Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 11-12/2023
Full Support To Dima Sadek: In occupied Lebanon, there is no respect for freedom of opinion
Elias Bejjani/July 11/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/120028/elias-bejjani-full-support-to-dima-sadek-in-occupied-lebanon-there-is-no-respect-for-freedom-of-opinion/
Full support Dima Sadiq in facing an unfair court ruling issued against her on charges of slander and defamation submitted by Gebran Bassil and his pro Iranian political party. The judicial ruling issued against her (a year in prison and a fine) is unfair, unjust, illegal and issued by an authority without jurisdiction. This heretical judicial insult is extremely dangerous, and that is why it is the duty of every free, sovereign and independent Lebanese in Lebanon and the Diaspora to denounce and condemn it and do everything in his/her power to nullify it… Loudly we say no to the suppression of freedoms and to malicious, selective and illegal encroachment on media professionals and journalists.

Prominent Lebanese journalist Dima Sadek sentenced to one year in prison following Gebran Bassil’s libel lawsuit
The New Arab/July 11/2023
Dima Sadek, was imprisoned following a lawsuit filed against her three years ago by the head of the Free Patriotic Movement party, Gebran Bassil, who accused her of defamation. Prominent Lebanese journalist Dima Sadek has been sentenced to one year in prison as a result of a lawsuit filed against her by the Free Patriotic Movement President Gebran Bassil, reported L’Orient Le Jour on Tuesday. Bassil accused the journalist of “defamation and libel” over three years ago after she denounced him for “incitement” and “racism”. The 43-year-old journalist revealed the outcome of the verdict in a video posted on Twitter, explaining that she was being imprisoned on grounds of “slander, defamation and promoting sectarianism” following remarks she made in February 2020 concerning two young men who were attacked in the southern northern city of Tripoli by men loyal to the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).
One man, Zakaria al-Masry, was beaten up and forced to say “Aoun is your God and the God of Tripoli”, in reference to ex-Lebanese president and former head of the FPM Michel Aoun. Following the incident, which took place on 6 and 7 February 2020, Sadek described the actions as “racist and Nazi-like”. Sadek was also ordered by Judge Rosine Hojeili to pay a fine of 110 million Lebanese pounds ($7,316). The journalist is additionally expected to file an appeal against the ruling through her attorney Diala Shehadeh, said the Lebanese Megaphone news website. She further explained that the judiciary can incarcerate her at any time if she does not appeal. In the video, Sadek said that “the thugs” who were accused of beating the young men weren’t “tried, arrested and no one said anything to them”. “But I, who condemned [all of this], which was spread all over social media, was sentenced yesterday to prison.”Sadek went on to say that this sets a “very dangerous precedent” on freedom of expression and media in Lebanon. She also alluded to the irony of being imprisoned for calling Gebran Bassil “racist”, when the politician himself has allegedly made similar claims about himself.
Sadek was previously subject to a lawsuit filed by scandal-hit Central Banker governor Riad Salameh – also in 2020 – after he sued her for “tarnishing the reputation of the banks and the prestige of the economy”.

Le Drian returns Monday, Berri sets up dialogue table in parliament
Naharnet/July 11/2023
French presidential envoy for Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian will return Monday to Lebanon for his second visit to the country in less than a month, carrying “signals and messages” to the local forces from the parties of the five-nation group for Lebanon, al-Akhbar newspaper reported. Speaking to the daily, informed sources did not express optimism over the possibility of any imminent breakthrough, voicing strong doubts over “Le Drian’s ability to reach political consensus, especially over the idea of dialogue that he is proposing.”Visitors of Speaker Nabih Berri meanwhile quoted him as saying that Le Drian is supposed to be carrying a call for dialogue. “Dialogue will be general and not bilateral and we have set up the dialogue table in parliament. We prefer that it be held there, knowing that the French have proposed holding it at the Pine Residence, while some have suggested that it be held outside Lebanon,” Berri said. He added that he will take part in dialogue through a representative seeing as he is a “party” and not a mediator. Asked whether Le Drian has received the parties’ approval to take part in dialogue, Berri said: “We will see when he comes.”Berri added that he “pinning hope on the Saudi-Iranian agreement,” seeing as “its positive impact has started appearing in all regional arenas.”“Those who are not seeing the changes are blind and this impact should manifest itself in Lebanon no matter how much time it takes,” Berri said.

France alone in effort to resolve Lebanon crisis, say sources
LBCI/July 11/2023
Highly informed political sources have confirmed the earnestness of the French side in quickly resolving the crisis in Lebanon. However, they have simultaneously noted that Paris appears to be undertaking this mission alone, as Lebanon is completely absent from the attention and priorities of other friendly or fraternal nations, neither mentioned near nor far. According to these sources, who spoke to "Al-Jumhuriya", the major concern is that the French special envoy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, could become entangled in the Lebanese maze upon his arrival, finding it challenging to persuade the Lebanese political components to respond to dialogue efforts. Furthermore, "Al-Jumhuriya" has learned that the presidential file was the central subject of discussion between the ambassador of a major Western country and a prominent centrist figure in a recent meeting held at the latter's residence. During the meeting, the aforementioned ambassador presented a pessimistic perspective on the Lebanese presidential elections. Interestingly, during this meeting, the Western ambassador approached the French initiative as an opportunity that Lebanese must not miss, while simultaneously emphasizing that imposing a solution from abroad on the Lebanese is difficult and unrealistic.

Rifi from Dar al-Fatwa: Our experience with dialogue is not encouraging
LBCI/July 11/2023
Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, received on Tuesday in Dar al-Fatwa, MP Achraf Rifi, who said after the meeting, "I was delighted this morning to visit His Eminence to congratulate him on his safe return from Hajj and on performing the pilgrimage."
"Your role was extremely crucial in extinguishing the flames of the potential conflict in Qornet al-Sawda as His Eminence took the initiative to contact all Christian and Islamic references and served as a cover to prevent any painful incident from turning into a conflict between us and the people of Bcharri," Rifi said addressing the Mufti. Regarding the political file, in response to a question, he said, "The constitution is clear, before the end of any presidential term, two months should be given to call for the election of a president. When the term ends, we become an electoral body, not a legislative body. The constitution is clear. We need to find a radical solution that begins with electing a president for the republic." He continued, "I address Berri and say to him, Your Excellency, we want to elect a president according to the constitution. Don't push us to engage in dialogue and impose privileges on us that you have obtained through your weapons, and you want to legitimize them legally or practically." Rifi also noted that this country could only continue if the partnership is equal. "I say to Berri, whom I greatly respect, that we need to hold continuous sessions, knowing that the first session requires 86 deputies for a quorum and 86 for voting, and the second session requires 86 for a quorum and 65 for voting. There may be a one or two-hour interval for the parties to consult," he continued. He also believed that "Berri knows very well that it is not the first time he has called for dialogue, and the results of previous dialogues have not been respected. Our experience with dialogue is not encouraging, so we are not enthusiastic about dialogue." "It's as if we are violating the constitution by engaging in dialogue," he concluded by saying.

Mikati, Halabi visit official exams center for cancer patients
LBCI/July 11/2023
On the second day of the official exams, Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, accompanied by Caretaker Minister of Education Abbas Halabi, visited the official exam center for cancer patients, which was held at the "Children's Cancer Center" at the American University Hospital in Beirut.
"Many had speculated about the cancellation of the official exams, but we persevered in ensuring the continuity of education despite the great difficulties and in conducting the official exams despite all obstacles," Mikati pointed out.

Israel asks Lebanon to remove Hezbollah tent from tense border area
Associated Press/July 11/2023
The commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed on the tense Lebanon-Israel border has relayed an Israeli request to remove a tent set up by Hezbollah in a disputed area. The commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, met Monday in Beirut with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Lebanon Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib said Lebanese leaders told the U.N. commander that Israel should withdraw its troops from the Lebanese part of the town of Ghajar that was captured by Israeli troops in 2006. Israel filed a complaint with the United Nations in June claiming that Hezbollah had set up tents several dozen meters inside of Israeli territory. It's unclear what was inside the tents or what they were for. The area where the tents were erected in Shebaa Farms and the Kfarshouba hills were captured by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and are part of Syria's Golan Heights that Israel annexed in 1981. The Lebanese government says the area belongs to Lebanon. Israeli media reported earlier this month that Hezbollah evacuated one of the two tents but there has been no confirmation from the Iran-backed Lebanese group. After the meeting between Mikati and Lázaro, Bouhabib told reporters that the U.N. team has relayed the Israeli request that the tent be removed. He added that Lebanese officials told Lázaro that "we want them (Israelis) to withdraw from Ghajar that is considered Lebanese territory."
Israel captured Ghajar from Syria in the 1967 war when it took the Golan Heights. After the Israeli military ended an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000, U.N. surveyors split Ghajar between Lebanon and the Israeli-controlled Golan, but Israel reoccupied the northern half during the 34-day war with Hezbollah in 2006. In recent weeks, Lebanese officials said that Israel has built a wall around the Lebanese part of Ghajar warning that Israel might annex it to the Israeli part of the town. Hezbollah last week issued a harsh statement calling Israel's works around the Lebanese part of Ghajar as "dangerous" adding that the wall is separating the town "from its natural and historic surroundings in Lebanon." Almost at the same time that the Hezbollah statement on Ghajar was issued, an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon near Ghajar — with some fragments landing in Lebanon and others inside Israeli territory. Israel fired shells on the outskirts of the nearby village of Kfarshouba. Israel and Hezbollah fought to a draw in a monthlong war in Lebanon in 2006. Late last month, Hezbollah said it shot down an Israel drone flying over a village in southern Lebanon. Israel considers Hezbollah its most serious immediate threat, estimating it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.

Mikati criticizes al-Rahi, says seeking to resolve tents row diplomatically
Naharnet/July 11/2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has taken a swipe at Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, accusing him of not being consistent in his stances regarding the issue of appointments. “I’ve heard three sermons for Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and I totally respect him, but honestly let someone explain to me what he meant and what he wants. He said that there shouldn’t be appointments under a caretaker cabinet and then he stressed the need to name a chief of staff for the Lebanese Army. Let’s agree on a certain standard that should be practiced,” Mikati said, in an interview with Nidaa al-Watan newspaper published Tuesday. Separately, Mikati said Lebanon is seeking to resolve the “Hezbollah tents” standoff with Israel in a diplomatic way. “We are strenuously seeking to resolve the tents issue diplomatically and we consider the Ghajar village to be Lebanese with the acknowledgement of the U.N.,” Mikati said. “We have informed the U.N. that we are willing to carry out a full demarcation of our entire southern border,” he added. As for the looming expiry of Central Bank chief Riad Salameh’s term, Mikati pointed out that the Money and Credit Code stipulates that the first vice governor should replace the governor in such a case. “Should he submit his resignation, he will be asked to carry out his duty in caretaker capacity and this is his duty,” the premier added, referring to First Vice Governor Wassim Mansouri. Asked whether the Central Bank’s central council will continue to utilize the Sayrafa exchange platform and the current circulars, Mikati said: “This is their business. I met them around a month ago and told them that the countdown had started and that the governor’s term would not be extended nor there would be a new governor, without delving into details.”“But among the measures that are being prepared is the unification of exchange rates,” Mikati said. Asked who can guarantee that the exchange rate would not surge with Salameh’s departure, Mikati said: “This is a market and there are no guarantees. I’m working and my hope and wish is for the situation to improve.” Mikati also revealed that the latest report of the Alvarez & Marsal firm about its initial findings regarding the auditing of the Central Bank’s accounts does not contain any information that is not already known.

Military confrontation over 'two tents' ruled out
Naharnet/July 11/2023 
Following vigorous diplomatic efforts, informed sources have ruled out a military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah over the latest border tensions, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported. In addition to UNIFIL chief Aroldo Lazaro’s meetings with Lebanese officials, U.S. and French diplomats exerted efforts in this regard last week, the daily said. “Lebanon is proposing a full demarcation of the border and wrapping up this issue, especially that the points of contention are not plenty and are only represented in 16 border points,” the sources added. And after Israeli media reports said that Hezbollah removed one of the two tents from “Israeli territory,” security sources told Asharq al-Awsat that the allegations are baseless and that both the two tents are still in their place.

Berri: 'All Lebanese' despite differences must see Israel 'hostile intentions'
Naharnet/July 11/2023 
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Tuesday that despite the political disagreements, all Lebanese should be aware of Israel's hostile intentions. Berri's statement came as tensions continued to flare in the border area between Lebanon and Israel over two tents erected by Hezbollah and Israel’s building of a wall around the Lebanese part of al-Ghajar, a village that Israeli troops captured during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Last week, Israeli forces shelled Kfarshouba, a southern Lebanese border village, after a mortar launched from Lebanon exploded in the border area between the two foes. "All Lebanese, regardless of their political, spiritual and partisan orientations and affiliations must be aware of Israel's hidden intentions," Berri said. He added that national belonging and defending sovereignty, independence and identity are not "a point of view".
Border town dispute
Al-Ghajar village is split into Lebanese and Israeli sides along a border, known as the blue line, that was demarcated after Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. As part of the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel needs to withdraw from the northern part of al-Ghajar, which has not happened. U.N. peacekeeping forces in Lebanon for years have called on Israel to end its building work in northern al-Ghajar and to withdraw its troops. The so-called Blue Line cuts through al-Ghajar, formally placing its northern part in Lebanon and its southern part in the Israeli-occupied and annexed Golan Heights. The residents of al-Ghajar have been granted Israeli citizenship rights, and Israel has recently opened the town, long a military zone, to tourism.
Hezbollah tents
The situation also has been heated along Shebaa Farms and around Kfarshouba. Israel captured those areas from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war, as part of Syria's Golan Heights that Israel annexed in 1981. The Lebanese government says the area belongs to Lebanon. In early June, Israel filed a complaint to the U.N. claiming that Hezbollah had set up tents several dozen meters inside the disputed territory. Israeli media had since reported that Hezbollah evacuated one of the two tents, but the group did not confirm the action. Later that month, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas to disperse scores of Lebanese protesters who pelted the troops with stones along the border near the disputed territory.
Latest developments -
On Monday, the commander of the UNIFIL, Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, met in Beirut with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Lebanese leaders told the U.N. commander that Israel should withdraw its troops from the Lebanese part of the town of al-Ghajar and Lázaro relayed an Israeli request to remove the tent set up by Hezbollah in the disputed area. In recent weeks, Lebanese officials warned that Israel might annex the Lebanese part of al-Ghajar to the Israeli part of the town. Hezbollah last week issued a harsh statement calling Israel's works around the Lebanese part of Ghajar as "dangerous" adding that the wall is separating the town "from its natural and historic surroundings in Lebanon."

Ministry of Health raids nurseries after Garderêve scandal
Naharnet/July 11/2023
Teams from the Ministry of Health raided nurseries across the country on Tuesday, after a shocking video of abused children in a nursery in Jdeideh sparked public outrage. The video that went viral showed staff of the Garderêve nursery force-feeding and beating young children and infants. The parents of an 11-months old infant who appeared in the video, filed a lawsuit against the nursery and reached out to other parents, showing them the video. The mother of the infant said her daughter had episodes of sudden uncontrollable crying at night and feared serious lifelong consequences. The father urged the ministry of health to carry out "surprise raids" on nurseries and said the ministry had informed Garderêve in the past before a raid. The nursery has been closed with red wax and an investigation is currently underway.

Director-General of the National Social Security Fund ensures free transactions in latest circular
LBCI/July 11/2023
The Director-General of the National Social Security Fund, Mohammad Karki, issued a Circular emphasizing that all transactions within the fund are free of charge, without any fees. He urged all media outlets and websites to exercise accuracy in disseminating any unverified information that could harm the reputation of the fund and the dignity of its beneficiaries in order to prevent the fund's management from taking legal action against the media outlets and websites. Karaki also called on all employers, insured individuals, and beneficiaries, as well as anyone who receives any information about extortion or requests for financial amounts by any user to facilitate or expedite transactions within the fund, to report it to the fund's management through the Complaints Office at the main center, at phone number 01-705013, or through the fund's website, cnss.gov.lb.

Bukhari, Chouccair, and Union of Gulf Lebanese Business Councils meet
LBCI/July 11/2023
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Walid Bukhari, received the Chairman of the Economic Bodies and former Minister, Mohammed Chouccair, accompanied by the President of the Union of Gulf Lebanese Business Councils, Wissam Ariss, who was elected to succeed late Samir al-Khatib, and members of the Union's Board of Directors, Hadi Soubra and Raja al-Khatib. The visit provided an opportunity to discuss the latest developments in Lebanon and the activities carried out by the Union of Gulf Lebanese Business Councils, as well as its future work program, particularly in terms of developing economic relations and enhancing cooperation between the Lebanese private sector and the Gulf region.

Report: Salameh's four deputies inclined to resign next week
Naharnet/July 11/2023 
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh’s four deputies are inclined to resign in the beginning of next week, two weeks before the expiry of Salameh’s term, Central Bank sources said. “The resignation’s aim is to reduce the burden of responsibility” on them and they will act in caretaker capacity at the Finance Minister’s request pending the appointment of a new governor, the sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Tuesday.“The four deputies will link the caretaker phase to a host of requests related to the Sayrafa platform and legalizing expenditure from the mandatory reserves,” the sources added.

Israel-Lebanon: What's happening at the Blue Line?
Middle East Eye/July 11/2023
Lebanese farmers have protested against Israeli attempts to fence in their land along the Blue Line
Tensions at the Lebanon and Israel border fence have become a daily concern since the Israeli army finished building a wall in July incorporating the northern part of Al-Ghajar village in the occupied Golan Heights. Protests by Lebanese farmers, standoffs between Israeli and Lebanese soldiers, the firing of missiles and Israeli shelling of southern Lebanon have all been intensifying the situation since March. In recent months, Israel has been building a wall made of concrete blocks along part of the UN Blue Line that demarcated Lebanese and Israeli territory in 2000, when Israel ended its 20 years' occupation of south Lebanon. The two countries remain foes, and no official border separates them, except the Blue Line, which is made of blue barrels and runs from the Mediterranean to the occupied Golan Heights to the east. On Tuesday, Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said his country would be ready to demarcate the entire southern boundary with Israel. The Lebanese government also said it would be willing to dismantle two tents set up in June by the Hezbollah movement in Shebaa Farms - a contested area in southern Lebanon - if Israel retreats from the northern part of Al-Ghajar village. Lebanon considers the northern part of Al-Ghajar as Lebanese, while Israel says it is part of the occupied and then annexed Golan Heights. Hezbollah's tents in Shebaa Farms, known to Israelis as Mount Dov, drew the ire of the Israeli security establishment, who sought the involvement of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) to remove one of the two tents last week. Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned against Hezbollah activity in Sheba Farms. “Don’t underestimate our strength and determination,” Gallant said.
Shelling and crossfires
The Lebanese and Israeli sides never meet face-to-face but use Unifil, which patrols the border fence, as a mediation channel. Unifil called on all parties to "exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that might exacerbate the situation". In April, the Israeli army shelled southern Lebanon and accused a Palestinian armed group of firing a barrage of rockets toward northern Israel. This was the most significant incident to date. However, the Israeli army also shelled south Lebanon last week after two rockets were launched from the area. One of the rockets fell near Wazzani village in southern Lebanon, while the second rocket landed near the disputed village of Al-Ghajar. Yesterday, Israeli media reported that dozens of Lebanese soldiers and plainclothes individuals crossed the Blue Line and entered an area near Manara, an Israeli kibbutz in the northwestern part of the Upper Galilee. Israel's army radio said that on 5 July, while Israel conducted engineering work near the fence, 30 people crossed the Israeli boundary, approached a bulldozer working on the land and stayed in the area for 20 minutes. An anti-tank missile was reportedly fired from Lebanon and landed near Kibbutz Manara on 4 July.
Al-Ghajar village
Although territorial disputes have long been a thorny issue between Israel and Lebanon, the standoffs in recent months near the border fence have escalated. Lebanese farmers from villages had protested against Israel's attempts to fence their land along the Blue Line, including around Kfar Shuba, Al-Arqoub and Ayta ash-Shaab. On 5 July, Israel fenced off Al-Ghajar village, which is located on the borders of Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.
Lebanon: Inside Hezbollah’s arsenal
Its almost 3,000 residents call themselves Syrian and are primarily from the Alawite sect. Many of Al-Ghajar residents south of the UN Blue Line of 2000 had taken Israeli citizenship after the area was annexed by Israel in 1981, along the occupied East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
It was occupied by Israel in 1967, and many of its residents had been vocal about being part of Israel and refusing to be under Lebanese hegemony, accusing the Lebanese state of indifference and abandoning them. Al-Ghajar residents lived under 20 years of the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon, and amid the absence of rule of law, the village expanded to the north on lands belonging to the Lebanese state and on Mari village. In 2000, Al-Ghajar residents saw their village being split into two halves: the south of the Blue Line remained under Israel, while the north part was considered part of Lebanon. Relatives and neighbours, who for years lived across the street, were separated by a fence one morning and found themselves living in a different country, namely in an "enemy state". Israel has never withdrawn its forces from Al-Ghajar village following the boundary demarcation in 2000, despite an Israeli cabinet plan to do so in 2010. The village was designated as a closed military zone for 22 years, but in November 2022 it was opened to Israeli tourists and visitors with permission from the Israeli army. Much like the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shuba hills, Al-Ghajar remains in Israel's hands but with one difference - namely that Al-Ghajar territory is now surrounded by a wall fence, incorporating it into Israel and separate from Lebanon.

Saudi report: Lebanon wants to draw the border with Israel
Israel National News/July 11/2023
In a meeting between the commander of UNIFIL & the PM of Lebanon, Najib Mikati proposed to start a procedure for marking the border. During a meeting between Lebanese representatives and the UN's UNIFIL force, the Lebanese representatives asked to start a procedure for drawing the land borders with Israel in an agreed upon manner, this after the maritime border was established under the Lapid government. This was reported in the Saudi newspaper "Asharq Al-Awast" by senior officials in the Lebanese government, at a time when Israel is trying to deal with Hezbollah setting up tents inside Israeli territory. Lebanese officials pointed out that they have no indication of the possibility of an escalation in the area, neither from the Israeli side nor Hezbollah. Last week Channel 12 News reported that Israel sent a message to the terrorist organizations in Lebanon that they would remove the tents erected on Israeli territory "even at the cost of confrontation." According to the report, the message from Israel comes only a day after Hezbollah's member of Lebanon's parliament, Mohammed Raad, expressed his refusal to the UN's request to evacuate the tents saying that, "If the enemy does not want war, then let him be quiet and angry." In view of the complex security situation, a debate arose in the IDF about the required course of action. The government wants to exhaust all diplomatic channels vis-a-vis the US, France and UNIFIL - the temporary UN force in Lebanon, before taking military action. In the meantime, it appears that Jerusalem has decided to act on the diplomatic axis to avoid escalation. Furthermore, army sources clarified that although the tents are manned by armed Hezbollah members, this is "another provocation by the organization on the border line", and according to them - they do not pose a threat. Earlier today, during IDF works near Kibbutz Menara next to the border fence, a number of Lebanese provocateurs confronted the forces. The protesters threw rocks at an IDF excavator, with soldiers responding with anti-riot measures.

Judge Aoun's trip to Brussels: Violation of ministerial Memo and questions about conference organizers
LBCI/July 11/2023
Judge Ghada Aoun submitted a travel request to Caretaker Minister of Justice Henri Khoury. After receiving it, she left for Brussels last week. Khoury's permission for the judge was similar to the hundreds of permits granted to other judges. Still, the surprise was that her visit included participation in a conference at the invitation of the European Parliament, which is considered a violation of the minister's memorandum issued in March, banning any judge from appearing in the media or participating in any conference without prior permission from the Minister of Justice. While Judge Aoun's participation in a conference outside the country, which she herself did not deny, reflects a clear violation of the minister's decision, many question marks are also raised about the conference organizers. Information has surfaced that Lukas Mandl, the head of the European-Israeli Relations Committee and a friend of political activist Omar Harfouch, is behind the conference. In a tweet, Judge Aoun said, "Contrary to lies, this is the official page of the European Parliament member Lukas Mandl. Therefore, he does not chair the committee on relations with Israel but is a foreign relations committee member." Whatever happens in Brussels, the repercussions will appear in Beirut. Are there any political factors that might prevent Minister Khoury from referring Judge Aoun to judicial inspection? It is still unknown what the minister will decide. Still, it is known that if she is referred to judicial inspection, the investigations will be conducted in complete secrecy. His choice will be unexpected and final.

Lebanon: Two arrested and daycare centre shut over video of babies being abused
The National/July 11, 2023
Two people were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of abusing infants at a daycare centre in Lebanon, the Internal Security Forces said, after a video apparently showing babies being beaten and force-fed at a nursery circulated online. The Garderêve nursery in Jdeideh, Mount Lebanon, where the video was taken, has been shut down, Health Minister Firas Al Abiad said on Tuesday. He said its licence had been revoked "based on confirmed data revealed by a prompt investigation into the case of child abuse”. "There is no circumstance that justifies undermining the safety and well-being of children in any way, and any behavior that goes against their protection is unacceptable," Mr Al Abiad said. The security forces identified the accused only by their initials - ‘DH’, born in 1979 and ‘C’, born in 1985. Mr Abiad called on the Lebanese judiciary to enforce a strong punishment on the perpetrators, adding that just closing the nursery was not enough. The video showed one staff member repeatedly and forcefully stuffing what appears to be food into a baby’s mouth as it sat in a chair. When the infant spat it out, the woman shouted and then slapped him in the face. She then took a tissue and violently cleaned the food from the baby’s face. It also shows a woman thumping another child on the head after it spat out his food, then forcefully pushing the baby into his chair. On Tuesday, Mr Abiad also announced the health ministry's intention to establish an online platform giving parents access to detailed information on daycare centres and their employees, “enabling parents to check whether the daycare where they enroll their children complies with required standards."
“The video was shocking to all of us,” Mr Al Abiad added.

Lebanon shocked by video of nursery employee hitting children
Najia Houssari/Arab News/July 11, 2023
The mother of an 11-month-old baby girl said her daughter faces hysterical situations during her sleep and she suddenly cries”
This incident has highlighted issue of increased violence against women and children, with 10 Lebanese women allegedly killed by their estranged husbands recently
BEIRUT: A shocking video filmed by an employee at a nursery in Mount Lebanon, which shows a female member of staff physically abusing infants, sparked outrage when it circulated on social media on Monday night and has highlighted growing concerns about a recent increased in violence against women and children. Authorities reacted by sealing off the Gardereve nursery, which is in the Jdeideh area, and arresting its 44-year-old manager and a 38-year-old employee.
The video shows a woman hitting a baby for refusing to eat. She is seen forcefully putting food into the child’s mouth and hitting his face in an attempt to make him swallow it. The baby is crying and spits out the food, and she repeats the process in an even more violent fashion. She is also seen hitting another child and calling youngsters “animals,” using profanity. Arab News has learned that the person who shot the videos was responsible for the children’s hygiene, and sent the videos to the father of one of them. The children involved are all under the age of 3. The father called the other parents to his home and showed them the videos, and they reported the matter to the authorities.The mother of an 11-month-old baby girl said her daughter “faces hysterical situations during her sleep and she suddenly cries. I didn’t know why until the reason was revealed today.”
The mother of another child said her son “lost the ability to speak and express himself after joining the nursery. It was revealed through the video that he was subjected to physical and psychological abuse by the owner of the nursery, who used to call him ‘deaf.’”
The Ministry of Health, which is responsible for nurseries, held an emergency meeting of the Child Protection Committee on Tuesday.
Health Minister Firas Abiad said his ministry “will follow up” on the matter and added: “We are in contact with the families of the abused children and we seek to prevent the recurrence of this bad treatment and absence of responsibility and trustworthiness.”On social media, some people condemned the decision not to reveal the names of those accused of carrying out the abuse. “They can serve as a lesson to others, and stress the need to impose the harshest penalties against them,” one person wrote.
There are growing concerns in Lebanon about recent increases in the number of crimes involving physical and psychological domestic violence, and the mistreatment, exploitation and sexual assault of children. It comes at a time when the country has been mired in a desperate financial crisis for four years.
Some activists on social media highlighted the case of Leen Taleb, a six-year-old girl who was raped and died last week as a result of bleeding. Her death shook the nation but no details have been revealed about the case or the suspects, other than the fact that there was a dispute between the girl’s divorced parents. There were also recent reports from the Internal Security Forces that in the space of just 10 days, five young girls had failed to return home, sparking rumors that gangs were kidnapping children. However, the General Directorate of Security Forces later said “there are family reasons and some of them returned in good health.”
Nevertheless, experts warn that violent crimes against women and children, including murder, have increased in recent months. In many cases, the victims are women who had requested or obtained a divorce. Some of the killings happened outside of Lebanon. Zoya Jreidini Rohana, the director of Kafa, a nonprofit organization that works to end violence and discrimination against women, told Arab News: “The organization has monitored, since the beginning of this year, 10 murders of married or divorced women, six cases of suicides of women, and three attempted murders.
“Whatever the motives, killings take place. The man controls the fate of the family and is assisted by the Personal Status Law, which gives him absolute power. The man’s masculine narcissism, when his wife asks for a divorce, controls him and pushes him to kill her.
“What increases this type of crime is impunity, either by escaping outside (Lebanon’s) borders or by not speeding up the trials, as the files remain in the judiciary for years.”Recent female victims, since March, include Rokaya Halawi, 50, who was allegedly killed by her husband, Khalil Al-Hamoush, 70, with a hunting rifle in June. She had reportedly requested a divorce after decades of marital abuse. Amira Mughniyeh, 30, a Lebanese women living in Sydney was found dead last week. Her husband Ahmed Hadraj, 39, has been charged with her murder. They recently divorced.
Rabih Francis, a member of the state security apparatus, reportedly shot his wife, Sahar, and her mother, Therese, in the Jezzine District last month before killing himself. Maher H. allegedly shot and killed his ex-wife, Jumana, in the town of Qamatiyya in Mount Lebanon, amid a dispute over custody of their children. Ragia Al-Akoum, from the town of Bsaba, died when her ex-husband allegedly stabbed her and ran over her with his car, in front of their children, days after they separated. Hassan Musa Zaiter, 27, is accused of shooting dead his wife, Zainab, 26, in March in the Choueifat area, south of Beirut, in front of their three children.
Mona Al-Homsi was allegedly shot and killed by her ex-husband in Jabal Mohsen, Tripoli. According to the World Bank: “Family crime has increased in Lebanon, and the rate of femicide has increased in the Middle East even though rates of femicide globally have been declining since the 1990s.”
In 2020, the Lebanese parliament approved amendments designed to enhance the Law to Protect Women and Other Family Members from Domestic Violence, six years after it was introduced. However, experts say it still fails to provide an effective safety net for women and children. The ongoing financial crisis in the country is adding to the pressure. According to a UNICEF report published in June: “The ability of families in Lebanon to meet their basic needs has decreased despite having cut expenses significantly. An increasing number of families have been forced to send their children, some as young as six, to work in a desperate attempt to survive in light of the social and economic crisis.” Caregivers quoted in the report said they are facing “a hopeless situation of tremendous stress, which results in feelings of anger toward their children. Six out of 10 of these (caregivers) felt the urge to yell at their children, and two out of 10 felt so angry that they almost beat their children in the two weeks preceding the survey.”Heightened tensions, coupled with growing deprivation, also take a toll on the mental health of youngsters. Seven out of 10 caregivers said their children appeared restless, tense and edgy. Almost half said their children seemed very sad or frequently depressed. A previous UNICEF study found that “the crisis in Lebanon leads to the collapse and fragmentation of family relations. This is evident through children losing confidence in their parents due to their (the parents’) inability to meet the basic needs of the family. “On the other hand, parents feel that their children do not respect them because of their failure in the role they are supposed to play as caregivers.”

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 11-12/2023
Zelensky says NATO’s ‘absurd’ plans for Ukraine fall short
AP/July 11, 2023
VILNIUS, Lithuania: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday blasted as “absurd” the absence of a timetable for his country’s membership in NATO, injecting harsh criticism into a gathering of the alliance’s leaders that was intended to showcase solidarity in the face of Russian aggression. The broadside from Zelensky could renew tensions at the summit shortly after it saw a burst of goodwill after Turkiye agreed to advance Sweden’s bid to join NATO. Allies hope to resolve the seesawing negotiations and leave Vilnius with a clear path forward for the alliance and its support for Ukraine. Officials have drafted a proposal, which has not been publicly released, on Ukraine’s potential membership. US President Joe Biden expressed support during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, but Zelensky wrote on Twitter that he was not satisfied.
“We value our allies,” he said but added that “Ukraine also deserves respect.” “It’s unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership,” Zelensky said. He finished with, “Uncertainty is weakness. And I will openly discuss this at the summit.”
Zelensky is expected to meet with Biden and other NATO leaders on Wednesday. There have been sharp divisions within the alliance over Ukraine’s desire to join NATO, which was promised back in 2008 even though few steps were taken toward that goal. Stoltenberg wrote in Foreign Affairs on Monday that the alliance would “upgrade our political ties” by forming a NATO-Ukraine Council, which would be “a platform for decisions and crisis consultation.”In addition, he said Tuesday that NATO would forgo requiring “membership action plan” for Ukraine, removing another hurdle.
But that did not seem to alleviate Zelensky’s concerns. In addition, the Baltic states — including Lithuania, which is hosting the summit — have pushed for a strong show of support and a clear pathway toward membership for Ukraine.
However, the United States and Germany were urging caution. Biden said last week that Ukraine wasn’t ready to join. Members of NATO, he told CNN, need to “meet all the qualifications, from democratization to a whole range of other issues,” a nod toward longstanding concerns about governance and corruption in Kyiv. In addition, some fear that bringing Ukraine into NATO would serve more as a provocation to Russia than as a deterrence against aggression.
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said allies were debating the “precise nature” of Ukraine’s pathway to membership. However, he promised that the summit would demonstrate how Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes for fractures within NATO will be unfulfilled.
“He has been disappointed at every turn,” Sullivan said. “Vilnius will very much disappoint him.” The dispute over Ukraine stands in contrast to a hard-fought agreement to advance Sweden’s membership. The deal was reached after days of intensive meetings, and it’s poised to expand the alliance’s strength in Northern Europe. “Rumors of the death of NATO’s unity were greatly exaggerated,” Sullivan told reporters triumphantly on Tuesday. According to a joint statement issued when the deal was announced, Erdogan will ask Turkiye’s parliament to approve Sweden joining NATO. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, another holdout, is expected to take a similar step. Hungary’s foreign minister said Tuesday that his country’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership was now just a “technical matter.” Erdogan has not yet commented publicly.
The outcome is a victory as well for Biden, as well, who has touted NATO’s expansion as an example of how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has backfired on Moscow. Finland has already become the 31st member of the alliance, and Sweden is on deck to become the 32nd. Both Nordic countries were historically nonaligned until the war increased fears of Russian aggression.
Because of the deal on Sweden’s membership, “this summit is already historic before it has started,” Stoltenberg said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that NATO’s expansion is “one of the reasons that led to the current situation.”“It looks like the Europeans don’t understand their mistake,” Peskov said. He warned against putting Ukraine on a fast track for NATO membership. “Potentially it’s very dangerous for the European security, it carries very big risks,” Peskov said. Biden and Erdogan were scheduled to meet Tuesday evening, and it was unclear how some of the Turkish president’s other demands will be resolved. He has been seeking advanced American fighter jets and a path toward membership in the European Union. The White House has expressed support for both, but publicly insisted that the issues were not related to Sweden’s membership in NATO. “I stand ready to work with President Erdogan and Turkiye on enhancing defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area,” Biden said in a statement late Monday. The phrasing was a nod to Biden’s commitment to help Turkiye acquire new F-16 fighter jets, according to an administration official who was not authorized to comment publicly.
The Biden administration has backed Turkiye’s desire to buy 40 new F-16s as well as modernization kits from the US It’s a move some in Congress, most notably Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J, have opposed over Turkiye blocking NATO membership for Sweden, its human rights record and other concerns. In Washington, Menendez said he was “continuing to have my reservations” on providing the fighter aircraft to Turkiye. If the Biden administration could show that Turkiye wouldn’t use the F-16s belligerently against other NATO members, particularly its neighbor Greece, and meet other conditions, “then there may be a way forward,” Menendez told reporters. Biden is on a five-day trip to Europe, with the NATO summit as its centerpiece. The president spent Monday in the United Kingdom, meeting at Windsor Castle with King Charles III and in London with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He met Tuesday with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, emphasizing his commitment to transatlantic cooperation, before he joined the NATO gathering. “Nothing happens here that doesn’t affect us,” Biden told Nauseda. The White House said Nauseda presented Biden with the Order of Vytautas the Great, the highest award a Lithuanian president can bestow. Biden is the first US president to receive it. After the summit ends on Wednesday, Biden will travel to Helsinki. On Thursday, he’ll celebrate Finland’s recent entry into NATO and meet with Nordic leaders.

NATO reaches agreement on admitting Sweden, faces division over Ukraine
Associated Press/July 11/2023
U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday hailed an agreement for Sweden to join NATO as more work remained to determine a path forward for Ukraine's future with the alliance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized as "absurd" the absence of a timetable for his country's entry.
Biden described the summit as a "historic moment" and said the United States agreed with a proposal, yet to be released publicly, to outline a path for Ukraine's eventual membership. However, Zelenskyy, who was on his way to Vilnius to join the summit, expressed disappointment with how the negotiations were playing out. "We value our allies," he wrote on Twitter but added that "Ukraine also deserves respect.""It's unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership," Zelensky said. He finished with, "Uncertainty is weakness. And I will openly discuss this at the summit." A public flash of anger from the Ukrainian leader, who has been hailed by the West as a hero for his leadership during the Russian invasion, could renew tensions in Vilnius just as they had begun to subside.
On Monday evening, the night before the summit opened, Turkey withdrew its objections to Sweden joining the alliance, a step toward the unity that Western leaders have been eager to demonstrate in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The deal was reached after days of intensive meetings, and it's poised to expand the alliance's strength in Northern Europe.
"Rumors of the death of NATO's unity were greatly exaggerated," Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, told reporters triumphantly on Tuesday. According to a joint statement issued when the deal was announced, Erdogan will ask Turkey's parliament to approve Sweden joining NATO. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, another holdout, is expected to take a similar step. Hungary's foreign minister said Tuesday that his country's ratification of Sweden's NATO membership was now just a "technical matter."The outcome is a victory as well for Biden, as well, who has touted NATO's expansion as an example of how Russia's invasion of Ukraine has backfired on Moscow. Finland has already become the 31st member of the alliance, and Sweden is on deck to become the 32nd. Both Nordic countries were historically nonaligned until the war increased fears of Russian aggression.
Because of the deal on Sweden's membership, "this summit is already historic before it has started," Stoltenberg said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that NATO's expansion is "one of the reasons that led to the current situation."
"It looks like the Europeans don't understand their mistake," Peskov said. He warned against putting Ukraine on a fast track for NATO membership. "Potentially it's very dangerous for the European security, it carries very big risks," Peskov said. Biden began Tuesday by meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, where he emphasized his commitment to transatlantic cooperation. "Nothing happens here that doesn't affect us," he told Nauseda. The White House said Nauseda presented Biden with the Order of Vytautas the Great, the highest award a Lithuanian president can bestow. Biden is the first U.S. president to receive it. Biden and Erdogan were scheduled to meet Tuesday evening, and it was unclear how some of the Turkish president's other demands will be resolved. He has been seeking advanced American fighter jets and a path toward membership in the European Union. The White House has expressed support for both, but publicly insisted that the issues were not related to Sweden's membership in NATO. "I stand ready to work with President Erdogan and Turkey on enhancing defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area," Biden said in a statement late Monday. The phrasing was a nod to Biden's commitment to help Turkey acquire new F-16 fighter jets, according to an administration official who was not authorized to comment publicly.
The Biden administration has backed Turkey's desire to buy 40 new F-16s as well as modernization kits from the U.S. It's a move some in Congress, most notably Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J, have opposed over Turkey blocking NATO membership for Sweden, its human rights record and other concerns. In Washington, Menendez said he was "continuing to have my reservations" on providing the fighter aircraft to Turkey. If the Biden administration could show that Turkey wouldn't use the F-16s belligerently against other NATO members, particularly its neighbor Greece, and meet other conditions, "then there may be a way forward," Menendez told reporters.
NATO members are now focused on Ukraine's desire to join NATO. The Baltic states — including Lithuania, which is hosting the event — have pushed for a strong show of support and a clear pathway toward membership for Ukraine. The United States and Germany have resisted that, and Biden said last week that Ukraine wasn't ready to join. Members of NATO, he told CNN, need to "meet all the qualifications, from democratization to a whole range of other issues," a nod toward longstanding concerns about governance and corruption in Kyiv. In addition, some fear that bringing Ukraine into NATO would serve more as a provocation to Russia than as a deterrence against aggression. Stoltenberg wrote in Foreign Affairs on Monday that the alliance would "upgrade our political ties" by forming a NATO-Ukraine Council, which would be "a platform for decisions and crisis consultation."
Zelenskyy is scheduled to attend the summit on Wednesday and meet with Biden. NATO committed to eventual membership for Ukraine in 2008 under President George W. Bush, a goal Stoltenberg reiterated in Vilnius. He said NATO had agreed to forgo requiring a "membership action plan" for Ukraine, but was not more specific. "Ukraine is much closer to NATO so I think the time has come to reflect that in other NATO decisions," Stoltenberg said. Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, said allies were debating the "precise nature" of Ukraine's pathway to membership. However, he promised that the summit would demonstrate how Russian President Vladimir Putin's hopes for fractures within NATO will be unfulfilled. "He has been disappointed at every turn," Sullivan said. "Vilnius will very much disappoint him." Biden is on a five-day trip to Europe, with the NATO summit as its centerpiece. The president spent Monday in the United Kingdom, meeting at Windsor Castle with King Charles III and in London with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. After the summit ends on Wednesday, Biden will travel to Helsinki to celebrate Finland's recent entry into NATO and meet with Nordic leaders.

NATO wrestles with Ukraine bid at summit on Russia’s doorstep
AFP/July 11, 2023
VILNIUS: NATO leaders will grapple with Ukraine’s membership ambitions at their summit Tuesday, their determination to face down Russia boosted by a breakthrough in Sweden’s bid to join the alliance. German Patriot missile systems and French fighter jets were guarding the skies as NATO leaders gathered in Lithuania, on NATO’s eastern flank and a land once occupied by Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to head to Vilnius for the two-day summit to make the case that Kyiv has earned the right to join when the Kremlin’s invasion ends.
“Ukraine deserves to be in the alliance. Not now, because now there’s war, but we need a clear signal,” Zelensky said in Kyiv on the eve of the summit. The Western military alliance is set to offer its full-throated backing for Kyiv’s quest for victory, but its 31 nations are divided over how far to go on letting Ukraine join their ranks. While Ukraine’s neighbors have pushed for an explicit timetable, heavyweights the United States and Germany are reluctant to go beyond an earlier vow that it will become a member one day. US President Joe Biden, who will meet with Zelensky on Wednesday, has said there is no agreement to offer Kyiv membership while its war with Russia rages, as this would drag NATO directly into the conflict. “I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now,” Biden told CNN. But the alliance is offering Kyiv a branch by simplifying its eventual accession bid and dropping a requirement that it complete a formal road map of reforms. The alliance will draw up a path of reforms that Ukraine will need to undertake in order to eventually join, but without giving a “timetable”, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday. As Ukraine wages a punishing counter-offensive, dominant powers the United States, Britain, France and Germany have been negotiating long-term commitments on weapons supplies with Kyiv. These fall far short of Zelensky’s desire to be under NATO’s collective defense umbrella, but could reassure him that his nation can keep on fighting. Drawing up something similar to the US arrangement with Israel — which sees Washington sending $3.8 billion of weapons each year for a decade — is one possibility. Early Tuesday Ukrainian officials said Russia had targeted Kyiv and the western port city of Odesa in a overnight drone attack. Drone wreckage had been located in the Kyiv region and some windows and outbuildings had been damaged, the interior ministry said, adding there was no immediate information on casualties. The biggest war in Europe since World War II has propelled NATO into the most sweeping overhaul of its defenses since the end of the Cold War. Alliance leaders should sign off on new regional plans to protect against any potential Russian attack and agree to bolster defense spending targets. But letting Ukraine in remains a step too far for some for now. Diplomats have been wrangling up to the wire over the exact wording final communique as they seek to convince Ukraine it is moving forward. In 2008, NATO left Ukraine in a grey zone by vowing it will become a member but failing to back that up with any concrete progress. Kyiv’s push to join the Western bloc enraged Putin and was used as a pretext by the Kremlin leader to justify his war. But more than 500 days into the conflict, Putin is facing a greater NATO presence lined up against Russia.After hours of talks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday ended months of deadlock by agreeing to forward Sweden’s application for NATO membership to his parliament for approval. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg hailed a “historic day” that should help clear the way for Sweden to become the second new member since Finland joined in April. Turkiye has been holding up Sweden’s application to join the Atlantic alliance, accusing Stockholm of harboring Kurdish activists Ankara regards as terrorists. Erdogan upped the stakes further, demanding that the European Union revive Turkiye’s stalled EU membership bid as a precondition for Sweden joining NATO. In a joint statement Stockholm said it will now “actively support” efforts to reinvigorate Turkiye’s long-stalled accession bid for the EU. Hungary is also yet to approve it, although Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government has vowed it will not be the last to make the step, implying it will move soon.

As Russia's war on Ukraine drags on, what is NATO and what is it doing to help?
Associated PressJuly 11/2023
With Russia's war on Ukraine in its 17th month, and Western countries sending increasingly hi-tech and long-range weapons and ammunition to help President Volodymyr Zelensky defend his country, it's easy to lose track of where NATO stands. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg — the top civilian official at the world's biggest security alliance — routinely praises allies for helping Ukraine's troops to fight back. But when he does, Stoltenberg is talking about individual member countries, not NATO as an organization.As a NATO summit in Lithuania's capital begins Tuesday, here's a look at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and what it's doing to help Ukraine.
NATO'S SUPPORT NON-LETHAL ONLY
The 31-nation military alliance provides only non-lethal support to Ukraine: Fuel, combat rations, medical supplies, body armor, winter uniforms and equipment to counter mines, chemical and biological threats and drones.
NATO makes its decisions by consensus, and not all member countries agree on sending weapons. The alliance does not impose sanctions, although some of its members do through other organizations like the European Union.
FUTURE UKRAINE MEMBERSHIP
NATO is helping Ukraine's armed forces to modernize and shift from Soviet-era equipment and military doctrine to modern NATO gear to allow its army to work seamlessly with allied forces. NATO is also helping to strengthen Ukraine's defense and security institutions. That assistance is designed to ensure that Ukraine can join NATO at some point in the future, well after the war is over. U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts — who are meeting for a summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius — have promised that the country will eventually gain membership.
NATO READINESS IN THE REGION
NATO's primary goal since Russia began building up its troops around Ukraine in 2021 has been to reinforce its own territory, particularly the countries on its eastern flank — so near to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus — from Estonia in the north down to Romania on the Black Sea.
With the war now in its 17th month, NATO wants to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from broadening the conflict to allied territory farther west.
Around 40,000 troops are on standby along the eastern flank. About 100 aircraft take to the skies in that territory on any given day, and a total of 27 warships are operating in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas this month. Those numbers are set to rise. Under new plans to be endorsed in Vilnius, NATO aims to have up to 300,000 troops ready to move to its eastern flank within 30 days. The plans divide its territory into three zones — the high north and Atlantic area, a zone north of the Alps, and another in southern Europe.
MEMBER COUNTRIES
The forces and materiel that NATO drums up for its own defense come from the member countries. NATO has no weapons of its own. The battleships, warplanes, missiles and potential pool of more than 3 million personnel are owned and supplied by member states, mostly at their own cost.
The only equipment NATO has is a fleet of early warning radar planes and some surveillance drones. The NATO alliance, with its main headquarters in Brussels and military base in Mons, Belgium, is open to any European nation that wants to join and can meet the requirements and obligations. Finland entered in April, and its Nordic neighbor Sweden is on the cusp of joining its ranks. The Soviet Union, during the Cold War, and Russia have been major preoccupations since the organization was founded in 1949, and in many ways remain the NATO's reason for being.
U.S.' DOMINANT PRESENCE
The United States is without doubt the biggest and most influential member. It spends more on its own military budget than all the others combined. It also pays almost a quarter of NATO's common funding for infrastructure and collectively owned equipment. So, Washington has a big say in how things are run, and smaller allies long to train and work with U.S. forces because it gives them access to equipment and expertise that they cannot afford alone.
STOLTENBERG'S ROLE
The North Atlantic Council meets at ambassadorial level most weeks in Brussels, and less often at the ministerial and heads of state levels, and are chaired by Stoltenberg. In essence, the former Norwegian prime minister runs the headquarters located near the Brussels airport, a sprawling, cavernous edifice that cost over 1 billion euros to build. Stoltenberg does not order the allies around. His job is to encourage consensus and speak on their behalf publicly as a single voice representing all 31 members.
COMMON DEFENSE CLAUSE
On the ground, NATO has helped to keep peace in the Balkans and fought the Taliban-led insurgency in war-torn Afghanistan before the group took control of the country — the alliance's biggest-ever operation. It was launched after the United States triggered its "all for one and one for all" common defense clause in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. It is the only time the clause, known as Article 5, has been used. That security guarantee is the reason Finland and Sweden sought to join NATO and why Ukraine and other countries in Europe also want in.

Sweden's rocky road from neutrality toward NATO membership
Associated Press/July 11/2023
When long-neutral Sweden applied for NATO membership together with Finland, both expected a quick accession process. More than a year later, Finland is in, but Sweden is still in the alliance's waiting room. New entries must be approved by all existing members and as NATO leaders meet for a summit in Vilnius, Sweden is missing the green light from two: Turkey and Hungary. A major obstacle was overcome Monday when Turkey's president agreed to send NATO's accession documents to the Turkish Parliament for approval, something he had refused to do for more than a year. That means Sweden is now close to becoming NATO's 32nd member, though not quite yet over the finish line. Here's what to know about Sweden's tumultuous road toward joining the alliance.
FAREWELL TO NEUTRALITY
For a country that hasn't fought a war in two centuries, the decision to join NATO was huge. Sweden declined to take sides during both world wars and throughout the Cold War, embracing neutrality as core to its security policy and even its national identity. Though it tweaked its status to "nonaligned" after joining the European Union in 1995 and gradually increased cooperation with NATO, Stockholm until last year ruled out applying for membership, with public opinion firmly against it. As late as November 2021 — three months before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine — then-Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist promised that Sweden would never join NATO while his center-left Social Democrats were in office. Then the war started. As Russian tanks rumbled across the Ukrainian border and missiles struck Kyiv and other cities, public opinion shifted in both Finland and Sweden. Even Hultqvist and the Social Democrats made a U-turn, and in May last year Sweden and Finland jointly applied for NATO membership.
TURKEY SAYS NOT SO FAST
Most observers expected Sweden and Finland's applications to be fast-tracked, since they already fulfilled the membership criteria and the Ukraine war added urgency. Twenty-eight NATO countries ratified the accession protocols swiftly. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a different idea. He said Turkey could not welcome the Nordic nations as NATO allies unless they cracked down on groups that Ankara views as security threats, including the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has led a decades-long insurgency in Turkey. Sweden has accepted more than 1 million refugees in recent decades, including tens of thousands of Kurds from Turkey, Iran and Iraq. Some of them sympathize with the PKK, which is designated as a terrorist group by the European Union. Seeking to address Erdogan's concerns, Finland and Sweden signed a deal with Turkey at last year's NATO summit in Madrid. They agreed to resume weapons exports to Turkey that were suspended following a 2019 Turkish incursion into Kurdish areas in northern Syria, tighten anti-terror laws and step up efforts to prevent PKK's activities in their countries. When Swedes elected a center-right government last September, negotiations with Turkey were expected to become a little easier because the previous Social Democratic government had been burdened by its support for Kurdish militants in Syria with links to the PKK. But things got complicated in January when pro-Kurdish activists briefly hung an effigy of Erdogan from a streetlight outside Stockholm's City Hall. Soon after, an anti-Islam activist from Denmark burned the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. If the purpose was to stall Sweden's NATO bid by infuriating Turkey, the protests had the desired effect: Ankara froze NATO talks with Sweden, while allowing Finland to join in April. Conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's government spent months trying to repair the damage. Just as relations appeared to be improving, a refugee from Iraq staged another Quran-burning protest last month outside a mosque in Stockholm, dimming hopes that Turkey would unblock Sweden's accession before the NATO summit in Vilnius.
WHO'S BEHIND THE PROTESTS?
The anti-Erdogan protests have gathered pro-Kurdish and far-left demonstrators in Sweden. Some participants have waved PKK flags. Meanwhile, the Quran burnings were carried out by a far-right activist from Denmark and a Christian refugee from Iraq. They might not have gotten much attention if it weren't for the NATO spotlight, but with Ankara keeping a close eye on developments in Sweden, the protests made headlines in Turkey and other Muslim countries, where leaders slammed Sweden for allowing them. That provoked a discussion in Sweden about whether Quran-burning can be considered incitement to hatred, which is illegal, or a lawful expression of opinion about a world religion. Swedish officials are trying to assure Turkey that Sweden is not an Islamophobic nation, stressing that the government does not condone Quran-burnings but cannot stop them, citing freedom of speech. The government's strong condemnations of the protests have caused a backlash domestically with critics accusing Kristersson of bending over backward to placate Turkey. The protests have also raised suspicions of Russian interference. As soon as Sweden launched its membership bid, the country's security service warned that Moscow might increase influence activities during the application process. However, no proof has emerged of Russian links to the protesters.
WHAT ELSE DOES TURKEY WANT?
Turkey's holding up of Sweden's NATO bid irritated the United States and other allies. Some analysts suggested Turkey was using its leverage to press for upgraded F-16 fighter jets from the U.S. While both Turkish and U.S. officials have said the Swedish accession process and the F-16 upgrades are not connected, President Joe Biden implicitly linked the two issues in a phone call to Erdogan in May. "I spoke to Erdogan and he still wants to work on something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden. So let's get that done," Biden said. Just before departing for NATO summit in Vilnius on Monday, Erdogan came up with yet another demand. He said European countries should reopen long-frozen talks to let Turkey into the European Union. "When you pave the way for Turkey, we'll pave the way for Sweden as we did for Finland," he said. After Erdogan met separately with Kristersson and EU Council President Charles Michel in Vilnius, NATO's secretary general announced a breakthrough: Erdogan was ready to send Sweden's accession protocol to the Turkish Parliament in return for deeper cooperation on security issues and Swedish support for reviving Turkey's quest for EU membership. While celebrating the agreement as a "very big step on the road" toward NATO membership, Kristersson stopped short of calling NATO membership a done deal, noting it was unclear when the Turkish Parliament would make its decision.
WHAT ABOUT HUNGARY?
Unlike Turkey, Hungary has not given a reason for why it hasn't yet ratified Sweden's NATO membership. Hungary pursued close economic and diplomatic ties with Russia before the war. Since it started, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has refused to back Ukraine with weapons and argued against European Union sanctions on Moscow. During a visit to Vienna last week, Orban denied that Hungary was delaying Sweden's membership bid. "We support the Swedish accession, but the Hungarian parliament has not yet ratified the decision," he said. "We are in constant contact with the NATO secretary-general and the Turks. So if we have something to do, we will act." Many analysts believe that Orban is waiting for Erdogan's next move and that Hungary will approve Sweden's accession if Turkey looks likely to do the same. That's what happened with Finland's accession.

Port in Odesa region, key to Ukraine grain deal, targeted by Russian drones
Agence France Presse/July 11/2023
Ukraine said Tuesday that Russian attack drones overnight had targeted grain facilities at a southern port in the Odesa region, which houses three maritime terminals key to an expiring export agreement between Moscow and Kyiv. "The air defense forces did not allow the enemy's plan to attack the grain terminal of one of the ports of Odesa to be realized," the regional governor Oleg Kiper said in a statement. The Ukrainian military said it had downed a total of 26 Russian attack drones in the latest barrage. While the majority of the drones aimed at southern Ukraine were destroyed, "two hit the administrative building of one of the port facilities", Kiper said. Falling debris from the downed drones also caused "two near-port terminals, including a grain terminal" to catch fire, the governor said. "The fire was promptly extinguished, no critical damage or casualties were recorded." Russia's invasion last year saw Ukraine's Black Sea ports blocked by warships until an agreement, signed in July 2022, allowed for the passage of critical grain exports. The initial 120-day deal struck with the UN and Turkey has been extended but is set to expire again on July 17. Moscow is unhappy about the operation of a parallel agreement on free exports of Russian food and fertilizer, and has said it sees no grounds for another extension. Ukraine was one of the world's top grain producers, and the deal has helped soothe the global food crunch triggered by the conflict.

Norway provides more military aid to Ukraine
AFP/July 11/2023
The Norwegian government pledged on Tuesday to provide 2.5 billion Norwegian kroner ($240 million) in military aid to Ukraine, raising the total aid to 10 billion kroner for this year. Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg told reporters on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, "The defensive war being waged by Ukraine is ongoing. There is a real need for assistance." The funds will be taken from a 75 billion kroner ($7.3 billion) aid package to Ukraine, spread over five years, which was previously committed by the Scandinavian country. Oslo will allocate 10 billion kroner this year for military assistance and 7.5 billion kroner for civilian support, replacing the previous allocation of 7.5 billion kroner for each. Solberg did not specify how these funds would be used or the nature of the equipment that will be purchased. Furthermore, Norway announced that it will provide 300 million kroner annually to the NATO Trust Fund to support Ukraine over the next five years.

France's SCALP missiles: long-range weapon for Ukraine's armory
Agence France Presse/July 11/2023
France's announcement on Tuesday that it would send SCALP long-range missiles to Ukraine comes months after Britain began delivering its identical Storm Shadow. Developed jointly by the two NATO allies, Storm Shadow/SCALP is a 1,300-kilogramme (2,870 pounds) missile armed with conventional explosives, usually launched from aircraft such as the Royal Air Force's Eurofighter Typhoon or French Rafale. The first SCALPs were already in Ukraine as President Emmanuel Macron announced their delivery, a French military source told AFP Tuesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Built by missile maker MBDA, the missile's range of over 250 kilometers makes it the longest-range Western weapon supplied to Kyiv so far. It is capable of striking targets far into the country's Russian-occupied east, well behind front lines that have remained relatively fixed for months. Such capability is "critical for Ukraine's forces to disrupt Russian logistics and command and control," said Ivan Klyszcz, a researcher at the Estonia based International Centre for Defense and Security (ICDS). SCALP strikes could help "with Ukraine's current approach to operations... namely to advance slowly so as to protect its forces and reduce its own casualties as much as possible," he added. French deliveries would "preserve the clarity and coherence of our doctrine, which is to allow Ukraine to defend its territory" from Russian invasion, Macron said. The subtext is that French-supplied weapons should not be allowed to hit Russian territory, after Moscow's repeated warnings of reprisals. Macron's message matched that of Britain's Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who said in May that Storm Shadow would "allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based within Ukrainian sovereign territory".
'High-value targets' -
"With these weapons, a few jets operating within the safe space of their own air defenses can make a difference," said Dylan Lehrke of UK-based private intelligence firm Janes. "Russian forces can deny Ukrainian aircraft the use of airspace above territory they control, but they have been unable to defend against deep strikes," he added. Manufacturer MBDA says on its website that the SCALP is "designed to meet the demanding requirements of pre-planned attacks against high-value fixed or stationary targets such as hardened bunkers and key infrastructure". It has been used in previous conflicts including in Iraq, Libya and Syria. The missile uses inertial navigation, GPS and terrain referencing to chart a low-altitude course to its target to avoid detection. It uses an infrared camera to match images of the target to a stored picture "to ensure a precision strike and minimal collateral damage," MBDA says. The warhead can be programmed to detonate above the target (airburst), on impact or following penetration. Russian-installed officials said last month that a British-supplied Storm Shadow had hit a bridge at Chongar, which links the annexed Crimean peninsula to southern Ukraine. The bridge was "unusable" following the strike and would be closed for around 20 days, Moscow's governor for southern Ukrainian region Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, said at the time. Russia claimed soon after Britain began delivering the missiles in May that it had already shot down a Storm Shadow. But both sides in the conflict regularly claim to have destroyed the other's hyped high-tech weapons. In recent months, Ukraine has claimed kills of Russia's Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and Moscow has highlighted successes against German-made Leopard tanks operated by Kyiv. As with many Western arms supplied to Ukraine, France's stocks of the SCALP are not bottomless. Trade magazine Defense et Securite Internationale has reported that Paris has "fewer than 400" of the missiles.

Israel evicts Palestinian family from home after 45-year legal battle
Associated Press/July 11/2023
Israeli authorities on Tuesday evicted a Palestinian family from their contested apartment in Jerusalem's Old City, the family said, capping a decades-long legal battle that has come to symbolize conflicting claims to the holy city.
Activists say the Ghaith-Sub Laban family's eviction is part of a wider trend of Israeli settlers, backed by the government, encroaching on Palestinian neighborhoods and cementing Israeli control by seizing property in east Jerusalem. Israel describes it as a simple battle over real estate, with settlers claiming the family are squatters in an apartment formerly owned by Jews. Earlier this year, Israel's Supreme Court struck down the family's final appeal, capping a 45-year-long legal battle over their right to live in the apartment. "I will not stay quiet," Nora Sub-Laban said. "If I find any loophole in the law, I will use it and I will sue them, because this is my right, and this is my home, and this is my land, and this is my country." The family says it moved in to the property in the early 1950s and rented it from a "General Custodian" for abandoned properties, first under Jordanian authorities and then under Israel after the 1967 war. The case dragged on for decades, as the Israeli custodian and then the Kollel Galicia trust contested the family's "protected" status. Among its claims was that the family did not use the property for extended periods. Police officers came to Nora Ghaith-Sub Laban's house in Jerusalem's Old City early Tuesday morning, forced open the door and removed the family, said her son, Ahmad Sub-Laban. He said his family has been barred from reentering the premises.
"When we got back in front of the house, we faced the new reality that our main entrance had been closed and we don't have the right to use it anymore," he said. "They took the key and changed the lock." Several dozen protesters gathered and chanted "occupation no more" at passersby outside the house as police stood by. Free Jerusalem, an activist group that has tried to support the family, said that police arrested 12 people who demonstrated against the eviction Tuesday morning. Jerusalem's Old City, home to holy sites to three monotheistic faiths, was captured by Israel along with the rest of east Jerusalem during the 1967 Mideast war, and later annexed in a move unrecognized by most of the international community. Israel considers the entire city its capital, while the Palestinian seek east Jerusalem as capital of a future independent state. Today, more than 220,000 Jews live in east Jerusalem, largely in built-up settlements that Israel considers neighborhoods of its capital. Most of east Jerusalem's 350,000 Palestinian residents are crammed into overcrowded neighborhoods where there is little room to build.
Authorities have not let the family back into the house to recover their furniture or medicine for Nora and Rafat, Nora's son, Rafat said. They were only able to grab one item as the authorities forced them out — a plant that has been in the family for 17 years. "We decided to take it to remember that we lived here, our children grew up here, and that we are looking forward to returning to the house," said Ahmad. Ahmad and his siblings were evicted from the house in 2016. For now, Nora and her husband, Mustafa, will stay with their children in Shuafat, a town outside Jerusalem, until they can find a permanent place to stay, Rafat said. Across the city's eastern half, particularly in and around the Old City, settler organizations and Jewish trusts are pursuing court battles against Palestinian families to clear the way for settlers. An Israeli law passed after the annexation of east Jerusalem allows Jews to reclaim properties that were Jewish before the formation of the Israeli state in 1948. Jordan controlled the area between 1948 and the 1967 war. There is no equivalent right in Israel for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes during the war surrounding Israel's establishment in 1948 to return to lost properties. During British rule over historic Palestine, before the war over Israel's creation, the Ghaith-Sub Laban apartment was owned by a trust for Kollel Galicia, a group that collected funds in Eastern Europe for Jewish families in Jerusalem. A similar dispute that could lead to evictions of Palestinian families in the nearby neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah stirred tensions that built up to a 2021 war between Israel and the Hamas militant group in Gaza that killed over 250 people. Nearly 1,000 Palestinians, including 424 children, currently face eviction in east Jerusalem, according to the United Nations humanitarian office.

Israel's controversial legal reform plan: what are the proposals?
Agence France Presse/July 11/2023
Israelis launched nationwide protests Tuesday after the latest legislative move on the government's controversial judicial reform package. Demonstrators took to the streets hours after parliament backed in a first reading a key element of the legal overhaul. Tabled in January by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the measures immediately sparked mass protests which regularly draw tens of thousands. Opponents argue the reform package threatens democracy, while the government says the changes are necessary to rebalance powers between elected officials and the judiciary. Here are the main elements of the legislation presented by Justice Minister Yariv Levin:
'Reasonability'
Parliament voted overnight Monday-Tuesday on the so-called "reasonability" clause, which will be put through second and third readings at a later stage. Critics of Israel's top court, notably on the right, point to this clause as among the most grave examples of judicial overreach. In a recent high-profile decision to prohibit a Netanyahu ally from serving in the cabinet, some Supreme Court judges said it would not be "reasonable" for Aryeh Deri to join the government given a previous tax evasion conviction. Netanyahu was forced to fire Deri, even if there was no law that directly barred him from serving, but the premier criticized judges for overruling the will of voters.
Naming judges
Netanyahu's coalition also wants to change the system through which judges are appointed, giving the government a de facto majority in the nomination process. Currently, top jurists are chosen by a panel overseen by the justice minister that includes judges, lawmakers and lawyers representing the Israeli Bar Association. Under the government's plan and other proposed compromises the bar association members would be removed from the process. An amended version of Levin's proposal, endorsed by lawmakers in late March, would put more deputies and members of the judiciary in the judicial appointments panel than the initial text, while maintaining the coalition's majority. The proposal awaits final votes by the full chamber. A separate piece of legislation would change the way the Supreme Court's president is selected, giving the government a greater say on the appointment. Opponents have accused Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charge he denies, of trying to use the reforms to quash possible judgements against him. The prime minister has rejected the accusation.
Legal advisers
Levin's proposal also envisages curbing the authority of legal advisers attached to government ministries. Currently, their guidance has quasi-legal force, as Supreme Court judges cite it when ruling on the propriety of government actions, but the proposal would change that and make their advice non-binding. While lawmakers have yet to vote on the bill, in March they adopted legislation condemned by critics as another move to diminish the authority of civil servants. Parliament voted to strictly limit the grounds for declaring a premier unfit for office, which the opposition called a "personal law" to protect Netanyahu. Israel's Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said in March that Netanyahu's actions on the judicial reform may place him in conflict of interests due to his ongoing trial.
Override clause
Critics of Israel's top court argue judges have exceeded their authority by claiming the right to strike down legislation. In response, the Netanyahu government wanted to implement a clause which would allow parliament to override Supreme Court rulings. It passed a first vote in parliament on March 14, but has not completed the legislative process to become law. Netanyahu last month told the Wall Street Journal he had scrapped the override clause from the reform package. Other proposed measures would bar the court from striking down any amendments to the so-called Basic Laws, Israel's quasi-constitution, and require a unanimous decision by all judges to invalidate other pieces of legislation. Opponents have warned these measures would give the legislative branch nearly unchecked authority.

Israelis block highways in nationwide protests over judicial overhaul plan
Associated Press/July 11/2023
Israeli protesters blocked highways leading to Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv at the start of countrywide demonstrations Tuesday against the government's planned judicial overhaul that has divided the nation. The demonstrations came the morning after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's parliamentary coalition gave initial approval to a bill to limit the Supreme Court's oversight powers, pressing forward with contentious proposed changes to the judiciary despite widespread opposition. The legislation is one of several bills proposed by Netanyahu's ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox allies. The plan has provoked months of sustained protests by opponents who say it is pushing the country toward authoritarian rule. Anti-overhaul activists called for nationwide mass demonstrations throughout the day, including protests at Israel's main international airport that could disrupt travel. On Tuesday, 300 reservists from the military's cyber unit signed a letter saying they would not volunteer for service, explaining the government has demonstrated "it is determined to destroy the state of Israel." "Sensitive cyber abilities with the potential for being used for evil must not be given to a criminal government that is undermining the foundations of democracy," the letter said. Police used a water cannon to clear protesters who blocked a main artery leading to Jerusalem. Officers arrested several others who had obstructed a highway next to the central city of Modiin. Demonstrators blocked a main highway in Haifa with a large banner reading "Together we will be victorious," snarling traffic along the beachfront. Police said 24 people were arrested for public disturbance during the protests. Netanyahu's allies have proposed a series of changes to the Israeli legal system aimed at weakening what they say are the excessive powers of unelected judges. The proposed changes include giving Netanyahu's allies control over the appointment of judges and giving parliament power to overturn court decisions. Netanyahu put the overhaul plan on hold in March after weeks of mass protests. But he decided to revive it last month after talks with the political opposition aimed at finding a compromise collapsed. The Netanyahu government, which took office in December, is the most hard-line ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox in Israel's 75-year history. His allies proposed the sweeping changes to the judiciary after the country held its fifth elections in under four years, all of them seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's fitness to serve as prime minister while on trial for corruption. Critics of the judicial overhaul say it will upset the country's fragile system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies. They also say Netanyahu has a conflict of interest because he is on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes, all of which he has denied. A wide swath of Israeli society, including reserve military officers, business leaders, LGBTQ+ people and members of other minority groups have joined the protests.

Israel parliament adopts key clause of controversial judicial overhaul
Associated Press/July 11/2023
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's parliamentary coalition gave initial approval early Tuesday to a contentious bill to limit the Supreme Court's oversight powers, pressing forward with a judicial overhaul plan that has polarized Israel. The legislation is one of several bills proposed by Netanyahu's ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox allies. The plan has provoked months of sustained protests by opponents who say it is pushing the country toward authoritarian rule. Mass protests were expected later Tuesday in response to the vote. Lawmakers held the first of three readings of a bill that would curb the high court's ability to scrutinize the "reasonability" of decisions made by elected officials. That standard was implemented by the Supreme Court earlier this year to strike down the appointment of a Netanyahu ally as interior minister because of a past conviction for bribery and a 2021 plea deal for tax evasion. Critics say removing that standard would allow the government to pass arbitrary decisions, make improper appointments or firings and open the door to corruption. The bill passed in a parliamentary session that stretched past midnight by a vote of 64 to 56. Opposition lawmakers shouted "shame," while members of Netanyahu's coalition stood and cheered after the vote passed. The bill must still be passed in two more readings to become law. Anti-overhaul activists called for a series of nationwide mass demonstrations Tuesday, including protests that could disrupt travel at Israel's main international airport. Netanyahu's allies have proposed a series of changes to the Israeli legal system aimed at weakening what they say are the excessive powers of unelected judges. The proposed changes include giving Netanyahu's allies control over the appointment of judges and giving parliament power to overturn court decisions. Netanyahu put the overhaul plan on hold in March after weeks of mass protests. But last month, he decided to revive the plan after talks with the political opposition aimed at finding a compromise collapsed. The Netanyahu government, which took office in December, is the most hardline ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox in Israel's 75-year history. His allies proposed the sweeping changes to the judiciary after the country held its fifth elections in under four years, all of them seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's fitness to serve as prime minister while on trial for corruption. Critics of the plan say it will upset the country's fragile system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies. They also say Netanyahu has a conflict of interest because he is on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes, all of which he has denied. A wide swath of Israeli society, including reserve military officers, business leaders, LGBTQ+ and other minority groups have joined the protests.

Key aid route to rebel-held Syria closes as UN fails to extend authorization
Agence France Presse/July 11/2023
A U.N.-brokered agreement that allows for the delivery of aid overland from Turkey into rebel-held areas of Syria has expired after the Security Council failed to hold a vote to reauthorize it. The 15 members of the council had been trying for days to find a compromise to extend the deal, which since 2014 has allowed for food, water and medicine to be trucked to northwestern Syria without the authorization of the government in Damascus. But the vote, first scheduled for Friday, was postponed to Monday -- and then again to Tuesday morning, a source in the British mission to the U.N., which holds the presidency of the Security Council, told AFP. This means that as humanitarian convoys wrapped up their operations Monday night, the future of the aid corridor was in doubt -- it cannot resume operations until the United Nations reauthorizes it. The aid mechanism originally allowed for four entry points into rebel-held Syria, though now only the Bab al-Hawa crossing remains passable. The accord comes up for renewal every six months due to pressure from Damascus ally Moscow. The crossing provides for more than 80 percent of the needs of people living in rebel-controlled areas -- everything from diapers and blankets to chickpeas. The government in Damascus regularly denounces the aid deliveries as a violation of its sovereignty. Negotiations continued all day at the U.N. Monday as officials scrambled to reach a last-minute deal but ultimately failed. "We want to do all we can for the 4.1 million people in Syria who desperately need aid," British Ambassador and Security Council President Barbara Woodward said earlier in the day. "We are still working very, very hard to find common ground with one and one goal only in mind: it's the humanitarian imperative, the needs on the ground," Swiss ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl said. According to several diplomatic sources, the latest resolution -- drafted by Switzerland and Brazil -- would have allowed for a one-year renewal, as demanded by humanitarian workers. But Russia, which in July 2022 vetoed a one-year extension, was again insisting it would only agree to another six-month deal, according to the same sources. Switzerland and Brazil are now said to have put a nine-month renewal on the table. U.N. humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths had last week again called for the opening of more crossing points, for at least 12 months. The situation "is intolerable for the people of the northwest, and those brave souls who help them to go through these ups and downs every six months," he said, pointing out that humanitarian agencies have to bring pre-positioned stock into the country every time access is threatened, in case the crossing is closed. According to the U.N., four million people in Syria depend on humanitarian assistance to survive following years of conflict, economic strife and devastating earthquakes. After the earthquake in February, which killed tens of thousands of people in the country, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed to the opening of two additional crossings, which remain open despite the Security Council's failure to reauthorize the Bab al-Hawa crossing Monday. The authorization for the other two corridors is set to expire in mid-August. "I have every hope that they will continue to be renewed. I see no reason why not," Griffiths said last week, after having met Assad in Damascus at the end of June. Since the earthquake, more than 3,700 UN trucks carrying aid have passed through the three checkpoints. The majority have passed through Bab al-Hawa, including 79 Monday.

Indonesia seizes Iranian supertanker over alleged illegal oil transfer, GPS spoofing
Arab News/July 11, 2023
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s coast guard said on Tuesday it had seized an Iranian-flagged supertanker suspected of illegally transferring crude oil and manipulating its automatic tracking system. An Indonesian Coast Guard patrol vessel KN Pulau Marore spotted the Iranian-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier MT Arman 114 near the North Natuna Sea on Friday as it conducted oil transshipment with the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos. The ships were caught in Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone and had no permit to transfer oil. Both tried to evade inspection by escaping to the exclusive zone of Malaysia, officials said. “The two ships did not respond to communication and tried to avoid the inspection process by escaping while the hose was still attached (the transshipment process was still ongoing),” the coast guard said in a statement. “They were chased immediately until they entered the Malaysian EEZ.” The 330-meter-long MT Arman was carrying 272,569 tons of light crude oil, or 2.3 million barrels, worth an estimated $303 million. The KN Pulau Marore was allowed to enter Malaysian territory under an Association of Southeast Asian Nations coast guard cooperation agreement and chased the vessels with the help of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. As the ships separated, and apparently tried to escape in different directions, efforts focused on the Iranian one, which was suspected of being the oil supplier. When the MT Arman 114 was impounded, Indonesian officers said it had tried to manipulate its tracking system. “The MT Arman 114 committed an unlawful act … by turning off the automatic information system (AIS), AIS spoofing (AIS data of the MT Arman indicated it was in the Red Sea),” the Indonesian Coast Guard said, adding that the vessel had no port clearance and is also suspected of illegally dumping oily wastewater. The coast guard said they had detained 29 people aboard the ship, including its Egyptian captain, as well as Iranian and Syrian crew members. Tankers carrying oil from countries hit by Western sanctions have been spotted in the areas of the Strait of Malacca in the west, through the Singapore Strait, to the waters of the South China Sea in the east. In 2021, Indonesian authorities impounded two Iranian and Panamanian tankers off the western shore of Borneo Island. The vessels were reportedly conducting a ship-to-ship fuel transfer with their hulls covered to conceal their identities.

US formally rejoins UNESCO after five-year absence
AP/July 11, 2023
WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday formally rejoined the UN’s scientific, educational and cultural organization after a five-year absence. The US return to the Paris-based UNESCO was based mainly on concerns that China has filled a leadership gap since the US withdrew during the Trump administration. UNESCO’s governing board voted last week to approve the Biden administration’s proposal for the US to rejoin.On Monday, the US delivered a document certifying it would accept the invitation. On Tuesday, UNESCO’s Director General Audrey Azoulay said it was official. A welcome ceremony with a flag-raising and VIP guests is expected in late July. “This is excellent news for UNESCO. The momentum we have regained in recent years will now continue to grow. Our initiatives will be stronger throughout the world,” Azoulay said.The Biden administration had announced last month that it  would apply to rejoin the 193-member organization that plays a major role in setting international standards for artificial intelligence and technology education. The US is now the 194th member of UNESCO. “Our organization is once again moving toward universality,” Azoulay said. She called the return of the United States “excellent news for multilateralism as a whole. If we want to meet the challenges of our century, there can only be a collective response.”The Trump administration in 2017 announced that the US would withdraw from UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias. That decision that took effect a year later.The US and Israel stopped financing UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011. The Biden administration has requested $150 million for the 2024 budget to go toward UNESCO dues and arrears. The plan foresees similar requests for the ensuing years until the full debt of $619 million is paid off. That makes up a big chunk of UNESCO’s $534 million annual operating budget. Before leaving, the US contributed 22 percent of the agency’s overall funding. The United States previously pulled out of UNESCO under the Reagan administration in 1984 because it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt and used to advance Soviet interests. It rejoined in 2003 during George W. Bush’s presidency.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 11-12/2023
France on the Verge of Chaos?
Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute./July 11, 2023
The riots grew bigger. Schools and theaters were destroyed.... churches were burned to the ground; graffiti in red paint on a church in Marseilles declared: "Mohammed was the last prophet". Bank branches were ransacked and ATMs opened with chainsaws. Slogans were shouted: "death to the police", "death to France", "death to the Jews!"
"We are Muslims," one angry protester shouted, "if the police kill us we have the right to kill; it is written in the Koran!"
Since the 1970s, France has welcomed an ever-increasing number of immigrants from the Muslim world... Only a tiny minority have assimilated into French society. The others live as they lived in their countries of origin. — Sorbonne University Professor Bernard Rougier, author of the book Les territoires conquis de l'islamisme ("The Conquered Territories of Islamism").
Radical imams came from the Muslim world and allege that France is guilty of having colonized their countries, that Muslims should continue to live according to the law of Islam and that, in the imams' view, France should pay for its crimes. Many politicians have told the newcomers that France is racist and had exploited them.
Criminal gangs formed and began ruling these neighborhoods. Radical imams justified the gangs' criminal activities by claiming that the French must pay for what they did in the Muslim world. French political leaders closed their eyes. Meanwhile, these Muslim neighborhoods have grown and crime from them increased.
During the riots of 2005, then President Jacques Chirac asked imams to restore calm and promised to give even more money to Muslim neighborhoods. The police were ordered not to intervene in them at all; they fell entirely under the control of gangs and imams. It was then that these neighborhoods effectively became lawless "no-go zones" (zones urbaines sensibles), of which there are 750.
President Emmanuel Macron suggested that creating a "French Islam," supposedly quite different from Islam in the rest of the world, would be the solution, but he quickly gave up on that plan. He then said he wanted to fight against what he called "Islamic separatism" (the no-go zones, neighborhoods where Muslims live separately from the rest of the population). He, too, has done nothing.
Macron seems to imagine that he has found explanations for these problems: Parents of rioters, he said, do not exercise their parental authority, and video games poison the minds of young people. His comments seemed completely disconnected from reality...
"The violence is increasing day by day... those who run our country must imperatively find the courage necessary to eradicate the dangers." — Open letter by 20 retired French army generals to the French government and Macron, April 26, 2023.
June 27, 2023. Nanterre, in the western suburbs of Paris, shortly before 8 a.m. Two policemen on a motorcycle try to stop a car. The driver, 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, is obviously dangerous, driving erratically, barely avoiding people crossing the street. A 15-second video circulating on social networks shows the car stopped, with the two policemen aiming their weapons at Merzouk. One policeman, gun drawn, leans his elbow on the windshield. He tells Merzouk to turn off the engine and place his hands above his head. The car drives off. The policeman shoots at the car. Merzouk is shot and dies shortly after.
The police have witnesses, video surveillance, and data showing that the driver has been implicated five times for refusing to comply with police officers. He had been arrested a few weeks earlier for disorderly conduct against police and consumption and sale of narcotics, and was shortly to appear before a judge. He was only 17, too young even to have a French driver's license.
That day, he was driving a rented $90,000 Mercedes with fake Polish license plates. All of this information, apart from his age, was glossed over by the media and political leaders. The single video, filmed by a passerby on an iPhone and sent to the media, failed to show the entire incident.
Before any investigation, and without any respect for the presumption of innocence, French President Emmanuel Macron immediately said that the policeman's act had been "unexplainable" and "inexcusable". Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said that "the law was not respected" by the policeman, and Yael Braun Pivet, the president of the National Assembly asked the deputies for a minute of silence in memory of the young driver.
Merzouk's mother told journalists that he had been a wonderful and kind person. Several lawyers rushed onto television to say they were representing his family, and that the police had committed a "racist murder." The politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon stated that "no police officer has the right to kill," and that any investigation into Merzouk's past must immediately stop.
The police officer who shot Merzouk has been indicted by a judge for intentional homicide and jailed. His name and home address were leaked on social media, and his wife and children had to go into hiding.
Matthieu Valet, president of the Independent Union of Police Commissioners, spoke on television of the extreme difficulty of police work in dangerous French suburbs. In some neighborhoods, he said, the police were constantly threatened, and many officers felt betrayed by the president and the government. Macron, he continued, by arbitrarily accusing a policeman, no doubt hoped to avoid riots, but riots would take place nevertheless. He was right.
The evening of June 27, riots broke out in all the major cities of France. Hundreds of cars, including police cars, were burned and police stations attacked. Some were robbed by criminals who stole whatever weapons they could find there. The town halls of Val Fourré and Villeneuve-le-Roi were set on fire. Hundreds of stores were looted and burned. Delivery trucks were stopped, looted, set on fire, and their drivers were pushed to the ground and beaten.
The riots grew bigger. Schools and theaters were destroyed. The buses in the Seine-Saint-Denis bus depot were torched; churches were burned to the ground; graffiti in red paint on a church in Marseilles declared: "Mohammed was the last prophet". Bank branches were ransacked and ATMs opened with chainsaws. Slogans were shouted: "death to the police", "death to France", "death to the Jews!"
The Secretary General of the Alliance Police Union, Julien Schénardi, remarked on June 28 that the riots were even more serious than those of 2005. This time, he said, many small towns experienced violence. In 2005, he pointed out, 10,000 police officers had been deployed; in June 2023 the number was 45,000, including units specialized in organized crime. In 2005, he recalled, no store had been looted and burned down in Paris; this time many were destroyed.
A march to pay tribute to Merzouk was organized for the afternoon of June 28, in the town of Nanterre where he had been shot, at the request of his mother and the town's communist mayor, Patrick Jarry. A journalist from RMC radio station, Nicolas Poincaré, described what he saw, "six thousand people, mainly veiled women and men of African and North African origin, some leftists". Slogans shouted included "death to the police" and "Allahu Akbar" ["Allah is the greatest"].
"We are Muslims," one angry protester shouted, "if the police kill us we have the right to kill; it is written in the Koran!" Hundreds of police were injured, many seriously.
As soon as the march ended, Poincaré noted, demonstrators began to destroy street furniture. Several broke into a bank on the ground floor of an apartment building, then the entire building was set on fire. The fire engine that came to try to put out the fire, he said, was attacked, adding:
" In 2005, no apartment building had been set on fire, and no monument had been attacked... [Now,] the memorial to Holocaust victims and members of the French resistance was vandalized and defaced with graffiti".
"This is an absolute outrage and a disgrace," wrote the lawyer Ariel Goldmann on Twitter, posting a video of the vandalized memorial. "Nothing is respected".
"The riots," wrote the journalist Frederic Lassez, "come from a clannish France that thrives in so-called 'sensitive' areas where Islamism and narco-banditry are rampant". It appears, in fact, as if all the rioters with whom journalists were able to speak, do, in fact, live in the those "sensitive" areas. Most seemed to be Arabs or Africans; most seemed to be Muslim.
The situation in which France finds itself is the result of several decades of willful blindness and inaction by the French political authorities, who appeared to hope that by spending billions of euros on immigrants, that these problems would melt away.
Since the 1970s, France has welcomed an ever-increasing number of immigrants from the Muslim world, said Sorbonne University Professor Bernard Rougier, author of the book Les territoires conquis de l'islamisme ("The Conquered Territories of Islamism"), in 2020. Most newcomers are housed in low-cost buildings in the poor suburbs of big cities. Some work, others live on welfare. Only a tiny minority have assimilated into French society. The others live as they lived in their countries of origin.
Radical imams came from the Muslim world and allege that France is guilty of having colonized their countries, that Muslims should continue to live according to the law of Islam and that, in the imams' view, France should pay for its crimes. Many politicians have told the newcomers that France is racist and had exploited them.
Criminal gangs formed and began ruling these neighborhoods. Radical imams justified the gangs' criminal activities by claiming that the French must pay for what they did in the Muslim world. French political leaders closed their eyes. Meanwhile, these Muslim neighborhoods have grown and crime from them increased.
During the summer of 1983, violent clashes took place between the police and a criminal group in a Muslim quarter of Vénissieux, near Lyon. The French government at the time responded by granting massive financial aid to the Muslim quarter and its inhabitants. Sympathetic organizations later organized a "March for Equality and Against Racism" and demanded that all Muslim neighborhoods receive massive financial aid. Successive French governments spent hundreds of millions of euros to comply. In 1984, a group called SOS Racism was created and accused French police of constant racism against young Muslims. The police were ordered by the government to avoid any incidents that could lead to accusations of racism.
In 2005, police wanted to arrest two young Muslim criminals, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré. The two teenagers had entered an electricity substation to hide and unfortunately were electrocuted. The police were sanctioned and indicted for "not assisting persons in danger". Riots broke out, lasted three weeks and only subsided because then President Jacques Chirac asked imams to restore calm and promised to give even more money to Muslim neighborhoods. The police were ordered not to intervene in them at all; they fell entirely under the control of gangs and imams. It was then that these neighborhoods effectively became lawless "no-go zones" (zones urbaines sensibles), of which there are 750.
President Nicolas Sarkozy, elected in 2007, promised to put an end to no-go zones. Sarkozy, however, did nothing. President François Hollande, his successor, also did nothing.
Macron suggested that creating a "French Islam," supposedly quite different from Islam in the rest of the world, would be the solution, but he quickly gave up on that plan. He then said he wanted to fight against what he called "Islamic separatism" (the no-go zones, neighborhoods where Muslims live separately from the rest of the population). He, too, has done nothing.
In the past, riots have broken out following violent incidents in which young criminals from no-go zones resisted arrest. Each time, those who were punished were the police. The riots affected one or two towns, not the whole country, and after two or three days of destruction and looting, calm was restored.
This time, however, the riots took on a scale that was unprecedented. The government appeared helpless and the country seemed on the verge of chaos. The police, according to investigative reporter Laurent Valdiguié, were ordered to avoid any action that could lead to the injury or death of a rioter. The government believed that the result would just intensify the violence. "The government prefers that the conflagration calm down gradually," Valdiguié said, adding that the government did not want to declare a state of emergency for fear that such an announcement would not restore calm.
Macron seems to imagine that he has found explanations for these problems: Parents of rioters, he said, do not exercise their parental authority, and video games poison the minds of young people. His comments seemed completely disconnected from reality; social media was quick to mock them.
Political leaders say that calm must return, but none of them offers a solution. The only exception is former journalist Éric Zemmour, now leader of the right-wing Reconquest party. On June 30, in a lengthy interview, Zemmour described the situation as the "precursor symptom of a civil war", stressed that "civil war is almost here" and that it may well destroy the country. What is happening, he said, is "an ethnic uprising" resulting from "crazy immigration.... Macron has abandoned the police and chosen submission". At present, Zemmour concluded, it would take "ferocious, firm and ruthless repression" to restore calm, but "there is no one among those in power ready to act in a determined way and make the necessary decisions."
"The seeds of a civil war," columnist Ivan Rioufol wrote on June 29, "are just waiting to explode.... Emmanuel Macron's inconsistency puts France in mortal danger."
A June 30 press release from the two main French police unions, titled "Now that's enough," stated:
"Today the police are in combat because we are at war. Tomorrow we will enter resistance and the government should be aware of this."
It is not certain that the government is even slightly "aware of this".
In 2021, twenty retired French army generals published an open letter addressed to the French government and Macron: "The situation is critical. France is in danger. Several mortal dangers threaten it". The letter spoke of "suburban hordes" and of the "detachment of multiple parcels of the nation to transform them into territories subject to dogmas contrary to the French constitution... The violence is increasing day by day... those who run our country must imperatively find the courage necessary to eradicate the dangers".
At the time, the letter was treated with contempt. Today, it looks as if its signatories got it absolutely right.
*Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27 books on France and Europe.
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Egypt makes long-awaited attempt to broker peace in Sudan
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/July 11, 2023
It took Egypt more than three months to finally launch a significant initiative in a bid to find a workable framework to end the crisis in neighboring Sudan. On Sunday, the Egyptian presidency announced that Cairo would this week host a summit of Sudan’s neighbors to discuss ways to end the conflict between the rival Sudanese military factions.
The summit on Thursday will aim to “develop effective mechanisms” with neighboring states to settle the conflict peacefully, in coordination with other regional or international efforts, Egypt’s presidency said. The gathering will see the participation of heads of state and government from Egypt, Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
This announcement coincided with a warning by the UN that Sudan was on the brink of a “full-scale civil war” — something that should come as no surprise to regional leaders or the international community.
The outbreak of violence between the Sudanese national army and the Rapid Support Forces militia has resulted in a dire humanitarian crisis, millions of people being displaced, hundreds of deaths and the destruction of key civic installations, including hospitals, in the capital Khartoum and Omdurman, while cutting off electricity and water supplies throughout much of the twin cities.
Moreover, the failure by either side to score a decisive military victory has prolonged the conflict and derailed attempts to reach a long-term truce or launch a political process. For the army’s head, Gen. Abdul Fattah Al-Burhan, the RSF is an insurgent group with a questionable agenda and foreign links. Once a tentative ally, the head of the RSF, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, is now seen by Al-Burhan, who is the head of the Sovereignty Council, as someone who is seeking to maintain control of his own militia outside the rule of law.
Sudan’s neighbors and other intermediaries, including the eight-member Intergovernmental Authority on Development, have not taken sides, at least publicly, and treated the two warring entities as equals. The US has certainly done so and threatened to impose sanctions on the army as well as the RSF. But behind the scenes, there are claims — including by Al-Burhan himself — that some intermediaries are biased and that foreign parties are actually aiding Dagalo.
On Monday, the IGAD Quartet, composed of regional leaders, held an inaugural meeting in Addis Ababa, chaired by Kenyan President William Ruto and attended by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. However, the presidents of Djibouti and South Sudan were absent from the meeting. And while a delegation from the military-led Sudanese government arrived at the Ethiopian capital, it refused to participate in the meeting due to objections to the Kenyan leader’s chairmanship. It is doubtful that the group will succeed in arranging a meeting between the two rivals.
Only Saudi Arabia, with support from the US, has so far succeeded in bringing representatives from the two warring sides together, with them meeting in Jeddah a few times. While there was no breakthrough in terms of launching a political process, the two sides did agree to a short-lived lull in the fighting to allow for humanitarian convoys to pass.
A stable Sudan ensures better security cooperation, which is crucial for Egypt’s own stability.
The fear is that, unless Sudan’s immediate neighbors find a way to force both sides to end the conflict and revert to the framework agreement that was adopted earlier this year, the outbreak of a civil war that spreads all over the vast country will only be a matter of time. Already, there is plenty of evidence that atrocities have been committed in Darfur, while ethnic and tribal tensions are also rising in the Kordofan and Blue Nile provinces. Rebel groups that were involved in past civil wars and had signed the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement are threatening to pick up their arms and resume fighting. Some have secessionist agendas. This is why it is important for Egypt, in particular, to step in.
For Egypt, the war in Sudan is already a destabilizing factor. Tens of thousands of Sudanese have taken refuge in Egypt, forcing the authorities to impose visa restrictions to stem the tide. But more importantly, Egypt has strategic, historical, cultural and economic links to Sudan, which has long been seen as a cornerstone of Egyptian stability and national security.
Any breakdown of authority in Khartoum threatens to drive millions into Egypt because both countries have huge populations living along the Nile Basin. Egypt’s long border with Sudan makes security a top concern. Instability in Sudan could potentially lead to a rise in cross-border crime, the smuggling of arms and goods, and even the infiltration of extremist groups. A stable Sudan ensures better security cooperation, which is crucial for Egypt’s own stability.
Historically, the two countries have strong economic ties, particularly related to trade, investment and energy. Sudan’s Nile waters are vital for both nations, as the river serves as a crucial water link and source of energy. Egypt relies almost completely on the Nile for its water resources, with nearly 90 percent of its water needs coming from the river. Conflicts in Sudan can potentially disrupt the flow of the Nile waters, posing a threat to Egypt’s water security and agricultural sector. This should be another worrying factor for Cairo as it seeks to resolve its dispute with Addis Ababa over the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project.Geopolitically, instability in Sudan can create a power vacuum, allowing other regional actors to gain influence and potentially challenge Egypt’s interests. It is inconceivable to imagine that Egypt will not be concerned that Israel, which is focusing on restoring its ties in Africa, might benefit from the chaos in Sudan. While the Egyptian initiative may have been slow to pick up traction, it is today the best possible hope of finding a way to push both sides to negotiate and save their country from disintegrating.
• Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.

Scale of abuse directed against London mayor laid bare
Chris Doyle/Arab News/July 11, 2023
Eighteen years ago last Friday, London suffered multiple attacks on its public transport system by four British-born Muslims. The bombings killed 52 people and injured more than 700. Coming less than four years after the 9/11 attacks, the events of that day left the UK in total shock.
More than most, British Muslim communities failed to understand the implications at the time. There was a sense of collective denial. Fast forward a decade or so and British Muslims had made huge progress. Nothing represented this more than the two London mayoral election victories of the British-Pakistani Sadiq Khan. He became the first elected Muslim mayor of any Western capital — a vital role model demonstrating to British Muslims that they too could rise to the top in 21st-century Britain.
However, this does not mean that anti-Pakistani and anti-Muslim prejudice is now dead. Far from it. In fact, in his first election campaign, Conservative opponent Zac Goldsmith was accused of instrumentalizing anti-Muslim attitudes, not least among London’s British Indian communities.
But the scale of the abuse was highlighted in devastating fashion in a report last week from the Greater London Authority. Its analysis showed that Khan has received more than 300,000 pieces of “openly racist or racially oriented abuse” on social media since he was elected London mayor. “It can’t be right that one of the consequences of me being the mayor of London and a Muslim in public life is that I have police protection,” he has previously said.
Most of the abuse actually came from outside the UK, showing just how international the role of mayor of London has become. The majority came from the US. Terror attacks in Manchester and London Bridge also fueled the abuse of Khan, with many attempting to blame him for the atrocities.
Another worry is that 2023 is on course to be the worst year for this since 2020. Khan has received 171.8 percent more abuse so far this year than he had at the same stage of 2022. How come? In part, there has been a huge surge in the amount of abuse emanating from India. Is this a result of the torrent of Islamophobic politics on the subcontinent? The report shows a peak during the 2019 reelection campaign of India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
But abuse from the UK has also increased. It made up about 75 percent of all racist abuse in the last few years. The challenge is just as much a domestic one. Note also that newly installed Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, another British Muslim of Pakistani heritage, has long been on the receiving end of high levels of abuse.
It now seems that Khan is being attacked due to a major policy decision on car emissions and air quality. In March, nearly 10 percent of all the racist abuse he received was related to the ultra-low emission zone.
Why should an air quality control policy trigger such hatred? The reality is that racism and bigotry have always been there, but an unpopular policy opens up the sewers of hate. But more than half of the abuse emanated from outside London, indicating that this issue is just an excuse for the racists to have a go. It is also a sign of how civilized and reasonable political discourse is a dying art. Or, where it does exist, it attracts zero attention in a world craving retweets and likes.
Sadiq Khan has received more than 300,000 pieces of ‘openly racist or racially oriented abuse’ on social media.
Twitter is a major culprit. A quick scan through tweets citing Khan and one finds all sorts. In response to Khan’s measured comments on the anniversary of the London attacks, one tweet fumed: “And it was your kind that did this.” This is just one example of the torrent of abuse launched against Khan, Islam and Muslims, much of it unpublishable in a respectable publication. As the Greater London Authority report highlighted, there were also a host of mentions of “Khanage” and “Londonistan.”
The level of abuse is, if anything, underreported. The GLA analysis included only abuse directly and explicitly targeting Khan. It stated: “If we were to widen our search criteria to include other types of abuse, then we’d be looking at much larger numbers (closer to a million messages).”
At a time when many are casting their eyes over the new kid on the social media block, Meta’s Threads, what this report does is highlight the continued failure of the major social media platforms to tackle online hate. Many of the tweets attacking Khan should have merited action, such as the accounts being suspended. But this is not just restricted to the social media world. Most of the right-wing press did not bother to cover the report into the racist abuse of Khan. On the contrary, The Daily Telegraph, the major paper of the right, last year falsely alleged that Khan had blocked a statue of the late Queen Elizabeth in Trafalgar Square, leading to another spike in hate. The political class has not helped either. It is hard to find any condemnation of this abuse from right-wing political leaders. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appears to have said nothing. Even as an ethnic minority PM, he has not backed away from the culture wars that some of his predecessors enjoyed stoking, not least Boris Johnson. If anyone needs a contemporary reminder of the dangers of not tackling anti-Muslim hate, check out the mass riots in France following the murder of a 17-year-old French-Algerian boy last month.
This new report only pinpoints a small slice of the abuse directed at one man. Khan may be a magnet for hate owing to his role, but 6 million other British Muslims face such bigotry day in, day out. For them, none of this came as a shock.
• Chris Doyle is director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding. He has worked with the council since 1993 after graduating with a first-class honors degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Exeter University. He has organized and accompanied numerous British parliamentary delegations to Arab countries.

Sudan crisis exposes a global humanitarian shortfall
Michael Jennings/The Arab Weekly/July 11/2023
Numbers of those requiring assistance are growing rapidly, while at the same time the gap between funding pledged and that required is widening.
It has been nearly three months since fighting broke out in Khartoum between two forces vying for power within Sudan: the Rapid Support Forces under the leadership of Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (also known as Hemedti) and the Sudanese armed forces under Abdul-Fattah Al Burhan. As the violence spread out from the capital, especially to the Darfur region, hundreds of thousands have sought to escape across the borders into neighbouring countries such as Chad, South Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia
Since the fighting started, around 645,000 people have left Sudan and sought sanctuary elsewhere, and a further 2.2 million people have been forcibly displaced within the country. These numbers include not only Sudanese nationals, but also people who themselves had been refugees within Sudan, having fled conflicts in their own countries, now forced to move once again in the face of violence.
Alongside the individual human tragedies of people being forced to flee with what few belongings can be quickly packed and loaded into a car (for the lucky few), a crowded bus for others and carried by those having to march long distances to safety, there are wider implications for regional security and the humanitarian system as a whole.
Even before this latest crisis, the humanitarian system was at breaking point. Numbers of those requiring assistance are growing rapidly, while at the same time the gap between funding pledged and that required is widening.
When there is already a $22 billion overall gap between UN calls for assistance and what has been provided, its call for $3 billion to be made available this year to provide support for the hundreds of thousands on the move in and out of Sudan looks very unlikely to be met. The key donors are distracted. Europe is focused largely on the crisis in Ukraine and to a lesser extent (in the south) on how it responds to migration across the Mediterranean. Countries in the Middle East are coping with the millions who fled Syria over the past decade. Turkey, a key regional player, is now also coping with its own tragedy, the February earthquake. The United States is increasingly distracted by the campaigning for the 2024 presidential elections, the outcome of which will determine how far it responds to crises and disasters outside areas of its own economic interest.
The countries to which the majority of refugees has fled, South Sudan and Chad, must therefore bear the costs of responding to their needs from their own limited and stretched humanitarian resources. Rains are making the border areas where many have temporarily settled less accessible. The large numbers of refugees and others requiring humanitarian assistance are making this challenge harder. These countries were already struggling with their own humanitarian crises. Chad hosts more than a million refugees, while in South Sudan the UN had estimated that 9.4 million people would require humanitarian assistance this year, even before the latest refugee influx.
Without new funding and support, there is a very real danger that humanitarian organisations and host countries will not be able to cope, leaving thousands of already vulnerable people alone and without support.
Large-scale movements of people fleeing conflict already have a long legacy of creating new tensions and potential flash points for conflict in the region. If donors fail to step up, tensions raised by the economic impact of hosting large numbers of forcibly-displaced people will be compounded by the increased competition for scarce resources (land, water, funds), especially coming as it does after one of the most serious and prolonged droughts in the region’s recent history.
The region is home to some of the world’s poorest countries, whose land-locked economies are already facing disruption in the vital access they need to Sudan’s ports. Now that they are being forced to bear the burden of supporting large numbers of new arrivals, there is a very real risk that the refugee crisis will create new tensions, which could escalate regional insecurity far beyond Sudan’s own borders.
At the global level, any large-scale movement of people, especially if the crisis is not ended soon, risks undermining the international norms and conventions around the treatment of refugees and forcibly-displaced people.
We have already seen this in action, with the closing of borders and policing of seas in response to the conflict in Syria. As larger numbers attempted to flee that violence from 2011, European countries and institutions erected tougher physical and legal barriers, undermining the responsibilities governments hold for responding to the needs of those trying to escape harm. The result has been the rise of a populist politics openly challenging international laws and the increase in migrant boat tragedies including the sinking of a ship off the Greek coast last month, which killed hundreds of people seeking a better life.
There is a real danger that, should those fleeing violence in Sudan, come up against the hard borders of Europe, its politicians will seek to undermine and change the 1951 Refugee Convention and subsequent international laws. In the US, a Republican Party still under the sway of Donald Trump and his nationalist politics could use this crisis and the calls for significant funding to demand further cuts to overseas aid budgets (including humanitarian).
With a system already threatened by under-funding and efforts to evade and redefine responsibilities, the hundreds of thousands made vulnerable in this latest crisis, and those who will follow in subsequent crises, will be left more vulnerable, more marginalised and more subject to the violence they are seeking to escape.
*Michael Jennings is reader in international development at SOAS University of London, where he works on issues related to global health and the politics and history of global development.