Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 30-July 01/2023
In milestone decision, UN creates institution for Syria’s missing and disappeared
Ephrem Kossaify/Arab News/June 30, 2023
NEW YORK CITY: In a milestone decision as part of the international response to the war in Syria, the UN General Assembly on Thursday voted to establish an independent institution to investigate and clarify the fate of more than 150,000 Syrians who have gone missing or been forcibly disappeared at the hands of the Syrian regime, opposition forces, or terrorist groups since the conflict began 12 years ago.
Introducing the draft resolution, Luxembourg’s permanent representative to the UN, Olivier Maes, paid tribute to the “strength and courage” of Syrian families who have “been desperately seeking to find out what happened to their loved ones and where they are every day.”
He added: “Families, especially women, face administrative and legal difficulties, financial uncertainties and deep trauma as they continue to search for their missing loved ones.” A large number of international, nongovernmental, humanitarian, and family-focused organizations — including the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Commission on Missing Persons, and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic — investigate and follow up on missing-persons cases in Syria. However, a lack of coordination leaves families in limbo as they seek information about the whereabouts of loved ones, and victims and survivors unsure of where to share any details they might have.
Families have been pushing for the establishment of a dedicated, independent, international agency, commensurate with the scale and complexity of the crisis, to investigate the fate of loved ones.
Guided by their views and advice, the UN secretary-general published a report last year that concluded such an international institution, equipped with a robust mandate to investigate and clarify the fate of the missing and provide support for their families, would be the cornerstone of a comprehensive solution to the crisis. The resultant resolution was sponsored by more than 50 countries including Albania, Australia, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Spain. Maes said the new institution “will reinforce complementarity and avoid duplication, (serve) as a single point of entry for collecting and comparing data, (and) ensure coordination and communication with all relevant actors and ongoing initiatives.”
He stressed that the resolution “does not point the finger at anyone” and added: “It has only one goal and that is a humanitarian goal: Improve the situation of Syrian families who do not know what has happened to their brother, to their son, father, husband or other relative, alleviate the suffering of these victims by providing them with the support that they need and the responses to which they’re entitled under international humanitarian law.”
A representative of the EU expressed hope that “this new humanitarian institution can help heal some of the wounds of 12 years of conflict. And in so doing, that it will play an important role in contributing to efforts toward reconciliation and sustainable peace.” US ambassador Jeffrey De Laurentis, reiterated that the resolution is humanitarian in nature and added: “It is focused on all missing Syrians, regardless of ethnicity, religion or political affiliation. “Many Syrians have asked us to remember who this institution seeks to defend — the humans missing and detained with a full life yet to live. They are not statistics, they are spouses, children, siblings, parents, friends, colleagues. “As their harrowing testimonies show, we must deliver long-overdue answers to the victims and their families who deserve our support.” De Laurentis noted that Damascus had refused to engage with efforts to create the institution.
Russia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Maria Zabolotskaya, said that the General Assembly, “in violation of the UN Charter, is today being invited to create an instrument of pressure on Syria under a cynical humanitarian pretext, which has nothing to do with the true objectives of this enterprise.” She added that far from being independent or impartial, the mechanism “can only obediently fulfill the orders of its sponsors” and insisted that “in order to truly solve the problem of missing persons, developing substantive cooperation with Damascus is necessary, as is providing it with effective assistance and lifting illegal and unilateral sanctions that negatively affect these efforts, as well as humanitarian recovery on the whole.” She also called for an end to “foreign occupation of the country” and the repatriation of “foreign citizens present there.”
Bassam Sabbagh, Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, said the resolution is “politicized and targets the Syrian Arab Republic.”He added: “This draft clearly reflects flagrant interference in our internal affairs and provides new evidence of the hostile approach being pursued by certain Western states against Syria. At the heart of this group is the United States.”

The defense minister repeated past statements that “all options are on the table” to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Jerusalem Post/June 30/2023
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday said that Israel and its air force power will force Iran to withdraw from its close fighting with Jerusalem back thousands of kilometers to its borders. Speaking from the Air Force Officers Graduation Ceremony, Gallant said, “We will not come to terms with attempts by Iran to go wild in our area. We will act against them and strike them and send them back to their land of origin thousands of kilometers east from the State of Israel.”The defense minister repeated past statements that “all options are on the table” to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Iran's 'capital of terror' meeting
Gallant also emphasized Tehran’s global role in terror, noting a recent meeting in Iran with top Hamas terror leaders and terror leaders from various other organizations. “This was a meeting of terror in the capital of terror” to bring terror against Israel and the entire world. At the same ceremony, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would prevent Iran from smuggling precision weapons close to its borders. Likewise, Netanyahu said that the IDF would not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon and that it would defend Israel even if the West signed a new potential nuclear deal with Tehran. He called the new graduates, “the guardians of our skies,” saying that Israel “has a talent advantage…along with technology, but technology does not end humanity’s relevance,” noting that a core aspect of the Israeli air force’s strength is its personnel. Netanyahu repeated recent messages he has emphasized slamming any IDF reservists who have protested his judicial overhaul by calling on their fellow reservists to refuse to serve. IDF chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said, “the air force is a huge part of the IDF’s power and enables us to carry out precision strikes with power, flexibility and the ability to act decisively.” Halevi said that the coming decades are unpredictable for the air force, but “there will for sure be security threats to the State of Israel, against which we will need to remain strong. There will be disagreements, which is the sign of a healthy and involved Israeli society.” Despite internal disagreements, “we will always defend ourselves and the mission of maintaining security” must be above any of those disagreements. Israel Air Force Chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar surveyed decades of operations in which the air force made a decisive difference, saying he knew the new graduates would carry on this tradition. Bar warned against recent efforts “to disrupt the orchestra” of the air force by some protesting reservists, saying that all air force personnel must answer the call to duty regardless of their personal ideologies.

Netanyahu ‘drops part of judicial overhaul’
Reuters/June 30, 2023
JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has dropped a central element of a bitterly contested plan to roll back Supreme Court powers that has roiled Israel for months, though he was still pursuing changes to the way judges are selected. In a filmed interview posted on the Wall Street Journal website on Thursday, Netanyahu said he was no longer seeking to grant parliament the authority to overturn Supreme Court rulings. “I threw that out,” Netanyahu said of the highly disputed “override clause.” He said that another part of his nationalist-religious government’s plan that would give the ruling coalition decisive sway in appointing judges will be changed but not scrapped.
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Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks upset his far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who accused the Israeli prime minister of caving to protesters. “The way of choosing judges is not going to be the current structure but it’s not going to be the original structure,” Netanyahu said. Netanyahu’s remarks upset his far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who accused the premier of caving to protesters. “We were elected to bring governance and change, the reform is a cornerstone of this promise,” Ben-Gvir tweeted. Netanyahu’s government unveiled its plan to overhaul Israel’s justice system in January soon after it came to power, saying the Supreme Court had been increasingly encroaching into political areas where it had no authority. The plan triggered mass protests, with critics saying it was a threat to democracy. Washington urged Netanyahu to seek broad agreements over reforms instead of rapidly driving unilateral changes it said would compromise Israel’s democratic health. After weeks of demonstrations and with financial markets increasingly nervous over the proposed changes and the ensuing political upheaval, Netanyahu paused the plan in late March for compromise talks with the opposition. But after those talks were suspended this month, Netanyahu said he would press on with judicial changes. His coalition began work this week on a new bill that would reduce Supreme Court power to rule against the government by limiting “reasonableness” as a standard of judicial review. Opposition leaders offered no immediate reaction to the latest comments by Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges he denies. His office did not offer additional details.

Israel’s president to address US Congress on July 19
AP/June 30, 2023
WASHINGTON: Israeli President Isaac Herzog will address a joint meeting of US Congress on July 19 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Israel’s statehood and to reaffirm his nation’s special relationship with the US, congressional leaders announced on Thursday. “The world is better off when America and Israel work together,” said the announcement from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “Eleven minutes after declaring independence in 1948, the US was the first to recognize the state of Israel, and today, we continue to strengthen the unbreakable bond between our two democracies.”
McCarthy addressed Israel’s parliament in May. It was the first time in 25 years, a sitting speaker of the House had addressed Israel’s Knesset, and it came in a period of fraught relations between Israel’s government and President Joe Biden. McCarthy noted that the only other president of Israel to address a joint meeting of Congress was Herzog’s father, President Chaim Herzog, more than 35 years ago. The Israeli presidency is a largely ceremonial office meant to serve as a unifying force and moral compass in a diverse and often divided country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed Congress three times — most recently in 2015, when Republican leaders invited him to deliver a speech railing against then-President Barack Obama’s emerging nuclear agreement with Iran. The speech infuriated the White House and fellow Democratic leaders. Biden, then Obama’s vice president, was traveling abroad and did not attend Netanyahu’s address — when the vice president normally would have sat behind the Israeli leader during those remarks. Netanyahu, who returned to office last December, has known Biden for decades. But the two have disagreed over Netanyahu’s proposed overhaul of Israel’s judicial system, which critics see as a move toward authoritarianism, as well as his hard-line government’s expansion of West Bank settlements and punitive measures against the Palestinians. Netanyahu’s position runs in direct opposition to Biden’s moves to boost US-Palestinian relations. Biden said in March there were no plans to invite Netanyahu to the White House “in the near term.”In a challenge to Biden, McCarthy said in May that he would invite Netanyahu to speak to Congress if Biden doesn’t. House Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi had invited Herzog to address Congress last year, and Schumer met with Herzog in Israel during a visit in February. Schumer said Herzog “has always been a great leader and is particularly influential at this time.” “This invitation to speak at a joint meeting of Congress is a testament to the decades of bipartisan and bicameral support for Israel that transcends party politics and I look forward to welcoming him to the Capitol,” Schumer said.

UN warns that 90% of Syrians are below the poverty line, while millions face cuts in food aid
AP/June 30, 2023
UNITED NATIONS: The UN humanitarian chief warned Thursday that the 12-year conflict in Syria has pushed 90 percent of its population below the poverty line, and that millions face cuts in food aid next month because of a funding shortfall. Martin Griffiths said that the $5.4 billion UN humanitarian appeal for Syria – the world’s largest – is only 12 percent funded, meaning that emergency food aid for millions of Syrians could be cut by 40 percent in July. Griffiths delivered the grim news to the UN Security Council along with an appeal to members to renew the authorization for the delivery of aid to the country’s rebel-held northwest from Turkiye, which expires July 10. But Russia’s UN ambassador, whose country is Syria’s most important ally, called the cross-border aid deliveries “a zero-sum game” that is undermining Syria’s sovereignty, discriminating against government-controlled territory, and fueling illegal armed groups including “terrorists in Idlib.” Syria’s uprising-turned conflict, now in its 13th year, has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of its prewar population of 23 million. A deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked large swaths of Syria in February, further compounding its misery.
Griffiths, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs who returned Wednesday from Damascus, said the Syrian people are facing “profound humanitarian challenges.” He said they were gathering Thursday on the Muslim holy day Eid Al-Adha “with less food on their plates, little fuel in their stoves, and limited water in their homes” and their hardship comes at a time when the UN and its humanitarian partners have limited means to help. Russia’s Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the emergency humanitarian appeal for $397 million to help earthquake victims was funded in the first months, but the overall UN appeal for Syria was only 12 percent funded near the end of June. And he accused the US and its allies of spending far more on weapons for Ukraine than the $55 billion the UN is seeking for global humanitarian needs this year, saying “this lays out Western priorities very clearly.”
Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward retorted that the UK’s $190 million pledge on June 15 brought their contribution to Syria to over $4.8 billion to date and said: “I look forward to Russia announcing its contribution in due course following the recent announcement that Russia spends $2 billion a year on the Wagner Group.”Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday, after the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and his forces staged a revolt inside Russia, that Wagner and its founder had received almost $2 billion from the Russian government in the past year.
Woodward, who visited the Turkish-Syria border earlier this month, echoed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for a 12-month extension of the authorization for cross-border aid deliveries to ensure humanitarian access to 4.1 million people in Syria’s northwest. In January, the council approved a resolution extending humanitarian aid deliveries to Idlib for six months until July 10 as Russia demanded. Many of the people sheltering in the area have been internally displaced by the conflict. The resolution allowed for aid deliveries to continue through the Bab Al-Hawa crossing, but after the earthquake Syria’s President Bashar Assad allowed aid to go through two additional crossings at Bab Al-Salameh and Al-Rai. US deputy ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, who said the United States made its largest commitment to Syria of $920 million on June 15, called it “essential” to keep all three crossings open for 12 months. He cited Guterres’ latest report which said anything less would be inadequate to meet humanitarian needs in the northwest which have never been greater. The UN chief called it “a moral and humanitarian imperative.” Russia and Syria have pressed for aid deliveries to the northwest across conflict lines and UN aid chief Griffiths said a 10-truck convoy from Aleppo recently traveled from Aleppo to Idlib safely, with aid for some 22,000 people. But Russia’s Nebenzia dismissed it as the only cross-line delivery in the last six months “clearly timed to coincide with today’s meeting.”“Do you seriously expect us to consider the situation with cross-line convoys to be satisfactory after this?,” he asked. Griffiths said expanding early recovery programs – another key Syrian and Russian demand – “is the humanitarian community’s best chance to support the future of the Syrian people.” He urged a stronger international consensus on the importance of these programs and a relaxation of rules to allow not only vocational training but mentoring for young people, construction of irrigation systems without qualifying them as “development” projects, and the opening of schools regardless of whether they are described as “rehabilitated” or “reconstructed.”

EU leaders resume migration talks as Poland and Hungary demand that the rules be changed
AP/June 30, 2023
BRUSSELS: European Union leaders opened a second day of migration talks Friday as Poland and Hungary continued to block progress after they were outvoted earlier this month on a plan to share refugees arriving in Europe among the 27 member countries.
Some leaders said that Poland and Hungary seemed to be fighting a battle started years ago, when well over 1 million migrants entered Europe, most of them refugees fleeing Syria, in 2015 and sparked one of the bloc’s biggest crises. Others said the two simply must not be permitted to break EU rules. “My feeling was there’s a lot of bitterness about the debates on migration from 2015,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told reporters at EU headquarters in Brussels. “If you just say no to everything and everybody else tries to compromise that doesn’t really work out.”Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said that “Hungary was totally adamant” about having the issue removed altogether from the leader’s final summit communique. “It was not about let’s do it this way or the other way. It was like, ‘we don’t want to see migration being mentioned at all.’”Golob confirmed that European Council President Charles Michel, who is chairing the summit, is likely to issue a separate chairman’s statement that does not require the endorsement of member countries. Earlier this month, EU countries made a breakthrough on asylum law reform, sealing an agreement on a plan to share responsibility for migrants entering Europe without authorization. The deal balanced the obligation for countries where most migrants arrive to process and lodge them against the requirement for other members to provide support, whether financial or by hosting refugees. Countries refusing to take migrants in could pay 20,000 euros ($21,400) per person instead.
The agreement was sealed with a qualified majority vote of around two-thirds. Only Poland and Hungary voted against. Their aim at the summit has been to challenge the legal validity of that decision. Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Hungarian state radio he would continue blocking new migration rules until consensus was reached, casting the proposal as a grave threat to his country. “We will only accept any rule if everyone agrees on it, if there’s a consensus decision,” Orban said Friday. “They want to require us to build migrant ghettos in Hungary,” he continued. “We do not intend to carry out these decisions, we say this openly.” Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said that caving in to such demands would set a dangerous precedent. “The fact is, Poland and Hungary do not agree with the (EU) treaty,” he told reporters. “It has been decided, so we cannot come back and say now, ‘ok, we do not agree,’ because then everybody will open the list of all the decisions we took the last 10 years.” Ahead of the meeting, Poland’s prime minister had insisted that his country wouldn’t be forced to accept European Union rules on migration, and he vowed to veto any plan that might force countries to take in refugees.
“An attack on Europe is underway. Europe’s borders are not secure. The safety of the inhabitants of our continent is at stake,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a video statement. He said he would propose “a plan for secure borders” to the leaders.
Morawiecki said that his “plan is clear — ‘no’ to forced relocation of immigrants, ‘no’ to violations of veto rights by individual states and ‘no’ to violations of the principle of freedom, the principle of decision-making by states alone, ‘no’ to Brussels-imposed penalties on states.” Poland and Hungary, along with the Czech Republic, refused to accept migrant quotas hastily imposed in 2015. The EU’s top court ruled in 2020 that they had failed to respect the bloc’s laws. The number of people trying to enter the EU without authorization is on the rise. The border and coast guard agency Frontex said that more than 50,300 attempts were made from January to May. It’s more than double in the same period last year, and the most since 2017. But migrant arrivals in Europe dwarf those seen in Turkiye, Lebanon or Jordan. At the same time, Poland is looking after around 1 million refugees from Ukraine. While Hungary and Poland are unlikely to succeed in their quest to have the rules overturned, their anti-immigrant stance — backed by other members like Austria, Denmark or Sweden — has helped ensure that the EU’s policies focus on keeping people out and quickly deporting those not entitled to stay.

Iraq’s prized modern art plagued by forgery, trafficking
AFP/June 30/2023
BAGHDAD: Many masterpieces of Iraqi painting were looted or destroyed during the years of war, but now the country’s artistic heritage faces another threat: rampant counterfeiting and illicit trafficking. Adorning a wall of Baghdad’s modern art museum, the painting “Death to Colonialism,” with its somber blues and greys, by pioneering Iraqi artist Shakir Hassan Al-Said is one of the rare pieces from its era still on public display. Painted in the 1970s, toward the end of the heyday of Iraq’s modern art movement, it survived the chaos that followed the 2003 US-led invasion when the museum’s 8,000-strong collection was decimated by looters. “The works of Shakir Hassan Al-Said are extremely valuable as far as Iraqi modern art goes as well as art from the Middle East,” said Tamara Chalabi, co-founder and head of the Ruya Foundation for Contemporary Art.
Paintings by Said, who established the influential Baghdad Modern Art Group alongside painter and sculptor Jewad Salim, can fetch up to $100,000 at auction. The late artist’s family says it has successfully prevented the sale of numerous counterfeits of his works, and is in regular contact with international auction houses and galleries about his oeuvre. “Recently, we spotted a fake in Baghdad,” said the artist’s 50-year-old son, Mohammed Shakir Hassan Al-Said. He contacted the gallery through social media to demand the painting be taken down — but said the management refused, claiming it was authentic. Said’s family, in an effort to safeguard his legacy after his death in 2004, has meticulously documented his comprehensive works, comprising around 3,000 pieces.
Today, they are working on the publication of a catalogue to provide “immunity” against the fakes that have proliferated after 2003, his son told AFP. The primary targets of forgers and traffickers within and outside Iraq are the works of its modern pioneers from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
Many of them were among the thousands of pieces looted from the country’s museums and homes during the security vacuum after dictator Saddam Hussein fell. “Iraqi art is today one of the most important sources of artistic production in the Arab world,” said Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi, the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, a museum in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Kadhim Hayder and Dia Azzawi are among some of the most sought-after artists. “Nowadays some Iraqi artworks are sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the Emirati art collector told AFP. “Forgers are noticing the auction results... It’s enticing them to create better and better forgeries.” The authentication problem arises across the region — notably in Egypt, Lebanon and Syria — but “with Iraq it is especially acute because of the multiple layers of challenges: the exile of artists, the successive wars,” said Qassemi.
For Chalabi, “forgery is part of the overall problem of corruption in Iraq which has become embedded in the system and is accepted by people.”
One of the largest collections lost was at the National Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad, which housed some of the country’s most treasured artworks from the 21st century. “Before 2003, we had 8,000 works,” said Ali Al-Doulaimi, the museum’s former director. “Today, there are around 2,000.”In the years after the invasion, “we acquired new works, and lost pieces were returned,” said Doulaimi. The museum and Ministry of Culture are fighting to return some of Iraq’s stolen art. They have provided Interpol with information about 100 missing pieces, said Doulaimi, who recently retired. However, it is difficult to determine the true extent of what is missing — with the unreliable inventory hand-written by the previous administration. In 2017, British auction house Christie’s announced it was withdrawing a painting by Iraqi artist Faeq Hassan after a “disagreement over ownership.”
An Iraqi official explained at the time that the painting was likely smuggled out of the country after being on display at an officer’s club affiliated with the Ministry of Defense. The painting was never returned to Iraq. At the Akkad gallery in Baghdad, owner Hayder Hachem Naji said the increase in counterfeits “damages the reputation of Iraqi art.” “Sometimes forgers will use an old painting to repaint on — the frame and the canvas will be old,” said the 54-year-old gallery owner. Recently, he was asked to exhibit a painting attributed to well-known Cubist-influenced painter Hafidh Al-Droubi. Its owner hoped to sell it for $40,000 — but Naji politely declined. “Honestly, it was a very high-quality counterfeit,” he said.

Iraqis breach Sweden mission as Muslim nations denounce Koran burning
Agence France Presse/June 30/2023
Iraqi protesters have breached Sweden's embassy in Baghdad, angered by a Koran burning outside a Stockholm mosque that sparked condemnation across the Muslim world.
A crowd of supporters of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr stayed inside the compound for about 15 minutes, then left as security forces deployed, an AFP photographer said. "Our constitution is the Koran," read a message on leaflets carried by the protesters, and a message sprayed on the compound's gate said "Yes, yes to the Koran". The protest came a day after an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Islamic holy book and set several pages alight in front of the capital's largest mosque. Swedish police had granted him a permit in line with free-speech protections, but authorities later said they had opened an investigation over "agitation". "Within 10 days I will burn the Iraqi flag and the Koran in front of Iraq's embassy in Stockholm," Momika told a Swedish newspaper late Thursday. The Koran burning, coinciding with the start of the Muslim Eid al-Adha and the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, sparked anger across and beyond the Middle East. Iraq's foreign ministry condemned Sweden's decision to grant an "extremist" permission to burn the Koran and said such acts "inflame the feelings of Muslims around the world and represent a dangerous provocation". Late Thursday, the Iraqi foreign ministry said it had summoned the Swedish ambassador to Baghdad to inform her of the country's "strong protest" over the authorization decision. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Washington was "deeply concerned by the act" of the Koran burning which he said could threaten religious minorities in Sweden, but supported the decision to allow the demonstration. "Issuing the permit... is not an endorsement of the demonstration's actions," Miller said. Saudi Arabia, which hosted around 1.8 million hajj pilgrims, denounced the Koran burning, with the foreign ministry calling it part of "hateful and repeated attacks" on Islam.
'Assault on faith'
The 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation said it would hold an "emergency meeting" to discuss the situation. An OIC official said the talks would most probably be held on Sunday in the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah. Iran joined in the condemnation, with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian saying the Koran burning was an "insult" against "religious sanctities". "Calling these behaviors freedom and democracy only encourage terrorism and extremism," he warned in a tweet. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also denounced Sweden for allowing a protest, further clouding the Nordic nation's chances of quickly joining NATO. "We will eventually teach the arrogant Westerners that insulting Muslims is not freedom of thought," Erdogan said in televised remarks. "We will show our reaction in the strongest possible terms, until a determined victory against terrorist organizations and Islamophobia is achieved." Egypt called the Koran burning a "disgraceful act provoking the feelings of Muslims" as they mark Eid, while the Cairo-based Arab League branded it an "assault on the core of our Islamic faith". The United Arab Emirates foreign ministry said it had summoned the Swedish ambassador and "stressed that Sweden disregarded its international responsibilities and demonstrated a lack of respect for social values".
Sweden 'complacent' -
Kuwait said perpetrators of "hostile acts" must be brought to justice and "prevented from using the principle of freedoms as a ploy to justify hostility against Islam or any holy faith". Bahrain said that "insulting religions... generates hatred, extremism and violence", while Libya's foreign ministry said such action "contradicts international efforts aimed at bolstering tolerance and moderation". In neighboring Tunisia, the foreign ministry denounced an "odious crime" while Morocco summoned Sweden's charge d'affaires in Rabat and recalled its ambassador over "these repeated provocations, committed under the complacent gaze of the Swedish government". The Palestinian foreign ministry denounced a "flagrant attack on human rights, values of tolerance, acceptance of others, democracy and peaceful coexistence". Syria slammed a "disgraceful act" while Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon said Swedish authorities were "complicit in the crime". Further afield, Pakistan's foreign ministry said it "strongly condemns the despicable act", while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was "disgusted and appalled" by the Koran burning in front of a mosque. "I have no words to adequately condemn this anti-Islam act, which is clearly meant to hurt the feelings of Muslims around the world," Sharif said. Afghanistan's Taliban government, which enforces a strict interpretation of Islamic law, also reacted angrily, labelling the Koran burning an act of "utter contempt towards this noble religion".

Hundreds arrested as France rocked by new protests over police killing
Associated Press/June 30, 2023
Protesters erected barricades, lit fires and shot fireworks at police in French streets overnight as tensions grew over the deadly police shooting of a 17-year-old that has shocked the nation. More than 600 people were arrested and at least 200 police officers injured as the government struggled to restore order on a third night of unrest. Armored police vehicles rammed through the charred remains of cars that had been flipped and set ablaze in the northwestern Paris suburb of Nanterre, where a police officer shot the teen identified only by his first name, Nahel. On the other side of Paris, protesters lit a fire at the city hall of the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois and set a bus depot ablaze in Aubervilliers. The French capital also saw fires and some stores ransacked. In the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, police sought to disperse violent groups in the city center, regional authorities said.
President Emmanuel Macron planned to leave an EU summit in Brussels, where France plays a major role in European policymaking, to return to Paris and hold an emergency security meeting Friday. Some 40,000 police officers were deployed to quell the protests. Police detained 667 people, the interior minister said; 307 of those were in the Paris region alone, according to the Paris police headquarters. Around 200 police officers were injured, according to a national police spokesperson. No information was available about injuries among the rest of the population.
Schools, town halls and police stations were targeted by people setting fires, and police used tear gas, water cannons and dispersion grenades against rioters, the spokesperson said. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Friday denounced what he called a night of "rare violence." His office described the arrests as a sharp increase on previous operations as part of an overall government efforts to be "extremely firm" with rioters.
The government has stopped short of declaring a state of emergency — a measure taken to quell weeks of rioting around France that followed the accidental death of two boys fleeing police in 2005. The police officer accused of pulling the trigger Tuesday was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide after prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude "the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met." Preliminary charges mean investigating magistrates strongly suspect wrongdoing but need to investigate more before sending a case to trial.
The detained police officer's lawyer, speaking on French TV channel BFMTV, said the officer was sorry and "devastated." The officer did what he thought was necessary in the moment, attorney Laurent-Franck Lienard told the news outlet. "He doesn't get up in the morning to kill people," Lienard said of the officer, whose name has not been released as per French practice in criminal cases. "He really didn't want to kill."The shooting captured on video shocked France and stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods. The teenager's family and their lawyers haven't said the police shooting was race-related and they didn't release his surname or details about him. Still, anti-racism activists renewed their complaints about police behavior. "We have to go beyond saying that things need to calm down," said Dominique Sopo, head of the campaign group SOS Racisme. "The issue here is how do we make it so that we have a police force that when they see Blacks and Arabs, don't tend to shout at them, use racist terms against them and in some cases, shoot them in the head."
In Nanterre, a peaceful march Thursday afternoon in honor of Nahel was followed by escalating confrontations, with smoke billowing from cars and garbage bins set ablaze. Tensions rose in places across France throughout the day. In the usually tranquil Pyrenees town of Pau in southwestern France, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a police office, national police said. Vehicles were set on fire in Toulouse and a tramway train was torched in a suburb of Lyon, police said. Bus and tram services in the Paris area shut as a precaution, and many tram lines remained shut for Friday morning rush hour.
The town of Clamart, home to 54,000 people in the French capital's southwest suburbs, imposed an overnight curfew through Monday because of the risk of public disturbances. A similar curfew was announced in the town of Neuilly-sur-Marne in the eastern suburbs.
The unrest extended as far as Brussels, the Belgian capital city and EU administrative hub, where about a dozen people were detained during scuffles related to the shooting in France. Police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere said that several fires were brought under control. Prache, the Nanterre prosecutor, said officers tried to stop Nahel because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish license plates in a bus lane. He allegedly ran a red light to avoid being stopped then got stuck in traffic.
Both officers said they drew their guns to prevent him from fleeing. The officer who fired the shot said he feared he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car, according to Prache. The scenes in France's suburbs echoed 2005, when the deaths of 15-year-old Bouna Traoré and 17-year-old Zyed Benna led to three weeks of riots, exposing anger and resentment in neglected housing projects. The boys were electrocuted after hiding from police in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois. Deadly use of firearms is less common in France than in the United States, though several people have died or been wounded by French police in recent years, prompting demands for more accountability. France also saw protests against racial injustice after George Floyd's killing by police in Minnesota. A police spokesperson said 13 people who didn't comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by police last year. This year, three people, including Nahel, have died in similar circumstances.

French Prime Minister: All possibilities are on the table to restore order in France
NNA/June 30/2023
French Prime Minister Elizabeth Born confirmed today, Friday, that the executive authority is studying "all possibilities" to restore order in France, including the imposition of a state of emergency, after riots continued for a third night in a row across the country, according to "Agence France-Presse". In response to a question during a press conference about the possibility of resorting to imposing a state of emergency, the Prime Minister said: "We will study all possibilities during a meeting with the President of the Republic at 13:00. I will not answer you now. But we are studying all possibilities, prioritizing the restoration of the republican system on all French lands."

Olympics Pool On Fire In Paris As Anti-Police Riots Resume For Third Night In France
RT/June 30/2023
Violent clashes erupted for the third consecutive night in France over the fatal police shooting of a teenager, resulting in a swimming pool construction site for the upcoming Paris Olympics being consumed by flames. President Emmanuel Macron swiftly returned from a European Union summit in Brussels to preside over an urgent crisis meeting with ministers on Friday. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin described the events as a night of "exceptional violence." Officials reported more than 870 people arrested. The unrest follows a commemorative march held on Thursday in honor of the 17-year-old identified as Nahel M, who was shot by police.

Four men guilty over French far-right terror plot
AFP/June 30, 2023
A Paris court Friday sentenced to prison four men from a French neo-Nazi group who discussed attacks on mosques and Jewish targets in an online chat group. A 27-year-old former voluntary police officer accused of being the ringleader got 18 years in jail, the longest term, with the judge concluding he had "an undeniable influence over the group."Named as Alexandre Gilet, he was arrested after police learned he had ordered equipment that could be used for making explosives and was found in possession of weapons, including two Kalashnikov machine guns. The other three, one of whom was a minor at the time, were given lighter prison terms ranging from five to three years, but are expected to serve non-custodial sentences.Prosecutors alleged during the trial that the four men, now aged between 22 and 28, joined a private internet chat group called "Operation WaffenKraft", where talks "very quickly turned to the preparation of terrorist projects". The Waffen-SS was the military branch of the Nazi's elite SS corps, which was founded by Adolf Hitler. The chat group discussed targets, including mosques as well as the headquarters of the Jewish council (CRIF) and the office of the anti-Jewish discrimination league (LICRA).

Ukraine aims to wear down Russian army distracted by infighting
Associated Press/June 30, 2023
The ambush had been postponed three times before Ukrainian commanders decided one recent night that conditions were finally right. Cloaked in darkness, a battalion of Kyiv's 129th brigade pressed ahead, advancing stealthily on unsuspecting Russian soldiers.
By the time the Russians situated along the front line realized they were under attack, it was too late. Ukraine's recapture of the small village of Neskuchne in the eastern Donetsk region on June 10 encapsulates the opening strategy of a major counteroffensive launched earlier this month. Small platoons bank on the element of surprise and, when successful, make incremental gains in territory and battlefield intelligence. "We had a few scenarios. In the end, I think we chose the best one. To come quietly, unexpectedly," said Serhii Zherebylo, the 41-year-old deputy commander of the battalion that retook Neskuchne.
Across the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) front line, Ukrainian forces are attempting to wear down the enemy and reshape battle lines to create more favorable conditions for a decisive, eastward advance. One strategy could be to try to split Russia's forces in two so that the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, is isolated from the rest of the territory it controls. Ukraine's troops were given a boost of morale last week by an armed rebellion in Russia that posed the most significant threat to President Vladimir Putin's power in more than two decades. Yet how the revolt by Wagner Group mercenaries under the command of Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin affects the trajectory of the war remains to be seen. The infighting is a major distraction for Russia's military and political leaders, but experts say the impact on the battlefield so far appears minimal.
For the past four days, Ukraine has stepped up operations around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Wagner forces seized after months of intense fighting and then handed over to Russian soldiers, who continue to lose some ground on their southern flank.
Along the front line, however, the strength of the Russian military remains unchanged since the revolt. It is not clear where Ukraine will attempt to decisively punch through, but any success will rely on newly formed, Western-equipped brigades that are not yet deployed. For now, Russia's deeply fortified positions and relative air superiority are slowing Ukraine's advance. Military experts say it is hard to say who has the advantage: Russia is dug-in with manpower and ammunition, while Ukraine is versatile, equipped with modern weaponry and clever on the battlefield. But with the autumn muddy season only four months away, some Ukrainian commanders say they are racing against time.
"Although Ukrainian forces are making small and steady gains, they do not yet have the operational initiative, meaning they are not dictating the tempo and terms of action," said Dylan Lee Lehrke, an analyst with the British security intelligence firm Janes.
"This has led some observers to claim the counteroffensive is not meeting expectations," Lehrke said. But it was never going to resemble Ukraine's blitzkrieg liberation of the eastern Kharkiv region last year, he said, because "Russian forces have had too long to prepare fortifications." Russian authorities say Ukraine has suffered substantial losses since the start of the counteroffensive — 259 tanks and 790 armored vehicles, according to Putin, whose claims could not be independently verified. Grinding battles are being waged in multiple combat zones. A catastrophic dam collapse last month in the southern Kherson region has altered the geography along the Dnieper River, giving Ukrainians more freedom of movement there. Russian military bloggers claim a small group of Ukrainian fighters are making gains in the area, although Ukrainian officials have not confirmed these reports.
Across the agricultural plains of the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian troops backed by tanks, artillery and drones appear to be chipping away more decisively against Russian positions. Ukrainian troops would deal a severe blow to Russian forces if they managed to regain access to the Sea of Azov from this direction, effectively cutting off Moscow's land bridge to Crimea. It's too early to determine whether this is a realistic goal. They are still a long way off. In an underground command center on the front, a Ukrainian Special Forces commander with the call sign "Hunter" stares intently at an aerial view of the lush green battlefield. His servicemen have just stormed an enemy position, but the return fire is constant. Russians blast rockets into the air, while his fighters hide and wait for orders. Hunter directs the drone operator to shoot. On the screen, a huge plume of black smoke swells in the air. A hit, he says.
The battle here will only get harder, analysts say.
Ukrainian troops are still several kilometers from Russia's main defensive lines. As they penetrate deeper into occupied territory, the fighters will have to contend with Russian defenses organized in a diagonal pattern, 10 kilometers deep in some areas, including minefields, anti-tank ditches and pyramid-shaped obstacles known as "dragon's teeth."And with each advance, they become more vulnerable to Russian air attacks. At least 130 square kilometers (50 square miles) of land has been regained in the south since the start of the counteroffensive, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said this week. It's not the pace many hoped for. A U.S. official familiar with the Biden administration thinking said the counteroffensive is a "long slog" that is testing Ukrainian forces in ways that few other episodes of the 16-month old war have. The official, who was not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that there never was expected to be a "D-Day moment," but that the early going suggests the pace of the counteroffensive will be "tough and challenging" for the Ukrainians. Unlike some of the earlier battles in the war, in which Russian forces showed little resistance or even fled the battlefield, Ukrainian forces are currently facing stiff resistance, the official said. In the northeast, Russian forces have stepped up offensive operations in the direction of the Kreminna forest near Lyman with the aim of securing a buffer to prevent incursions close to Moscow's supply lines, said Lehrke. But it may well have a secondary aim — of forcing more Ukrainian deployments, he said.
The dense forested area has proven to be notoriously difficult terrain.
"The Russians have sabotage groups going into the woods and there have been cases where they enter behind the first line of Ukrainian defenses," said Pavlo Yusov, a press officer with the National Guard's Thunderstorm brigade, currently in Lyman. Col. Volodymyr Silenko, a commander of the 30th Mechanized Brigade operating near Bakhmut, pays no mind to criticism over the pace of attacks. It's much more important to focus on how the adversary is thinking and responding, he said. "A war is not a competition of raw force and strength of weapons and people, it's more about who's more cunning," he said. Silenko knows the Russians watch his men, the same way he watches theirs; Moscow sees their movements, how they change, how they evolve. "Our job is to outsmart them," he said. Deception was a key part of Ukraine's most significant battlefield success to date, last fall's "Kherson ruse." By making it appear that the city of Kherson was the main target of that counteroffensive, Ukrainian forces were able to swiftly retake the northern Kharkiv region. "That was a master class in deception," said Lehrke. "Whether they can do the same this time remains to be seen."

Russia’s Lavrov: Ukraine playing ‘dangerous game’ over Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Reuters/June 30, 2023
MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday Ukraine was playing a dangerous game regarding the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia, accusing Kyiv of “pure lies” with statements suggesting that Moscow plans to blow up the plant. The UN atomic energy agency has frequently appealed to both sides to avoid shelling in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, which is located in southern Ukraine but is controlled by Russian forces. Lavrov said Russia had expressed its serious concerns about Ukraine’s “provocative actions.”

US rejoins Unesco in reversal of Trump withdrawal
AFP/June 30, 2023
he US rejoined Unesco on Friday, reversing its withdrawal under former president Donald Trump, the UN's cultural agency said. Mr Trump announced in 2017 that he was pulling the US out of Unesco, accusing the body of bias against Israel. The decision took effect in 2018. An extraordinary session of the UNbody's General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for the return of the US, an AFP reporter present at the vote said, with about 132 members voting in favour, 10 against and 15 abstentions. Dissenting voices included Iran, Syria, China and Russia, whose delegations appeared to seek to delay the vote through several statements on procedure and suggested amendments. The US, a founding member of Unesco, was a major contributor to its budget until 2011, when the body admitted Palestine as a member state. That triggered an end to the contributions under US law, leading up to the formal withdrawal announcement six years later.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 30-July 01/2023
Pakistan's Genocide
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/June 30, 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/119601/119601/
"The conflict resulted in the massacre of an estimated three million East Pakistani citizens, the ethnic cleansing of 10 million ethnic Bengalis who fled to India, and the rape of at least 200,000 women (some estimates put the number of rape victims at closer to 400,000)." — hinduamerican.org
"Hindus were the special targets of this violence, as documented by official government correspondence and documents from the United States, Pakistan, and India.... The Pakistan military's conflation of Hindu, Bengali, and Indian identities meant that all Bengalis (the majority of people in Bangladesh) were suspect.... In the eyes of the Pakistani military, Hindu, Bengali, and Indian identities were one and the same." — hinduamerican.org.
"Bengali Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, and other religious groups were also significantly affected. By the end of the first month in March 1971, 1.5 million Bengalis were displaced. By November 1971, 10 million Bengalis, the majority of whom were Hindu, had fled to India." — hinduamerican.org
"II]in the eyes of Western Pakistanis and their fundamentalist Muslim collaborators 'the Hindus among the Bengalis were as Jews to the Nazis: scum and vermin that should best be exterminated.'" — Rudolph Joseph Rummel (1932–2014), leading American scholar of genocides, quoted by sociologist Massimo Introvigne, bitterwinter.org, November 2, 2021.
The genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Pakistani military against millions of people due to their ethnicity, religion, language and political views urgently need to be called out and the perpetrators held accountable.
The genocide committed by Pakistan needs immediate recognition.
"According to Bangladesh Government estimates 3 million people were killed, over two-hundred thousand women were sexually and physically violated, and 10 million people were forced to cross the border into India, leaving behind their ancestral homes and worldly possessions just to save their lives and dignity of their women," wrote Stichting BASUG (Bangladesh Support Group), a non-governmental organization, together with other Bangladeshi diaspora organizations to the United Nations Secretary General on May 29.
"Over 20 million citizens were internally displaced in search of safety. Newspapers, magazines and publications which are available in libraries and archives all around the world bear testimony to the fact."
Although this genocide took place after the Turkish genocide of Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks (1913-1923), and after the German genocide of the Jews (1938-1945), it was no less deadly. The letter to the UN stated:
"We must recall that the 1971 GENOCIDE in Bangladesh conceived by the Pakistani authorities, planned and perpetrated by the Pakistani military aided by their Bihari and Bengali collaborators is one of the world's gravest mass atrocities witnessed after the Second World War."
The genocide committed against the Bengali nation by the Pakistani military, during the Bangladesh war of independence, began on March 25, 1971 with the launch of Operation Searchlight when the government of Pakistan (then West Pakistan) began a military crackdown on East Pakistan (Bangladesh) to suppress Bengali calls for self-determination.
On that day, the Pakistani military launched a campaign of genocide against the ethnic Bengali and Hindu religious communities in East Pakistan that would last for 10 months. This spurred the 10-month Bangladesh liberation war and later a 13-day India-Pakistan war. Both ended on December 16, 1971, with the surrender of Pakistan.
The recent letter from Stichting BASUG to the UN secretary general, demanded "the 'International Recognition of the 1971 GENOCIDE' committed against the Bengali nation by the Pakistani occupation army and their collaborators during Bangladesh War of Independence."
Dr. Rounaq Jahan, a Bangladeshi political scientist, details the grievances of the people in what was then East Pakistan that led them to demand independence from West Pakistan and the motives of Pakistani genocide perpetrators:
"The Bengalis had to defend not only the right to practice their own language, but other creative expressions of their culture such as literature, music, dance, and art. The Pakistani ruling elites looked upon Bengali language and culture as too 'Hindu leaning' and made repeated attempts to 'cleanse' it from Hindu influence. First, in the 1950s, attempts were made to force Bengalis to substitute Bengali words with Arabic and Urdu words. Then, in the 1960s, state-controlled media such as television and radio banned songs written by Rabindra Nath Tagore, a Bengali Hindu, who won the Nobel Prize in 1913 and whose poetry and songs were equally beloved by Bengali Hindus and Muslims. The attacks on their language and culture as 'Hindu leaning' alienated the Bengalis from the state- sponsored Islamic ideology of Pakistan, and as a result the Bengalis started emphasizing a more secular ideology and outlook.
"The Bengali nationalist movement was also fueled by a sense of economic exploitation. Though jute, the major export- earning commodity, was produced in East Pakistan, most of the economic investments took place in West Pakistan. A systematic transfer of resources took place from East to West Pakistan, creating a growing economic disparity and a feeling among the Bengalis that they were being treated as a colony by Pakistan."
The Hindu American Foundation notes that Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971 was the culmination of several longstanding factors, including linguistic and cultural repression, economic marginalization, political disenfranchisement, and a quest for greater provincial autonomy.
"The West Pakistani military and civilian elite sought to create a cohesive polity unified by Islam and the Urdu language. In the process, they suppressed the Bengali culture and language, which was viewed as closely linked to Hinduism and therefore, a threat to their conception of an Islamic nation.
"The Bangladeshi independence movement in 1971 was met with a brutal genocidal campaign of violence by the Pakistani army and local Islamist militias. The conflict resulted in the massacre of an estimated three million East Pakistani citizens, the ethnic cleansing of 10 million ethnic Bengalis who fled to India, and the rape of at least 200,000 women (some estimates put the number of rape victims at closer to 400,000). Hindus were the special targets of this violence, as documented by official government correspondence and documents from the United States, Pakistan, and India. However all Bengalis, regardless of religious identity were targeted. The Pakistan military's conflation of Hindu, Bengali, and Indian identities meant that all Bengalis (the majority of people in Bangladesh) were suspect.
"In the eyes of the Pakistani military, Hindu, Bengali, and Indian identities were one and the same. Although Hindus were a special target of the Pakistan military, Bengali Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, and other religious groups were also significantly affected. By the end of the first month in March 1971, 1.5 million Bengalis were displaced. By November 1971, 10 million Bengalis, the majority of whom were Hindu, had fled to India."
In the Harvard International Review, Kimtee Kundu recently wrote about the motives of the perpetrators of this genocide:
"Started as a mission to maintain autocratic Pakistani governance over the self-determination driven Bangladeshis, the operation intended to capture activists, intellectuals, and troopers. However, they were not the only victims. Humanitarian crisis broke loose as millions of civilians endured the violent realities of displacement, financial instability, trauma, and death.
"Pakistan's leaders also aimed to enforce Islamic unification of the west and the east. Due to differences between Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, intolerance spread from a multitude of aspects. Pakistan was predominantly an Islamic, Urdu speaking region; meanwhile, Bangladesh was both a Hindu and Islamic, Bangla speaking region. As the Pakistani leaders, or the then Muslim League, determined, these apparent differences made Bangladeshis undesirable and inferior, especially given the Pakistani agenda to create an Islamic nation. Consequently, the Bangla language—which relates more to Hinduism and Sanskrit—was deemed undesirable, and those who were Hindu were the primary targets. Fearing the dangers of war, over 10 million Bangladeshis fled."
"One of the goals of the West Pakistanis and their collaborators in 1971 was to exterminate the Hindu community by killing all males," noted Massimo Introvigne, a prominent sociologist of religions:
"The roots of the ideology considering the Eastern Pakistanis 'inferior' or 'bad' Muslim was... the accusation that they were 'crypto-Hindus,' and had included in their religious practices Hindu elements that had tainted their faith.
"Two third of the eight million refugees who escaped East Pakistan were Hindus. What the Western Pakistanis did not consider was that, faced with such an enormous influx of refugees, even the Indian politicians most reluctant to go to war would conclude that an armed conflict was an easier solution than accommodating in India the whole Hindu population of East Pakistan.
"A disproportionate number of Hindus, however, were killed in 1971. In [1971], Hindus were some 20% of the East Pakistan's population, yet it was estimated that they might have been 50% of those killed. American leading scholar of genocides Rudolph Joseph Rummel (1932–2014)... wrote that in the eyes of Western Pakistanis and their fundamentalist Muslim collaborators 'the Hindus among the Bengalis were as Jews to the Nazis: scum and vermin that should best be exterminated.'
"The parallel with the Nazi persecution of Jews is made even more appropriate by the fact that the Western Pakistani army compelled Hindus to have a yellow 'H' painted on their homes, thus designating those who lived there as targets for extermination.
"Hindu women, however, in most cases were not killed but massively raped, forced into prostitution, or forcibly married to Western Pakistani soldiers and local collaborator militiamen, just as it happened to their Muslim Bengali counterparts."
"Academic research and scholarship related to the study of genocide has largely recognized the historical event of 1971 as GENOCIDE," according the Stichting BASUG's letter to the UN.
" The recent issuance of a statement by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) recognizes the Genocide and calls for action by world bodies....
"The world body of Genocide scholarship is fully convinced of the fact that documentation available on Bangladesh Genocide in 1971 is quite adequate for recognition by the UN and countries across the globe...
"New generations across the world must know what happened in Bangladesh in 1971. We must learn from atrocities in the past to prevent future ones to achieve the universal goal of 'Never again', which was the prime goal while enacting the UN Genocide Convention. Early recognition of Bangladesh Genocide is crucial today to champion the cause of protecting human rights, practicing what we preach, and preventing more genocides to happen in the future while holding perpetrators accountable for the crime they committed.
"Therefore, we strongly demand that the 1971 GENOCIDE be recognized to give justice to the victims of the atrocities and bring the perpetrators to justice. We also call upon the United Nations General Assembly and other international entities to formally recognize the Bangladesh GENOCIDE of 1971 – one of the darkest yet most overlooked chapters in the human history. We believe that only through confronting the past with sincerity and truth, rising above narrow political interests, we can acknowledge our shared humanity and join hands for a safer, peaceful world."
The genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Pakistani military against millions of people due to their ethnicity, religion, language and political views urgently need to be called out and the perpetrators held accountable.
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute. She is also a research fellow for the Philos Project.
© 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.

The Horror of Being Christian in Muslim Pakistan
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/June 30/2023
Some of the Christian schoolgirls shot at and killed by a Muslim officer hired to protect them
The horrific persecution of Christians in Pakistan—whether at the hands of judges and police, or mobs and rapist gangs—continues to worsen, as evidenced by the last, fully documented month, that of May, 2023.
Most notably, on May 30, a Pakistani court sentenced Noman Masih, a 22-year-old Christian man, to death for “blasphemy” (in keeping with Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy statutes, which calls for the death penalty for anyone convicted of insulting Muhammad, the prophet of Islam).
Immediately following the sentencing, the accused’s lawyer, Lazar Allah Rakha, said:
I’m extremely disappointed by the conviction, because there was absolutely no case. There was no proof against Noman, and none of the witnesses produced by police could corroborate the blasphemy allegation against him… Despite so many contradictions in the case, I’m at a loss to understand why Bahawalpur Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Hafeez Ur Rehman sentenced Noman instead of acquitting him. This is murder of justice.
Noman was initially arrested four years earlier, in 2019, on “secret information” by police that he had printed insulting images of Muhammad and was randomly showing them to people. However, according to his father, sanitation worker Asghar Masih, “The allegations … are baseless. Noman was sleeping in the house when he was arrested, but the police have alleged that he was in a park showing blasphemous images to 9-10 people at 3:30 a.m.”
The past four years have been very draining for the family, the father added, both emotionally and financially: “Noman’s mother and I yearn for him every day… Our hearts broke today when our counsel informed us about the death verdict. But our faith in Christ has not waivered, and we trust God that He will rescue us from this suffering.”
A few days before this death sentencing, on May 18, Zahid Sohail, a Muslim police constable who was on his way to mosque prayers claims he overheard his neighbors, two Christian teenage boys, joking around with the name of Muhammad. So he started thrashing the boys, Simon Nadeem Masih, 14, and Adil Masih, 18. According to Adil’s father, Babar, “Sohail initially alleged that he was walking past the two boys when he overheard them ‘disrespecting’ prophet Muhammad and then laughing over it. He started beating Simon, and when Adil tried to save him, Sohail attacked him too.”
Neighbors and passersby soon gathered around. Continues Babar: “Both boys flatly denied Sohail’s allegation and said they had said nothing that involved a mention of the Muslim prophet. When local elders of the neighborhood asked Sohail to substantiate his accusation, he failed to satisfy them and left.”
Later that evening, however, police officers raided Babar’s house and arrested his son, Adil, as well as Simon. They too were jailed on the charge of insulting Muhammad under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy statutes, which calls for the death penalty.
“We were shocked to learn the contents of the First Information Report [FIR] in which Sohail alleged that Simon had called a puppy ‘Muhammad Ali,’ and both boys then joked about it,” said Babar, adding that the allegation is “completely baseless,” as Sohail had made no mention of a puppy when he first raised the issue: “No one in our street has dogs, and neither was there a puppy in the street when this incident took place. Sohail cooked up a false accusation against our children after failing to convince the locals about his earlier allegation.”
The father briefly met his son, Adil, on May 19, when police brought him to court to obtain the boys’ judicial remand: “Both boys were in a state of shock and fear and are still unable to understand why Sohail had gotten them arrested.”
Last reported, Babar Masih had not told his wife, who has a weak heart and already suffered two strokes:
She doesn’t know yet that Adil has been arrested on such a serious charge, and I don’t know how long I’ll be able to withhold this news from her. She’ll be devastated…. [W]e don’t know how long our children will be made to suffer in prison due to this false charge—this is sheer injustice.
According to the report, “Several people have been lynched over false accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan. At least 57 cases of alleged blasphemy were reported in Pakistan between Jan. 1 and May 10 [2023], while four blasphemy suspects were lynched or extrajudicially killed during the same period…”
Responding to this spike in numbers, retired Justice Nasira Javaid Iqbal urged the government to reconsider these draconian laws: “The blasphemy laws have been consistently misused to settle personal disputes, persecute minority groups, and incite mob violence and hatred. We demand prompt action and a collective effort by the government to address these human rights violations.”
Two days before these two Christian teenagers were arrested, on May 16, a Muslim policeman who was hired to protect a Catholic school run by the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary instead attacked the school and murdered two young girls. According to the initial report,
[Officer Alam] Khan who was on duty at the main gate, indiscriminately opened fire at the girls in the school-bus, as they were returning home [from attending school]. During the carnage, Ayesha (5 yrs), was killed and six other girls were left injured… [These girls] sustained a mix of minor and major injuries such as a broken arm to a bullet to the head.
A later report confirmed that a total two girls, the other being 9, were killed in the hail of bullets that Khan sprayed on their van.
Although the murderer, who is known to have a violent past, was arrested, officials already appear committed to exonerating him—on the claim that he acted out of “mental illness.” In the words of one report, “relatives of the victims and supporters of the school are protesting, as the incident has been officially blamed on the ‘mental health’ of the man, without investigating his possible relations with Muslim extremist groups.”
Another related explanation as to “why this horrific terrorist event occurred at the missionary school is due to a hatred of education for women, in radicalised Pakistan. Swat [where the school is located] has faced several anti-women’s education movements in the past, when it was under the stronghold of the Taliban.”
Discussing this incident, Hannah Chowdhry, a Pakistan law student in the UK, said:
This police officer was in position to protect these girls yet harboured extremely radical views. It beggars belief that safeguarding measures failed to pick up how inappropriate his deployment at a school was. The man was known to have mental illness and had two previous violent episodes—I’m sure an investigation will reveal a more sinister extremist background.
In yet another incident to be reported in May, a Muslim family—with the aid of police—beat, tortured, and illegally confined a Christian housecleaner, soon after she tried to resign due to pregnancy.
Over the previous five years, Asma Gulfam, a 28-year-old Catholic maid and mother of four, had worked for Huda Adnan. In early April, Asma notified Huda that she was five months pregnant and could not continue working due to a medical condition. Huda, however, refused to consent. A few days later, on Apr. 18, Huda accused the pregnant Christian woman of stealing 1 million rupees (USD $3,490) which had supposedly been forgotten in a bathroom. When she denied it, Huda dragged Asma into a room where four policemen were waiting.
As soon as they saw me [said Asma], the policemen led by Ijaz [Ahmed, police assistant sub-inspector] started hurling abuses and curses at me. They threatened to tear my clothes if I did not admit to the alleged theft, but when I refused, they pulled my hair and started beating me up mercilessly. During the torture, Ijaz also tried to pull my nails.
During this savage mauling, the pregnant women “began bleeding from the uterus due to the blows to her abdominal area, but the policemen and her employer’s husband continued hitting her”:
I cried and screamed for help, but no one came to rescue me. I have worked in that house for so many years, and not once had the couple accused me of any wrongdoing. I worked very hard and honestly, because for me this was a good testimony of my Christian faith. I was held hostage in Huda’s house all this time [eight days] during which I was repeatedly tortured. My assailants rebuked me for being a Christian and said no one could save me from them …
When her husband, rickshaw driver Gulfam Masih, went to police to report her missing, officers arrested him instead: “They kept him in illegal confinement for a week and released him on April 26, only after my health worsened.”
He rushed her to a hospital, where a medical examination confirmed that she “had been physically abused…. My unborn child’s life was at serious risk due to internal hemorrhaging, but doctors managed to save it.”
As soon as she was able to work, Asma reported her illegal confinement and beating to police, but officers dismissed her complaint without even bothering to question her. Angered that she had the temerity to report them, the Muslim family registered a theft charge against Asma and her husband, which police did take very seriously.
“I can now only appeal to our community leaders and government high-ups to save us and our children from this persecution,” Asma was quoted as last saying.
Discussing Asma’s travails, Imran Sahotra of the Christian Awakening Movement, said
Many poor Christians are victimized through false allegations, including blasphemy, if they choose to discontinue working for their Muslim employers. The pattern is quite similar when you examine such cases…. The Muslim family used its influence to discharge Asma’s complaint against her torture and then registered a false FIR against the couple to ‘teach them a lesson.’ The case shows how the vulnerable Christian community does not have access to justice in Pakistan…. The police officer must be punished, because the poor woman could have lost her unborn child or even died herself due to his torture.
If this is how Muslim authorities in Pakistan behave, it should be no surprise to learn that the general populace persecutes and preys on Christians with total impunity. Two similar stories, also from May, make this clear.
First, on May 13, a group of 17 Muslim men, including known child molesters, broke into a church compound during a Christian wedding. According to the report,
The Muslim men harassed young women and minor boys forcing Naeem Masih and his relatives who were hosting the [wedding] ceremony to ask the paedophiles to leave. The intruders refused to leave, however, and began physically assaulting women and boys; one of them chased a 14 year old boy, Hanook Masih, and bit his bottom. Hanook then slapped the Muslim sexual predator and began to get beaten by several of the Muslim men. At this point it became too much to bear and the Christian men in attendance forcibly removed the Muslim sexual predators from the Church. Some of the men even chose to miss the service to guard the entrance preventing the re-entry of the sexual perverts.
Discussing these intruders—especially their two ringleaders, both of whom are named Muhammad—Naeem Masih, said: “[They] ruined my daughter’s wedding and intimidated our guests in such a perverted way—they should be arrested!”
The family filed a complaint with police citing the “harassment and sexual assault of minors attending the marriage of his daughter.” In response, on the following day, according to Naeem, “Muhammad Awais arrived at the main corner of our street and began shouting out death threats for any Christian that dared file an application against the paedophile-gang. He abused Christians again using the word choora to insult them with many vulgar expletives.”
Even though the Christian family had not removed their complaint, thereby risking their lives, police were very slow to move and appear to have been sharing information with the culprits. When police finally did register the complaint,
Muslim families became … enraged. During the early morning of 17th May around 2:30 am, the culprit Muhammad Awais with other armed supporters came … and started firing guns in the air while shouting abuse at local Christians. Hearing the noise, members of the Christian community … arrived at the square and asked Muhammad Awais to stop… The Muslim mob opened fire at the Christians who fortunately succeeded in hiding themselves behind the walls of local buildings. The culprits then aimed their shots at a cross on the main gate of Awami Church and vandalized their security cameras. While this happened Christians hid in their homes terrified that they would be shot and killed if they ventured out. Eventually the mob disappeared, hurling abuse and shouting threats of death and the rape of Christian boys and girls if they continued to pursue the police for an investigation.
“We were extremely terrified when the Muslim men fired at our men and the church,” continued Naeem. “They intended to kill us!”
Although the Christians again turned to police, this time adding the gun shots to their charges, police, as of last reporting, had not arrested “any of the culprits.”
Discussing this situation, Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee for British Asian Christian Association, said:
This is a particularly alarming incident. A Muslim gang of sexual perverts with many of them exhibiting bisexual paedophilic behaviour have harassed and sexually assaulted children and women at a public event. I am quite certain that their behaviour would not occur in a mosque or Muslim marriage ceremony. Worryingly, Christians are increasingly being targeted by sex attacks because of their vulnerability. It beggars belief that the local Muslim community are seeking a compromise deal when the perpetrators are known sex offenders … [M]ore must be done by Pak-authorities to prosecute sex-offenders so that such brazen attacks are ended.
Finally, on May 3, as some young Christian girls were exiting church after a prayer meeting, “several Muslim men starting circling the women on their bikes, catcalling and hooting at them,” says a report. “This had been going on for a while and on many occasions Christians from the church requested the men to stop harassing the girls.”
On this particular occasion, a nearby Christian shopkeeper, Akash Masih, intervened on behalf of the girls, “tell[ing] the men to not come before the church gates, especially after the church service ends, as the women were scared and uncomfortable.” The gang responded by calling for more Muslim men to add to their numbers before they jumped and “brutally beat” Akash as well as two other Christian men who had come to his aid. Several Christians from the community “attempted to stop the beating of the young Christian men, however, the violent Muslim gang could not be stopped and they continued to beat and abuse the Christians.”
Speaking later and suffering from multiple injuries, Akash Masih (26 yrs), said:
Over a long period of time, these boys have been harassing our girls, catcalling them and hooting using inappropriate gestures. Enough was enough, it became unbearable. How could we allow them to disrespect our women like this? We contacted local police but they did nothing.
Although ineffective as usual, there was a “price” to pay for contacting police. According to the report,
Incensed by the refusal of Christians to back down from their pursuit of justice [by refusing to withdraw their First Information Report], the culprits fomented hatred against local Christians and formed a mob that attacked the houses and businesses of the Christian community on 22nd May. The mob smashed doors and windows, destroyed stalls outside shops, damaged produce and beat Christians. Around 7:30pm Yaqoob Masih [father of Akash] was sitting peacefully in his small grocery shop, when suddenly the violent mob attacked him, his nephew and his wife [graphic video of attack here]. They repeatedly and brutally struck Yaqoob and his nephew with large planks. They continued their destruction by vandalising a shop counter, and then destroyed a monitor and ruined fruit and vegetables. Parveen Bibi (55 yrs), Yaqoob’s wife, was slapped with extreme force and suffered other physical and verbal abuse.
Yaqoob, his wife and nephew were all hospitalized and left with injuries. “The injuries have left Yaqoob incapacitated and he has not been back to his shop. He is also suffering from PTSD and anxiety.”
As of the latest reporting, “police have not yet arrested any of the culprits.”
Discussing their plight, Abid Masih, another local Christian, said: “This situation will not deter us no matter what happens we will pursue justice. We cannot leave our women vulnerable to the predatory instincts of local Muslims.”
Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee for British Asian Christian Association, added:
This has been an abysmal attack on a vulnerable Christian community. It must be terrifying if not soul-sapping to have suffered such a brazen attack, knowing the next one is days away and the authorities meant to protect you have no desire to help. The men in this community have been brave enough and will continue to defend the women from the harassment of local Muslims. However, with an insouciant local police force it is inevitable that further attacks will occur.
Chowdhry concluded by emphasizing the scope of the task at hand:
The mindset of a whole nation must be changed—empowered Muslims must be taught to respect the minorities living amongst them.

What US presidential hopefuls will be talking about … and what they won’t
Luke Coffey/Arab News/June 30, 2023
Campaigning for the next US presidential election in November 2024,has started. Already, several declared candidates seeking their party’s nomination are crisscrossing the country to seek support. Townhall meetings and rallies are becoming a regular feature in Iowa and New Hampshire, states that play an important role in the early stages of the election process. The toxic political environment in recent years has left the US divided. High inflation, concerns over healthcare, the increasing cost of higher education, and the incessant culture wars, focus the electorate’s mind on domestic issues. When American voters go to the polls, they’re voting on the “bread-and-butter” issues: jobs, the economy, education, and healthcare. They are not voting on foreign policy issues.
This view is backed up by regular polling that shows the top election issues Americans care about rarely include international affairs, unless America is at war. Also, when Americans show interest in foreign policy related matters, it is usually on issues such as climate change and immigration that have a major domestic policy component to them. However, when foreign policy is debated in the coming months, expect three top issues to dominate the agenda. The first is Ukraine. Under normal circumstances, the idea of the US supporting Ukraine’s self-defense against a Russian invasion would not be divisive. But in the current climate, some on America’s political far rightwing have made support for Ukraine a needlessly contentious issue.
Those candidates who are against more US military assistance to Ukraine should tread carefully with their opposition. Polling shows that the mood of the American public, including Republicans, tells a different story. More than two-thirds of Americans support arming Ukraine, including most Republicans. Also, there remains very strong bipartisan and bicameral support for Ukraine in the US Congress.
Regular polling shows the top election issues Americans care about rarely include international affairs, unless America is at war. Another issue that will gain a lot of attention in the presidential campaign is Iran. This is because there is such a contrast between Biden and his Republican challengers when it comes to how to best deal with Tehran. With US support for Ukraine remaining a divisive issue among the top Republican contenders, the issue of Iran is one where there is near unity. While Biden has pursued a policy of rapprochement with Iran, still hoping to someday finalize a new nuclear deal, the main Republican candidates want to return to the Trump era “maximum pressure” campaign. Since this is a policy area of such contrast, expect Iran to feature in any foreign policy debate in the coming months.
Finally, there will be a big focus on China. Although there is a diverse set of opinions among the different candidates regarding Beijing, there is general agreement that China remains a top strategic competitor, if not adversary, to the US. Republicans will criticize Biden for being too weak on China. Among Republican candidates, each is trying to look tougher than the others when it comes to dealing with China. For example, some top Republicans have called for the US to recognize Taiwan’s independence. Others have suggested that all military support for Ukraine should end and instead focus should shift 100 percent on to the defense of Taiwan. The issue of China will also be the one foreign policy issue that resonates the best with your average American. After years of declining US manufacturing (often, rightly or wrongly, blamed on China), and after the turmoil that the COVID-19 pandemic had on everyday life, Americans take more of an interest in US-China relations than most other foreign policy issues.
There are two more issues that warrant more attention in the American political debate, but probably won’treceive it. The first issue is Afghanistan. Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan the summer of 2021 was a geopolitical disaster. It was a catastrophe for the Afghans and emboldened transnational terrorist organizations now roaming freely across Afghanistan. Furthermore, tens of thousands of Afghans who the US promised to bring out remain stranded in the country. Even though it was Biden who decided to execute the withdrawal from the country, it was Trump who laid the groundwork for the process with his dubious deal with the Taliban in early 2021. Neither political side wanted to remain in Afghanistan and neither wants to raise the issue today. It was truly a bipartisan disaster and both sides would like to forget this sad episode in US foreign policy.
With US support for Ukraine remaining a divisive issue among the top Republican contenders, the issue of Iran is one where there is near unity.
The second issue that should be discussed more during the presidential campaign but will not is free trade. Starting with Trump, and continuing with Biden, there has been a lack of any meaningful free trade policy coming from the White House. Both sides have pursued populist and protectionist trade agendas thatultimately harm the American economy and impact America’s partners. The steel and aluminum tariffs applied to some Gulf states, started by Trump and continued by his successor, are a good example. It would be beneficial to have a genuine debate in the US about the importance of free trade to America’s prosperity and economy, but this is unlikely to happen during the upcoming presidential campaign. As with most US elections, whether the midterm elections for Congress or the presidential election, don’t expect too much time devoted on foreign policy issues. America is a large country. Most people have difficulty keeping up with what is happening in Los Angeles and New York City much less London or Riyadh. Americans living in the heartland, in states such as Kansas or Missouri, are more than 1,000km away from their nearest international border. This does not excuse the lack of foreign affairs interest by most Americans, but it might help others understand why this is the case. It is simply a fact that most Americans do not vote for their preferred candidate purely based on their foreign policy position. Do not expect this to change.
• Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Twitter: @LukeDCoffey

US and its allies building a wall around North Korea
Dr. Theodore Karasik/Arab News/June 30/2023
North Korea is continuing to escalate its confrontation with the growing alliance of countries around it. Backed by China and Russia, Pyongyang is once again building its nuclear and space capacity, as well as its rhetoric. But the threat environment is changing and a new wall to contain North Korean military activity is rising. This wall is metaphorical of course, as it is made up of sensors, rockets and other technologies rather than bricks. The barrier is made up of various layers of defense armaments and sensor systems that aim to protect countries such as South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and even Taiwan. These are not all interoperable but the fact that the alignment is occurring is significant to Western Pacific Ocean security. To be sure, the escalation ladder in the Northeast Asia sector is rising and, likely regardless of what happens in Russia, will continue.
China does not like these technological linkages and advances and is implementing strategies to fracture or complicate the US/Western-backed relationships. Beijing is taking advantage of a political rift in South Korea, attempting to throw a wrench in its relationships with the US and Japan. It has aligned with South Korea’s opposition in an effort to sway public sentiment and prevent those three countries from moving closer together.
Relations between Japan and South Korea and security cooperation among Japan, South Korea and the US have greatly improved under Yoon Suk-yeol’s presidency in Seoul, but the progress could be reversed just as quickly. Importantly, South Korea's new national security strategy highlights what it sees as the danger posed by Beijing’s diplomatic maneuvers. In a balancing act because of the nature of Northeast Asian politics, South Korea’s new national security strategy, which was released this month, said it would maintain relations with China “in a consistent and resolute manner, based on national interests and principles.”But South Korea’s population mix and the sentiment toward North Korea among various Seoul-based interest groups complicates the social media environment. This fact gives Beijing leverage and the phenomenon is not static but growing. China knows that South Korea’s foreign policy, especially its stance toward China and North Korea, often shifts dramatically when a new president takes office, which happens every five years.
Much of what is driving North Korea’s foreign policy today is the aftermath of last month’s failed launch of the Malligyong-1 military intelligence rocket. Pieces of debris, believed to be the Chollima-1 rocket used for the mission, were recovered by South Korea’s navy this week — a huge embarrassment for the North Korean regime. Pyongyang said this event was the worst failure ever for the North Korean state and immediately began to escalate rhetoric about “nuclear war.” Much of this talk is just rhetoric, but Pyongyang needs to be taken very seriously because of the technological developments that keep it as a perennial global threat. Hence, closer US cooperation with Western Pacific states is important and evolutionary, while attempting to box in any potential threat.
Much of what is driving North Korea’s foreign policy today is the aftermath of last month’s failed rocket launch.
In response, South Korea-US relations are becoming closer and more integrated than ever before. North Korea’s anger at the rocket failure is based on the fact that Seoul and Washington in April signed the Washington Declaration, in which the two countries committed to engaging in deeper dialogue and information-sharing efforts via a new nuclear consultative group aimed at strengthening nuclear deterrence efforts on the Korean Peninsula. The Washington Declaration focuses on expanding intra-alliance consultations on nuclear weapon matters and further integrates the forces of the US and South Korea in ways that can limit unintended escalation and buttress deterrence, as part of the larger conceptual aspect of building a wall against nuclear use. The integration of South Korean military capabilities into US nuclear strategy is part of the current security milieu. This activity mirrors NATO’s nuclear planning.
Meanwhile, in the overall military sphere, the Washington Declaration also calls for closely connecting the capabilities and planning activities of Seoul’s new strategic command and the two countries’ Combined Forces Command. As South Korea’s conventional deterrence capabilities grow ever more advanced and capable, ensuring intra-alliance integration will be key. The thinking is to take this model and apply the same template to other pro-US allies in the Pacific Ocean region, while recognizing the sensitivities of this topic to local parties and interest groups in Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan. But the road is long and negotiations will be necessary, but not impossible. The long-term outlook is to create a network of allies that are as unified as possible using high-tech, interoperable measures for both nuclear and conventional warfare scenarios.
Overall, the security situation in Northeast Asia is evolving into an escalating standoff in a changing geostrategic environment. What happens next in Russia matters globally and North Korea fully supports Moscow. China-Russia relations are also stable and likely to grow stronger in the coming months as various theaters heat up. While the Gulf region itself may be de-escalating, there is no doubt that the Western Pacific could become as hot as the Ukrainian-Russian battlefield.
• Dr. Theodore Karasik is a senior adviser to Gulf State Analytics in Washington.
Twitter: @KarasikTheodore

The Alhambra and the Spanish presidency of the EU
Jorge Hevia Sierra/Arab News/June 30, 2023
Later this year the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union will organise 23 informal ministerial meetings in 21 cities throughout the country, in addition to the Conference of Speakers of Parliament, the trip of the College of Commissioners to Madrid, and the informal meeting of heads of state or government.That meeting will be held in Granada, a city at the foot of the Sierra Nevada and in the south of Spain and Andalusia with a historical legacy of enormous tourist interest. It is where the formidable Alhambra, the 13th century Nasrid palace admired throughout the world, was built by architects from the ancient Arab world.
The European Union Film Festival 2023 included the screening of the Spanish film “The Builders of the Alhambra” last month in Riyadh. The film directed by Isabel Fernández is a unique feature-length documentary that rebuilds the Nasrid society in Andalusia for the first time. From the embassy of Spain we were able to feel the special affection of the Saudi spectators after the screening of the film due to its historical significance and the memory of the ties that have united Spanish and Arab cultures since ancient times.
Once again, the Nasrid palace will be the protagonist when the Spanish government grants a special rank to the Alhambra, since the most important meeting of the Spanish presidency of the EU will take place in its premises. The leaders of 44 European countries will meet in October in Granada —not only the 27 members of the EU will attend, but also another 17 members of the European Political Community who do not belong to the bloc. Spain acknowledges the strategic importance of Saudi Arabia for the EU, and welcomes the strengthening of bilateral relations.
With a special nod to our Saudi friends from the memory of the Alhambra, the embassy of Spain is pleased to say that Spain assumes the presidency of the EU in the second half of 2023, from July 1 to Dec. 31, at a period of great challenges for the member states and the EU as a whole. The Spanish presidency has established four priorities for its period in office, as announced by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and more recently the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Manuel Albares: to reindustrialize the EU and ensure its open strategic autonomy; advance the green transition and the environmental adaptation; promote greater social and economic justice; and strengthen European unity in a world of uncertainty and growing geopolitical tensions.
In a geopolitical context marked by uncertainty, Europe must become an area of certainties. In this context, Spain acknowledges the strategic importance of Saudi Arabia for the EU, and welcomes the strengthening of bilateral relations — notably through closer political dialogue and consultations and enhanced sectoral cooperation matching the priorities of Vision 2023 relating to global issues such as the fight against climate change and environmental degradation, or dealing with regional issues deepening the strategic partnership with the Gulf.
The Patio de los Leones, the Nasrid Palaces, the Generalife, the towers ... these are places that the Spanish government wants to make known to the European delegations, at the same time that once again an Arab historical cultural flavor links Spain with Saudi Arabia.
• Jorge Hevia Sierra is the Ambassador of Spain to Saudi Arabia

Anatomy of a Very Russian Affair
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/June 30/2023
Last weekend when Yevgeny Prigozhin launched his abortive attempt at marching on Moscow at the head of the Wagner militia army he did not know that it was on the same day, June 24, 1812, that Napoleon had launched his forlorn march towards the Russian capital.
Another thing that the self-styled warlord didn’t was that Rostov-on-Don, his hometown and the launching pad for his insurrection, was also the town from which Cossacks had started their rebellion against Catherine the Great two centuries earlier.
However, Prigozhin knew two things: First, that in Russia power changes hand only through force; smooth transitions belong to “decadent” Western Europe. Next, while in the West, notably in America, if you have money, you can get power, in Russia you can get money only if you have power.
In other words, the “incident” as Russian propaganda likes to call it, was a very Russian affair.
President Vladimir Putin knew that. This is why he initially panicked, comparing the “incident” to events in October 1917 when Lenin’s Bolsheviks seized power by fielding a few dozen armed men in Petrograd. Unwittingly, a visibly shaken Putin cast himself as Alexander Kerensky, the custodian of the “constitutional order” and Prigozhin as Lenin. Obviously confused about historic parallels, he also spoke of “civil war” as if Kolchak and Wrangel had risen from the dead at the head of royalist armies.
In the absence of a mechanism for legal transfer of power, Russian history consists of a series of coups both under the tsars and during the Soviet Empire. In most of those “incidents”, the transfer was from bad to worse. And this is the point that policymakers everywhere, especially those who pray and work for ending Putin’s reign, should ponder.
Wagner is a monster that Putin created and, for almost a decade, denied that it even existed. Now, however, he has assumed ownership of the creature and is trying to integrate part of it into the Russian regular army while keeping another part for profitable adventures abroad.
Mercenary armies have existed from the dawn of history and, in numerous cases, have succeeded in seizing power for themselves and even founding durable dynasties. But it was only in the 1990s that, with the start of globalization, that the idea of privatizing war, once again, became fashionable. All Western democracies had ended national service schemes and relied on professional armies.
And, yet, they knew that the new homo-consumeris they had created didn’t like to see its sons, and in some cases daughters, die on the battlefields in distant lands. Thus, privatizing war became a legitimate enterprise and a lucrative business. In the United States, Black Water, a private war company, emerged as a tool for use in especially dangerous missions including in Afghanistan and Iraq. In Britain, though on a smaller scale, the Aegis Group achieved a similar status. It is now certain that, when he decided to create his own private army, Putin had those two models in mind.
The difference, however, was that Wagner was created by a head of state, not private entrepreneurs. Initially, Putin wanted Wagner as a means of reviving Soviet influence in the so-called “Third World”. This is why Wagner was never given a legal status in Russia itself. Its initial status as a cultural organization based in Saint Petersburg was kept as a façade. Later it added a new company supplying the Russian army and numerous schools across the country with food.
Putin knew that the 10-year war in Afghanistan had contributed to the fall of the Soviet Empire because Russian families didn’t understand why their sons should die in Hindukush. At the same time, with the USSR, the “mother of revolution” in history’s dustbin, Putin could no longer rely on local revolutionaries to do Russia’s dirty work under the banner of Marxism-Leninism.
Within a decade, Russian influence in Latin America, Africa and Asia had evaporated like snowflakes in August. There were no guerrillas to fight in Central America, the Horn of Africa, Angola and Mozambique, Dhofar and Pakistani Baluchistan, let alone to sow sedition in more than a dozen other “Third World” countries. Claiming the position of a world power, rather than a “regional” one as US President Barack Obama had labeled it; Russia needed a presence in at least some of the areas where the defunct USSR had been a big player.
Without Wagner, Putin would not have been able to emerge as a big player in such places as Libya, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Mali and, more recently, Burkina Faso with the possibility of expanding further in west and east Africa. Even in Syria where Putin used Iranian troops and their Afghan, Pakistani and Lebanese mercenaries as his boots on the ground, Wagner was actively present as President Bashar al-Assad’s Praetorian protector and jail warden. More recently, Wagner also established a presence in Venezuela and Nicaragua, reviving memories of a time when Russia, as the USSR, was able to do mischief in United States’ backyard.
Putin’s choice of one of his closest allies, Prigozhin, as Wagner’s leader was no surprise. The oligarch had known Putin since their Saint Petersburg days and is said to be one of the few intimates to know the location of at least part of his boss’s fortune.
Prigozhin proved to be a shrewd businessman, a master of communication and palace intrigues.
All this might explain why Putin, badly shaken by the “incident” has been unwilling to unleash his thunder bolt against Prigozhin and Wagner. In his strange TV address last Sunday, he didn’t even name Prigozhin and thanked Wagner for “having prevented bloodshed”. Later, he assured Wagner men that, despite their involvement in briefly fighting against the regular army there would be no moves against them.
What emerges from the “incident” is a badly weakened Putin. The fantasy about him as a “strongman” has been punctured.
But is that good news for all those who wish to see the back of him? Not necessarily. The alternative to Putin isn’t necessarily going to be a pro-West bleeding-heart liberal. Putin may be bad, but his successor could be worse. At the same time no one would benefit from chaos in Russia, an event that could affect the whole of Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East and beyond.
Putin has proven to be a bluffer and the best way to deal with a bluffer is not to be bluffed. This is why there may just be one tiny possibility of trying to shorten the tragic war in Ukraine.

Wagner vs. Russia’s Defense Ministry in the Middle East
Anna Borshchevskaya, Ben Fishman, Andrew J. Tabler/The Washington Institute/June 30/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/119625/119625/
Russia’s domestic military crisis could hold significant consequences for its regional operations, from heightening the risk of clashes with U.S. forces in Syria to putting a public face on its destabilizing activities in Libya.
As the dust settles from the showdown between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, many observers are wondering whether it will lead to new arrangements between the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and the private military company’s forces deployed worldwide. In the Middle East, Russian deployments seem largely unaffected so far. Yet the crisis seems to have tipped military operational control toward the MOD, complicating or substantially hindering Russia’s plausible deniability in regional conflict zones such as Syria and Libya. This could make confrontations between U.S. and Russian forces more likely in the months to come.
Wagner’s Middle East Role
Starting in 2012, Moscow accelerated the growth of private military and security companies—opaque organizations with direct ties to the Russian state. At the time, Putin stated that he saw these groups as a “tool for realizing national interests” without state participation. One such organization was the Slavonic Corps, which was set up by a Russian corporate entity called the Moran Security Group and reportedly sent to Syria in 2013. Meanwhile, the Wagner Group—led by Prigozhin, a former convict and close associate of Putin—emerged as the most well-known private military company after it helped secure Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Since then, such groups have spread throughout the Middle East and Africa, giving the Kremlin an important tool for securing foreign influence. Wagner forces first appeared in Syria around 2017, replacing the Slavonic Corps. It has also operated in Libya, the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Madagascar. Most recently, it played a key role in Sudan, where the Russian navy has worked to secure port access for its vessels and an agreement to establish a future base of its own. Earlier this year, Wagner forces actively supported Gen. Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo in his violent power struggle with Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan—even as Prigozhin simultaneously offered mediation to both sides.
Although Wagner’s primary source of funding appears to be the Russian state, it has also used various means to establish its own financing networks abroad, such as forming ties with local warlords and seizing control of natural resources. In Libya, reports indicate that Wagner received funds from the United Arab Emirates until approximately 2021.
Last year, long-brewing tensions between Wagner and the MOD began to intensify and become more public amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In addition to feuding over access to resources, both sides have sought to claim credit for wartime wins and deflect responsibility for losses. Putin’s tactic of encouraging internal rivalries may have aggravated the feud.
Implications for Syria
The crisis is already having ripple effects in Syria, with multiple reports of tensions and confrontations between Wagner and MOD personnel. Russian forces have arrested some Wagner commanders and raided the group’s offices in various parts of Syria. Meanwhile, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergey Vershinin met with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on June 26 and reportedly urged him to prevent the group’s forces from leaving the country without the MOD’s consent. Some Wagner personnel have apparently been withdrawn to the Russian operations center at Hmeimim Air Base in western Syria.
The overall situation remains calm, however, and Wagner is still deployed in resource-rich areas where Assad’s forces are nominally in control but rely on help from Russian military and police units. These include Syria’s largest natural gas and oil fields (Shaer, al-Mahr, Jazal, and Hayan), where some reports indicate that Wagner has used a shell company called Evro Polis to receive up to a quarter of the production profits. The Assad regime apparently granted Wagner this cut because the group recaptured the fields from the Islamic State and has continued to guard them against opposition raids. Any changes in this arrangement would reveal much about the balance of Russian control in Syria.
Serious questions also surround the fate of Wagner’s heavy weapons in Syria, which include tanks, other armored vehicles, and rocket launchers. In 2018, Wagner used such weapons in an attempt to capture the Conoco gas plant near Deir al-Zour, an area that serves as a military base for the Syrian Democratic Forces and their U.S. partners. Although the attack was repelled through ferocious U.S. airstrikes, it raised eyebrows about Wagner’s outsize capabilities in parts of Syria where the Assad regime had tenuous control at best.
If the Wagner crisis tips Russia’s local military posture more definitively toward MOD forces, it may further complicate recent U.S. efforts to manage aggressive flyovers and mock raids by Russian forces throughout eastern Syria, potentially increasing the risk of direct confrontations. According to Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, head of the combined forces air component at U.S. Central Command, Russian aircraft have violated U.S. airspace in Syria as many as “three or four times” in a single day. Twenty-five such incidents were reported in March alone, up from zero the previous month. On June 14, U.S. officials announced that F-22 Raptors would be surged to CENTCOM’s area of operations in light of “increasingly unsafe and unprofessional behavior by Russian aircraft in the region.” This week, however, Russian jets unleashed another attack in northwest Syria—the deadliest of 2023—even as Prigozhin’s mutiny unfolded.
Wagner’s Libyan Hub
If Wagner’s overseas operations change, Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar would be directly affected. The eastern-based general receives personal protection from Wagner forces, as exhibited when they shot down an American MQ-9 drone in his vicinity last August (the drone was conducting surveillance ahead of a planned visit by the U.S. special envoy). The group also helps Haftar maintain control over Libya’s primary oil region, where his political allies are once again threatening a blockade as leverage against the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity. Additionally, Wagner occupies the strategic al-Jufrah air base in central Libya, using it as a logistical hub for its African operations (e.g., sending weapons and fuel to Hemedti in Sudan).
Russia’s courtship of Haftar began around 2014, soon after he emerged as a key player in the Benghazi area. In 2017, he was invited to meet with military officials aboard a Russian aircraft carrier off Libya’s coast; he has also visited Moscow several times. Wagner came to his aid most prominently in 2019-20, when his forces attempted to capture Tripoli. The group’s snipers and Pantsir antiaircraft systems gave him drone superiority that nearly overwhelmed the capital until Turkey intervened in early 2020. During Haftar’s subsequent retreat, Wagner forces planted many improvised explosive devices in the area deliberately targeting civilians, causing dozens of children to be maimed and deeply affecting the Libyan population’s view of the mercenaries.
Conclusion
The immediate aftermath of Prigozhin’s rebellion has left more questions than answers. Surprisingly, Putin allowed Wagner personnel to escape prosecution and Prigozhin to go into exile in Belarus. He has since told members of the force that they can sign contracts “with the Defense Ministry or other law enforcement or security agency or return home. Those who want to are free to go to Belarus.” This suggests that Wagner may be permitted to continue operating outside of Russia—though the scope of this freedom is uncertain.
Regardless of what happens to Wagner’s structure and operations, the Kremlin still has a strong strategic interest in maintaining a presence in Syria and Libya in order to project power in the Middle East and Africa. Russia remains the indispensable player in Syria, where propping up Assad has enabled Moscow to obtain minerals and other resources, play Iran and Israel off one another, and remain a mediator for international efforts to reach a political settlement. If this week’s crisis means that Wagner’s capabilities in Syria will be folded into the MOD’s operations, U.S. officials should keep a close watch for how this might affect Russia’s local deployments and force posture.
In Libya, Russia cannot maintain a presence without deftly managing the political space. If it integrates Wagner forces into the MOD, however, it will no longer be able to deny operating in Libya. Deploying official MOD forces to Libya would not only have international ramifications, it would also inflame popular opposition in Libya, since Russian personnel are rarely visible there today.
Either way, Washington has an opportunity to counter Russia’s destabilizing activities in Libya in several ways: by encouraging local voices to address the harm that Wagner and other Russian entities have done to their country; by considering steps to limit Russian access to al-Jufrah air base, such as working with regional partners and the Government of National Unity to close its airspace; and by reinvigorating a realistic approach to promoting fair elections. By extension, these measures could affect Moscow’s activities in other parts of Africa as well.
Yet even though Putin, the MOD, and Prigozhin all appear weakened by this week’s crisis, there has been no discernible change in Russia’s posture in the Middle East and Africa so far, and none may be forthcoming. Moscow invested heavily in Wagner for years, and simply replacing its presence abroad would be difficult in the short term; more likely, Wagner and other Russian private military companies will evolve rather than disappear.
Even so, U.S. policymakers can still take advantage of the current disarray and look for ways to limit Wagner’s foreign influence. These efforts should extend beyond existing sanctions, which have had only limited effects on the group’s criminal and destabilizing activities.
**Anna Borshchevskaya is a senior fellow in The Washington Institute’s Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East. Ben Fishman is a senior fellow at the Institute and former director for North Africa on the National Security Council. Andrew Tabler is the Institute’s Martin J. Gross Senior Fellow and former director for Syria on the National Security Council.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
*Anna Borshchevskaya is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on Russia's policy toward the Middle East.
*Ben Fishman is a Senior Fellow in The Washington Institute's Program on Arab Politics.
*Andrew J. Tabler is the Martin J. Gross Senior Fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute, where he focuses on Syria and U.S. policy in the Levant, and Director of the Institute's Junior Research Program.

Question: “Law vs. grace—why is there so much conflict among Christians on the issue?”
GotQuestions.org?/June 30/2023
Answer: One person says, “Salvation is by grace and grace alone.” Another person counters, “That idea leads to lawlessness. God’s righteous standard in the Law must be upheld.” And someone else chimes in with, “Salvation is by grace, but grace only comes to those who obey God’s Law.” At the root of the debate are differing views on the basis of salvation. The importance of the issue helps fuel the intensity of the discussion.
When the Bible speaks of “the law,” it refers to the detailed standard God gave to Moses, beginning in Exodus 20 with the Ten Commandments. God’s Law explained His requirements for a holy people and included three categories: civil, ceremonial, and moral laws. The Law was given to separate God’s people from the evil nations around them and to define sin (Ezra 10:11; Romans 5:13; 7:7). The Law also clearly demonstrated that no human being could purify himself enough to please God—i.e., the Law revealed our need for a Savior.
By New Testament times, the religious leaders had hijacked the Law and added to it their own rules and traditions (Mark 7:7–9). While the Law itself was good, it was weak in that it lacked the power to change a sinful heart (Romans 8:3). Keeping the Law, as interpreted by the Pharisees, had become an oppressive and overwhelming burden (Luke 11:46).
It was into this legalistic climate that Jesus came, and conflict with the hypocritical arbiters of the Law was inevitable. But Jesus, the Lawgiver, said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). The Law was not evil. It served as a mirror to reveal the condition of a person’s heart (Romans 7:7). John 1:17 says, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Jesus embodied the perfect balance between grace and the Law (John 1:14).
God has always been full of grace (Psalm 116:5; Joel 2:13), and people have always been saved by faith in God (Genesis 15:6). God did not change between the Old and New Testaments (Numbers 23:19; Psalm 55:19). The same God who gave the Law also gave Jesus (John 3:16). His grace was demonstrated through the Law by providing the sacrificial system to cover sin. Jesus was born “under the law” (Galatians 4:4) and became the final sacrifice to bring the Law to fulfillment and establish the New Covenant (Luke 22:20). Now, everyone who comes to God through Christ is declared righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 9:15).
The conflict between Jesus and the self-righteous arose immediately. Many who had lived for so long under the Pharisees’ oppressive system eagerly embraced the mercy of Christ and the freedom He offered (Mark 2:15). Some, however, saw this new demonstration of grace as dangerous: what would keep a person from casting off all moral restraint? Paul dealt with this issue in Romans 6: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (verses 1—2). Paul clarified what Jesus had taught: the Law shows us what God wants (holiness), and grace gives us the desire and power to be holy. Rather than trust in the Law to save us, we trust in Christ. We are freed from the Law’s bondage by His once-for-all sacrifice (Romans 7:6; 1 Peter 3:18).
There is no conflict between grace and the Law, properly understood. Christ fulfilled the Law on our behalf and offers the power of the Holy Spirit, who motivates a regenerated heart to live in obedience to Him (Matthew 3:8; Acts 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Timothy 1:14). James 2:26 says, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” A grace that has the power to save also has the power to motivate a sinful heart toward godliness. Where there is no impulse to be godly, there is no saving faith.
We are saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9). The keeping of the Law cannot save anyone (Romans 3:20; Titus 3:5). In fact, those who claim righteousness on the basis of their keeping of the Law only think they’re keeping the Law; this was one of Jesus’ main points in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:20–48; see also Luke 18:18–23).
The purpose of the Law was, basically, to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). Once we are saved, God desires to glorify Himself through our good works (Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, good works follow salvation; they do not precede it.
Conflict between “grace” and the “Law” can arise when someone 1) misunderstands the purpose of the Law; 2) redefines grace as something other than “God’s benevolence on the undeserving” (see Romans 11:6); 3) tries to earn his own salvation or “supplement” Christ’s sacrifice; 4) follows the error of the Pharisees in tacking manmade rituals and traditions onto his doctrine; or 5) fails to focus on the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).
When the Holy Spirit guides our search of Scripture, we can “study to show ourselves approved unto God” (2 Timothy 2:15) and discover the beauty of a grace that produces good works.