English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For January 21/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness
Matthew 10/01-07/:”Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Question: “Did God create evil?”
GotQuestions.org?/January 20/2023
Answer: At first it might seem that if God created all things, then evil must have been created by God. However, evil is not a “thing” like a rock or electricity. You cannot have a jar of evil. Evil has no existence of its own; it is really the absence of good. For example, holes are real but they only exist in something else. We call the absence of dirt a hole, but it cannot be separated from the dirt. So when God created, it is true that all He created was good. One of the good things God made was creatures who had the freedom to choose good. In order to have a real choice, God had to allow there to be something besides good to choose. So, God allowed these free angels and humans to choose good or reject good (evil). When a bad relationship exists between two good things we call that evil, but it does not become a “thing” that required God to create it.
Perhaps a further illustration will help. If a person is asked, “Does cold exist?” the answer would likely be “yes.” However, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist. Cold is the absence of heat. Similarly, darkness does not exist; it is the absence of light. Evil is the absence of good, or better, evil is the absence of God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good. God did not create evil, but He does allow evil. If God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, both mankind and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not choice. He did not want “robots” that simply did what He wanted them to do because of their “programming.” God allowed for the possibility of evil so that we could genuinely have a free will and choose whether or not we wanted to serve Him. As finite human beings, we can never fully understand an infinite God (Romans 11:33-34). Sometimes we think we understand why God is doing something, only to find out later that it was for a different purpose than we originally thought. God looks at things from a holy, eternal perspective. We look at things from a sinful, earthly, and temporal perspective. Why did God put man on earth knowing that Adam and Eve would sin and therefore bring evil, death, and suffering on all mankind? Why didn’t He just create us all and leave us in heaven where we would be perfect and without suffering? These questions cannot be adequately answered this side of eternity. What we can know is whatever God does is holy and perfect and ultimately will glorify Him. God allowed for the possibility of evil in order to give us a true choice in regards to whether we worship Him. God did not create evil, but He allowed it. If He had not allowed evil, we would be worshiping Him out of obligation, not by a choice of our own will.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 20-21/2023
Lebanon loses UN voting rights over dues
Lebanese MPs Hold Sit-In Inside Parliament
Parliament sit-in underway as more MPs support the protest
Reformist MPs begin sit-in at Lebanese parliament in protest against political deadlock
Lebanon Says It Will Pay UN Dues after Losing Voting Rights
European Prosecutors Hear Lebanese Bankers in Central Bank Commission Probe
Beirut Port Investigator Refuses to Apprise File to French Judicial Delegation
Lebanese bankers and officials questioned by European delegation in financial probe
Lebanon Central Bank Sets New Rate for Withdrawals from Dollar Deposits
Bankers make 'confessions' to European investigators as 'wildcard witness' emerges
Hezbollah delegation holds second meeting with Jumblat
Japan supports Lebanese Hospital Geitaoui University Medical Center with medical equipment
American Mideast Coalition for Democracy: Open Letter to UNSG Re: UN Rep. Publicly Thanking Hezbollah Official for “Tour d’Horizon” in Lebanon
This World Is Gone Mad’: UN Envoy Draws Fire Over Tweet Thanking Hezbollah Terrorist for a Briefing
Anger In Lebanon At UN Special Coordinator Who Met With Hizbullah Official And Thanked Him
Ibrahim Murad, President Of Lebanon's Syriac Union Party: If Hizbullah Wants To Turn Us Into Dhimmis, We Must Fight It Militarily; Traitors And Collaborators Should Be Hung From Electric Poles; Political Methods Will Get Us Nowhere; Revolution Requires Blood
Crimes Without Punishment… In Lebanon’s Autumn/Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al-Awsat/January, 20/2023
EU ambassador to Lebanon says it's 'high time' to address challenges
What happened to the Switzerland of the Middle East?
Western and Arab officials to meet on Lebanon in early February

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 20-21/2023
US Says Iran is the World's Leading Sponsor of Terrorism
Dublin Says ‘Doing All It Can’ to Free French-Irish Citizen Held in Iran
Stringent US Moves against Money Flows from Iraq to Iran
Russia's Putin holds second phone call in just over a week with Iranian president
Top US general says Ukraine war has become an 'absolute catastrophe' for Russia, estimating it's suffered 'significantly well over' 100,000 casualties
Ukraine war: 'This is such a stupid tank': Commander's plea for Western upgrades
Russia's relationship with U.S. at its 'lowest historical point,' Kremlin says
Israel Asks Pope Francis, Red Cross to Help Release Four Citizens in Gaza
World Court Says It Has Received UN Request for Opinion on Israel Occupation
Saudi rules out Israel normalization without two-state solution
Defense leaders meet amid dissent over tanks for Ukraine

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 20-21/2023
Turkey: Putin's Open Door for Harming Western Interests/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/January 20/2023
Ukraine: Waiting for the Stinger Moment/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/January, 20/2023
Iran's Revolutionary Guards: from military operations to business empire/Reuters/January 20/2023
Iran’s aerial threat on the rise as a result of Russia’s use of its suicide drones in Ukraine war/Luke Coffey/Arab News/January 21, 2023
Afghanistan: Changing the Taliban’s mentality toward women will not be easy/Maha Akeel/Arab News/January 21, 2023

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 20-21/2023
Lebanon loses UN voting rights over dues
Associated Press/January 20/2023
Lebanon, Venezuela and South Sudan are in arrears on paying dues to the United Nations' operating budget and are among six nations that have lost their voting rights in the 193-member General Assembly, the U.N. chief said in a letter circulated Thursday. According to the secretary-general's letter, the minimum payments needed to restore voting rights are $1,835,303 for Lebanon, $76,244,991 for Venezuela, $619,103 for Equatorial Guinea, $196,130 for South Sudan, $61,686 for Gabon, and $20,580 for Dominica. Also losing voting rights are Dominica, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. Gabon is serving a two-year term on the Security Council though its voting rights there are not affected. The U.N. Charter states that members whose arrears equal or exceed the amount of their contributions for the preceding two full years lose their voting rights. But it also gives the General Assembly the authority to decide "that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the member," and in that case a country can continue to vote. The General Assembly decided that three African countries on the list of nations in arrears -- Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe and Somalia -- would be able to keep their voting rights. It granted the three countries the same exemption last year.

Lebanese MPs Hold Sit-In Inside Parliament
Beirut - Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 20 January, 2023
After Lebanon’s parliament failed to elect a new president for the 11th time on Thursday, several deputies decided to stage a sit-in, with lawmakers Melhem Khalaf and Najat Saliba leading the protest. Later, lawmakers Firas Hamdan and Cynthia Zarazir joined the sit-in at parliament. The move was supported by a number of opposition deputies, including the Lebanese Kataeb party, whose head, MP Sami Gemayel, said: “We are studying the move and we may join it at any time.”Contacts began with other deputies and blocs with the aim of expanding the circle of participation. “My constitutional responsibility, and in compliance with what the articles of the constitution impose on me, I will remain inside the parliament hall with deputy Najat Saliba, and we will not leave it until the session is kept open for successive sessions to elect a president and save democracy,” said Khalaf in his address to parliamentarians. This is in protest to the failure to elect a president for the 11th time in almost 3 months. Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun’s tenure ended on October, 30, 2022. In a press conference from inside the parliament, Khalaf said that the parliament should be holding nonstop sessions until the president is elected. Khalaf and Saliba decided to stay in parliament hall in the dark with the electricity turned off in the afternoon, while a few deputies were keen to stay with them to support them and secure what they needed. Among the deputies who stayed behind to support Khalaf and Saliba was MP Wadah al-Sadiq. “There is great support for the decision to sit-in in the parliament, and what we demand is nothing but the implementation of the constitution, which stipulates keeping the election sessions open,” al-Sadiq told Asharq Al-Awsat. “The tense political situation in Lebanon needs a different initiative, and what we are working on today is to communicate with the blocs to secure the broadest participation,” he added.

Parliament sit-in underway as more MPs support the protest
Agence France Presse/January 20/2023
A sit-in inside the parliament building was still underway Friday, with more legislators joining the two independent lawmakers who had announced they won't leave until Speaker Nabih Berri holds an open-ended session to elect a new president. MPs Melhem Khalaf and Najat Saliba of the Change parliamentary bloc had begun on Thursday the open-ended sit-in inside parliament to press for an end to the presidential deadlock. The authorities locked the doors and cut off power but after nightfall, the sit-in was still underway. "We slept here, and we hope that today will bring new hope to Lebanon," said Saliba in a video posted on social media on Friday. Change MPs Firas Hamdan, Cynthia Zarazir, Elias Jrade, Paula Yacoubian, Halima Kaakour, and Waddah al-Sadek and Kataeb MPs Sami Gmayyel and Elias Hankash visited Khalaf and Saliba in the evening, while journalists were not authorized to enter the building. Members of the group posted videos showing them sitting in the dark against the light of their mobile phones, as Lebanon suffers from chronic electricity cuts of up to 23 hours a day. The cash-strapped country for over two years has struggled with rampant power cuts. Today, households only receive about an hour of state electricity per day, with millions now relying on expensive private generator suppliers. Khalaf on Thursday affirmed that he can easily stay in parliament even if authorities cut power off. "All Lebanese have no electricity," he said. Parliament had convened Thursday for an 11th bid to elect a new president, but failed again to come up with a candidate. "We will not leave," Khalaf told reporters. But it could be a very long wait. The 2016 election of former president Michel Aoun followed a more than two-year vacancy at the presidential palace, as lawmakers made 45 failed attempts to elect a new head of state.

Reformist MPs begin sit-in at Lebanese parliament in protest against political deadlock
Najia Houssari/Arab News/January 20/2023
BEIRUT: Reformist MPs began a sit-in at the Lebanese parliament on Thursday after it failed, for the 11th time, to elect a new president. They vowed to remain until the political deadlock, which began at the end of October when former President Michel Aoun’s term ended, is broken. “This is not a symbolic move; it aims to press for the election of a president,” MP Melhem Khalaf told Arab News. “We will not back down and we hope that our move leads to a way to implement the constitution. This is a national responsibility and not the individuals’ responsibility. “Some independent MPs joined us and we will stay in the parliament, despite being informed that the electricity generator will be turned off. “It is necessary to find a way to implement the constitution. What do we tell people while the Lebanese pound reached 50,000 against the dollar on the black market today? I am ashamed of being a parliament member while people are asking for flour, milk, bread and electricity.”
Khalaf said that all MPs bear the responsibility for the disruption to the country and it is their duty to resolve it. Sami Gemayel, head of the Kataeb Party, was also among the protesters.
Najat Saliba, another MP participating in the sit-in, said: “We will not leave. We will sleep inside the parliament even in the case of a blackout. In fact, most people are experiencing a shutdown of electricity in the first place.”
The MPs were told that all entrances to the parliament would be closed and electricity turned off at 2:30 p.m. local time. After discussions with Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab, and with the parliament’s security service, the MPs were provided with ways to enter and exit the building and provide for their needs.
Officials said 110 MPs, out of 128 total, attended Thursday’s parliamentary session, which was the first of the year. In the vote for a new president, 37 members returned blank ballots. MP Michel Moawad, founder and president of the Independence Movement party, received the most votes, with 34 and 14 voted for “New Lebanon.”
Issam Khalife received seven votes, former minister Ziad Baroud received two, and former MP Edward Honein and activist Miled Bou Malhab each received one vote. Speaker Nabih Berri banned Bou Malhab from the parliament after the latter began chanting when his name was mentioned.
Fifteen votes were discarded as spoiled. They included ballots on which slogans had been written in support of the families of the victims of the explosion at Beirut Port on Aug. 4, 2020, and others on which phrases such as “Agreement,” “Dialogue for Lebanon” and “Presidential Priorities” were written. One invalid vote included the name “Bernie Sanders,” the former Democratic Party candidate for US president. According to one political analyst, MPs for the Free Patriotic Movement, who in previous votes had conformed with their Hezbollah allies by returning blank ballots, this time decided to write “Presidential Priorities” on their voting papers.
“After the alliance between the two parties was shaken, the FPM decided to differ from Hezbollah with this phrase,” the analyst said. The voting session ended when Berri announced an adjournment before a second round of voting could take place.
Some reformist MPs, holding up photos of the victims of the Beirut explosion, preempted the decision to adjourn and demanded additional sessions be held. At the start of the session, MP Hadi Abu Al-Hosn, a member of the Democratic Gathering bloc, noted that his group might boycott future sessions if the political deadlock persisted.
“We might have to suspend our participation in the coming sessions and we call on everyone, all forces, to deliberate in order to reach a solution,” he said. Relatives of the victims of the Beirut explosion held a rally near the parliament demanding the resumption of the investigation into the blast, which ground to a halt more than a year ago as a result of lawsuits filed by current and former MPs against investigating judge Tarek Bitar, leading to his removal from the case. Democratic Gathering and Lebanese Forces MPs joined the protesters.
After the session, presidential candidate Mouawad said: “We will not settle; we are fighting against subjugation. There are many suggested choices. We might win or lose in the presidential battle but we will not yield and we will not compromise.”
Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan said: “We cannot continue without knowing the offenders (responsible for the explosion). We are ready to stand with the victims’ families and we support Judge Bitar to find the truth.”He added that a new president must rebuild the Lebanese state and represent the views of all Lebanese people.
Families of people arrested in connection with the investigation into the Beirut blast case also staged a protest near the Justice Palace on Thursday. They were joined by a number of FPM MPs. A caretaker government has been in place since Aoun’s term ended almost three months ago, stalling a host of economic reforms designed to prevent wasteful spending and combat rampant corruption. Lebanese authorities in April last year reached a tentative agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a recovery plan, conditional on a host of economic reforms and anti-corruption measures. The organization has been critical of the sluggish efforts to meet those demands.

Lebanon Says It Will Pay UN Dues after Losing Voting Rights
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 20 January, 2023
Lebanon will pay arrears to the United Nations to regain its rights at the world body, its foreign ministry said on Friday, after the country, which is in deep financial crisis, lost UN voting rights for the second time in three years due to unpaid contributions.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a Jan. 17 letter, listed Lebanon along with Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, South Sudan and Venezuela as countries that had currently lost their UN General Assembly vote. Lebanon’s foreign ministry said payment of the UN dues would take place "directly, in a way that preserves Lebanon’s rights at the United Nations". A ministry statement did not comment on the reasons for the delay. Guterres said in his letter that Lebanon needs to pay a minimum of some $1.8 million to regain its vote. Under UN rules, a country can lose its General Assembly vote if is in arrears by any amount that equals or exceeds the contributions due for the previous two years, unless it shows evidence of an inability to pay that is beyond its control. Lebanon has been in deep crisis since 2019 when its financial system collapsed as a result of decades of profligate spending, mismanagement and corruption by ruling elites. The state, which defaulted on its foreign currency in 2020, has been largely paralyzed since, with spending slashed across the board, with foreign aid from the United States and Qatar helping to pay soldiers' salaries.  The crisis, which the United Nations says has left eight in 10 Lebanese poor, has been left to fester, leading the World Bank to describe it as a “deliberate depression” orchestrated by ruling factions.

European Prosecutors Hear Lebanese Bankers in Central Bank Commission Probe
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 20 January, 2023
Lebanese bankers told European prosecutors they believed that commissions now at the center of a graft probe had been paid to the central bank, four sources said, while investigators suspect the cash illegally ended up with the governor's brother. Prosecutors from Germany, France and Luxembourg have been in Beirut as part of the money laundering investigation. They suspect central bank governor Riad Salameh and his brother Raja illegally took more than $300 million from the central bank between 2002 and 2015 and invested some of the funds in Europe. The two men deny diverting or laundering public funds, saying the $300 million was earned legally. The governor, who has held the post for three decades, says he is being made a scapegoat for Lebanon's financial crisis that erupted in 2019. European prosecutors have been hearing testimonies from Lebanese bankers and officials over the past week for the first time in the investigation that has focused on who received the commissions, the four people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The European prosecutors, who have yet to file any formal charges, suspect the central bank collected the commissions as a fee from bond buyers and then transferred the funds to Forry Associates, owned by the governor's brother, the sources said. The bankers and officials told the visiting European prosecutors that they were not aware that the funds had gone to Forry Associates, the four sources said. The office of Lebanon's chief prosecutor in a statement said on Friday the visiting Europeans had wrapped up their trip and cooperation would continue.  Reuters reported last year, after viewing documents, that the central bank had not made clear to private banks that commissions it charged went to Forry Associates. Pierre-Olivier Sur, a French lawyer for Riad Salameh, dismissed the accusations. He said commissions collected by Forry were "the price paid for intermediation work provided to bring together buyers and issuers of bonds". He said those paying commissions for buying bonds might not have known the beneficiary was Forry, which he said had a contract authorized by the central bank's management and supervising bodies.  A person close to Raja Salameh said the governor's brother denied any misappropriation of public funds. The four sources said former central bank officials and private bankers had told the European prosecutors they first heard of Forry Associates when the investigation began and the name appeared in the media. They told them that they had no reason to believe commissions paid on government securities went to anyone but the central bank, the sources said. A separate but related Lebanese probe charged Riad Salameh with illicit enrichment in March, which he has denied. The governor retains the support of some of Lebanon's most powerful politicians, including Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker who has held that top post for decades.

Beirut Port Investigator Refuses to Apprise File to French Judicial Delegation
Beirut - Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 20 January, 2023
A visiting French judicial delegation brought the 2020 Beirut port explosion file back to the forefront, through intensive meetings with concerned Lebanese judicial officials. The French judges inquired about the suspension of Lebanon's investigation into the explosion, which has also obstructed the independent French probe into the killing of three French citizens in the port explosion. The probe into the August 4, 2020 explosion has been pending since the end of 2021 due to lawsuits filed successively by defendants, including current MPs and former ministers, against the judicial investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar, who supervises the investigations. Headed by Judge Nicolas Aubertin, the French mission first met with the assistant prosecutor general, Judge Sabouh Sleiman as he represents the Court of Cassation in this file. The delegation then held a four-hour meeting with Bitar, which saw a long debate about the reasons behind the obstruction of the investigations, informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. They added that Bitar refused to inform the French judges of the content of the investigation or provide them with any document, given that he was removed from the case due to the response claims filed against him. But the judicial investigator promised the French delegation to provide them with assistance after the resumption of the probe.. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Bitar stressed that the investigation “will continue and will not surrender to the will of obstructers.”“I hope that the judiciary will find legal solutions that will allow the resumption of the investigations in a normal and regular manner…” he said. The families of the port explosion victims held a sit-in on Thursday in front of the Palace of Justice building in Beirut, protesting the probe halt and calling on France to help form an international fact-finding committee. They requested a meeting with the French judicial mission to discuss their suffering and the political authorities’ persistence in sabotaging the Lebanese inquiry.
The financial investigation file
Meanwhile, the European prosecutors who arrived this week in Beirut, continued their investigations in Beirut into the financial corruption probe, and listened to the testimony of witnesses Raed Charafeddine, a former first deputy governor of the Banque du Liban, and Naaman Nadour, a BDL head of department. The attorneys general at the Court of Cassation, Mirna Kallas and Imad Kabalan, also took part in the session. A judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that questions revolved around the financial situation and banking operations, most of which are directed at a company owned by Raja Salameh, brother of Riad Salameh.

Lebanese bankers and officials questioned by European delegation in financial probe
Najia Houssari/Arab News/January 20, 2023
BEIRUT: A European legal team on Friday wrapped up the first round of questioning of Lebanese bankers and current and former Central Bank officials in Beirut. The questioning is part of a probe into money laundering linked to Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh. The delegation will quiz Salameh, in addition to some of his relatives, in the second round of the investigation, said State Prosecutor Judge Ghassan Oueidat. The European team — with representatives from France, Germany, and Luxembourg — has questioned 12 bankers as witnesses at Beirut’s Justice Palace.
It completed the first round of its probe into cases related to corruption, forgery, use of forged documents, embezzlement, money laundering and transfer of funds to banks abroad. The team leaves Beirut on Saturday and will return at a later date, said Oueidat. He added that the delegation previously provided the relevant judicial authorities with a list containing 30 names requested for investigation, among which 18 are yet to be questioned. He said: “When the delegation sets a date for its second visit, it will provide us with the names that should be informed of the interrogation dates.”On Friday the delegation questioned Raya Al-Hassan, a former minister and the chairperson of the board of directors of Bankmed, and Ramzi Akkawi, an employee in a private audit firm. It had previously quizzed Walid Makfour, an employee in an audit firm; Nabih Asaaf, a member of the Banking Control Commission; Pierre Kanaan, head of the Legal Affairs Department at the Central Bank; and Samir Hanna, chairman of the board of directors of Bank Audi. Oueidat praised the way affairs had been handled by the European and Lebanese judiciaries, and respected the fact that the witnesses were quizzed by Lebanese judges. He said: “They did a good job and they don’t need our help. We provided professional judicial assistance.”Oueidat said the investigation was underway to find out whether Salameh had received $330 million through his brother’s company, Forry Associates. He added: “What we know is that Lebanon’s Eurobonds debt amounts to $90 billion. “If the commission results from the underwritten amount as said, then it’s a considerably significant commission compared with the underwritten amount. “In other terms, there is a commission, but it is not that big.”Arab News has learned from a judicial source that there are fears that the European delegation might take hold of the seized funds and not return them to Lebanon.

Lebanon Central Bank Sets New Rate for Withdrawals from Dollar Deposits
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 20 January, 2023
Lebanon's central bank said on Thursday it had set a new rate of 15,000 Lebanese pounds to the US dollar for withdrawals from bank deposits denominated in dollars, but which can now can be accessed largely in the local currency.
The rate was previously set at 8,000 pounds under central bank Circular 151, which implied a "haircut" or loss of more than 80% at the current market rate of around 50,000 pounds per dollar. The new rate represents a haircut of around 70%. The central bank also set a withdrawal ceiling of $1,600 per month equivalent in Lebanese pounds for account-holders, who have been unable to freely access their savings since the collapse of the financial sector in 2019. The central bank had maintained a pegged rate of 1,500 pounds per dollar until the summer of 2019, when it unofficially allowed the currency to become untethered after accumulating tens of billions of dollars in losses. The pound has since lost more than 95% of its value, throwing the majority of Lebanon's population into poverty and leading to shortages of basic goods such as medicines in the formerly middle-income country. The central bank officially maintains a rate of 1,500 but almost all goods trade at the market rate. It has said the official rate will be changed to 15,000 Lebanese pounds per dollar in February.

Bankers make 'confessions' to European investigators as 'wildcard witness' emerges
Naharnet/January 20/2023
Lebanese bankers are giving testimonies that have started nearing the extent of “confessions” in the investigations that are being carried out in Lebanon by three European delegations as part of a probe into Riad Salameh’s wealth, a media report said. “The Lebanese investigation, from which the Europeans want documents for their own investigation, included preliminary information and significant inquiries about transfers made from Raja Salameh’s accounts to his brother Riad and close associates,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Friday. “The investigations have determined that $70 million were transferred from a bank owned by a defaulting political family,” the daily added. “The interrogation of Al-Mawarid Bank CEO Marwan Kheireddine tackled those transfers as well as accounts for Raja Salameh whose deposits swelled from $15 million to $150 million between 1993 and 2019 before being withdrawn on the eve of the crisis,” Nidaa al-Watan said. One of the witnesses, the president of a well-known brokerage company, meanwhile “left for Luxembourg to be interrogated by investigators there and it is possible that he might turn into a protected ‘wildcard witness’ in return for valuable confessions related to Raja and Riad Salameh that might be in his possession,” the newspaper added. Informed sources meanwhile said that the Lebanese judiciary is relatively cooperating with the European investigators, after reports said that “sanctions might be imposed on any judge who does not cooperate, in line with the U.N. anti-corruption treaty that Lebanon signed in 2008.”

Hezbollah delegation holds second meeting with Jumblat
Naharnet/January 20/2023
A Hezbollah delegation comprising secretary-general’s aide Hussein Khalil and Coordination and Liaison Officer Wafiq Safa held talks overnight in Clemenceau with Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat, in the second such meeting between the two parties in several weeks. Nidaa al-Watan newspaper said the conferees “continued the discussions over the questions and concerns that Jumblat had raised with the delegation during the first Clemenceau meeting that was held on the eve of sea demarcation with Israel.”
Highly informed sources meanwhile told the daily that Hezbollah is seeking “calm and purposeful dialogue” with Jumblat to “explore rapprochement possibilities and strengthen the points of agreement between the two sides over the impending critical junctures, topped by the presidential election.” Jumblat for his part is “showing openness as to engaging in consultations with everyone in a bid to break the state of deadlock that is destructive for Lebanon and all Lebanese,” the sources added. The PSP’s al-Anbaa newspaper meanwhile said the two parties discussed “the available means to exit the presidential election impasse,” adding that Jumblat emphasized that the country “can no longer further waste of time as to the election of a president amid the explosive factors that are undermining all of life’s social and economic requirements.”

Japan supports Lebanese Hospital Geitaoui University Medical Center with medical equipment
Arab News/January 20, 2023
BEIRUT: Japan, through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Program (GGP), will provide the Lebanese Hospital Geitaoui University Medical Center, with specialized medical equipment. On Friday, Ambassador Magoshi Masayuki signed a grant contract with Sister Hadia Abi Chebli, Director of the Lebanese Hospital Geitaoui University Medical Center. The hospital, located in Ashrafieh, and which was badly damaged by the Beirut port explosion in 2020, plays a pivotal role in the Lebanese health care sector. Considering the significant number of patients who rely on this hospital, as well as the increasing demand for efficient and sustainable medical services, Japan has decided to support the hospital through the provision of an advanced ultrasound machine that can carry out more accurate examinations for various diseases. This assistance will help more than 2,000 patients annually access essential medical services at affordable rates. At the signing ceremony, Ambassador Magoshi said that Japan will spare no effort to help Lebanon, and stressed the importance of this project. As for Sister Abi Chebli, she explained how the hospital was affected by the latest economic and security developments in the country and thanked Japan for allowing the hospital to keep its historical and humanitarian role.

American Mideast Coalition for Democracy: Open Letter to UNSG Re: UN Rep. Publicly Thanking Hezbollah Official for “Tour d’Horizon” in Lebanon
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/115107/%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%a8%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%ba%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%86%d8%b3%d9%82%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ae%d8%a7%d8%b5%d8%a9-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%85/
His Excellency UN Secretary-General António Guterres
Office of the Secretary General – UN Secretariat Building
United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
January 17, 2023
Your Excellency Secretary-General Guterres:
We at the World Council for the Cedars Revolution are writing to express our shock and dismay at learning the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, publicly thanked Hezbollah official Ammar Moussawi for meeting with her. Apparently, Moussawi provided the UN Special Coordinator with a “tour d’horizon” which included “the election of a new President, the functioning of state institutions and the impact of regional and international developments on the country.”
We wish to remind the Secretary General that just one month ago, Hezbollah ambushed a UN peacekeeping patrol resulting in the death of Irish peacekeeper, Sean Rooney. We would also like to remind the secretary that Hezbollah has been actively obstructing the investigation into the Beirut Port explosion because the terror organization is directly implicated in the blast.
UNSCR 1559 calling for the disbanding and disarming of all militias in Lebanon was passed in 2004. UNSCR 1701 which re-iterated that call was passed in 2006, yet in all the years since, Hezbollah has refused to comply, and, following the lead of Hamas, is presenting itself as an authentic Lebanese political party rather than the Iranian proxy it is.
We cannot understand how a UN representative could possibly meet with the leadership of Iran’s terrorist proxy at the same time massive demonstrations have broken out all over Iran and all over the world in opposition to the Islamic Republic – a regime whose illegitimacy grows more apparent by the day.
The World Council for the Cedars Revolution calls for the UN Secretary General to reprimand Ms. Wronecka and to denounce this meeting as a mistake.
Yours Sincerely,
Tom Harb, WCCR Secretary General and John Hajjar, WCCR National Director
https://americanmideast.com/2023/01/17/open-letter-to-unsg-re-un-rep-publicly-thanking-hezbollah-official-for-tour-dhorizon-in-lebanon/?fbclid=IwAR1q-KeO-ytR8fyxYcNRSZyijDQRx8L8OBmflYLEVL12rjULOH9N5SRliZM

This World Is Gone Mad’: UN Envoy Draws Fire Over Tweet Thanking Hezbollah Terrorist for a Briefing
Patrick Gooenough/cnsnews/January 18/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/115107/%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%a8%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%ba%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%86%d8%b3%d9%82%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ae%d8%a7%d8%b5%d8%a9-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%85/
Polish diplomat Joanna Wronecka has been U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres’s “special coordinator for Lebanon” since 2021. (Photo: UN / Loey Felipe)
The U.N.’s top envoy in Lebanon has attracted a firestorm on Twitter after posting a tweet thanking a senior official in the Shi’ite terrorist group Hezbollah for a discussion “on issues of priority for Lebanon.”
Joanna Wronecka, a Polish diplomat appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in 2021 as his “special coordinator for Lebanon,” posted the message after meeting with Ammar Al-Moussawi, Hezbollah’s top “foreign relations” official.
“I thank Mr. Ammar Moussawi of Hizbullah for a tour d’horizon on issues of priority for Lebanon, including the election of a new President, the functioning of state institutions and the impact of regional and international developments on the country,” she tweeted.
Hezbollah operates both as a terrorist militia and a political faction, but its very existence as an armed militia violates two key U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Established as a proxy of the Iranian regime after the 1979 Islamic revolution, it has been a U.S. government-designated “foreign terrorist organization” since 1997.
Hezbollah has engaged in deadly terrorism over decades against primarily U.S. and Israeli interests, killing hundreds of civilians and military personnel in attacks in Beirut, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Bulgaria, and elsewhere.
The group’s abduction (and subsequent killing) of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid in 2006 sparked a bloody month-long war.
Hezbollah members or “supporters” have been implicated in murders inside Lebanon, including the car bombing assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri – blamed by a U.N.-backed tribunal on fighters from the terrorist group – and, just last month, the killing of an Irish U.N. peacekeeper whose UNIFIL convoy was ambushed in a Hezbollah stronghold.
Against that background, Wronecka’s tweet prompted hundreds of strong responses, ranging from incredulity to anger, from Israelis, Lebanese and Americans, among others.
“Is this real...??” asked Joshua Zarka, deputy director general and head of strategic affairs in Israel’s foreign ministry. “An official Senior UN Representative thanks the terrorist organization responsible for the murder of a UN peace keeper for ‘a tour d’horizon’!!! Have the world gone completely mad?!”
“Either the UN is a joke or Ms. Wronecka is,” tweeted Lebanese-born Foundation for Defense of Democracies research fellow Hussein Abdul-Hussain.
“Excuse me??” tweeted Joy Lahoud, a Lebanese lawyer and activist. “The UN is now thanking a terror group who just assassinated a UNIFIL young soldier last month!! How is a branch of IRGC now lecturing the international community on the issues of priority for Lebanon?? This world is gone mad.”
Other Lebanese Twitter users drew Wronecka’s attention to Hezbollah’s role in the Hariri killing, corruption, weapons smuggling, narcoterrorism, the devastating explosion at Beirut port in 2020, the assassination of opposition politicians and journalists, Lebanon’s endemic political paralysis, regional destabilization, and more.
Many also wondered if Guterres’ special envoy had raised with the Hezbollah official two U.N. Security Council resolutions that his organization has been flagrantly violating for almost two decades.
Resolution 1559 of 2004 calls for “the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias,” and resolution 1701 of 2006 calls for “the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that … there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state.”
Just two months ago, Wronecka briefed the Security Council on the status of implementation of resolution 1701.
https://cnsnews.com/article/international/patrick-goodenough/world-gone-mad-un-envoy-draws-fire-over-tweet-thanking?fbclid=IwAR2JDUliQ8fTwZ5Us7_LvSWMO5BD2mM1pF1ZBa944yj3A7U1RjtIhTF4nzw

Anger In Lebanon At UN Special Coordinator Who Met With Hizbullah Official And Thanked Him
MEMRI/January 20, 2023
Lebanon | Special Dispatch No. 10431
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/115107/%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%a8%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%ba%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%86%d8%b3%d9%82%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ae%d8%a7%d8%b5%d8%a9-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%85/
On January 16, 2023 Joanna Wronecka, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, posted a tweet in English and Arabic on her personal account in which she thanked 'Ammar Al-Moussawi, the head of Hizbullah's Foreign Relations Unit, for meeting with her to discuss various issues. The tweet said: " I thank Mr. Ammar Moussawi of Hizbullah for a tour d’horizon on issues of priority for #Lebanon, including the election of a new President, the functioning of state institutions and the impact of regional and international developments on the country."[1]
UN Special Coordinator Joanna Wronecka and Hizbullah Foreign Relations Chief 'Ammar Moussawi (images: twitter.com/JWronecka, plenglish.com)
The tweet evoked angry responses from many Lebanese, officials, journalists and citizens, who lambasted Wronecka for meeting with the Hizbullah official and thanking him. Many of those who responded wondered why a UN representative was meeting with the representative of a terrorist organization and even thanking him instead of demanding clarifications from him, about Hizbullah's refusal to comply with the UN resolutions that call for its disarmament or about the killing of a UNIFIL soldier by Hizbullah supporters on December 14, 2022. Some stated that she should be ashamed of herself and wondered if she meant to meet with other terror organizations, such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Others wondered if she had written the tweet as a tasteless joke or if her Twitter account had been hacked.
This report presents some of the angry responses to Wronecka's tweet by Lebanese politicians, journalists and citizens.
Lebanese Journalist: The UN Is Thanking A Terror Militia; "Replace This Moron"
Shi'ite Lebanese journalist Nadim Koteich, known for his opposition to Hizbullah, shared Wronecka's tweet and commented: "This is a tweet by the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon about a Hizbullah official, [posted] only days after a member of the international [UNIFIL] forces was killed by a member of this militia. The UN is sponsoring and expressing gratitude to a terror militia." Tagging the UN, its Secretary-General António Guterres and Wronecka herself, Koteich added in English, "Replace this moron."[2]
Later the same day he tagged Wronecka on another tweet, in English: "Wronecka is a moron wrapped in an idiot. Ammar [Moussawi] took her for a ride and now she is carrying water for his militia. [That's] exactly what Ammar’s job is… [to] charm idiots like her." [3]
Nadim Koteich's tweet
Lebanese Forces Party Official: The UN Accepts Hizbullah's Military Presence South Of The Litani
Former minister Richard Kouyoumjian, head of the foreign relations unit at the Lebanese Forces party, headed by Samir Geagea, likewise criticized Wronecka's tweet, saying in an interview with the Saudi Al-Hadath channel: "This tweet indicates that the UN accepts the situation in South Lebanon as it is. Everyone knows that [UN] Resolution 1701 stipulates that the area between the Litani and the international border [with Israel] must be under the full control of the Lebanese armed forces in cooperation with the UN forces [i.e., UNIFIL]. Sadly, everyone knows this [but] everyone wishes to close their eyes to the reality, which is that Hizbullah is [present in that area] with all its gear, weapons and missiles, both on the ground and beneath it… and the UNIFIL forces are hostages of Hizbullah.
"Sadly, [Wronecka's] tweet came after the death, or should I say murder, of the Irish [UNIFIL] soldier who was shot by Hizbullah loyalists or [perhaps] even by Hizbullah operatives. Hizbullah sets red lines for the UNIFIL forces and dictates their [patrol] routes, [saying]: 'You can be here' and 'you cannot be there.' [Hizbullah] is now the decision-maker in that region. [By killing the soldier, Hizbullah] meant to convey a pointed message to the UN forces…"[4]
Former MP: We Demand Clarifications About Wronecka's Tweet Praising The Hizbullah Official
Former MP Fares Sou'aid tweeted in a similar vein: " The praise lavished by the UN coordinator upon 'Ammar Al-Mousawi does not bode well. We demand clarifications."[5]
Lebanese Twitter Users To UN Coordinator Wronecka: Shame On You! Are You Also Going To Meet With ISIS And Al-Qaeda?
Wronecka's tweet also drew fire from many Lebanese Twitter users, who called it a disgrace.
User Maryam Salloum tweeted: "Are you serious[?]! Shame,"[6] and user Silas wrote: "Shame on you!"[7]
Attorney and human rights activist Regina Kantara of Tripoli wrote: "Did you ask him [Moussawi] when they will accept the implementation of UN Resolution 1559???"[8] and user Josian Rizk asked Wronecka: "Did [someone] hack ur twitter account? What’s this silly joke[?]!"[9]
User Enlil also addressed Wronecka, tweeting: "You are supposed to be helping Lebanon not meeting with terrorist organization…"[10], and Elie Al-Hayek wrote: " Are you a representative of the UN? Did you ask him about the young Irish UN soldier’s assassins[?]! What a shame…"[11]
Attorney Joy Lahoud chipped in with the message: "Actually why don’t you meet with ISIS and Al-Qaeda as well and go through a tour d’horizon with them on how states should function and presidents [should] be elected? Did Mr Mousawi also tell you how their favorite sport is to blow up their Lebanese opposants to pieces?"[12] Alluding to Wronecka's words of thanks to Mousawi for "a tour d'horizon on issues of priority for Lebanon," user Daniela Zakher tweeted: "They already took us on this tour and showed us Hell [on] its horizon. Lebanon is a hostage and [UN resolutions] 1559, 1680, 1701 are a joke to them!"[13]
[1] Twitter.com/jwronecka, January 16, 2023.
[2] Twitter.com/NadimKoteich, January 17, 2023.
[3]Twitter.com/NadimKoteich, January 17, 2023.
[4] Twitter.com/AlHadath; Twitter.com/RKouyoumjian, January 19, 2023.
[5] Twitter.com/FaresSouaid, December 17, 2023.
[6] Twitter.com/Marhabahola, January 16, 2023.
[7] Twitter.com/Silas85051857, January 16, 2023.
[8] Twitter.com/KantaraRegina, January 16, 2023.
[9] Twitter.com/RizkJosian, January 16, 2023.
[10] Twitter.com/EnlilNassar1, January 16, 2023.
[11] Twitter.com/ElieElHayek4/status/1615067240340258818, January 16, 2023.
[12] Twitter.com/joylahoud, January 16, 2023.
[13] Twitter.com/Dandoun17, January 16, 2023.
https://www.memri.org/reports/anger-lebanon-un-special-coordinator-who-met-hizbullah-official-and-thanked-him

Ibrahim Murad, President Of Lebanon's Syriac Union Party: If Hizbullah Wants To Turn Us Into Dhimmis, We Must Fight It Militarily; Traitors And Collaborators Should Be Hung From Electric Poles; Political Methods Will Get Us Nowhere; Revolution Requires Blood
MEMRI/January 20/2023
Source: The Internet - "Lebanon On YouTube Channel"
https://www.memri.org/tv/lebanese-politician-murad-armed-resistance-violent-hizbullah-ready-to-fight-hang-collaborators
In an interview that was posted to the Lebanon On YouTube channel on January 10, 2023, Lebanese politician Ibrahim Murad, the President of the Universal Syriac Union Party, called for armed resistance against Hizbullah. He said that political methods will achieve nothing and that Hizbullah needs to be besieged in its own areas. Murad also said that the only solution to the situation in Lebanon would involve global powers coming in and implementing the U.N. resolutions, but that if this does not happen, the Lebanese people are "destined to emigrate or live under a dictatorship." He elaborated that the global powers would only intervene if Lebanon had "a real opposition," and that such a revolt would require the shedding of blood. In addition, he said that he is personally ready to take up arms if his honor is violated or if he is turned into a dhimmi because he is Christian. Moreover, he said that "traitors and collaborators, and the people who starved us, impoverished us, and killed our children and our relatives in the hospitals" should be hanged from electric poles or dragged behind cars. On January 16, 2023, Murad was taken in for questioning by Lebanon's authorities for his remarks.
Ibrahim Murad: "I say it like it is. I don't like to cut corners. For 100 years, we Christians have been paying the price for the sake of the coexistence lie. Everybody is conspiring against us, our rights, our existence, and our interests. All the while, we are lost, and do not think what will become of us in 20-30 years. This land, which we irrigated with the blood of thousands of martyrs... We do not think what will become of us in 15-20 years, in light of this regime and this [Iranian] occupation, which everybody refuses to fight militarily.
"With Iran's support, money, and weapons, Hizbullah is stronger than all the Lebanese. If there is any strategic planning and if there are any patriotic people, and if we want real coexistence, we should lay siege to this terroristic militia in its own areas. We should go there and confront it.
"I called for armed resistance, because I do not think we can get anywhere with Hizbullah using political means. If you do not confront it militarily, it will devour you.
"What are we waiting for? Why aren't we confronting [Hizbullah]? It is just like the Syrian occupation, the Palestinian occupation, or the Israeli occupation in south Lebanon. How do you want to confront it? There are two options. Either you pressure the countries that call the shots to come here and implement the U.N. resolutions — especially Resolution 1559, under Chapter VII — and if these countries refuse to do so, like some politicians say, you must take the initiative, launch armed resistance, confront [Hizbullah] and besiege it in its own areas. You should liberate the Lebanese from this captivity. Otherwise, we will be destined to emigrate or live under a dictatorial rule.
"We have sacrificed tens of thousands of martyrs to protect this country, so it would be a country for everybody seeking freedom and life of justice. We will not accept [the current situation]. We will not accept it. I fought, was wounded, was persecuted, and displaced during the Syrian occupation, and I am ready to bear arms and fight, if my honor is violated, or of they want to turn me into a dhimmi.
"The West will not intervene if we do not have a real opposition here. Real opposition and revolution require blood. We should grab all the traitors and collaborators, and the people who starved us, impoverished us, and killed our children and our relatives in the hospitals...
"We should drag them tied with cables to cars. We should hang them from electric poles. You should be determined to fight — both militarily and by other means."

Crimes Without Punishment… In Lebanon’s Autumn
Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al-Awsat/January, 20/2023
As the collapse in Lebanon expands, it is becoming increasingly apparent that so long as the August 4 clique is in power, there is no floor for how low the Lira could fall. With it, citizens’ ability to survive plummets too. A frightening number of patients are unable to access the medicine and treatment they need. Students are being forced out of school. Youths and skilled workers are leaving in droves, and begging has become generalized! It seems that Lebanon’s spoil-sharing regime is faced with a surreal scene: two judiciaries are in conflict; one is from outside the country and seeks to bring those guilty of financial crimes to justice, and the other is domestic and is trying to hinder the families of the victims of the blast from achieving justice.
The first thing the banking cartel did was tame the judiciary, which exempted itself from prosecuting those who had committed financial crimes: from embezzlement of public money to robbing the deposits of one and a half million citizens. Then, this cartel, the most prominent partner in the heist of the era, launched a relentless propaganda campaign to whitewash the image of the banks. This campaign told those whose deposits had been stolen: “the bank is with you,” “the banks are behind the economic growth and development.” They openly bribe television broadcasters and anchors whose rhetoric exposes their funders… Worse still is that deputies are drafting laws to grant themselves immunity and ensure impunity.
The scenes from the courtroom were a farce. Bankers, protected by political, judicial and security officials, gambled with over $120 billion in bank deposits. They are being investigated by three European judicial delegations, who are looking into suspicions of money laundering and corruption that had taken place in Europe, with over $330 million allegedly embezzled from the Central Bank. The suspects include Riad Salameh, the Governor of the Central Bank, his brother Raja, and others. These suspicions have led to the freezing of large sums of money and real estate assets. The real face of the bankers was shown. It met the description of the World Bank, which asserted that they were part of the “elite” that had been behind the largest Ponzi scheme ever. It began in 1993, destroying a prestigious banking sector and accelerating the total collapse that sparked the “October 17” 2019 revolution!
In parallel, Lebanon witnessed an explosive development. Thirty months after the port blast that turned a third of the capital into rubble, killed 236 people, and injured 7 thousand (many of whom will never fully recover), the authorities decided to finish off the crime committed on August 4 by going after the victims’ families. It summoned them to court and launched investigations into anyone who opposed the attempts to bring down the investigation. Entering the Palace of Justice and demanding that justice be ensured for the Lebanese put a target on their back.
The Lebanese were waiting for those accused of the felony of “possible intent to murder” in relation to the port blast. Instead, some were elected parliamentary deputies! The “impunity law” allowed two of the men accused, Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zaiter, to hold positions in the Administration and Justice Committee in parliament.
The calls for investigating 12 of the victims’ families sent a message that people have read carefully. The victims, the port, and the capital will be killed a second time. The actions of the security and judicial apparatuses sparked massy fury. The indifference towards the crime of the era exposed the officials, who approached the calamity like it had taken place in another country- like another nation had been mass-exterminated! Meanwhile, the trauma of the moment that terrible explosion went off became ingrained in the minds of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese! They had been waiting for the resumption of the investigation that had been suspended since December 23 (December) 2021, months after the Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa stormed the Palace of Justice and threatened to “remove” Judicial Investigator Bitar. Then came the shock: the defendants are free and enjoying themselves, and the arrest of the murdered is what is now required!
Is it not dumbfounding that grave crimes have been committed with no accountability or punishment to speak of? Is the same not true of the investigations into the murders related to the port blast? What about the economic collapse that has sent the citizens of the country to hell, as promised? None of the accused stand behind bars despite the plunder that killed the future and the port blast that destroyed a third of the capital.
The crimes that altered the lives of the Lebanese will not be punished so long as the sectarian-based-quota spoil-sharing system that creates corruption and dependence remains. Only genuine change could allow the country’s institutions to get back on their feet and prevent Lebanon from prematurely withering away.It is now the autumn of the coup against the constitution and the country’s subordination to the beneficiaries of its crises. They ruled arbitrarily, imposed sectarian quotas for ministries and institutions, hindered the independence of the judiciary, and disrupted the mechanisms of the political system.
Among all the revolutions of the past decade, only the October Revolution did not propose changing the constitution. Instead, it demanded that the constitution be implemented because its implementation would liberate the state whose decisions have been hijacked by Hezbollah. More than that, their proposals are in line with respecting the rest of the Taif Agreement, which includes unimplemented steps that pave the way for the establishment of the modern natural state to the farmlike state we have not!
We still have a long way to go on this journey, but the proposals for change that have been put forward by the October forces are significant because the political class intends to rehabilitate the spoil-sharing regime and redistribute its shares. The post-Taif experience, the shameful presidential settlement, and the actions that have been taken since the revolution erupted three years ago all present indication after indication that the “opposition” in this regime is “loyal” to it. The entire August 4 clique is united in its opposition to renewal and openness.
They are all keen on maintaining “immunities” and “impunities.” Their priority is safeguarding their narrow interests and gains at the expense of the interests of the country and the rights of its people. For all these reasons, changing things from within is impossible, and any form of participation leads to catastrophic consequences. They are all partners in the most dangerous project for Lebanon: the religious state Hezbollah is working to achieve! It will never succeed, but it is a dangerous form of blackmail that threatens sectarian strife and leaves the country open to all sorts of interferences!
Only change can save the country, but matters will not be resolved easily. Liberating the hijacked state is more important than the pressing question of who is elected president. Otherwise, the presidency loses its stature.
The despotic ruling class was not able to extinguish the flame of the October revolution. It remains because of the protection of Hezbollah, and it will not leave the arena to factions capable of taking measures to contain the collapse and ensure accountability for those who have brought the country to its knees. What is needed is an alternative financial structure that replaces that which has humiliated and divided us!
This is the ultimate building block. We need to crystalize the organizational and structural conditions needed during this period. Many have rallied around the slogan of a “historical bloc” that cuts across regions and sects as the revolution had done. This bloc can lift the country and achieve the revolution’s goals, as well as bring about a political alternative that leads us into the transition phase, which may be long or short, depending on the state of affairs in the country!

EU ambassador to Lebanon says it's 'high time' to address challenges
Naharnet/January 20/2023
Ambassador of the European Union to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf has said, during a reception at the EU residence in Beirut, that the EU has the tools to support Lebanon, should its decision makers decide to make the required reforms. "This place and this flag are the symbol of a unique model in today’s world. A model that grew from an economic union between six countries to a strong partnership between 27 states, spanning many areas, from personal freedoms, justice and security to climate and health. "While our union has grown geographically over the years, it is its founding principles that make it stand out. The European Union was built to pacify the European continent and help raise the living standards in Europe after two world wars. It allowed European countries to harmonize their political systems, modernize their public administrations, empower their judiciary and strengthen their economy. It has contributed to building strong state institutions that are as effective as they are accountable to their citizens. And most importantly, it has done so with a fundamental respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
"This is who we are – and this is exactly what we can offer to Lebanon," Tarraf said. "We have the tools at our disposal to support Lebanon should its decision makers decide to transform its public sector, into one where public administration is governed with more transparency and accountability, where the judiciary is independent and empowered, and where there is a clear separation of powers that doesn’t paralyze the country at every opportunity," the EU Ambassador went on to say. Tarraf added that "in this mind-set, we have supported Lebanon in reforming its governance system. We have helped establish the National Anti-Corruption Commission. We have contributed to the law on public procurement and have built the capacities of the Public Procurement Authority. We have helped the Government draft its Counter Terrorism Strategy. And we are currently following closely the drafting of the law on the independence of the judiciary."
"But our support can only match the ambitions of Lebanese decision makers," he said. He explained that in 2018 at the CEDRE conference, the European Union and other organisations promised long-term investments to help modernize the country’s infrastructure. "This support was conditional on reforms. Five years later, and three years since Lebanon defaulted on its debt, we are still waiting for the reforms necessary to modernize state institutions and improve the governance in Lebanon." The EU Ambassador stressed that "today, without a President, a fully empowered Government and a legislating Parliament in place, Lebanon’s decision-making capacity is paralyzed and economic losses are accumulating.""It is high time to address these challenges. It is high time to bring the economy back on a path of recovery," Tarraf said.

What happened to the Switzerland of the Middle East?
Associated Press/Agence France Presse/January 20/2023
Since an unprecedented financial crisis hit Lebanon in late 2019, the currency has lost more than 95 percent of its value and much of the population has been plunged into poverty. Factional deadlock has left the country largely leaderless in the face of the political and economic turmoil, with a vacant presidency, a central bank chief under European investigation and a government with only caretaker powers. On Thursday, on the black market, the Lebanese pound fell below the psychologically important threshold of 50,000 to the greenback, dealers said. The main official exchange rate still pegs the pound at 1,507 to the dollar. Parliament convened Thursday for an 11th bid to elect a new president, but failed again. A new study published by the U.N. World Food Program this week found that 1.29 million Lebanese citizens and 700,000 refugees from the conflict in neighboring Syria were food insecure in the last four months of 2022. It is a huge fall for a country that once boasted the monicker "Switzerland of the Middle East" for its role as a regional financial center. The worsening political paralysis has Lebanon not only without a president but also with only a caretaker government, stalling a host of economic reforms aimed at stopping wasteful spending and combating rampant corruption. A senior financial adviser, Michel Kozah, said the Lebanese pound’s worsening deterioration is due to the absence of appropriate measures to stabilize the currency early on in the crisis, including formal capital controls, and a plan approved by the International Monetary Fund. Instead, he said, there have been short-term policies and circulars from the government and central bank that he describes as a “shot of morphine.”“We gave promises to the IMF but did nothing,” Kozah explained. “If you were anywhere else in the world, you wouldn’t get to where you are today because the authorities would have taken measures from day one.”Lebanese authorities in April 2022 reached a tentative agreement with the IMF for a recovery plan conditional on a host of economic reforms and anti-corruption measures. However, the international organization has been critical of Lebanon's sluggish efforts to meet these demands. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s cash-strapped banks continue to impose strict limits on withdrawals of foreign currency, imposed in October 2019, tying up the savings of millions of people. As the economy continues to tank without any reforms, some depositors have resorted to storming bank branches and taking their trapped savings by force.

Western and Arab officials to meet on Lebanon in early February
Naharnet/January 20/2023
France’s Presidency and Foreign Ministry are preparing for a meeting on Lebanon between foreign ministry advisers and directors from the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, a media report said. “French President Emmanuel Macron will not let the situations collapse without acting, that’s why the next stage of the meetings will also bring together countries that care for the Lebanese file, including European countries and Jordan,” a senior French source told Annahar newspaper in remarks published Friday. “The first meeting will be held in early February and will later be upgraded to a ministerial level in order to up the pressure,” the source added. The source also said that the meetings would not only focus on the need to elect a new Lebanese president but would also put on the table all the developments and anything that can be done to exert pressure.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 20-21/2023
US Says Iran is the World's Leading Sponsor of Terrorism
Washington – Ali Barada/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 20 January, 2023
US State Department spokesman Ned Price described Iran as "the world's leading sponsor of terrorism."During a press briefing in Washington, Price commented on the European Parliament's resolution to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a foreign terrorist organization. He confirmed that this is a recognition by European partners that "Iran is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism. There is no more nefarious exporter of international terrorism than Iran."He pointed out that "there is no disagreement between the United States and our European allies on this. We're also clear-eyed about the need to cooperate to counter the threats posed by the IRGC over the past – well, certainly in recent years." Referring to the suppression of widespread protests in Iran during the past months, Price noted that Europe, the United States, countries around the world, and regions around the world "have seen all too vivid demonstrations of the lethality of the IRGC, of its repugnant willingness to take innocent lives in its operations.""We're committed to continuing to work with the EU and with other allies and partners on this very challenge."
He stressed that the United States condemned any threat to US citizens, noting that "we take such real threats seriously, and we're prepared to respond and respond decisively if appropriate."
However, Price did not comment on reports of a meeting between the US special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, and Iran's permanent representative to the UN, Saeid Iravani. The opposition "Iran International" website reported that Malley met with Iravani in New York at least three times during the last two months. "We have the means to deliver specific and firm messages to Iran when it is in America's interest to do so," he said, adding that "we're not going to get into details about how we deliver these messages, except to say that we do so in close coordination with allies and partners." Price said that the US has consistently conveyed three messages: stop killing peaceful protesters, stop selling weapons to Russia to kill Ukrainians, and release the US citizens that were wrongfully detained. Furthermore, the Iranian representative denied the report, asserting that Iranian officials had not held any "discussions" with US officials. Meanwhile, Senior Advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Richard Goldberg said that the US Congress should thoroughly investigate reports regarding a meeting between Malley and the Iranian ambassador. Goldberg stated that anyone involved in this should be asked to testify, adding that all Americans should condemn this "betrayal of the Iranian people."

Dublin Says ‘Doing All It Can’ to Free French-Irish Citizen Held in Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 20 January, 2023
Ireland's foreign minister said Thursday the government was doing all it can to secure the release of a French-Irish citizen held in Iran after his family urged Dublin to intensify talks due to concerns for his health following a hunger strike. Micheal Martin told a news conference in Dublin that "we're going to do everything we possibly can" to help release Bernard Phelan, a Paris-based travel consultant aged 64. "I think we have been very active in respect of Bernard's situation," he told reporters, according to AFP. "We've sought his release on humanitarian grounds from the Iranian government and we're waiting a response from the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Iran. "We've been engaged with the ambassador here as well."One of seven French nationals held by Iran, Phelan was arrested in October while travelling through the country in the wake of recent anti-regime protests. Martin's comments followed a plea from Phelan's sister Caroline Masse-Phelan for Dublin to step up its negotiations with Tehran. "Escalate negotiations with the Iranian authorities to get Bernard out of there. His health condition is extremely bad following his hunger and thirst strike," Masse-Phelan said on RTE radio.
"His health is extremely at risk. And we still do fear for his life. So escalate, escalate, escalate," she said, explaining her brother suffers from a heart condition and chronic bone illness. A diplomatic source said Iranian authorities had so far refused to release Phelan on medical grounds despite repeated requests from French and Irish authorities.

Stringent US Moves against Money Flows from Iraq to Iran
Washington - Ali Barada/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 20 January, 2023
The decline in the value of Iraq’s national currency and the rise in the prices of foodstuffs and imported goods can be traced back to remarkable change in the policy adopted by the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Both bodies have had a policy shift to curb money laundering and the illegal appropriation of dollars by Iraqi commercial banks for the benefit of Iran and other countries subject to sanctions in the Middle East. The New York Fed began enforcing tighter controls on international dollar transactions by commercial Iraqi banks in November in a move to curtail money laundering and the illegal siphoning of dollars to Iran and other heavily sanctioned Middle East countries, US and Iraqi officials said according to the Wall Street Journal.
Iraqi banks had operated under less stringent rules since shortly after the 2003 US invasion. It is time for Iraq’s banking system to comply with global money-transfer practices, the officials added.
Since the procedures went into effect, 80% or more of Iraq’s daily dollar wire transfers, which previously totaled over $250 million some days, have been blocked because of insufficient information about the funds’ destinations or other errors, according to US and Iraqi officials and official Iraqi government data. Under the new procedures, Iraqi banks must submit dollar transfers on a new online platform with the central bank, which are then reviewed by the Fed. The system is aimed at curtailing use of Iraq’s banking system to smuggle dollars to Tehran, Damascus and money laundering havens across the Middle East, US officials said. Another US official said the measures would limit “the ability of malign actors to use the Iraqi banking system.”US officials have pressed Iraq for years to strengthen its banking controls. In 2015, the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department temporarily shut off the flow of billions of dollars to Iraq’s central bank over concerns that the currency was ending up at Iranian banks and possibly being funneled to ISIS militants, officials said at the time.

Russia's Putin holds second phone call in just over a week with Iranian president
Reuters/Friday, 20 January, 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday, the Kremlin said, their second conversation in nine days. In a brief readout of the call, it said the two presidents discussed the situation in Syria - where both have backed President Bashar al-Assad in a long-running civil war - and cooperation in transport and energy. The statement made no reference to the war in Ukraine. Iran has taken on greater importance as a partner for Russia since Putin's invasion of Ukraine last February triggered waves of Western sanctions against Moscow. Tehran has acknowledged supplying Russia with military drones, though it says they were sent before the war started. The United States said last week that Iran could be contributing to war crimes in Ukraine by providing drones to Russia.

Top US general says Ukraine war has become an 'absolute catastrophe' for Russia, estimating it's suffered 'significantly well over' 100,000 casualties
John Haltiwanger/Business Insider/January 20, 2023
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley on Friday said that Russia has "really suffered a lot" in Ukraine and urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war. "The Russian casualties — last time I reported out on it publicly, I said it was well over 100,000. I would say it's significantly well over 100,000 now," Milley said at a news conference alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Germany, providing a slight update on a figure the top US general offered in November. Milley said that the "tremendous amount of casualties" suffered by Russia included "regular military, and also their mercenaries in the Wagner Group and other type forces that are fighting with the Russians.""Putin could end this war today," Milley said, "It's turning into an absolute catastrophe for Russia." "Ukraine has also suffered tremendously," Milley added. "You know that there's a significant amount of innocent civilians that have been killed in a result of the Russian actions. The Russians are hitting civilian infrastructure. There's a significant amount of economic damage, a significant amount of damage to the energy infrastructure, and the Ukrainian military has suffered a significant amount of casualties themselves." "This is a very, very bloody war, and there's significant casualties on both sides," Milley said, going on to say that "sooner or later" negotiations will have to occur to bring the conflict to a conclusion. Russia has shown no signs of taking steps to end the war, despite facing repeated, major setbacks. Ukraine has also warned that Russia appears to be preparing for another offensive, as Kyiv urges the West to provide more weapons — particularly tanks — possibly for its own offensive push.
But NATO countries are at an impasse on the issue of sending main battle tanks, the German-made Leopard in particular, to Ukraine, and Western defense chiefs failed to come to an agreement on the matter as they met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday.
The discussion has largely centered around whether Germany is willing to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine or at the very least allow other European countries who have the German-made tank in their inventories to provide them to Ukrainian forces. Germany would need to grant permission for the Leopard tanks to be exported by other countries, and so far, that hasn't happened. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is facing questions on whether it will send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. There have been signs from Germany that it won't provide Leopard tanks unless the US sends M1s, but the Pentagon has pushed back on that while arguing that it does not make sense to send the Abrams to Ukraine because the cost is too high and the training and maintenance is too complicated. Austin on Friday challenged the assertion that decisions on the Abrams and Leopards are tied together. In an update on the situation though, he said he had no announcements to make regarding whether the US might change its stance on the M1 and noted that Germany, which he called a "reliable ally," has "not made a decision on Leopards."

Ukraine war: 'This is such a stupid tank': Commander's plea for Western upgrades
Sky NewsFri, January 20, 2023
A Soviet-era T-72 rumbles through woodland belching thick black smoke as it fishtails over the frozen mud near the battered Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The tank is old - a relic from a time gone by - but it is nonetheless all the crew of the 24th mechanised brigade have to defend themselves against Russian aggression. With the whoosh of rockets and thump of artillery reverberating through the copse, the crew explains what they are up against and what they need to end this fight. Zelenskyy says 'one European capital' holding up delivery of crucial tanks - war latest "Tanks were created for supporting infantry, not for defence but for attacking, so for example to liberate our territories we definitely need tanks because it's like a fiery fist and a force to advance," Roman, the company commander, says. "This one is such a stupid tank - just a simple rocket launcher made a long, long time ago could be a really serious threat to it, but modern tanks are equipped better and they're safer from such types of weapon."At the beginning of the war, military planners debated whether the time of the tank was over. But this is a ground war with a line of contact extending for hundreds of miles. Wherever you look along the front, you can see smoke on the bruised horizon from artillery strikes and the flash from the muzzles of big guns.We were taken to another position on the frontline where rusty old tanks - mainly donated by Eastern European countries - lurk in the trees. They are still lethal when locked and loaded but in the face of a sustained Russian assault they are simply no match. Ukraine conflict has turned into an attritional fight. Ukraine fears Western fatigue and an everlasting stalemate will sound the death knell for the country. It has had tactical successes, such as the liberation of Kherson and the Kharkiv regions, but without even greater Western support maintaining operational tempo and initiative will be difficult.
Russian forces are well dug in.
The conflict has turned into an attritional fight across trenches. And as tanks helped break the deadlock of the western front in the First World War, military planners in Kyiv are hoping to do the same in this conflict more than a century later. They need protection and manoeuvrability to push their infantry forwards - something only modern western tanks, they argue, can provide. All the indications are that Moscow is in for the long fight and is planning a major offensive with hundreds of thousands of men in the spring. But this is about much more than simply holding position. Vladimir Putin claims a Russian victory is inevitable but Ukraine says with the right equipment it can do far more than hold Moscow back - it can keep pushing forward and win this war. What they don't understand here is the slowness to commit by some Western countries. For every day lost, they argue, there's a heavy price paid with Ukrainian blood.

Russia's relationship with U.S. at its 'lowest historical point,' Kremlin says
Yahoo News/Niamh Cavanagh/January 20, 2023
LONDON — The Kremlin said Friday that Russia’s relationship with the U.S. is at an all-time low.
Speaking to reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that despite timid hopes from the Geneva summit in 2021, bilateral relations were “at their lowest historical point.” He added, “There is no hope for improvement in the foreseeable future.”The comments follow months of what has come to be a total breakdown in relations between the two powers. Relations went from bad to worse when after conducting several military drills along Ukraine’s border, Russia's forces launched what it called a “special military operation” on Feb. 24, 2022. The invasion was met with immediate and harsh sanctions from the U.S. as well as Ukraine’s Western allies. All hopes for any progress in relations were slashed when the Biden administration threw its full support behind Russia’s neighboring countries Finland and Sweden in joining NATO. President Biden. President Biden departs Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday. This, according to reports, meant the U.S. would be going against its agreement with Russia in 1991 that NATO would not expand past East Germany. This part of the agreement has been hotly contested, as there had been no legal binding between the two nations that would prohibit countries in Eastern Europe from joining the military alliance. Over the past 11 months, the Biden administration has made several announcements that the U.S. would be providing Ukraine with billions of dollars in military aid and assistance. With Russia’s recent onslaught of airstrikes on Ukraine, the U.S. and other allies have announced plans to provide the beleaguered nation’s military with more weapons. On Friday, Peskov told reporters that the wave of assistance from the West would be met with consequences. “We see a growing indirect and sometimes direct involvement of NATO countries in this conflict,” he said. “We see a devotion to the dramatic delusion that Ukraine can succeed on the battlefield. This is a dramatic delusion of the Western community that will more than once be cause for regret, we are sure of that.” His remarks came as Western defense ministers gathered at an air base in Germany to discuss supplying further military assistance to Ukraine.

Israel Asks Pope Francis, Red Cross to Help Release Four Citizens in Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 20 January, 2023
Israel appealed to Pope Francis, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the UN Secretary-General on Wednesday to help it recover four citizens held in the Gaza Strip for more than seven years. Reuters reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen sent letters of appeal after Gaza's ruling Palestinian group Hamas released a video of captive Avera Mengistu, who walked into the enclave and whose family says he has a mental illness.
Another Israeli civilian is being held in Gaza after entering under similar circumstances in 2015, as are two Israeli soldiers who went missing during a war with Hamas in 2014 and were declared dead by the army.
Cohen described Mengistu's plight as "a gross violation of international humanitarian law, with no information on his health condition nor means of communication with family nor Red Cross visits," the Foreign Ministry said.
Hamas's release of the video on Monday appeared to be an effort to pressure Israel into a prisoner swap. Israel has said it explored indirect talks with Hamas on recovering the four without specifying what it might give in return. Meanwhile, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (Kan) said that the Hamas movement is intensifying its efforts to kidnap Israeli soldiers on the borders of the Gaza Strip, to promote an exchange deal with Israel. Kan said Hamas is trying to step up kidnapping attempts after it realized the Israeli prisoners it has were not a powerful bargaining chip to implement an exchange similar to the 2011 Shalit deal. The channel accused Hamas politburo chief, Ismail Haniyeh, and his deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, who live abroad, of pushing the al-Qassam Brigades to kidnap soldiers. According to what it reported, Hamas intended to surprise the army and carry out the kidnapping during the calm period, not during security tension or escalation. The Israeli report came one day after Hamas warned Israel that the window to negotiate a prisoner deal is closing, and another way will be found.

World Court Says It Has Received UN Request for Opinion on Israel Occupation
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 20 January, 2023
The International Court of Justice on Friday confirmed it had officially received a request from the United Nations General Assembly to give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. The ICJ is expected to draw up a list of states and organizations that will be able to file written statements, but the press release gave no further information about a timeline for that process. In previous advisory opinions the court also scheduled hearings but it is likely to take at least several months before they can be scheduled. The Hague-based ICJ, also known as the World Court, is the top UN court dealing with disputes between states. Its rulings are binding, though the ICJ has no power to enforce them. In a move condemned by Israel and welcomed by Palestinians, the General Assembly asked the ICJ last month to give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's "occupation, settlement and annexation ... including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures." The UN resolution also asks the ICJ to advise on how those policies and practices "affect the legal status of the occupation" and what legal consequences arise for all countries and the United Nations from this status. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the request for a World Court opinion a "despicable decision". The ICJ last weighed in on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in 2004, when it ruled that an Israeli separation barrier was illegal. In the same ruling the ICJ judges said that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory "have been established in breach of international law". Israel rejected that ruling, accusing the court of being politically motivated.

Saudi rules out Israel normalization without two-state solution
Agence France Presse/January 20/2023
Saudi Arabia will not normalize ties with Israel in the absence of a two-state solution with the Palestinians, the kingdom's top diplomat has said, according to a tweet by the foreign ministry on Friday.The comments by Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed normalization with Saudi Arabia in talks with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Jerusalem on Thursday. "True normalization and true stability will only come through... giving the Palestinians a state," Prince Faisal told Bloomberg at the summit. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, is a close partner of the United States but it has repeatedly refused to normalize ties with U.S.-ally Israel due to its occupation of Palestinian territories. The U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020 saw the kingdom's neighbors -- the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain -- establish full diplomatic ties with Israel. Netanyahu has repeatedly expressed his desire to see Saudi Arabia join the list. In their talks on Thursday, Netanyahu and Sullivan discussed "measures to deepen the Abraham Accords... with an emphasis on a breakthrough with Saudi," the Israeli leader's office said. The West Bank and the Gaza Strip plus Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem were long touted as the basis of a Palestinian state in a "two-state" solution to the long-running conflict. But that goal has become ever more distant, with the occupied West Bank fragmented by Jewish settlements. Netanyahu plans to pursue a policy of increased settlement expansion in the West Bank, with ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties in his coalition advocating the annexation of some of the territory.

Defense leaders meet amid dissent over tanks for Ukraine
Associated Press/January 20/2023
Defense leaders gathered at Ramstein Air Base in Germany heard an impassioned plea for more aid Friday from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as they struggled to resolve ongoing dissent over who will provide battle tanks and other military aid to his embattled country. "This is a crucial moment. Russia is regrouping, recruiting and trying to re-equip," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned as the meeting opened. Zelensky, speaking live via video link, told the gathering that "terror does not allow for discussion." He said "the war started by Russia does not allow delays."
Calling it a decisive moment for Ukraine and a "decisive decade for the world," Austin said the group's presence in Germany signaled their unity and commitment to continue supporting Ukraine. "We need to keep up our momentum and our resolve. We need to dig even deeper," Austin told the gathering of as many as 50 defense leaders who were attending in person and by video. Austin and U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were expected to discuss the latest massive package of aid the U.S. is sending, which totals $2.5 billion and includes Stryker armored vehicles for the first time.
But broader hesitation over sending tanks to Ukraine has roiled the coalition. Germany faces mounting pressure to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv, or at least clear the way for other countries, such as Poland, to deliver the German-made Leopards from their own stocks.
The U.S. has also declined, at least so far, to provide M1 Abrams tanks, citing the extensive and complex maintenance and logistical challenges with the high-tech vehicle. The U.S. believes it would be more productive to send Leopards since many allies have them and Ukrainian troops would only have to get trained on that one, versus needing far more training on the more difficult Abrams.
The United Kingdom announced last week that it would send Challenger 2 tanks, describing it as a natural progression of military aid to Ukraine. At a Pentagon briefing Thursday, spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the Leopard and Challenger aren't comparable to the Abrams tanks because the Abrams is much harder to maintain and wouldn't be a good fit. "It's more of a sustainment issue. I mean, this is a tank that requires jet fuel, whereas the Leopard and the Challenger, it's a different engine." The Leopard and Challenger are "a little bit easier to maintain," Singh said. "They can maneuver across large portions of territory before they need to refuel. The maintenance and the high cost that it would take to maintain an Abrams — it just doesn't make sense to provide that to the Ukrainians at this moment."The package of aid being sent by the U.S. includes eight Avenger air defense systems, 350 Humvees, 53 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, more than 100,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and rockets, and missiles for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. It was announced Thursday by the Pentagon. Germany's new defense minister, Boris Pistorius, who took office just an hour before he met with Austin on Thursday, is among those attending the Ramstein meeting. Referring to the tanks, he told ARD television he was "pretty sure we will get a decision on this in the coming days, but I can't yet tell you today how it will look."
During brief comments before the meeting began, Austin said, "we'll renew our united commitment to support Ukraine's self-defense for the long haul," but didn't mention any specific new equipment. Nearly 11 months into the Russian invasion, Zelensky has expressed frustration about not obtaining enough weaponry from the Western allies. Speaking by video link on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader offered a veiled critique of major supporters such as Germany and the U.S. that have hesitated about sending tanks.
Bemoaning a "lack of specific weaponry," Zelensky said, through an interpreter, "There are times where we shouldn't hesitate or we shouldn't compare when someone says, 'I will give tanks if someone else will also share his tanks.'" German officials have conveyed their hesitancy to allow allies to give Leopards unless the U.S. also sends Ukraine the Abrams, according to a U.S. official who wasn't authorized to comment and spoke on condition of anonymity. But there have been no signs the U.S. is shifting its decision to not send Abrams. The issue is expected to be a key topic at Friday's meeting. Milley told reporters traveling with him this week that complex new U.S. training of Ukrainian troops, combined with an array of new weapons, artillery, armored vehicles heading to Ukraine, will be key to helping the country's forces take back territory that has been captured by Russia in the nearly 11-month-old war. The goal, he said, is to deliver needed weapons and equipment to Ukraine so the newly trained forces will be able to use it "sometime before the spring rains show up. That would be ideal."Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl also said this week that a new phase of the war is shaping up as Russia gets more deeply entrenched, and that Ukraine will need mechanized infantry to break through those lines. The influx of new weapons, tanks and armored carriers comes as Ukraine faces intense combat in the country's east around the city of Bakhmut and the nearby salt mining town of Soledar. The battles are expected to intensify in the spring.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 20-21/2023
Turkey: Putin's Open Door for Harming Western Interests
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/January 20/2023
For Putin, Erdoğan's friendship is growing ever more important -- and vice versa.
Turkey has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, thereby throwing a lifeline to Putin. Turkish skies remain open to Russian airlines and its doors open to hundreds of thousands of Russians and their money. Turkish exports to Russia are surging. In July alone, exports to Russia shot up by a dizzying 75% year-on-year.
Russian cash helped plug the growing hole in Turkey's foreign currency reserves -- at a time when Erdoğan needs foreign money for the country's ailing economy before the presidential and parliamentary elections this June.
In March, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Russian oligarchs were welcome in Turkey. In October, the Financial Times reported that between January and August 2021, a record $28 billion from unclear origins had flowed into Turkey.
"Putin's goal remains anchoring Erdoğan more and more to Russia through a vast mesh of mutually beneficial operations in the fields of defense, energy, trade, and finance... By doing this, Putin is comforting an embattled incumbent president and is openly bolstering Erdoğan's position in the upcoming elections.... [T]he world is witnessing the Russian president using Turkey for his own benefits." — Marc Pierini, senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and a former EU Ambassador to Ankara, August 30, 2022.
The Erdoğan-Putin bond has two main pillars. One is pragmatism: They both strategically, politically and economically benefit. The other is ideological: They both hate the West.
Turkey has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, thereby throwing a lifeline to Putin. Turkish skies remain open to Russian airlines and its doors open to hundreds of thousands of Russians and their money. Pictured: Erdoğan meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022.
Turkish Islamists, especially neo-Ottomans, have historically hated Russia -- both Czarist and Soviet. Similarly, Russians and Soviets have never been great fans of the Turks -- both Ottoman and republican. Today, however, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with a big foot in NATO, is exhibiting a pro-Russian tilt never seen before, and at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen as an existential threat to Western interests. What is the secret behind this sudden marriage?
For Putin, Erdoğan's friendship is growing ever more important -- and vice versa.
Turkey has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, thereby throwing a lifeline to Putin. Turkish skies remain open to Russian airlines and its doors open to hundreds of thousands of Russians and their money. Turkish exports to Russia are surging. In July alone, exports to Russia shot up by a dizzying 75% year-on-year.
Russia's state-run Rosatom, which is building Turkey's first nuclear power plant, has sent about $5 billion to its Turkish subsidiary, the first in a series of such transfers. Russian cash helped plug the growing hole in Turkey's foreign currency reserves -- at a time when Erdoğan needs foreign money for the country's ailing economy before the presidential and parliamentary elections this June.
Some analysts see the Rosatom-Akkuyu-dollar bonds triangle as a Turkish-Russian scheme to open a parking space for Russian funds in Turkey. They think, for example, the increase in the Turkish central bank's foreign currency and gold reserves — $108 billion on August 4, up from $98.9 billion on July 26 -- had to do with Russian money flowing to Turkey.
Bloomberg reported that "mystery capital flows" into Turkey had reached "new highs allowing policymakers to boost foreign reserves despite a growing trade deficit and weak demand for lira assets." Bloomberg's source remains unclear.
In March, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Russian oligarchs were welcome in Turkey. In October, the Financial Times reported that between January and August 2021, a record $28 billion from unclear origins had flowed into Turkey. Turkish investigative journalist Aytuğ Özçolak listed a few of the Russian oligarchs who have business interests, investment and funds in Turkey as Leonid Mikhelson, Vagit Alekperov, Vladimir Lisin, Vladimir Potanin, Alexey Mordashov and Mikhail Fridman.
According to Marc Pierini, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and a former EU Ambassador to Ankara, the number of Russian expatriates in Turkey, as well as their real estate investments and financial transfers to Turkish banks, have grown substantially. Moreover, Pierini wrote, there is a suspicion that Russia is trying to circumvent some of the effects of Western sanctions via Turkey, in particular through the acquisition of stakes in Turkish oil businesses, as joint companies help to blur oil trade.
Pierini further noted:
"The Kremlin's policy is highly pragmatic: knowing that Turkey's partners in NATO are keen to keep it in the North Atlantic Alliance and Ankara has every interest in staying within NATO, Putin's goal remains anchoring Erdoğan more and more to Russia through a vast mesh of mutually beneficial operations in the fields of defense, energy, trade, and finance.
"By doing this, Putin is comforting an embattled incumbent president and is openly bolstering Erdoğan's position in the upcoming elections. More than the Turkish president abandoning his traditional Western partners, the world is witnessing the Russian president using Turkey for his own benefits."
Jokes in Ankara's political grapevine describe Putin as "head of the Erdoğan Party's Moscow provincial branch." Whichever indicator one looks at, Putin wants Erdoğan to stay in power. He would rather not gamble with someone else as Turkey's new leader. After all, Erdoğan's potential rivals pledge to reinstate Turkey's strong bonds with Western countries.
The Erdoğan-Putin bond has two main pillars. One is pragmatism: They both strategically, politically and economically benefit. The other is ideological: They both hate the West.
**Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from the country's most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Ukraine: Waiting for the Stinger Moment
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/January, 20/2023
When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago many analysts expected a quick catharsis in line with the prevailing view of war as a short hymn to military power.
That view had taken shape over many decades as memories of wars in ancient times through the 18th century faded. The 200-year long Roman-Persian war was far away as were the 100-year religious war and the 30-year war in Europe. Wars became shorter and shorter. The Napoleonic wars, staring with the French Revolution lasted 23 years.
The American war of secession lasted four years. The four-year long war became a pattern repeated in both world wars. The US-Philippines war lasted three years as did the Korean War. The US-Spain war lasted eight months while the US-Mexico War took two years.
As always there was one exception to the new rule: the Vietnam War that lasted almost 10 years.
However, we also had the Six Day war between Israel and its Arab neighbors and the US capture of Grenada in four days. The war between Argentine and Great Britain over the Falkland Islands lasted 70 days.
The image of war as a short sharp clash was shaken by the Soviet war in Afghanistan that lasted almost 10 years and the Iran-Iraq war that lasted eight years.
However, when Putin’s invasion of Ukraine came most analysts still saw war as a short hymn to victory not a long symphony of death in four movements.
Heading for its second year, the Ukraine war seems set to become a long symphony of death rather than short hymn to victory.
Why has Ukraine become the scene of a costly positional warfare that may last forever, if such a thing as forever exists? One reason is that it was not launched as a means of altering the status quo but as an attempt at totally effacing the very context in which the status quo had taken shape. Putin wanted to Russify Ukraine which, despite a long history of sharing the experience of Russian-ness was on a new trajectory towards a distinct Ukrainian identity.
Thus they felt that rising defeat on the battleground is less than surrendering to superior force on the way to extinction as a nation-state.
No war is won or lost until one side admits defeat or one side totally destroys the other side. Hitler could not admit defeat, a possibility that was urged
on him even until 1944, because that would have meant the end of his Reich.
In the Six Day war, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdul-Nasser could admit defeat because that did not pose an existential threat to Egypt or his dream of one day crossing the Suez Canal in the opposite direction.
The symphonic war in Ukraine started with a short and sharp overture that saw Putin’s troops reaching part of the Ukrainian shores of the Dnieper River and advancing to Donbass. That was followed by Ukraine’s success in stopping the Russian advance just weeks after the invasion.
By April what had started as a war of movement had morphed into a war of position. Since then Ukrainian success in recapturing chunks of territory has created the illusion of movement. However, reality on the ground depicts a stalemate in military terms.
That stalemate has not prevented, or may even have caused, socio-political changes not only in Russian held chunks of the Donbass but also in the Crimean Peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014.
In Lugansk, Moscow has lost the control it had until a few months ago.The annexed Ukrainian territory is now divided among several contenders for control.
Local pro-Russian militia still dominates in one portion of the territory while Wagner mercenaries have set up their own fiefdom. Chechen “volunteers” and Syrian “contract” fighters are present in another chunk of Lugansk. In Crimea, Putin has created mixed armed units of Tatars and ethnic Russians as auxiliaries for his army in the face of manpower shortage.
In Donetsk, Russia is increasingly worried about local pro-Russian groups switching sides. This is why the pace, at which inhabitants of Donetsk are transferred to Russia, ostensibly for humanitarian reasons, has accelerated in recent weeks.
In both Donetsk and Lugansk, the absence of effective authority has allowed criminal gangs, including black-marketers and human traffickers, to set operational bases.
The deadly stalemate, the symphony of death, is prolonged both by Putin’s failure to realize that his aim of de-Ukrianizing Ukraine has entrapped him in a long war of position that he can only pursue by incessant and ultimately counter-productive attacks, short of total war, on civilian targets, that could only reinforce Ukrainian defiance. The appointment of General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s top military as commander in the Ukraine war, shows that Putin isn’t ready to change his trajectory.
However, the US and its European allies are also helping prolong this war. Anti-West analysts claim that this is because the US and the European Union wish to prolong the war to bleed Russia while creating a new status quo in Europe with expanding NATO.
I don’t share that view. But I think that the Biden administration as its principal European allies, Germany and France, lack the vision, or the courage, to provide Ukraine with the hardware needed to threaten Russia’s sense of immunity. Writing fat checks, offering a limited range of recycled weapons, and diplomatic gesticulations such as setting up a tribunal against Putin and his associates, won’t shorten this symphony of death.
Things are not going well for Russia. Putin has failed to create a network of dependable allies while Russia’s industry is under pressure to supply the material needs of this costly war. The only way to shorten this deadly symphony is to raise its rhythm and tempo towards a crescendo that could come if and when Putin feels he has lost control of the war.
The war in Afghanistan was shortened when President Ronald Reagan’s administration supplied the anti-Soviet insurgency with Stinger missiles that ended the Red Army’s control of skies with helicopter gunships and troop carriers.
The decision by Britain and France to supply Ukraine with two or three dozens of motorized vehicles and tanks, with a nod from Washington, shows that Western powers are still locked into the stalemate that Putin hopes to maintain on the ground. The Stinger moment that could shorten this war has not yet arrived.

رويترز: الحرس الثوري الإيراني يتحول من العمليات العسكرية إلى إمبراطورية أعمال كبيرة
Iran's Revolutionary Guards: from military operations to business empire
Reuters/January 20/2023
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Iran's armed forces general staff, which coordinates activities between its conventional army and the Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned the European Union on Thursday not to list the elite force as a terrorist entity, state media reported.
On Wednesday, the European Parliament called for the EU to list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, blaming it for the repression of domestic protesters and the supply of drones to Russia's military engaged in Ukraine.
Following are some questions and answers about the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran's dominant military force, with its own army, navy, air force and intelligence wing:
It was set up shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite clerical ruling system and provide a counterweight to the regular armed forces.
It answers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The IRGC has an estimated 125,000-strong military with army, navy and air units. It also commands the Basij religious militia, a volunteer paramilitary force loyal to the clerical establishment which is often used to crack down on anti-government protests.
Basijis mounted “human wave” attacks against Iraqi troops during the 1980s war. In peacetime, they enforce Iran’s Islamic social codes. Analysts say Basij volunteers may number in the millions, with 1 million active members.
The Quds Force is the foreign espionage and paramilitary arm of the IRGC that heavily influences its allied militia across the Middle East, from Lebanon to Iraq and Yemen to Syria. Its members have fought in support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war and have backed Iraqi security forces in their battle against Islamic State militants in recent years.
Its top commander, Major-General Qassem Soleimani, was killed by the United States in a drone attack in Iraq in 2020. His death raised fears of a major conflict. The killing of all American leaders would not be enough to avenge the assassination of Soleimani, a senior Iranian Guards commander said later.
The IRGC, branded a terrorist group and sanctioned by the United States, has sought for years to shape the Middle East in favour of Tehran. For instance, it founded Lebanon's Hezbollah in 1982 to export Iran's Islamic Revolution and fight Israeli forces that invaded Lebanon that same year.
Hezbollah is now a major military force which has played a role in regional conflicts.
WHAT ARE THE IRGC’S MILITARY CAPABILITIES?
The IRGC oversees Iran’s ballistic missile programme, regarded by experts as the largest in the Middle East.
The Guards have used the missiles to hit Sunni Muslim militants in Syria and Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq. The United States, European powers and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for a 2019 missile and drone attack that crippled the world's biggest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia. Iran denied any involvement in the assault.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump pointed to Iran’s missile programme as one of the points not addressed in its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and which he cited as a reason for pulling out in 2018.
The Guards have extensive conventional combat hardware and capabilities which were showcased in their involvement in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
WHAT IS THE IRGC’S POSITION IN IRAN'S POLITICAL SYSTEM?
Former Revolutionary Guards officers occupy key positions in Iran's establishment, from the government to parliament. Most of President Ebrahim Raisi's cabinet are former IRGC officers.
The IRGC’s mandate to protect revolutionary values has prompted it to speak out when it felt the system was threatened.
WHAT ABOUT BUSINESS INTERESTS?
After the 1980s Iraq war, the IRGC became heavily involved in Iran’s reconstruction and has expanded its economic interests to include a vast network of businesses, ranging from oil and gas projects to construction and telecommunication. Its business interests are worth billions of dollars.
Pictures Enclosed/Chief Major General Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)

Iran’s aerial threat on the rise as a result of Russia’s use of its suicide drones in Ukraine war
Luke Coffey/Arab News/January 21, 2023
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan recently placed Iran under the spotlight for its so-called suicide drones, which are being used against civilian targets in Ukraine. The Shahed 136 (known as the Geran-2 by Russia) are packed with explosives and flown into a target instead of returning to base. Speaking to reporters, Sullivan this month said that Tehran had chosen “to go down a road where their weapons are being used to kill civilians in Ukraine … which from our point of view, puts Iran in a place where it could potentially be contributing to widespread war crimes.”
This is the most serious charge to date by a US official regarding the use of Iranian drones in Ukraine. Days before Sullivan’s statement, Washington announced a new round of sanctions against Iran over the issue of the use of its drones by Russia. According to a press release from the Department of the Treasury, “six executives and board members of US-designated Qods Aviation Industries” and the director of Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization were sanctioned. Last month, the EU sanctioned four Iranian officials and four entities connected to Iran’s drone program. Meanwhile, the UK recently announced sanctions against three senior officials and one company over the Iranian drones used in Ukraine.
Of course, the Iranians deny providing any drones to Russia for use in Ukraine since the war started last February. Tehran claims that the drones being used now were purchased by Russia years ago. However, this is unlikely to be the case.
Experts are now combing through the remains and debris of Iranian drones that have been found in Ukraine. Iranian drones that have been shot down, as well as fragments of the Shaheds that made it to their targets and exploded, are providing an intelligence boom for Western analysts. One of the most shocking discoveries was the amount of American and European-manufactured parts found in these drones, despite years of sanctions against Iran. This is starting to raise eyebrows in Western capitals, with politicians demanding action on closing loopholes that allow Western-manufactured items to find their way to Iran for use in weapons.
Iran benefits greatly from providing Russia with drones. In the lead-up to the war, Russia built up large currency and gold reserves. Meanwhile, Iran has been cash-starved due to years of economic sanctions. Simply put, Moscow has the cash that Tehran needs. Meanwhile, Iran has the drones that Russia needs. However, Iran is benefiting more from its deals with Russia than just financially. It is also procuring dozens of Russian-made Su-35 aircraft. This acquisition will give Iran a boost to its aerial capability that should be a major concern for policymakers in the Gulf.
Dealing with the Iranian drone threat is no easy task. For years, Iran has been wreaking havoc with its drones across much of the Middle East. Now, Eastern Europe is under threat too. However, there are five things that can be done to start pushing back.
As more drones are used in places like Ukraine, Tehran will be able to modify and perfect its drone program
The first is for the US to end the nuclear talks in Vienna, formally and officially. It is inconceivable that Iran can be trusted right now. Secondly, as Western policymakers learn more about Iran’s drone program and exports, new sanctions against Iranian officials and entities need to be introduced. Also, loopholes allowing Western equipment to end up in Iranian drones need to be closed.
Thirdly, pressure needs to be placed on regional countries to make transporting Iranian drones to Russia more difficult. No country that is a partner of the US should facilitate the transport or overflight passage of Iranian drones. Fourthly, the US should be working with Gulf partners to boost air defense in the region and with European allies to increase air defense in Ukraine.
Finally, there needs to be more coordination and engagement behind the scenes between the US, Israel, Ukraine and the Gulf states regarding the Iranian drone threat. There is likely no other country on the planet that has more direct experience with countering Iranian drones than Ukraine. It would be in the interest of Gulf and Israeli policymakers to learn from Kyiv. However, this might mean more support for Ukraine behind the scenes.
The Iranian drone threat, whether in the Middle East or in Ukraine, is not going away. Not only are Western analysts learning from the use of Iranian drones in Ukraine, but so are the Iranians. As more drones are used in places like Ukraine, Tehran will be able to modify and perfect its drone program, making them more capable on the battlefield. The combat testing of Iranian drones in Ukraine should be a concern for those in the Gulf.
Regrettably, it is unlikely that Iran’s export of terror to Ukraine will be limited to just drones. The big fear for Ukrainian policymakers is the introduction of Iranian ballistic missiles, like the Fateh-110, into the conflict. As Russian ballistic missile stockpiles continue to run low, it is expected that these missiles will be used by Moscow sometime this year.
From the Baltic Sea to the Arabian Sea — and every place in between — 2023 is the year to start getting serious about air defense and the Iranian threat.
• Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
Twitter: @LukeDCoffey

Afghanistan: Changing the Taliban’s mentality toward women will not be easy
Maha Akeel/Arab News/January 21, 2023
Bringing attention back to Afghanistan, the Taliban shocked the world last month with the absurd order to local and foreign aid organizations to stop employing female staff because some women had not adhered to the strict dress code. This demand resulted in many of these organizations suspending their operations. Last week, the Taliban assured female health staff and those working in office support roles that they were allowed to resume work. A spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Public Health told Reuters that there was a misunderstanding of the orders and that health-related activities were not stopped.
There was a cautious sigh of relief at this change, but it does not alter the daily reality that women in Afghanistan are subjected to old and new restrictions and violations based on unfounded interpretations of religious texts and principles. The most obvious of these is denying girls the right to education, which is clearly and unequivocally guaranteed in Islam.
The Taliban has a certain view of females and their role in society that is misogynistic, derived from years of limited and uninformed religious teachings, an underdeveloped education system and inadequate social cohesion that emerged from decades of civil war, corrupt government and militarization. We cannot expect their sexist attitude to change overnight or by simple promises and words of assurance. A change in perception, attitude and mentality needs to take place throughout their ranks, especially among the leadership.
Similar is happening in Yemen with how the Houthis are treating women. After decades of progressive women’s rights and empowerment in Yemen, the Houthis are imposing a strict dress code, travel restrictions, gender segregation and limited employment.
Extremist groups tend to frame their rights violations and abuses of women in religious terms, when it is mostly an ideology. There is almost an agreed formula for curtailing women’s public appearances, movement, growth and independence. This is a formula that leads to poverty, hunger and regression. Due to their own limited capacity and inability to address real political, economic and social development challenges, they instead focus on women. It is not the religion that dictates this kind of demeaning attitude and treatment of women, but the mentality, interpretations and views of those leading the group.
The Taliban’s limited capacity to judge and comprehend the dire consequences of their decisions on social and economic development is illustrated by the ban on girls’ education and women’s employment and public role. For a country that is heavily dependent on international organizations for survival and humanitarian support, such decisions raise the alarm about worsening humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan and question the credibility and leadership of the Taliban.
We cannot expect their sexist attitude to change overnight or by simple promises and words of assurance
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, representing the voice of the Muslim world, held an extraordinary meeting last week in reaction to the decisions by the de facto Afghan authorities to close schools and universities for girls and women and suspend women’s work in national and international nongovernmental organizations, which the OIC considered a violation of the purposes of Islamic law and the Prophet’s message.
Considering the deteriorating humanitarian, social, economic and human rights conditions in Afghanistan — and stressing the significant role of women in social and economic development and peace and security, while confirming the right of women and girls to access all levels of education in accordance with Islamic Shariah — the OIC expressed its disappointment over these latest decisions. It urged the de facto Afghan authorities to adhere to the principles of the UN and OIC charters, to abide by their international obligations on human rights, and to reopen schools and universities for girls and women and allow them to exercise their right to contribute to the social and economic development of Afghan society.
The OIC meeting decided to dispatch a delegation to assess the need for technical and developmental assistance, particularly for small-scale income-generating activities, and to dispatch the OIC secretary-general’s special envoy for Afghanistan to deliver the message on supporting the country and on reconsidering the recent decisions on women’s work and girls’ education. The OIC last year sent all-male delegations to Afghanistan and received assurances from the de facto authorities that they would allow girls to go to school. The International Islamic Fiqh Academy also led a delegation of Muslim scholars, including one woman, and met with Afghan officials and a group of female Afghan scholars. Shortly after these visits, the Taliban reneged on their promise.
The Taliban leaders must hear and see clear, constant messages about the real situation and the consequences of their shortsighted decisions. They need to understand why they need to change their attitude and to have confidence and trust in the messenger. Not all Taliban officials and followers are of the same mindset and worldview. They have moved ahead with some bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation on economic, security and humanitarian projects, despite not being internationally recognized. However, they have expressed rejection and resistance to foreign intervention in their internal affairs, especially when it comes to women.
Women’s rights should not be a bargaining tool or optional. Ensuring women’s rights and security according to Islamic laws and principles should be an integral part of humanitarian, economic and political assistance.
• Maha Akeel is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah.
Twitter: @MahaAkeel1