in
Putin’s atrocities," Yellen said. “They bear responsibility for the lives and
livelihoods being taken in Ukraine and the harm caused globally.”As the meetings
convened on the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, such
issues were bound to crop up, despite host India's reluctance to be caught
between allies of Ukraine and Russia and other countries supporting Moscow, such
as China. In kicking off the meetings Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi avoided mention of Ukraine. Meeting on the G-20 sidelines, Yellen and
British Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt condemned the war and said they were working
together to deal with the crisis. Hunt praised efforts to support Ukraine,
according to remarks provided by U.S. Treasury officials. “We are pleased that
there is such unity among democracies that this cannot be allowed to happen. We
don’t think the job is by any means done,” he said.“There is no choice between
whether we focus on Ukraine or focus on other important global issues like
climate change. In the end if we don’t resolve global security threats, there
can be no progress on these other areas,” Hunt said. The wording of a communique
due to be issued Saturday when the talks wrap up was evidently still under
discussion, as other forums such as the Group of Seven prepared to announce new
sanctions against Russia. At the last major G-20 meeting, in Bali, Indonesia,
G-20 leaders strongly condemned the war, warning that the conflict is
intensifying fragilities in the world’s economy. They finessed divisions among
them given that the group includes Russia and also countries like China and
India that have significant trade ties with Moscow and have stopped short of
outright criticism of the war. “In Bali, high level leaders decided on strong
condemnation of the brutal attack by Russia and as finance ministers we must
stick to it,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters at a news
conference. He said he would walk out if the gathering failed to evince a strong
stance against the war.
A senior Indian official, speaking on condition they not be named because the
talks were confidential, said as hosts India was determined to work toward a
consensus and come out with a communique. In welcoming the G-20 policymakers,
Modi urged them to focus on helping the world's most vulnerable people.
“You represent the leadership of global finance and economy at a time when the
world is facing serious economic difficulties," Modi said in a video address. As
countries deal with slew of challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic,
including unsustainable debt, conflict, inflation and eroding trust in
international financial institutions, “It is up to you, the custodians of the
leading economies and market systems ... to bring back stability, confidence and
growth to the global economy," he said. The meetings in Bengaluru were due to
touch on a wide range of issues including digital currencies and payments,
reform of institutions like the World Bank, climate change and financial
inclusion. Multiple meetings between various leaders were also taking place,
including talks between India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, and her
counterparts from France and Brazil. The G-20 meetings offer a chance for
leaders to consider how to coordinate their policies: many central banks
including the U.S. Federal Reserve have been raising interest rates sharply to
try to rein in decades-high inflation brought on by various factors including
the war and rebounding demand for travel, goods and services following the
COVID-19 pandemic. With increases in income lagging behind, rising costs for
food, housing, fuel and fertilizer impose huge burdens, especially on the poor
and in developing nations, where debt burdens have surged both at the national
and household levels. As the G-20 host this year, India is taking the
opportunity to showcase its ascent as an economic power. Modi suggested the
gathering could “draw hope from the vibrant Indian economy," which is forecast
to grow at a more than 6% annual pace this year, making it one of the fastest
growing in the world. He also pointed to the country’s digital payments
technology as a model to be emulated.
Blinken heads to Asia, with China, Russia tensions
soaring
WASHINGTON (AP)/Fri, February 24, 2023
Fresh from a meeting with China’s top diplomat and a U.N. Security Council
session on Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Central and
South Asia next week for international talks that will put him in the same room
as his Chinese and Russian counterparts. The State Department announced late
Thursday that Blinken would travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan before going to
India for a meeting of the Group of 20 foreign ministers from the world’s
largest industrialized and developing countries, including China and Russia. The
trip comes as tensions have soared between the U.S. and Russia and between the
U.S. and China over Russia's war in Ukraine and Chinese assertiveness in the
Indo-Pacific. All three countries are competing fiercely to outdo each other in
global influence. U.S. officials have been tight-lipped about the prospects for
Blinken having sit-down talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang or Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New Delhi. But all three will be present in
the Indian capital for the G-20 meeting. The State Department has said only that
no meetings are scheduled. The last time the group met — in Bali, Indonesia, in
2022 — Blinken held extensive talks with China’s then-foreign minister, Wang Yi,
that led to a summit between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Xinping
in November. And Wang, who has since been promoted, met with Blinken last
weekend on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany, the first
high-level talks since the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance
balloon and Blinken postponed a much-anticipated trip to Beijing. A meeting
between Blinken and Qin, who was formerly China’s ambassador to the U.S., would
be their first in Qin’s current capacity. The broader G-20 meeting is expected
to focus on food and energy security, especially for developing countries, which
have been hit by fallout from the Ukraine conflict. In Bali, a number of nations
that have not outright condemned Russia for the war expressed deep concern about
its impact on the prices and supply of food and fuel. Before traveling to Delhi,
Blinken will visit the Kazakh capital of Astana for talks with leaders there as
well as a meeting of the so-called C5+1 group, made up of the former Soviet
republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and
the United States. At that meeting, he will stress the U.S. “commitment to the
independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Central Asian
countries," the State Department said in a statement that mirrors the wording it
has been using to support Ukraine against Russia. Blinken will then go to
Tashkent for talks with Uzbek officials.
EU Eases Sanctions on Syria to Speed up Aid to Quake
Victims
Brussels - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 24 February, 2023
The European Union said on Thursday it was temporarily easing sanctions on Syria
to speed up aid deliveries to the country two weeks after the devastating
earthquake. The change made Thursday means "the EU has waived the need for
humanitarian organizations to seek prior permission from EU member states'
national competent authorities to make transfers or provide goods and services
intended for humanitarian purposes to listed persons and entities", the European
Council said in a statement. The measure will last six months and was taken "in
view of the seriousness of the humanitarian crisis in Syria, exacerbated by the
earthquakes".The devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6 killed over
43,000 people in Türkiye and over 3,600 in Syria. The EU and its member states
are leading donors of humanitarian aid to those affected by the conflict in
Syria. Since 2011, the European Union and its member states have dedicated €27.4
billion ($29 billion) of humanitarian funding to Syria and neighboring countries
in tackling the crisis. Since the devastating earthquake, the EU and its member
states have provided €3.5 million ($3.7 million) in humanitarian assistance to
cover the most urgent needs. The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
and its affiliates are subject to European sanctions because of their repression
of the people during the years of the conflict. The EU sanctions, imposed in
2011, target 291 individuals and 70 entities for asset freezes and a travel ban.
Türkiye Says Istanbul Bomb Suspect Killed in Syria
Operation
Asharq A-Awsat/Friday, 24 February, 2023
Turkish forces have killed the alleged mastermind behind a deadly Istanbul
street bombing in an operation in northern Syria, Türkiye’s state-run news
agency reported. The man, identified as Halil Menci, was “neutralized” in an
operation by Turkish intelligence agents, The Associated Press quoted the agency
as saying. It did not provide further details. HaberTurk television said the
operation took place on Feb. 22 in the town of Qamishli. The Nov. 13 bomb attack
in Istanbul’s bustling Istiklal Avenue left six people dead, including two
children. More than 80 others were wounded. Turkish authorities blamed the
attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, as well as Syrian
Kurdish groups affiliated with it. The Kurdish militants have denied
involvement. At least 17 suspects have been jailed pending trial in connection
with the attack, including a Syrian woman who is accused of leaving the
TNT-laden bomb on Istiklal Avenue. Officials said at the time that the attack’s
planner had fled Türkiye for Syria.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on February 24-25/2023
بوراك بكديل/كايتستون: الزلزال في تركيا كشف العديد من الوجود القبيحة/لم
يكن الزلزال الذي قتل عشرات الآلاف، بل السياسة والسلوك الانتحاري التركي على مستوى
الربح الفردي
Earthquake Unveils Turkey’s Many Ugly Faces/It was not the quake that killed
tens of thousands, but politics and suicidal profit-maximization behavior on
individual level.
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/February 24/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/116105/116105/
The worst disaster in modern Turkey’s history, the earthquake killed, as of
February 15, more than 35,000 people and injured 100,000. The death toll will
likely reach 40,000 or more. According to one estimate, the quake will result in
$84 billion in economic losses to Turkey, more than 10% of gross domestic
product.
It was not the quake that killed tens of thousands, but politics and suicidal
profit-maximization behavior on individual level.
[I]n the aftermath of the 1999 quake, Erdoğan said: “What broke here is not the
fault line … It is [the state’s] sense of shame. This is [the result of] poor
building planning and stealing from construction materials.” Now that he is in
power, Erdoğan explains that the loss of life in this month’s earthquake was
(God’s) fate.
As part of his election campaign in 2018, Erdoğan granted “amnesty” to 7.4
million applications for unregulated buildings in return for fees, of which his
government collected more than $13 billion.
More than 10,000 buildings were destroyed in the latest earthquake.
With the amnesty, contractors were allowed to skip crucial safety regulations,
increasing their profits but putting residents at risk. Few buyers and tenants
could guess that those permits would be their death certificates.
One of the buildings that collapsed in Hatay, one of the worst-hit provinces,
was a government hospital. In 2012, experts wrote a report that the building was
not earthquake-resistant. The authorities did not mind. Ironically, a bridge in
the same region, built 18 centuries ago during the Roman Empire, survived
unscathed.
An Israeli relief team from United Hatzalah, after having rescued 19 people
under the rubble, was forced to cut short their work in Turkey and leave the
country “in the face of growing security threat to the team.” Yeni Akit claimed
that “the Israeli team consisting of intelligence agents disguised as relief
workers left Turkey in the face of threats and local people’s cries of ‘go
home.'”
With the illegal building amnesty put in place by the government of President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish contractors were allowed to skip crucial safety
regulations, increasing their profits but putting residents at risk. Few buyers
and tenants could guess that those permits would be their death certificates.
Pictured: Earthquake-stricken Samandag, Turkey, on February 23, 2023.
At 4:17 am on February 6, an earthquake of 7.8-magnitude hit 10 provinces in
Turkey’s east, which account for a sixth of the country’s total population. The
worst disaster in modern Turkey’s history, the earthquake killed, as of February
15, more than 35,000 people and injured 100,000. The death toll will likely
reach 40,000 or more. According to one estimate, the quake will result in $84
billion in economic losses to Turkey, more than 10% of gross domestic product.
The earthquake, epicentered in Kahramanmaraş province and triggered by
geological fault lines, also has revealed Turkey’s socio-cultural and political
fault lines. It was not the quake that killed tens of thousands, but politics
and suicidal profit-maximization behavior on individual level.
Twenty-four years ago, a powerful earthquake hit Turkey’s Marmara region,
including Istanbul, the biggest city, killing 18,000 people. It was one of the
reasons that brought an end to the then-ruling coalition government and paved
the way for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to become the prime minister in 2002,
and later president in 2014. In his rightful criticism of the “failed state” in
the aftermath of the 1999 quake, Erdoğan said,
“What broke here is not the fault line … It is [the state’s] sense of shame.
This is [the result of] poor building planning and stealing from construction
materials.”
Now that he is in power, Erdoğan explains that the loss of life in this month’s
earthquake was (God’s) fate. After Erdoğan came to power in 2002 and promised
swift measures to minimize deaths from natural disasters, 1,060 Turks lost their
lives in nine earthquakes. Now it’s 1,060 plus 35,000.
Profit-related crime often goes unpunished in Turkey. After the 1999 earthquake,
2,100 building contractors were prosecuted. Of those, 1,800 were acquitted and
sentences for 300 were suspended.
In the years immediately following Erdoğan’s election, government permits for
housing construction tripled. Skyscrapers, bridges and smooth paved roads spread
across the vast country, as a handful of construction companies with ties to the
ruling party grew powerful.
As part of his election campaign in 2018, Erdoğan granted “amnesty” to 7.4
million applications for unregulated buildings in return for fees, of which his
government collected more than $13 billion.
More than 10,000 buildings were destroyed in the latest earthquake.
Erdoğan had said, “We solved the problem of hundreds of thousands [who built
homes without permits].” In one video, taken during a campaign stop ahead of
Turkey’s 2019 local elections, Erdoğan listed some of his government’s superior
achievements — including new housing for the city of Kahramanmaraş. There were
government-sponsored television ads encouraging citizens to join the illegal
building amnesty.
With the amnesty, contractors were allowed to skip crucial safety regulations,
increasing their profits but putting residents at risk. Few buyers and tenants
could guess that those permits would be their death certificates.
One of the buildings that collapsed in Hatay, one of the worst-hit provinces,
was a government hospital. In 2012, experts wrote a report that the building was
not earthquake-resistant. The authorities did not mind. Ironically, a bridge in
the same region, built 18 centuries ago during the Roman Empire, survived
unscathed.
Two years before the earthquake, several scientists and opposition members of
parliament warned of the coming disaster. Erdoğan’s government simply ignored
all warnings that a catastrophe was coming.
Construction is a particularly lucrative business in Turkey due to its large
population (85 million) and loose regulations. According to one report, there
are 453,000 licensed contractors in Turkey, compared to 3,800 in Germany, or
25,000 in the entire European Union. One of the construction companies in the
earthquake zone is Özburak Inşaat, which has built 1,500 homes since 2005. The
company’s owner, Hikmet Günsay, said in a recent interview: “I am a graduate of
primary school.”
The Islamist newspaper Yeni Akit, a favourite of Erdoğan, claimed that the
earthquake had been triggered by a U.S. oil company that was exploring in a
nearby region. And in a country like Turkey, even in times of national mourning
and global relief efforts, Islamists could not have missed the name “Israel.” An
Israeli relief team from United Hatzalah, after having rescued 19 people under
the rubble, was forced to cut short their work in Turkey and leave the country
“in the face of growing security threat to the team.” Yeni Akit claimed that
“the Israeli team consisting of intelligence agents disguised as relief workers
left Turkey in the face of threats and local people’s cries of ‘go home.'”
In another article, Yeni Akit claimed that the earthquake may have been
triggered by a neutron bomb fired by a hostile country. Several “experts”
claimed that the quake was the result of the U.S. High-frequency Active Auroral
Research Program (HAARP), a scientific endeavor aimed at studying the properties
and behavior of the ionosphere. According to Yevgeny Fodorov, a member of the
Russian parliament, the earthquake in Turkey was a U.S. attack by seismological
weapons.
Iran: ‘Al-Qaeda’s New Home Base’
Jebril Elabidi/Asharq A-Awsat/February 24/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/116112/%d8%af-%d8%ac%d8%a8%d8%b1%d9%8a%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%af%d9%8a-%d8%a5%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%aa-%d8%aa%d9%86%d8%b8%d9%8a%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%b9%d8%af/
With the revelations that the “new” leader of Al-Qaeda has taken refuge in Iran,
it became clear that harboring terrorists is part of the Iranian regime’s modus
operandi. Despite their doctrinal differences, the Iranian regime has always
allied itself with Al-Qaeda, and there is an abundance of evidence to this
effect.
The revelations about the regime harboring the terrorist Saif al-Adel, the new
leader of Al-Qaeda and Zawahiri’s successor, will not be the last testament to
this fact; nor was the New York Times report about the Israelis’ liquidation of
Abu Mohammad Al-Masri (the second-highest ranked official of the organization at
the time) on Iranian soil the first.
Their multifaceted relationship affirms that the Iranian regime and Al-Qaeda
share a common ground: terrorism. The fact of the matter is that the Iranian
regime’s relationship with Al-Qaeda goes back over thirty years.
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has underscored this fact, as has the
head of the State Department Counterterrorism Bureau, Nathan Sales. The latter
has said that Iran “allowed al-Qaeda operatives to move freely within the
country to facilitate the movement of fighters and money into neighboring
countries.”Moreover, a retired Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)
general, Saeed Qassemi, has admitted to “fighting on the side of (Al-Qaeda).”
The Iranian regime was and still is harboring Al-Qaeda leaders who had fled
Afghanistan during the 2001 US campaign against the Taliban, which, in turn, had
been harboring Al-Qaeda and its slain leader Osama bin Laden.
However, the Iranian regime hosts bin Laden’s sons, wives, grandchildren, and
other leaders. According to the US Treasury Department, the terrorist Yassin al-Suri
was tasked with taking Al-Qaeda leaders and their families to Iran.
The ways in which Iran uses Al-Qaeda are the justifications for their
Machiavellian and strategic partnership, which is above the animosity between
them. Despite their doctrinal divergences and disputes, both sides have been
politically pragmatic in dealing with each other. This underscores the fact that
terrorism brings them together. It is the foundation of their relationship,
which is governed by shared interests and the fact that both carry the banner of
Islam and the Caliphate.
One of the documents found in bin Laden’s safe house before his death and
released by the US authorities confirms that his sons and members of the
Al-Qaeda top brass had been in Iran for over eight years, having remained there
since fleeing Afghanistan in 2001. The Iranian regime has sought to make use of
Al-Qaeda to advance its interests as it does with its proxies, especially after
providing shelter, training and some arms to Al-Qaeda members.
The Iranian regime is drowning in a swamp of chaos, executions, and repression
as it clamps down on the opposition and the popular uprising. Since the
country’s corruption brought the economy to its knees and isolated the country
politically, driving the people to the streets, the regime has been hiding
behind its finger.Despite the Abbottabad documents, it has not addressed the
compelling evidence demonstrating its ties to Al-Qaeda. Nonetheless, it has put
the allegations down to the “failed Iranophobia game,” to quote the Iranian
foreign minister.
Pompeo suggested that Al-Qaeda has chosen Iran as the new headquarters and that
Al-Qaeda and Tehran’s relationship began before the 9/11 attacks, adding that
Iran has become “the new home base of Al-Qaeda.”
Will the US make use of the mandate granted to it in 2001, which allows it to
wage war against Al-Qaeda, its allies, and offshoots anywhere in the world
without referring to Congress, to strike Al-Qaeda officials based in Iran? Or
will it suffice itself with negotiating with Tehran over its nuclear program?!
Syria’s Aid Problems, Needs
Fayez Sara/Asharq A-Awsat/February 24/2023
More than any people in the world today, the Syrians are in dire need for
support and life improvement, not because of a lack of resources and
capabilities, which are in fact many.
The Syrians have something more important than resources. They are known for
their strong eagerness to work, their energy, and their ability to create better
conditions for life, which is confirmed by their presence in many countries, to
which they emigrated or were forced to resort in the past decade.
The most flagrant episode of the Syrian need occurred with the birth of the
regime of corruption and tyranny.
The Syrians sought to overcome the regime’s policy of impoverishment with all
possible means. Some of them settled in different parts of the world, and
invaded the available labor markets, especially in Arab countries, where some
survived, while the majority fell under the burden of need.
A study I conducted on poverty in Syria, published in 2010, showed that based on
local and international statistics and analyses, the poverty rate in Syria
affected two out of every three Syrians at that time. This means that two-thirds
of the population left the era of Assad the father, and entered the tenure of
Assad Jr. in a state of poverty. This was among the proven reasons for the
Syrian revolution in 2011.
Since the early days of the revolution, the regime, along with its military and
security apparatus, has resorted to abolishing the economic foundations of
Syrian life. It opened the doors to emigration and displacement of the
population in parallel with the destruction and looting of their property.
The regime disrupted economic activities and blocked roads, destroyed public
facilities and services, and besieged cities, villages and neighborhoods, as
part of its strategy to increase the need of the Syrians to facilitate their
subjugation and return them to its enclave.
However, the Syrians did not surrender to this brutality. Rather, they organized
campaigns of aid and solidarity, to affirm their rejection of the regime and its
policies, despite the great human and material losses they incurred, the
deterioration of their living standards, and the difficulties they encountered
in meeting their needs, whether inside Syria or in neighboring countries where
they sought refuge.
Poverty cases, which require assistance, have affected more than 80 percent of
the Syrians, according to the United Nations.
Despite the fragmentation of Syria into three de facto entities, the Assad
regime, which represents one of them, has sought all along to control
international aid, in order to loot it and distribute crumbs to its supporters
with the help of its international sponsors, led by the Iranians.
International indolence, and some countries’ neglect of their responsibilities
in helping the Syrians, has led to the deterioration of the situation of the
Syrian population in all regions.
The earthquake occurred amid this reality, and pushed towards a comprehensive
collapse, which affected in particular three of the Syrian deployment areas. The
first is represented by ten Turkish provinces, stretching over the northwestern
region of the common borders of the two countries. The area accommodates a large
portion of Türkiye’s refugees, most of whom are among the poor or the middle
class.
In addition to the dead and the wounded, the Syrians living in those areas have
lost everything, and have to start from scratch. A clear example is the
situation in the province of Hatay, in which most of the buildings in the city
of Antioch were leveled to the ground.
The second area hit by the earthquake was northwestern Syria, including the
countryside of Aleppo and Idlib, which is called the Turkish control area. The
effects of the earthquake were severe due to the human overcrowding and the
random and uncontrolled urban expansion.
The earthquake destroyed major population centers and demolished homes and
facilities, as happened in Jindires in the city of Afrin, where the majority of
inhabitants fell among the dead and wounded, and most of the population lost
their property.
The third region extended across the areas controlled by the regime. It affected
the governorates of Aleppo, Hama, Tartous, and Lattakia, resulting in great
human losses in terms of deaths, injuries, and major damage and destruction of
property.
The earthquake increased the needs of the Syrians and turned millions into
destitute, a situation that international aid and Syrians’ remittances to their
families were supposed to address, even partially.
However, the outcome was less than partial due to several circumstances and
reasons, some of which were shrouded in mystery, while others were understood
through political ties and considerations, or for particular reasons, which in
some cases pertained to the interests of countries, governments, and groups.
All these circumstances combined led to the inability to meet the minimum needs
of the Syrian population, not even the required needs, because much is required.
What explains the inefficiency of aid is mainly its course, content, and final
destination. In this regard, four observations can be made: The first is
represented by the delay in delivering aid. This was evident in its belated
arrival and its passage through crossings to areas of need, which increased the
suffering of the victims, and proved a failure to respond to the first shocks of
the earthquake, and to support the victims and volunteers.
The second is the limited assistance received, especially in the northwest
region, which only included emergency aid such as tents, food and medicine, with
the absence of rescue teams, equipment and supplies. This reality led to an
immense death toll, due to the inability to remove the rubble.
The third observation is the weakness of the quantity and impact of aid in
affected environments; despite what was said about the great relief efforts that
reached the areas controlled by the regime, or those that arrived via Türkiye.
If the latter were distributed in the earthquake-hit areas in Türkiye and
northwestern Syria, regions controlled by the regime saw a timid manifestation
of aid, mainly because of the regime’s seizure of the international assistance.
News also leaked about the Iranians, who control Aleppo, confiscating aid sent
by Jordan.
The fourth observation relates to the chaos that prevailed over the distribution
of aid, due to the multiplicity of authorities in each region. This further
reduced the chances of assistance reaching the beneficiaries, and opened the
doors to corruption in the absence of oversight and the overlapping of networks.
Despite the aforementioned observations, one cannot deny that international aid
to Syria has contributed to mitigate the disaster, even though it failed to meet
the needs of the Syrian population. This is an affirmation of the humanitarian
aid approach that the world adopts despite pressures and crises that afflict it
and lead to its politicization, as we have seen in Syria; knowing that the
crisis in this country should be protected from any politicization, because it
is humanitarian in origin.
Question: “Why is God so different in the Old Testament
than He is in the New Testament?”
GotQuestions.org?/February 24/2023
Answer: At the very heart of this question lies a fundamental misunderstanding
of what both the Old and New Testaments reveal about the nature of God. Another
way of expressing this same basic thought is when people say, “The God of the
Old Testament is a God of wrath while the God of the New Testament is a God of
love.” The fact that the Bible is God’s progressive revelation of Himself to us
through historical events and through His relationship with people throughout
history might contribute to misconceptions about what God is like in the Old
Testament as compared to the New Testament. However, when one reads both the Old
and the New Testaments, it becomes evident that God is not different from one
testament to another and that God’s wrath and His love are revealed in both
testaments.
For example, throughout the Old Testament, God is declared to be a
“compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness,” (Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 4:31; Nehemiah 9:17;
Psalm 86:5, 15; 108:4; 145:8; Joel 2:13). Yet in the New Testament, God’s
loving-kindness and mercy are manifested even more fully through the fact that
“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Throughout the Old
Testament, we also see God dealing with Israel the same way a loving father
deals with a child. When they willfully sinned against Him and began to worship
idols, God would chastise them. Yet, each time He would deliver them once they
had repented of their idolatry. This is much the same way God deals with
Christians in the New Testament. For example, Hebrews 12:6 tells us that “the
Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his
son.”
In a similar way, throughout the Old Testament we see God’s judgment and wrath
poured out on sin. Likewise, in the New Testament we see that the wrath of God
is still “being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness
of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Romans 1:18). So, clearly,
God is no different in the Old Testament than He is in the New Testament. God by
His very nature is immutable (unchanging). While we might see one aspect of His
nature revealed in certain passages of Scripture more than other aspects, God
Himself does not change.
As we read and study the Bible, it becomes clear that God is the same in the Old
and New Testaments. Even though the Bible is 66 individual books written on two
(or possibly three) continents, in three different languages, over a period of
approximately 1500 years by more than 40 authors, it remains one unified book
from beginning to end without contradiction. In it we see how a loving,
merciful, and just God deals with sinful men in all kinds of situations. Truly,
the Bible is God’s love letter to mankind. God’s love for His creation,
especially for mankind, is evident all through Scripture. Throughout the Bible
we see God lovingly and mercifully calling people into a special relationship
with Himself, not because they deserve it, but because He is a gracious and
merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth. Yet we
also see a holy and righteous God who is the Judge of all those who disobey His
Word and refuse to worship Him, turning instead to worship gods of their own
creation (Romans chapter 1).
Because of God’s righteous and holy character, all sin—past, present, and
future—must be judged. Yet God in His infinite love has provided a payment for
sin and a way of reconciliation so that sinful man can escape His wrath. We see
this wonderful truth in verses like 1 John 4:10: “This is love: not that we
loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our
sins.” In the Old Testament, God provided a sacrificial system whereby atonement
could be made for sin. However, this sacrificial system was only temporary and
merely looked forward to the coming of Jesus Christ who would die on the cross
to make a complete substitutionary atonement for sin. The Savior who was
promised in the Old Testament is fully revealed in the New Testament. Only
envisioned in the Old Testament, the ultimate expression of God’s love, the
sending of His Son Jesus Christ, is revealed in all its glory in the New
Testament. Both the Old and the New Testaments were given “to make us wise unto
salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15). When we study the Testaments closely, it is evident
that God “does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).