English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For March 24/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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15 آذار/2023
Bible Quotations For today
Jesus Orders An Unclean Demon to leave a man
in the Synagogue & Demons also came out of many, shouting, ‘You are the Son of
God!’
Luke 4,31-44.He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee,
and was teaching them on the sabbath. They were astounded at his teaching,
because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man who had the
spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Let us alone!
What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I
know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be
silent, and come out of him!’ When the demon had thrown him down before them, he
came out of him without having done him any harm. They were all amazed and kept
saying to one another, ‘What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and
power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!’And a report about him
began to reach every place in the region. After leaving the synagogue he entered
Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and
they asked him about her. Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it
left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them.As the sun was setting,
all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them
to him; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them. Demons also came
out of many, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he rebuked them and would
not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah. At daybreak
he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him;
and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them. But he
said to them, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other
cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.’ So he continued proclaiming the
message in the synagogues of Judea.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on March 23-24/2023
Life of Saint Rafca, The Blind mystic of Lebanon, The Lily of Himlaya
U.S. judge orders $1.68 bln payout to families over 1983 Beirut bombing
Lebanon in a 'very dangerous situation', IMF says
IMF warns Lebanon at 'very dangerous moment'
Mikati calls for cabinet session on public sector wages
Berri meets Mikati, Parliament Bureau meeting postponed
Report: Berri hears negative news from US, France on presidential file
Berri urges 'consensus with KSA', reiterates that 'the problem is Maronite'
Delegation from port victims relatives meet Judge Abboud
Qassem: Nothing to lose if Lebanon rebels against US-European pressure
Kuwait’s Al-Najat Charity distributes iftar meals to Syrian refugees in Lebanon
MEA: All flights departing from Rafic Hariri International Airport- Beirut will
be advanced by one hour as of midnight of 25-26 March until midnight...
Mikati welcomes Iran’s Kharazi, Finance Minister
Education Minister winds up Brussels visit
British Council Lebanon moves office to Beirut Digital District
French Ambassador visits Akkar Governor, Mufti Zakaria in Akkar
Moratda discusses joint cultural projects with Italian Ambassador
Embassy of Pakistan in Lebanon organizes flag hoisting to celebrate National Day
of Pakistan
Mikati meets IMF delegation, discusses current conditions with GLC delegation
GS’s Baissari discusses general situation with MP MP Sadek, former minister
Khatib
World Food Programme signs MoU with Ministry of Social Affairs in Lebanon
expanding joint work on social protection
Ministry of Economy sets bread bundle price
Mikati from Dar-al-Fatwa: The government is fully assuming its duties
Judge Mansour to issue verdict in lawsuit against Hawwat on April 20
Fayyad partakes in UN Water Conference, urges international community to back
reforms
MEA shifts all flights one hour earlier for departure from Lebanon
Lebanese parliament divided on funding municipal elections without a president
Public sector salaries: Seeking solutions in Monday Cabinet session
Lebanese banks and state clash over foreign currency obligations
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 23-24/2023
Ramadan begins in Mideast amid high costs, hopes for peace
Israeli foreign minister visits Poland to restore ties
Palestinians and Israelis clash at UN over Netanyahu actions
Palestinian killed in Israeli military raid in West Bank
Israel passes law protecting Netanyahu as protests continue
Brazil watchdog tells Bolsonaro to cede jewels from Saudis
Iraq WMD failures shadow US intelligence 20 years later
Kurds remain biggest winners from US-led invasion of Iraq
After Iran, Saudi Arabia to re-establish ties with Syria, sources say
Report Signals Humiliating End for Russia’s Shadow Army in Ukraine
Hungary would not act on Putin arrest warrant, official says
Putin’s shattered army will never recover
Ukrainian children reveal scale of abuse at Russian 're-education' camps
Vietnam may resist diplomatic upgrade with Washington as U.S.-China tensions
simmer
Titles For
The Latest
English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on March 23-24/2023
Stifling debate on Israel will only hold back peace/Jonathan Gornall/The
Arab Weekly/March 23/2023
Rehabilitating Syria or the Assad regime?/Haitham El-Zobaidi/The Arab
Weekly/March 23/2023
Stanford Law Disruptions Were Orchestrated by the National Lawyers Guild/Alan M.
Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./March 23, 2023
Saudi Arabia-Iran deal: Iran has a great opportunity to attract foreign
investment/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 23, 2023
Seizing the moment in Yemen through the GCC-EU partnership/Dr. Abdel Aziz
Aluwaisheg/Arab News/March 23, 2023
Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on March 23-24/2023
Life of Saint Rafca, The Blind mystic of Lebanon,
The Lily of Himlaya
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/9167/%d9%86%d8%a8%d8%b0%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d8%ad%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%af%d9%8a%d8%b3%d8%a9-%d8%b1%d9%81%d9%82%d8%a7-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d8%b5-%d9%88%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d9%88/
She was born in Himlaya, a small village near Bickfaya (Metn), on June 29, 1832
and was given the name Petronilla as a reminder that she was a daughter of St.
Peter, on whose feast day she entered the world.
The Land of Rafca
The Land of Rafca is Lebanon: a country, torn by four years of war, in search of
peace and tranquillity. The wealthy, big powers have brought their conflicts
there and are trying to resolve them there. The greatness of that Land lies in
the fact that it has always been a land of refuge.
The Land of Rafca is the land of the Canaanites and the Phoenicians, and is
mentioned with enthusiasm and wonder more than sixty times in Holy Scripture.
Preface
Like Therese of Lisieux, Rafca, "The Little Flower of Lebanon," the "Purple
Rose," the "Silent and Humble Nun", had to tell her life story to her Mother
Superior some months before her death. Obedience to this request is the reason
why today we are able to know something about this woman who sought for nothing
else but to be forgotten by men and live only for God. However, the perfume of
this violet immediately spread after her death and has attracted the attention
of the ecclesiastical authorities.
The Cause for Beatification of the Servant of God, Rafca, is currently in Rome.
It will now be up to the Holy Father to make the final decision regarding her
virtues and the graces obtained through her intercession, as to whether he will
elevate her to the ranks of the saints. As we anticipate and pray for this
glorious day, we submit ourselves to the decision of the Church and patiently
wait.
Bride of the Crucified
Rafca's condition grew more serious. The pain she was enduring in her eyes
became excruciating. Her Superior sent her to Tripoli for treatment. The
treatments were most painful, too, and she lost a great deal of blood. However,
during all of this time, she kept repeating, "With your sufferings, O Lord, for
your glory." ...
The Total Gift
In 1897, a group of nuns from the convent of St. Simeon of the Horn moved to the
new convent of St. Joseph Ad-Daher. Mother Ursula, who was to be the Superior of
the new foundation, asked to have Sister Rafca included in the group. She wished
to have her example before the eyes of the sisters as they met with the
hardships that are always inherent in establishing a new foundation.
Sister Rafca spent the last seventeen years of her life in this convent which
was to be the scene of her greatest sufferings, as well as of her greatest
spiritual joys.
Rafca was not to disappoint Mother Ursula. Her example and assistance proved
invaluable in establishing the new convent. The novices especially were
impressed with the blind nun's spirit of prayer, humility, and charity. Many
years later, after her death, several of Rafca's sisters who had either come
with her to the new foundation, or who had been novices during the seventeen
years that she lived at St. Joseph Ad-Daher and had never forgotten what they
had observed of their sister's life, testified regarding her holiness...
...Rafca suffered for seventeen years as a blind paralytic. Only God knew how
much she had to endure. Her pain was continuous night and day, yet the other
sisters never heard her murmuring or complaining. She often told them that she
thanked God for her sufferings, "...because I know that the sickness I have is
for the good of my soul and His glory" and that "the sickness accepted with
patience and thanksgiving purifies the soul as the fire purifies gold."
She was always quiet and calm, smiling, enduring even the greatest pain with
patience, hoping in the Lord who promised to increase the glory of His faithful
servants in heaven (Lk. 21:19).
By her patience, she can be compared to the greatest of the saints.
A Light Shining in the Darkness
A few years before she died, Rafca's Bridegroom granted her two more favors to
show His acceptance of her offering of herself as a Victim of Love.
One day, mother Ursula noticed that Rafca seemed to be suffering much more than
usual and, touched by pity for the poor sister, asked her, Is there anything
else you want from this world? Have you never regretted the loss of your sight?
Don't you sometimes wish you could see this new convent with all the natural
beauties that surround it--the mountains and rocks, and the forests?"
Sister Rafca answered simply, "I would like to see just for an hour,
Mother--just to be able to see you."
"Only for one hour?" asked the Superior. "And you would be content to return to
that world of darkness?"
"Yes," replied the invalid.
Mother Ursula shook her head in wonder and began to leave Rafca's cell.
Suddenly, the paralyzed nun's face broke into a beautiful smile and she turned
her head toward the door. "Mother," she called, I can see you!"
The Superior turned around quickly and saw the glow on Rafca's face. That alone
was enough to tell her that her daughter was not teasing, but she wanted to be
certain that the phenomenon was actual and not just a trick of the mind of the
poor nun who had been blind for so many years.
Desperately trying to conceal her emotions, she walked back to the bedside.
"If it is as you say," she queried, "tell me what is lying on the wardrobe."
Sister Rafca turned her face toward the little closet and answered, "The Bible
and the Lives of the Saints--she could hardly contain her excitement. But, she
reasoned, perhaps Rafca knew that these were the only two books in her cell as
she had no need for others and the sisters who read to her usually only used
these two titles--knowing that the invalid loved them best.
Another test would have to be tried and this time, witnesses were called in the
testify to the miracle.
There was a lovely multi-colored cover on Rafca's bed. Mother Ursula called her
attention to it and began to point to the colors one by one, asking the
newly-sighted nun to call out the names of the colors as she pointed to them.
The three sisters who assisted the Superior in the test verified that Sister
Rafca named each color correctly.
As she had requested, though, this new sight lasted only for one hour during
which time she conversed with Mother Ursula and looked around her cell, at her
siters, and through the window to catch glimpses of the beauties outside.
After this time, she fell into a peaceful sleep. The Mother Superior remained at
Rafca's side for a short time and then decided to waken the nun to see if she
would be able to see again...
From the Dust of the Earth
Charify Khoury, widow of Saad Peter Khoury, Mayor of Mazraat Ram (Batroun)
declared on November 23, 1925:
My son, Peter, who was three years old, became very ill when his body began to
store up uric acid. The quantity of acid increased to such an extent that his
body became swollen and his eyes were closed. Dr. Elias Anaissi forbade him to
eat anything except milk, but the child did not like milk and refused to take
it. We used to put rose water in the milk and force it into his mouth, but he
would just vomit it back up and finally refused to take any more.
The doctor insisted that the only medicine for his condition was milk and
advised that if he didn't take it, he would die, so we kept forcing him to drink
the milk. I was very frightened. This situation continued for thirty or forty
days and Peter was close to death.
I had heard about the miracles of Rafca, so I made her a conditional vow: "If my
son gets well so that I can feed him any kind of food without hurting him, I
will visit the Convent of St. Joseph with him."
That very night I saw in my dreams an old lady with a cane in her hand. She told
me, "Do not be afraid for your son. Give him whatever he wants to eat. He will
not die". I realized that this was Rafca.
** ololmi.org
U.S. judge orders $1.68 bln payout to families over 1983 Beirut bombing
March 22 (Reuters)
A federal judge in New York ordered Iran’s central bank and a European
intermediary on Wednesday to pay out $1.68 billion to family members of troops
killed in the 1983 car bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Lebanon.
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska said a 2019 federal law stripped Bank Markazi,
the Iran central bank, of sovereign immunity from the lawsuit, which sought to
enforce a judgment against Iran for providing material support to the attackers.
Attorneys for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Oct. 23, 1983, bombing at the Marine Corps barracks killed 241 U.S. service
members. Victims and their families won a $2.65 billion judgment against Iran in
federal court in 2007 over the attack. Six years later, they sought to seize
bond proceeds allegedly owned by Bank Markazi and processed by Clearstream
Banking SA, a Luxembourg-based unit of Deutsche Boerse AG , to partially satisfy
the court judgment. Bank Markazi has argued that the lawsuit was not allowed
under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), which generally shields
foreign governments from liability in U.S. courts. In January 2020, the U.S.
Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling in the families’ favor, and
ordered the case to be reconsidered in light of the new law, which was adopted
the month before as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. Preska said
the 2019 law authorizes U.S. courts to allow the seizure of assets held outside
the country to satisfy judgments against Iran in terrorism cases,
“notwithstanding” other laws such as FSIA that would grant immunity. A
Luxembourg court in 2021 ordered Clearstream not to move the funds until a court
in that country recognizes the U.S. ruling. Clearstream has appealed that
decision. The case is Peterson et al v. Islamic Republic of Iran et al, U.S.
District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-09195. (Reporting by Jody
Godoy in New York)
*Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Lebanon in a 'very dangerous situation', IMF says
Nada Maucourant Atallah |and Jamie Prentis/The National/March 23/2023
The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that Lebanon was in a “very
dangerous situation” and that “everybody will have to take losses” in the acute
financial crisis that has locked depositors out of their savings and led to much
of the population being pushed in poverty. The IMF urged Lebanon's leaders to
enact much-needed reforms, saying the process had been “very slow” considering
the country's devastating financial situation. “The delays can only increase the
cost on the Lebanese people; we urge the authorities to accelerate the process,
and to start finally completing the necessary prior actions,” said Ernesto
Ramirez Rigo, who led an IMF delegation visiting Beirut this week for meetings
with the government, central bank officials and experts. The meetings are part
of a consultation under Article IV, which is held every year for all IMF member
countries and involves assessing a country's financial conditions, reviewing
existing policies and exploring options for reform before the publication of an
annual report. The IMF delegation met caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and
his deputy Saade Chami. The stakes are high: billions of dollars in relief
funding from the IMF, which could pave the way for releasing other international
funding and foreign investment to ease Lebanon out of more than four years of
economic crisis.Lebanese and IMF negotiators reached a staff-level agreement in
April last year that depended on an economic recovery plan and a series of
crucial reforms.
Lebanon's banks suspend open-ended strike for a week
But Lebanese leaders have failed to reach agreement on how to resolve the crisis
despite an economic recovery plan adopted by the government in May. “Time has
gone by, it's almost a year since we have reached an agreement,” Mr Rigo pointed
out.
Allocating losses
One of the main bones of contention is the allocation of financial losses
between the main stakeholders: the government, the banks and depositors. Mr
Chami, the architect of the recovery plan, has estimated that the hole in the
financial sector amounts to $73 billion. “The numbers are on such a scale for a
country as small as Lebanon that everybody will have to take losses,” Mr Rigo
said, stressing that the IMF does not have updated numbers as it would need an
audit of the major banks. “Lebanon is very unique because of the complexity of
the balance sheets between the central bank, the commercial banks and the public
sector, but also the size of the losses, it’s hard to find a place similar to
this one,” he said. The negotiations with the IMF notably stalled on the state's
contribution to cover the financial losses. Mr Rigo said the state's
participation should be minimal to maintain public debt sustainability. “Any
solution needs to ensure that there is debt sustainability. Lebanon is in
default … it doesn't have the capacity to recapitalise the system; that would
have been the easy solution, but it can't do that,” he said. The IMF called for
a fair allocation of losses while protecting the value of small depositors as
much as possible. Based on these recommendations, the recovery plan initially
put the state's contribution at a few billion dollars, while placing the brunt
of the losses on bank shareholders and big depositors. However, Lebanon's
banking association, the banking lobby, some MPs and others have been calling
for bigger government contributions to bail out large depositors. The option was
first ruled out by the government, with Mr Chami labelling the selling of the
government's assets as “a reverse Robin Hood”. But the issue is still being
debated, preventing the talks with the IMF from moving forwards. Mr Rigo
questioned the equity of using public assets to bail out depositors. “It is a
major concern, people who are not bancarised [who do not hold a bank account]
and even new generations will settle losses. There is an issue of
intergeneration equity as much as an issue of capacity,” he said. Required
measures Several required measures have been enacted by the authorities,
including the approval of a budget for 2022, an audit of the central bank's
foreign assets and a revised law on banking secrecy But a law on capital
control, with the “objective to protect liquidity” and to ensure depositors have
access to their savings, has yet to be enacted, Mr Rigo said. However, the law
on banking resolution, another prior condition imposed by the IMF which is
intended to set the criteria for bank viability, “is advancing very well”. The
IMF has provided additional comments “but it's going in the right direction”, Mr
Rigo said. He called for the multiple exchange rates that have emerged since
Lebanon’s economic collapse began to be unified, including the Sayrafa platform
managed by the central bank, which he said was not driven by the market.
“Lebanon is at a dangerous crossroads, and without rapid reforms will be mired
in a never-ending crisis,” he said.
IMF warns Lebanon at 'very dangerous moment'
Naharnet/March 23/2023
Crisis-hit Lebanon is "at a very dangerous moment", a visiting delegation of the
International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, criticizing slow progress on
reforms needed to unlock billions in loans. Lebanon and the IMF reached a
conditional agreement in April 2022 on a $3-billion-dollar loan needed to save
its economy, which has been in free fall since 2019. But nearly a year after
Beirut signed the agreement, officials have yet to enact the substantial changes
required to kickstart the 46-month financing program. "We think Lebanon is at a
very dangerous moment, at a crossroads," said Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, who headed
the IMF delegation in Beirut, warning the continued "policy of inaction is going
to leave Lebanon in a never-ending crisis". "Time has a gone by, it's almost a
year since we have reached an agreement," Rigo added, urging leaders to
implement the reforms swiftly. In September the IMF had already condemned
Beirut's "very slow" progress on implementing these reforms. The lender had
conditioned the funds on a series of measures, notably unifying the country's
plethora of exchange rates, a reformed bank secrecy law as well as restructuring
the banking sector and the implementation of formal capital controls. As reforms
drag, the market value of the Lebanese pound reached historic lows against the
U.S. dollar this month. The pound has been fluctuating at more than 100,000
against the greenback -- a dizzying plunge from 1,507 before the economic crisis
hit in 2019.
Mikati calls for cabinet session on public sector wages
Naharnet/March 23/2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday called on the caretaker
Cabinet to convene at 10am Monday. The Premiership said the session will have a
single item on its agenda, which is “the financial and monetary situations and
their impact on the various sectors, especially on the wages and compensations
of the public sector” as well as on “the workers and employees who are subject
to the labor law.”
Berri meets Mikati, Parliament Bureau meeting postponed
Naharnet/March 23/2023
A Parliament Bureau meeting that was scheduled for Monday was postponed,
caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday after meeting with
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh. "Some laws will be referred to
the parliamentary committees to be studied, and this is why the parliament
Bureau meeting was rescheduled, in order to have more laws in the coming
legislative session," Mikati said. The Parliament Bureau will discuss in its
meeting the possibility of holding a legislative session. On another note,
Mikati said that there are three choices for Lebanon. "Either we reach an
agreement with the International Monetary Fund, or we manage to agree with each
other, or we never agree at all," Mikati explained. He went on to say that the
political forces are responsible of reaching an agreement and that otherwise,
the Lebanese people would pay the price. Earlier on Thursday, Mikati had met
with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan at Dar al-Fatwa. He told reporters
after the meeting that he will meet with Berri and tell them whether cabinet
will convene or not. Mikati had told retired soldiers who protested their low
salaries on Wednesday that he will call for a cabinet session on Monday.
Report: Berri hears negative news from US, France on
presidential file
Naharnet/March 23/2023
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri received over the past days a negative U.S.
stance regarding the presidential election file, a source close to him said. “He
communicated with the French side to inquire about the matter and was told that
Paris is facing major difficulties in convincing Saudi Arabia with a settlement
in the presidential election file,” al-Akhbar newspaper quoted the source as
saying. “Riyadh’s stance on ex-minister Suleiman Franjieh’s nomination is still
very negative,” the French told Berri, according to the daily.
Berri urges 'consensus with KSA', reiterates that 'the
problem is Maronite'
Naharnet/March 23/2023
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has called for “consensus” with Saudi Arabia over
the “presidential choice,” as he reiterated that “the problem is Maronite” in
the presidential file. In an interview with al-Akhbar newspaper, Berri said that
he is awaiting the outcome of the upcoming Christian gathering in Bkirki, when
asked about who can “break the presidential deadlock.”“When we said yesterday
that the problem is Maronite, they got dismayed. And if we say it today, they
will also get dismayed, but this is the main problem,” the Speaker added. “When
I say that the problem is inter-Maronite, they accuse me of launching unjust
accusations. Any observer can draw one conclusion: they went federalism or
confederalism under the label of financial decentralization, which we reject
because it was not mentioned in the Taif Accord,” Berri said, in an interview
with al-Liwaa newspaper. “We support broad administrative decentralization,
because it involves facilitating people’s affairs and preserves the central
state,” the Speaker added. “What’s notable in this regard is the Free Patriotic
Movement’s melting in the stances of the Lebanese Forces to the extent of not
finding any differentiation between them, despite Dr. (Samir) Geagea’s rejection
of meeting MP (Jebran) Bassil,” Berri went on to say. “Despite competition
inside the same community, Geagea has succeeded in leading the Maronite scene,
and whenever he takes a stance Bassil would endorse it and try to go further,”
the Speaker added. As for his recent meeting with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon
Walid Bukhari, Berri said the atmosphere was “positive.”“We did not agree, but
we did not disagree, and accordingly consensus with the kingdom over the
presidential choice is necessary,” Berri added.
Delegation from port victims relatives meet Judge Abboud
Naharnet/March 23/2023
A delegation from the families of the Beirut port blast victims met Thursday
with Higher Judicial Council head Suheil Abboud, and described the meeting as
"positive."The families had rallied in front of the Justice Palace to protest
the obstruction of the probe. In January, State Prosecutor Judge Ghassan Oueidat
charged Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar and released all
suspects detained in connection with the deadly blast, including port chief and
head of customs Badri Daher. The organization of families of those killed called
back then the move against Bitar a "political, security and judicial coup
d'état". The families said Thursday that they will never forget their cause and
that they will keep demanding justice. "He should have been here celebrating
mothers' day with me," Rita Hitti, whose son, a fireman, was killed in the
devastating August 4 port blast said. Lebanon celebrates Mother's Day on March
21.
Qassem: Nothing to lose if Lebanon rebels against
US-European pressure
Naharnet/March 23/2023
Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Thursday noted that “the region has
started moving against the U.S.-Israeli direction,” adding that “the
Iranian-Saudi agreement has thwarted the scheme of making Iran the enemy instead
of Israel.”Pointing out that “the attempt to restore the relations with Syria by
the UAE, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other countries will bring welfare to all
these countries,” Qassem wondered “when Lebanon will seize the chance to rebel
against U.S.-European pressure.”Lebanon can “provide 24/7 power supply through
China under a BOT system” and can also “bravely coordinate with Syria to return
the displaced to their country,” Hezbollah number two added. “The West has
contributed to our country’s collapse through sanctions and an imposed refugee
crisis and we have nothing left to lose. Any patriotic stance would reverse this
direction,” Qassem went on to say.
He added: “We have experience courage in the stance of the resistance and its
people, regaining our maritime border, oil and gas. Let us turn the tide as
Lebanese by reevaluating our approach in tackling the issues.”
Kuwait’s Al-Najat Charity distributes iftar
meals to Syrian refugees in Lebanon
Arab News/March 23, 2023
BEIRUT: Kuwait’s Al-Najat Charity has celebrated the advent of Ramadan by
distributing iftar meals among Syrian refugees in camps near the border in
northeastern Lebanon, Kuwait News Agency reported. The charity’s public
relations officer, Tarek Al-Essa, said a delegation joined refugees in Arsal to
welcome Ramadan and hold Taraweeh prayers. A mobile kitchen prepared breakfast
as part of the “One Million Fasting Meals” campaign, which includes Lebanon and
other countries. Food baskets were also distributed to camps in the region. Al-Essa
highlighted the charity’s keenness to support the refugees, especially during
the holy month, which represents “mercy, goodness and giving.”
MEA: All flights departing from Rafic Hariri International Airport- Beirut will
be advanced by one hour as of midnight of 25-26 March until midnight...
NNA/March 23/2023
Further to the decision issued by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to
postpone the start of daylight-saving time, exceptionally this year, starting
from midnight of March 25-26 to midnight of April 20- 21, 2023, Since tickets
issued before this date show the flight timings before the adjustment of
daylight-saving time from Sunday, March 26, until Thursday, April 20 inclusive,
Middle East Airlines - Air Liban announces that the departure timings of all
flights departing from Rafic Hariri International Airport – Beirut will be
advanced by one hour during this period (Beirut local time). This modification
will provide a smooth connection for connecting passengers through foreign
airports without any impact on their final destinations. As for inbound flights
from foreign airports to Rafic Hariri International Airport - Beirut, the
departure timings remain the same without any modification, according to the
local time in the country of departure.
Mikati welcomes Iran’s Kharazi, Finance Minister
NNA/March 23/2023
Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Thursday welcomed at the Grand Serail Head of
Iran’s "Strategic Council for Foreign Relations" Kamal Kharazi, in the presence
of Iran's Ambassador, Mojtaba Amani. The meeting discussed the local and
regional situation, as well as bilateral relations between Lebanon and Iran. The
Prime Minister separately held a meeting with Caretaker Minister of Finance, Dr.
Youssef Al-Khalil, with whom he discussed preparations for next week’s cabinet
session devoted to discussing public sector wages.
Education Minister winds up Brussels visit
NNA/March 23/2023
Caretaker Minister of Education, Dr. Abbas Al-Halabi, returned to Beirut on
Thursday after concluding an extensive work visit to the European Union
headquarters and the European Commission in Brussels, which focused on the
educational recovery plan, and the provision of educational components in public
schools.
British Council Lebanon moves office to Beirut Digital
District
NNA/March 23/2023
British Council Lebanon is excited to announce that it has moved offices to
Beirut Digital District (BDD) as of 20 March 2023 in order to be closer to the
businesses and the communities it serves and works with. At a ribbon cutting
ceremony, British Ambassador Hamish Cowell and British Country Director, Mayssa
Dawi Hachem, opened the new office space officially in attendance of staff
Mayssa Dawi Hachem said: “We really are delighted to have moved to Beirut
Digital District. The office move fully aligns with British Council Lebanon’s
organisational strategy and values. Our new office space is right in the heart
of the action, and we are surrounded by start-ups, well-established companies,
and many creative and cultural institutions that we partner with. It is also a
great place to be closer to younger people and students that are a key audience.
She added: “The office space in itself is a state-of-the art building and will
allow British Council staff to both be in a vibrant working environment and be
well equipped to do their work in this new hybrid world.”British Council
Lebanon’s long-term commitment supports peace and prosperity by building
connections between the people of the UK and Lebanese people and remains as
strong as ever. Through Cultural relations and educational opportunities,
British Council continues to foster the exchange of knowledge and ideas,
understanding and trust between Lebanon and the UK. -- British Council Lebanon
French Ambassador visits Akkar Governor, Mufti Zakaria in
Akkar
NNA/March 23/2023
Akkar Governor, Imad al-Labaki, on Thursday welcomed in Akkar, French Ambassador
to Lebanon, Anne Grillo, who visited him with an accompanying delegation of the
French Embassy.Discussions reportedly touched on an array of municipal,
healthcare and educational affairs. The French Ambassador, accompanied by
Governor Labaki and the accompanying delegation, later moved to Dar Al-Iftaa,
where she met Mufti of Akkar, Sheikh Zaid Mohammad Bakkar Zakaria, in the
presence of Head of Awqaf Department, Sheikh Malek Jadida, and a number of
sheikhs and scholars.
Moratda discusses joint cultural projects with Italian
Ambassador
NNA/March 23/2023
Caretaker Minister of Culture, Judge Mohammed Wissam Mortada, on Thursday
welcomed in his office at the Sanayeh palace, Italian Ambassador to Lebanon,
Nicoletta Bombardieri, with whom he discussed the bilateral cultural cooperation
between the two countries. Discussions also dealt with the already accomplished
stages of the restoration work at the Tyre and Baalbek archaeological sites, and
the interior works in the Tyre Museum. The meeting also touched on the issue of
the activities of the Italian university missions operating in Lebanon in
several archaeological sites, and on the initial phase of implementing the
heritage project at Mar Mikhael station - Gemmayze.
Embassy of Pakistan in Lebanon organizes flag hoisting to
celebrate National Day of Pakistan
NNA/March 23/2023
The Embassy of Pakistan in Beirut organized a flag hoisting to celebrate
National Day of Pakistan 23rd March 2023.The ceremony was attended by the
prominent members of Pakistani community, Lebanese citizens belonging to various
segments of society, media persons, officers and officials of the Embassy along
with their families. The ceremony started with the recitation of verses from
Holy Quran. Messages of President and Prime Minister were read. Ambassador
Salman Athar raised the flag on the occasion.The Ambassador in his address
underscored the importance of Pakistan Resolution in the freedom movement for
Pakistan. He said that the Resolution gave a direction to the Muslims of Sub
continent towards the goal of getting a homeland where they could enjoy their
freedom and a distinct identity. He also noted that the passing of the
Resolution accelerated the pace of freedom movement under the able leadership of
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The Ambassador also expressed solidarity with
the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) and expressed
Pakistan's continued moral, political and diplomatic support for the Kashmiri
people in their just struggle for self-determination. -- Embassy of Pakistan in
Lebanon
Mikati meets IMF delegation, discusses current conditions
with GLC delegation
NNA/March 23/2023
Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Thursday met at the Grand Serail with
a delegation representing the International Monetary Fund headed by IMF Head of
Mission, Ernesto Rigo Ramirez, in the presence of Caretaker Deputy Prime
Minister Saade Chami. The meeting was also attended by Premier Mikati's Advisor,
former Minister Nicolas Nahas. The meeting touched on the outcome of the
consultations carried out by the Fund's mission in Lebanon in the wake of its
tour among the concerned officials, in preparation for issuing its evaluation
report. Premier Mikati also met with a delegation of the General Labor
Confederation (GLC), chaired by Beshara Al-Asmar. Discussions touched on the
current conditions in the country. On emerging, Al-Asmar said that the visit
aimed to praise with the Premier the suffering endured by the people and to
explain the catastrophe that the working class in Lebanon is experiencing,
whether in the private or the public sector. Al-Asmar added, “The situation is
no longer tolerable,” adding that the Lebanese people have become bankrupt in
all their sectors.
GS’s Baissari discusses general situation with MP MP Sadek,
former minister Khatib
NNA/March 23/2023
Acting Director General of General Security, Brigadier General Elias Baissari,
on Thursday received in his office, MP Waddah Sadek, with whom he discussed the
current general situation. Brigadier General Baissari also received in his
office, former Minister Tarek Al-Khatib. Discussions reportedly touched on the
latest political developments in Lebanon.
World Food Programme signs MoU with Ministry of Social
Affairs in Lebanon expanding joint work on social protection
NNA/March 23/2023
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Social Affairs
of Lebanon have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance their
collaboration on building and strengthening the government-owned and WFP-supported
social assistance systems for almost 142,000 Lebanese families. The memorandum
aims to enhance the Ministry’s capacity in managing social safety nets in the
country. "This memorandum further strengthens our partnership with the Ministry
as we work on supporting the consolidation of social assistance systems in the
country,” said WFP Country Director and Representative in Lebanon Abdallah
Alwardat. “WFP remains committed to providing assistance to the most vulnerable
families in Lebanon through social safety nets.” Food insecurity in Lebanon has
been taking an upward trend with now nearly half of the population affected.
Households headed by women, large families with many dependents (children and/or
older persons), and the presence of household members with chronic illness or
disabilities are also more likely to be food insecure. Since the onset of the
economic crisis, WFP – in close collaboration with the Ministry of Social
Affairs and other stakeholders – has continuously scaled up its assistance to
Lebanese citizens through the National Poverty Targeting Programme (NPTP) and
the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) that was launched at scale in 2021 to
respond to the deteriorating situation. This joint effort aims to alleviate the
impact of the crisis on vulnerable communities in Lebanon. "The signing of this
agreement is a natural result of the close cooperation between the Ministry of
Social Affairs and the United Nations World Food Programme on several levels,
most notably the participation in the implementation of both the Emergency
Social Safety Net and the National Poverty Targeting Porgramme,” says Minister
of Social Affairs in Lebanon Hector Hajjar. Social assistance in the form of
cash transfers has become the only source of income for many people in Lebanon
who continue to suffer from a deteriorating economic crisis. It also allows
people to prioritise their spending as they see fit to cover a variety of needs
in an increasingly volatile economy.
Ministry of Economy sets bread bundle price
NNA/March 23/2023
The Lebanese Ministry of Economy and Trade on Thursday set a new bread bundle
price as follows:
- Medium-sized bundle weighing 823 grams for LBP 40,000
- Large bread bundle weighing 1025 grams for LBP 48,000
Mikati from Dar-al-Fatwa: The government is fully assuming
its duties
NNA/March 23/2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed that the government is fully
assuming its duties, in remarks to reporters following his meeting Grand Mufti
Sheikh Abdellatif Derian on Thursday. "I visited Dar-al-Fatwa today to extend
greetings on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan," the PM said. "During our
meeting, we discussed an array of general affairs and matters related to the
sect, " he added. "I have elaborately explained the situation we are going
through, and as a government, we are fully assuming our duties," Mikati
underlined. "We have sent all the bills to the parliament for endorsement in
order to pave the way for a practical workshop and major reforms at the Lebanese
state level, with a view to jumpstarting the economy and save what can still be
rescued," he said.
Judge Mansour to issue verdict in lawsuit against Hawwat on
April 20
NNA/March 23/2023
Mount Lebanon First Investigating Judge, Nicolas Mansour, has set the date to
issue his verdict in the libel and slander lawsuit filed by Judge Ghada Aoun
against MP Ziad Hawwat on April 20, our correspondent reported on Thursday.
Fayyad partakes in UN Water Conference, urges international
community to back reforms
NNA/March 23/2023
Caretaker Minister of Energy, Walid Fayyad, has urged "the international
community and donors to back the plans, strategies, and reforms aimed to revive
the water sector, among other fields, achieve sustainable development, and
ensure a decent living for the Lebanese people." In a word delivered at the UN
Water Conference in New York, Fayyad stressed the necessity to turn the
transboundary water, such as rivers and subterranean water, into a tool of peace
and integrity, and not an instrument of pressure and extortion or a pretense for
warfare. He went on saying that since 2011, the massive displacement of Syrians
into Lebanon has crippled the state institutions and infrastructures. "On many
occasions, the Lebanese state urged the international community to assume its
duty through ensuring a safe repatriation of the displaced and the refugees and
helping them in their countries, and to support the Lebanese government to
address this crisis through providing care for the displaced and improving their
livelihood conditions, in addition to setting developmental projects and
investments for the host communities," he explained. "Lebanon has devised a
national strategy for the water and sanitation sector before he displacement
ordeal. But this strategy, among others in the fields of electricity, renewable
energy and petroleum, has faced a major setback due to the displacement of
Syrians," he said. "We have presented the strategy to the international donors
seeking their support. But the international community seemed disinterested in
providing the required help, and the funding of all the strategic projects we
had embarked on was brought to a halt," he deplored. "Lebanon is an example of
the countries that the international circumstances have prevented from achieving
an integral management of the water sector," he added, urging the international
community and donors to help revive this sector.
MEA shifts all flights one hour earlier for departure from
Lebanon
LBCI/March 23/2023
For the period between March 26 and April 21, 2023, Middle East Airlines
announced on Thursday that it shifted all flights one hour earlier for departure
from the Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, according to Beirut's local
time.
This statement follows Lebanon's postponing of Daylight Saving Time
exceptionally this year, stating that plane tickets issued before this date show
flight schedules before the adjustment of Daylight Saving Time. This
modification will provide a smooth connection for passengers connecting flights
through foreign airports without impacting their final destinations. The
departure times of flights from foreign airports to Beirut Airport will remain
the same without any modification, according to the local time in the country of
departure.
Lebanese parliament divided on funding municipal elections
without a president
LBCI/March 23/2023
The meeting of the Bureau of the Lebanese Parliament, which was called for by
President Nabih Berri next Monday, was canceled and replaced by a meeting of the
joint committees. The purpose of the meeting was for President Berri to gauge
the pulse of the members of parliament on who will attend and to discuss the
legislative session agenda, which includes draft laws and proposals that come as
a necessity, most notably the discussion of a proposal to open a financial
allocation for the municipal elections. The item that divided the parliament was
how to finance and the constitutionality of the upcoming elections without a
president. President Berri believes securing funding for the elections should
pass through a law via parliament. His political aide, MP Ali Hassan Khalil, has
proposed a law to open a financial allocation to fund the municipal elections.
On the other hand, the Christian parties and the opposition disagree with
President Berri's approach. Firstly, those parties still refuse to legislate as
long as the parliament is an unelected body until a president is elected.
Secondly, the Lebanese Forces party accuses President Berri of attempting to
obstruct the municipal elections by putting obstacles in the way of funding
them. Kataeb party also insists that securing the accreditation for the
municipal elections does not require a legislative session, but the government
can resort to Lebanon's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) and spend 7.4 million
additional dollars for the expenses of the municipal elections. Will the joint
committee meeting on Monday pass without incident, or will the nature of the
discussions and their results determine the fate of the call for a legislative
session and the fate of the municipal elections? Only time will tell.
Public sector salaries: Seeking solutions in Monday Cabinet
session
LBCI/March 23/2023
A cabinet session will be held next Monday at 10:00 AM, which will include one
specific agenda item dedicated to looking at the financial and monetary
situations and their effects on salaries and wages. The financial and monetary
conditions and their effects on various sectors, particularly on the salaries,
wages, and benefits of employees and retirees in the public sector, are expected
to be presented by the minister of finance. Meanwhile, the Minister of Labor
will discuss how these circumstances affect workers and employees covered by the
labor laws. From this standpoint, the Cabinet will address the issue of public
sector salaries which has caused those employees to go on strike. According to
the information, one solution that will be discussed in Monday's session is to
raise public sector employees' salaries by one unit, quadrupling their basic
salary. In addition, a clear system will be established to pay new
transportation allowances, based on the average monthly price of gasoline, with
5 liters per day of attendance and work. This as the financial situation and the
necessity of holding a Cabinet session were discussed in Ain el-Tineh between
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri.
Will the public sector employees accept this solution and backtrack on their
strike?
Lebanese banks and state clash over foreign currency
obligations
LBCI/March 23/2023
There is currently an exchange of responses between the Association of Banks in
Lebanon (ABL) and the Lebanese state. These responses come in light of a lawsuit
filed by ABL in front of the Shura Council in June of last year, requesting the
Council to invalidate a statement included in a Cabinet decision from May of
last year that reads the following: "We will cancel a significant portion of
Banque Du Liban's foreign currency obligations towards the banks to reduce the
deficit in the BDL's capital." The banks considered this statement as the
state's seizure of a portion of their deposits and refusing to repay it, which
meant violating the law and the constitution.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on March 23-24/2023
Ramadan begins in Mideast amid high costs, hopes for peace
Associated Press/March 23/2023
The first daily fast of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan began Thursday, as
hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide enter a four-week period of worship.
The observance comes at a time when numerous countries and governments across
the Middle East are taking tentative steps towards calming enduring conflicts
and crises made more acute by the costly war in Ukraine and a devastating
earthquake in Turkey and Syria that killed over 52,000 people. During the coming
four weeks, hundreds of millions of Muslims will abstain from food and water
from dawn to dusk, before gathering with family and friends for indulgent
nighttime meals. According to Islam, fasting draws the faithful closer to God
and reminds them of the suffering of the poor. In Sudan's capital, families
prepare and sell culinary delights weeks in advance to mark the break of the
fast each evening, a meal known as Iftar.
The food and drink of choice for nighttime feasts across households in the
Islamic African nation include assida, a semolina-based flour dish, and a sugary
fermented drink called, "sweet bitter." Both are recipes that date back
generations. "Those who can't afford don't have to pay," said Fatima Mohammed
Hamid, who sells the food items from her small home on Tuti island, just north
of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. In addition to fasting, charity giving is
another of Islam's five pillars. During Ramadan, mosques and charities regularly
provide meals for the poor at long tables that sprawl out onto the street. For
Sudan, the holy season comes as the promise of a new political era approaches.
The country has been steeped in political chaos since a coup ousted a western
powersharing government in October 2021. A new transitional government could be
formed before the holy month draws to a close, as promised by the country's
ruling military and other political forces earlier this week. However, many
prominent Sudanese factions reject the move. Amid the uncertainty, most find
common ground in complaining about the rising cost of living.
"Everything (the ingredients) costs double what it did last year," said Hamid.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders pledged this week to lower tensions as Ramadan
begins, following months of deadly violence in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
This year, the fasting period coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover,
spurring concern about fresh flare-ups with large numbers of Jewish and Muslim
faithful expected to pour into Jerusalem's Old City. From Gaza to Khartoum and
Tunis to Sanaa, soaring prices are proving a further concern for those set to
celebrate the occasion. Arab countries are continuing to suffer from the
economic fallout of the war in Ukraine, with many reliant on grain imports from
eastern Europe. In Tunis' once-bustling Bab al-Fellah market, rising costs have
left shoppers unable to splurge on Ramadan food shopping as they might have in
past years. "I have almost used up the 40 dinars (roughly $13) that my husband
gave me and I bought only vegetables, a chicken and some spices,'' said a woman
who identified herself only as Fatima B.
In Pakistan, shoppers report similar hardships, with inflation surging to nearly
40%. To ease the struggle, many say they would consider breaking the daytime
fast if free food were to be given out. In war-torn Sanaa, the picture is
bleaker still, with residents struggling to purchase even basic supplies. The
country's ruinous civil war, now entering its ninth year, has killed more than
150,000 people and pushed millions of Yemenis to the brink of famine. "I am not
able to provide daily sustenance for the children," said Saleh al-Omrani, an
unemployed resident from Sanaa. "We had Ramadan in the good old days, but today
there is no longer Ramadan." Diplomats and leaders had expressed new hope for
peace efforts in the days leading up to Ramadan, amid signs of warming relations
between two of the region's rival superpowers, Iran and Saudi Arabia. The two
are on opposing sides of the war in Yemen, and despite the flickers of warmth
between them, sporadic fighting continues across that country. C lashes in Yemen
killed at least 16 people earlier this week. In southern Turkey and northwestern
Syria, the destruction caused by last month's earthquake poses perhaps the
steepest challenge of all. In the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras - near the
epicentre of the quake - congregants held the first prayer of Ramadan inside a
1,000-person tent on the grounds of the city's famed Abdulhamid Han Mosque.
Turkey's fourth largest mosque sustained slight damage in the temblor and has
been closed to worshippers, Turkish media said. Some 1,400 mosques have been
destroyed or damaged by the quake, Turkish authorities say, leaving tens of
thousands to pray in makeshift tents. More than 100 sound systems have been
installed to recite the call to prayer.
In northwestern Idlib province — Syria's last rebel enclave -- very few families
still have the energy or resources to make the necessary preparations for
Ramadan this year. Abdul Qahar Zakou, a cafe owner from the province, said he
will decorate his cafe despite the prevailing misery and do his best to create a
festive atmosphere. "Despite all the odds, Ramadan will always have its own
atmosphere, with a symbolism and spirituality that makes life easier," said
Zakou. Fasting is required for all healthy Muslims, with exemptions for those
who are sick and for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Small children are
not expected to fast. Eating or drinking in public during the day is generally
frowned upon in Muslim countries. Smoking and sexual intercourse are also not
permitted during daylight hours. Islam follows a lunar calendar, so Ramadan
begins around a week and a half earlier each year. At the end of Ramadan,
Muslims celebrate the joyous Eid al-Fitr holiday, when children often receive
new clothes and gifts.
Israeli foreign minister visits Poland to restore ties
Associated Press/March 23/2023
The foreign ministers of Israel and Poland have hailed a meeting they had as a
breakthrough in restoring a relationship that has been badly damaged for years
due to disagreements over how to remember Polish behavior during the Holocaust.
The ministers signed an agreement that they said would allow for the resumption
of Israeli youth trips to Poland, one of several tension-causing points of
contention between the two countries. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's visit
to Poland was the first at that level since 2018. Poland's Foreign Ministry said
Israeli President Isaac Herzog plans to attend observances next month for the
80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, an armed 1943 revolt by Jews in
German-occupied Poland . "I came here to restore the relationship between our
countries, and I found in you, my distinguished colleague, a trusted partner,"
Cohen said at a news conference alongside Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau,
whom he referred to more than once as his friend. "This is an important moment
in the relations between our countries," Cohen said. Poland has been one of
Israel's closest allies in Europe over the years, and Israel appears eager to
restore that relationship. Israel is also trying to shore up foreign alliances
at a time when its new far-right government, which took office in December, has
seen its relations with the United States and European Union deteriorate.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited France, Italy and Germany
in recent weeks and is scheduled to head to Britain in the coming days.
The tensions of the past years were marked by a withdrawal of ambassadors and
Poland's prime minister canceling a planned visit to Israel in 2019. Israel has
since returned an ambassador to Poland, but there is still no Polish ambassador
in Israel. In Israel, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement Wednesday saying
the diplomatic crisis with Poland was over. Cohen said that Poland has agreed to
return an ambassador to Israeli, and Netanyahu said that "this decision marks a
positive step forward in our diplomatic relations." But Polish Foreign Ministry
spokesman Lukasz Jasina told The Associated Press that there is still no
decision about the naming of a new ambassador to Israel. The disagreements
between the nations are rooted largely in the Holocaust and how to remember
Polish involvement in the killing of Jews by German forces during World War II.
Nazi Germany occupied Poland in 1939 and killed millions of Jews and non-Jews.
Unlike other countries occupied by Germany, there was no collaborationist
government in Poland. While some Poles risked their lives to save Jews, others
helped the Germans hunt down and kill them. Poland's governing nationalists have
sought to depict Polish crimes as a marginal phenomenon and focus almost
exclusively on remembering the Polish heroes who helped Jews. Historians,
Israeli authorities and Jewish survivors who suffered persecution at Polish
hands before, during and after the war have condemned the nationalist position
and accuse the government of seeking to whitewash history.
For years, young Israelis made pilgrimages to Auschwitz and other Holocaust
sites, as well as historic Jewish sites in cities like Krakow and Warsaw. But
Israel canceled the trips last year, claiming the Polish government was trying
to control the Holocaust-studies curriculum taught to Israeli children.
Poland, in turn, rejected Israel's demand to have security guards join organized
Israeli school visits to Poland. The Polish officials argued that Poland was a
safe country and the presence of armed guards perpetuated an image of it as an
antisemitic place where Jews need protection. Cohen and Rau signed an agreement
that will allow for the immediate resumption of youth delegations. Rau said the
agreement "opens prospects for relations that are balanced, equal and based on
reciprocity." He said he received "with satisfaction" Israel showing
understanding for Poland's view that it was unnecessary to have armed Israeli
guards in addition to Polish security, which will be provided to the groups
whenever needed. Ties began to deteriorate when Poland passed a Holocaust speech
law in 2018 that made it illegal to blame Poland as a nation for the Holocaust.
The legislation eventually was watered down, and it still has not been applied
in practice. Three years later, Poland's parliament passed a law that
effectively left Holocaust survivors and their descendants unable to reclaim
property seized by the post-WWII communist regime. Poland for centuries was home
to a large Jewish community that numbered 3.3 million on the eve of the
Holocaust. Only about 10% survived, and postwar persecution drove out many more.
Today's Jewish community is very small but has seen some growth since the end of
communism more than three decades ago. Israel was founded in the wake of the
Holocaust as a refuge for Jews. It is home to a large but rapidly dwindling
population of Holocaust survivors and its annual Holocaust memorial day
coincides with the memory of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
Palestinians and Israelis clash at UN over Netanyahu
actions
Associated Press/March 23/2023
The Palestinians and Israel clashed over the future intentions of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's far right-wing government at a U.N. Security Council
meeting Wednesday, with the Palestinian U.N. ambassador pointing to an Israeli
minister's statement "denying our existence to justify what is to come."
Israel's U.N. ambassador countered that the minister had apologized, and accused
the Palestinian leadership of regularly inciting terrorism and erasing Jewish
history. The council's always contentious monthly meeting on the Mideast was
even more acrimonious in the face of comments and actions by Israel's new
coalition government, which has faced relentless protests over its plan to
overhaul the judiciary and strong criticism of Tuesday's repeal by lawmakers of
a 2005 act that saw four Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank dismantled
at the same time that Israeli forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip. Palestinian
ambassador Riyad Mansour told the Security Council the statement by firebrand
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claiming there's "no such thing" as a
Palestinian people wasn't part of "a theoretical exercise" but was made as
Israel's unlawful annexation of territory the Palestinians insist must be part
of their independent state "is more than underway." While not all Israeli
officials go as far as denying the existence of Palestinians, some deny
Palestinian rights, humanity and connection to the land, Mansour said.
Last year was the deadliest for Palestinians in the West Bank, with the past
three months "even worse," he said. So far this year, 85 Palestinians have been
killed by Israeli fire, and Palestinian attackers have killed 15 Israelis,
according to a tally by The Associated Press. Nonetheless, with the start of the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the approach of the Jewish holiday Passover and
Christianity's Easter observance, Mansour said the Palestinians decided to be
"unreasonably reasonable" and leave no stone unturned to prevent bloodshed. The
Palestinian envoy urged the Security Council and the international community to
mobilize every effort "to stop annexation, violence against our people, and
provocations." Everyone has a duty to act now "with every means at our disposal,
to prevent a fire that will devour everything it encounters," he said. Israel's
U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan called his country "unquestionably the most vibrant
liberal democracy in the Middle East" and accused the Palestinians of repeating
lies, glorifying terrorists who spilled innocent Israeli blood and
"regurgitating fabrications" that are not going to solve the decades-old
conflict. "To the Palestinian representative, I say: 'Shame on you. Shame on
you.' It is so audacious that you dare condemn the words of Israeli minister who
apologized and clarified what he meant, while your president and the rest of
(the) Palestinian leadership regularly, regularly incite terrorism, never
condemn the murders of Israeli civilians, praise Palestinian terrorists, and
actively attempt to rewrite facts and the truth by erasing Jewish history," he
said. Erdan accused the Palestinians of being "dead set on encouraging more
violence" while Israel has taken significant steps to de-escalate the current
tensions by sitting down with Palestinian officials in Jordan in February and on
Sunday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
In a joint communique afterward, the two sides had pledged to take steps to
lower tensions ahead of the sensitive holiday season — including a partial
freeze on Israeli settlement activity and an agreement to work together to "curb
and counter violence."
The Palestinians seek the West Bank and Gaza Strip as an independent state, with
east Jerusalem as its capital. Israel captured those territories in the 1967
Mideast war. Since then, more than 700,000 Israelis have moved into dozens of
Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — which most of the world
considers illegal and an obstacle to peace. But Netanyahu's government has put
settlement expansion at the top of its agenda and has already advanced thousands
of new settlement housing units and retroactively authorized nine wildcat
outposts in the West Bank.
The repeal of the 2005 act on the four West Bank settlements came after Sunday's
agreement, and a Palestinian shooting attack that wounded two Israelis in the
West Bank underscored the difficulties in implementing the joint communique. The
United States, Israel's closest ally, criticized the repeal, summoning Israel's
U.S. ambassador, and other countries were also critical. Netanyahu appeared to
back down Wednesday, saying his government has no intention of returning to the
four abandoned settlements. Ambassador Erdan echoed him, saying "the state of
Israel has no intention of building any new communities there," but he said the
new law "rights a historic wrong" and will allow Israelis to enter areas that
are "the birthplace of our heritage."
Palestinian killed in Israeli military raid in West Bank
Associated Press/March 23/2023
Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian militant during a raid in the
northern West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian health officials said, the latest
escalation of violence in what has been the deadliest start of a year for
Palestinians in the occupied territory in more than two decades. Israeli forces
stormed into the northern city of Tulkarem, home to an emerging militant group
with ties to the armed offshoot of the nationalist Fatah party. The Palestinian
Health Ministry said that 25-year-old Amir Abu Khadija was shot multiple times
in the head and legs. The Tulkarem branch of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
claimed Abu Khadija as its leader. The Israeli military said Abu Khadija was
wanted for recent shooting attacks on Israeli settlements and security forces.
Troops raided his hideout apartment in Tulkarem and shot and killed Abu Khadija
when he drew his gun, the military said, adding that the army confiscated an
M-16 assault rifle and the car he allegedly used to carry out drive-by shooting
attacks. Security forces said they also arrested another member of the militant
group. The militant group said Abu Khadija died in an "armed clash" with Israeli
forces. Images of his blood-soaked body and his trashed apartment circulated
online, as angry Palestinians mourned what they described as the first "martyr"
of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which began Thursday in the Mideast. This
year, as in years past, the Muslim fasting month has spurred concerns of a surge
in violence in the contested city of Jerusalem. Ramadan overlaps with the Jewish
holiday of Passover in early April, raising the possibility of friction as
sacred sites in Jerusalem's Old City host an unusually large influx of
worshippers and visitors. The scared compound housing the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the
third-holiest site in Islam. Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, it's also the
holiest in Judaism. The escalating violence in the West Bank under Israel's most
right-wing government in history has angered regional Arab states, including the
United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which diplomatically recognized Israel in
2020. So far this year, over 85 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in
the West Bank, according to a tally by The Associated Press, about half of them
affiliated with militant groups. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have
killed 15 people, all but one of them civilians. Late Wednesday, the Gulf
Cooperation Council denounced what it called "repeated Israeli violations
against the Palestinian people" in a statement issued on behalf of the
six-nation bloc's foreign ministers. The ministers also condemned the new
Israeli government's expansion of settlements in the West Bank and called again
for negotiations leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian
state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territory captured by Israel in
the 1967 Mideast war. The GCC is a regional bloc including Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Saudi Arabia and the head of the GCC also
both condemned an Israeli decision earlier this week to repeal a 2005 act that
saw four Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank dismantled. The Saudi
Foreign Ministry called the decision "a flagrant violation of all international
laws" that "contributes to undermining regional and international peace
efforts."
Israel passes law protecting Netanyahu as protests continue
Associated Press/March 23/2023
Israel's parliament on Thursday passed the first of several laws that make up
its contentious judicial overhaul as protesters opposing the changes staged
another day of demonstrations aimed at raising alarm over what they see as the
country's descent toward autocracy. Thousands of people protested throughout the
country, blocking traffic on main highways and scuffling with police in unrest
that shows no sign of abating, especially as the overhaul moves ahead. Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition approved legislation that would protect
the Israeli leader from being deemed unfit to rule because of his corruption
trial and claims of a conflict of interest surrounding his involvement in the
legal changes. Critics say the law is tailor-made for Netanyahu, encourages
corruption and deepens a gaping chasm between Israelis over the judicial
overhaul. The legal changes have split the nation between those who see the new
policies as stripping Israel of its democratic ideals and those who think the
country has been overrun by a liberal judiciary. The government's plan has
plunged the nearly 75-year-old nation into one of its worst domestic crises.
"Either Israel will be a Jewish, democratic and progressive state or religious,
totalitarian, failing, isolated and closed off. That's where they are leading
us," Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister and a prominent supporter of the
protest movement, told Israeli Army Radio. The opposition is rooted in broad
swaths of society — including business leaders and top legal officials. Even the
country's military, seen as a beacon of stability by Israel's Jewish majority,
is enmeshed in the political conflict, as some reservists are refusing to show
up for duty over the changes. Israel's international allies have also expressed
concern. The law to protect Netanyahu passed 61-47 in Israel's 120-seat Knesset,
or parliament. It stipulates that a prime minister can only be deemed unfit to
rule for health or mental reasons and that only he or his government can make
that decision. It comes after the country's attorney general has faced growing
calls by Netanyahu opponents to declare him unfit to rule over his legal
problems. The attorney general has already barred Netanyahu from involvement in
the legal overhaul, saying he is at risk of a conflict of interest because of
his corruption trial. The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a good
governance organization, said it was challenging the law in court, in what could
set up the first showdown between judges and the government over the legal
changes. Experts say the overhaul could set off a constitutional crisis that
would leave Israel in chaos over who should be obeyed, the government or the
courts.
On Thursday, protesters launched a fourth midweek day of demonstrations. They
blocked major thoroughfares, set tires ablaze near an important seaport and
draped a large Israeli flag and a banner with the country's Declaration of
Independence over the walls of Jerusalem's Old City. Police said they made
several arrests around the country. At least three protest leaders were among
those arrested, organizers said. Protesters blocked the main highway in seaside
Tel Aviv and police used water cannon to disperse demonstrators in that city and
Haifa in the north.
Netanyahu called on opposition leaders to "stop the anarchy immediately," after
what he said was an attack on Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, a former head of
the Shin Bet domestic security agency. Video on social media showed a protester
swiping her flagpole in Dichter's direction, hitting him once on the head, but
he appeared unharmed and continued walking. A spokesman for Dichter said the
flagpole tapped his head lightly and that the protester also smacked his car
with it. A protest was planned later in the day in a large ultra-Orthodox city
near Tel Aviv. The demonstration's organizers say the demonstration there is
meant to drive home to that community that their rights are in danger under the
overhaul. Ultra-Orthodox leaders see the demonstration in their midst as
provocative. The overhaul crisis has magnified a longstanding rift between
secular Jewish Israelis and religious ones over how much of a role religion
should play in their day-to-day lives. Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers in government
are central drivers of the overhaul because they believe the courts are a threat
to their traditional way of life. In contrast, secular opponents to the changes
fear they will open the door to religious coercion.
In addition to Thursday's demonstrations, tens of thousands of people have been
showing up for weekly protests each Saturday night for more than two months.
Netanyahu's government rejected a compromise proposal earlier this month meant
to ease the crisis. It said that it would slow the pace of the changes, pushing
most of them to after a monthlong parliamentary recess in April. But the
government was plowing forward on a key part of the overhaul, which would grant
the government control over who becomes a judge. The government says it amended
the original bill to make the law more inclusive, but opponents rejected the
move, saying the change was cosmetic and would maintain the government's grip
over the appointment of judges. The measure was expected to pass next week.
Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a
series of scandals involving wealthy associates and powerful media moguls. He
denies wrongdoing and dismisses critics who say he could find an escape route
from the charges through the legal overhaul his government is advancing. The
government says the changes are necessary to restore a balance between the
executive and judicial branches, which they say has become too interventionist
in the way the country is run. Critics say the government, Israel's most
right-wing ever, is pushing the country toward authoritarianism with its
overhaul, which they say upends the country's fragile system of checks and
balances.Rights groups and Palestinians say Israel's democratic ideals have long
been tarnished by the country's 55-year, open-ended occupation of lands the
Palestinians seek for an independent state and the treatment of Palestinian
Israeli citizens, who face discrimination in many spheres.
Brazil watchdog tells Bolsonaro to cede jewels from Saudis
Associated Press/March 23/2023
A Brazilian government watchdog has voted to give former President Jair
Bolsonaro five working days to return to authorities a set of jewels he received
from Saudi Arabia in 2021. All nine members of the government watchdog voted in
favor of requiring Bolsonaro to turn the jewels over to the state-owned Caixa
Economica Federal bank in the capital city of Brasilia. The five days start
counting as soon as Bolsonaro's lawyers are officially notified, which had not
happened, according to the government watchdog. Another set of jewels from Saudi
Arabia estimated to be worth several million dollars and also sent to Bolsonaro,
according to one of his former ministers, was seized by customs at Sao Paulo's
international airport. Bolsonaro, who has been in the United States since he
left office in January, is under preliminary police investigations at home since
Brazilian media started reporting on the jewels earlier this month. The Federal
Court of Accounts, a legislative branch watchdog that oversees actions of
Brazil's executive, also ruled that Bolsonaro must give some weapons he received
from the United Arab Emirates to the presidential collection. Bolsonaro did not
declare either set of jewels to tax authorities. Legal experts say he could face
prosecution in the case. It is unclear whether the diamonds were a gift from
Saudi authorities or not. Bolsonaro's lawyer, Frederick Wassef, said in a
statement on March 7 that the former president received the goods in a "very
personal" manner and denied there was any wrongdoing. The government watchdog
rejected that argument in its decision Wednesday. It said the jewels had to be
returned due to the "high value of the goods, which should not be incorporated
to a private collection."The watchdog decided earlier this month that it will
look into every gift received by former Brazilian presidents at the end of their
terms. It will also audit the collection received by Bolsonaro since he took
office in 2019.
Iraq WMD failures shadow US intelligence 20 years later
Associated Press/March 23/2023
In his U.S. Capitol office, Rep. Jason Crow keeps several war mementos. Sitting
on a shelf are his military identification tags, the tailfins of a spent mortar
and a piece of shrapnel stopped by his body armor. Two decades ago, Crow was a
24-year-old platoon leader in the American invasion of Iraq. Platoon members
carried gas masks and gear to wear over their uniforms to protect them from the
chemical weapons the U.S. believed — wrongly — that Iraqi forces might use
against them.
Today, Crow sits on committees that oversee the U.S. military and intelligence
agencies. The mistakes of Iraq are still fresh in his mind. "It's not hyperbole
to say that it was a life-changing experience and a life frame through which I
view a lot of my work," the Colorado Democrat said. The failures of the Iraq War
deeply shaped American spy agencies and a generation of intelligence officers
and lawmakers. They helped drive a major reorganization of the U.S. intelligence
community, with the CIA losing its oversight role over other spy agencies, and
reforms intended to allow analysts to better evaluate sources and challenge
conclusions for possible bias.
But the ultimately incorrect assertions about Iraq's nuclear, biological and
chemical weapons programs, repeatedly cited to build support for the war in
America and abroad, did lasting damage to the credibility of U.S. intelligence.
As many as 300,000 civilians died in two decades of conflict in Iraq, according
to Brown University estimates. The U.S. lost 4,500 troops and spent an estimated
$2 trillion on the Iraq War and the ensuing campaign in both Iraq and Syria
against the extremist Islamic State group, which took hold in both countries
after the U.S. initially withdrew in 2011. Those assertions also made "weapons
of mass destruction" a catchphrase that's still used by rivals and allies alike,
including before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which U.S. intelligence
correctly forecast. Avril Haines, the current U.S. director of national
intelligence, noted in a statement that the intelligence community had adopted
new standards for analysis and oversight. "We learned critical lessons in the
wake of our flawed assessment of an active WMD program in Iraq in 2002," Haines
said. "As in every part of our work, we strive to learn the lessons that allow
us to preserve and advance our thinking to greater effect in service of our
national security." Only 18% of U.S. adults say they have a great deal of
confidence in the government's intelligence agencies, according to a new poll
from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Forty-nine
percent say they have "some" confidence and 31% have hardly any confidence.
Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush
ordered an invasion of Afghanistan, where the ruling Taliban sheltered al-Qaida
leader Osama bin Laden and allowed the group to run training camps. Bush's
administration soon began to warn about Iraq, which was long seen as threatening
American interests in the Middle East. Iraq was known to have sought a nuclear
weapon in the 1980s and had chemical and biological weapons programs by the end
of the Gulf War in 1991. It had been accused of concealing details about those
programs from international inspectors, before they were kicked out in 1998. The
Bush administration argued Saddam Hussein's government was still hiding programs
from inspectors after they reentered the country in 2002 and found no signs of
resumed production. A U.S. intelligence estimate published in October 2002
alleges that Iraq had considered buying uranium from Niger and aluminum tubes
for centrifuges, that it was building mobile weapons labs, that it was
considering using drones to spread deadly toxins, and that it had chemical
weapons stockpiles of up to 500 tons. Some U.S. officials also suggested Iraqi
officials had ties to al-Qaida leaders despite evidence of deep antipathy
between the two sides. Those claims would largely be debunked within months of
the invasion. No stockpiles were found. Subsequent reviews have blamed those
claims on outdated information, mistaken assumptions, and a mix of uninformed
sources and outright fabricators.
Bush repeated wrong U.S. intelligence findings before the war, as did Secretary
of State Colin Powell in a landmark February 2002 speech before the United
Nations.
"He said he'd go to his grave with the manacles of Iraq," said retired Col.
Larry Wilkerson, who was then Powell's chief of staff and later became a
high-profile critic of the Bush administration. Powell died in 2021. It's still
sharply debated whether the Bush administration would have ordered the invasion
without the WMD intelligence. A White House spokesperson told The Washington
Post in 2006 — as Iraq had fallen into a violent insurgency — that Bush "made
his decision to go to war in Iraq based on the intelligence given to him by the
intelligence community." Some former intelligence officials argue the Bush
administration stretched available information to make the case for war,
particularly on allegations of ties between Iraq and al-Qaida. Congress was
already debating wholesale change to the U.S. intelligence community after the
Sept. 11 attacks, an intelligence failure blamed in part on a lack of
information sharing between the CIA and FBI. Lawmakers in 2004 created the U.S.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence to oversee the other agencies,
taking that leadership function away from the CIA. ODNI took control of the
daily intelligence briefing given to the president and of the National
Intelligence Council, comprised of the spy community's top analysts. Supporters
say ODNI can arbitrate among the other agencies, which often have sharply
different skillsets and cultures. Others criticize ODNI as an unnecessary
bureaucratic layer. The CIA revamped its training program for analysts to
emphasize the study of alternatives and use of "red teams" that challenge
conclusions. It also forced more information sharing so analysts could better
evaluate the sources of specific reports. Michael Allen, who served in the Bush
White House and wrote the book "Blinking Red" about the 2004 intelligence
overhaul, said U.S. officials in the wake of Iraq are more likely to accept
differences of opinion within intelligence.
Allen noted as an example the Energy Department's recent assessment that the
COVID-19 virus likely leaked from a Chinese lab. The FBI also supports the lab
leak hypothesis, but other agencies say the virus likely was transmitted from
animals to humans or have declined to take a position. The U.S. learned to "not
take intelligence at face value, but to really examine the basis upon which the
conclusions were made and to listen to differing views among different agencies
in the intelligence community," said Allen, now managing director of
Washington-based Beacon Global Strategies. Ukraine has been a bright spot for
U.S. intelligence. The Biden administration has supplied information to Kyiv for
Ukraine to bolster its defenses and declassified intelligence findings on
Russian intentions to try to influence Moscow and build allied support. And
while they correctly predicted Russia's intention to invade, the spy agencies
wrongly believed Ukraine's forces would fall within weeks. While in Congress,
Crow has pressed the agencies to review how they assess a foreign government's
ability to fight. U.S. intelligence two years ago wrongly projected the
Washington-backed government in Kabul would survive months after the American
withdrawal from Afghanistan. "We've lived with the ghosts of Iraq for two
decades and it's impacted our credibility," Crow said. "Now we're starting to
find it again. It's a great opportunity for us to learn lessons of the past and
do it better going forward." But those ghosts remain. Sitting in his office for
a recent interview, Crow said he understands the limits of what a military can
do and the importance of using armed forces properly. He said he thinks about
his enrolling in the Wisconsin National Guard after high school as a private and
moving to active duty after Sept. 11. He pointed to a photo on a wall opposite
the shelf with his Iraq War mementos, a picture of his company at Fort Bragg, an
Army base in North Carolina, before they went to the Middle East. "There's men
in that picture who died, who aren't here anymore," he said. "I think about
those guys, too."
Kurds remain biggest winners from US-led invasion of Iraq
Associated Press/March 23/2023
Complexes of McMansions, fast food restaurants, real estate offices and
half-constructed high-rises line wide highways in Irbil, the seat of the
semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Many members of the political
and business elite live in a suburban gated community dubbed the American
Village, where homes sell for as much as $5 million, with lush gardens consuming
more than a million liters of water a day in the summer. The visible opulence is
a far cry from 20 years ago. Back then, Irbil was a backwater provincial capital
without even an airport. That rapidly changed after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion
of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein. Analysts say that Iraqi Kurds — and
particularly the Kurdish political class — were the biggest beneficiaries in a
conflict that had few winners. That's despite the fact that for ordinary Kurds,
the benefits of the new order have been tempered by corruption and power
struggles between the two major Kurdish parties and between Irbil and Baghdad,
the Iraqi capital. In the wake of the invasion, much of Iraq fell into chaos, as
occupying American forces fought an insurgency and as multiple political and
sectarian communities vied to fill the power vacuum left in Baghdad. But the
Kurds, seen as staunch allies of the Americans, strengthened their political
position and courted foreign investments. Irbil quickly grew into an oil-fueled
boom town. Two years later, in 2005, the city opened a new commercial airport,
constructed with Turkish funds, and followed a few years after that by an
expanded international airport. Traditionally, the "Kurdish narrative is one of
victimhood and one of grievances," said Bilal Wahab, a fellow at the Washington
Institute think tank. But in Iraq since 2003, "that is not the Kurdish story.
The story is one of power and empowerment."
With the Ottoman Empire's collapse after World War I, the Kurds were promised an
independent homeland in the 1920 Treaty of Sevres. But the treaty was never
ratified, and "Kurdistan" was carved up. Since then, there have been Kurdish
rebellions in Iran, Iraq and Turkey, while in Syria, Kurds have clashed with
Turkish-backed forces. In Iraq, the Kurdish region won de facto self-rule in
1991, when the United States imposed a no-fly zone over it in response to
Saddam's brutal repression of Kurdish uprisings. "We had built our own
institutions, the parliament, the government," said Hoshyar Zebari, a top
official with the Kurdistan Democratic Party who served as foreign minister in
Iraq's first post-Saddam government. "Also, we had our own civil war. But we
overcame that," he said, referring to fighting between rival Kurdish factions in
the mid-1990s.
Speaking in an interview at his palatial home in Masif, a former resort town in
the mountains above Irbil that is now home to much of the KDP leadership, Zabari
added, "The regime change in Baghdad has brought a lot of benefits to this
region."
Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, from the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan,
also gave a glowing assessment of the post-2003 developments. The Kurds, he
said, had aimed for "a democratic Iraq, and at the same time some sort of …
self-determination for the Kurdish people."With the U.S. overthrow of Saddam, he
said, "We achieved that ... We became a strong group in Baghdad." The
post-invasion constitution codified the Kurdish region's semi-independent
status, while an informal power-sharing arrangement now stipulates that Iraq's
president is always a Kurd, the prime minister a Shiite and the parliament
speaker a Sunni.
But even in the Kurdish region, the legacy of the invasion is complicated. The
two major Kurdish parties have jockeyed for power, while Irbil and Baghdad have
been at odds over territory and the sharing of oil revenues. Meanwhile, Arabs in
the Kurdish region and minorities, including the Turkmen and Yazidis, feel
sidelined in the new order, as do Kurds without ties to one of the two key
parties that serve as gatekeepers to opportunities in the Kurdish region. As the
economic boom has stagnated in recent years, due to both domestic issues and
global economic trends, an increasing number of Kurdish youths are leaving the
country in search of better opportunities. According to the International Labor
Organization, 19.2% of men and 38% of women aged 15-24 were unemployed and out
of school in Irbil province in 2021. Wahab said Irbil's post-2003 economic
success has also been qualified by widespread waste and patronage in the public
sector. "The corruption in the system is really undermining the potential," he
said. In Kirkuk, an oil-rich city inhabited by a mixed population of Kurds,
Turkmen and Sunni Arabs where Baghdad and Irbil have vied for control, Kahtan
Vendavi, local head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front party, complained that the
American forces' "support was very clear for the Kurdish parties" after the 2003
invasion. Turkmen are the third largest ethnic group in Iraq, with an estimated
3 million people, but hold no high government positions and only a handful of
parliamentary seats.
In Kirkuk, the Americans "appointed a governor of Kurdish nationality to manage
the province. Important departments and security agencies were handed over to
Kurdish parties," Vendavi said. Some Kurdish groups also lost out in the
post-2003 order, which consolidated the power of the two major parties. Ali
Bapir, head of the Kurdistan Justice Group, a Kurdish Islamist party, said the
two ruling parties "treat people who do not belong to (them) as third- and
fourth-class citizens." Bapir has other reasons to resent the U.S. incursion.
Although he had fought against the rule of Saddam's Baath Party, the U.S. forces
who arrived in 2003 accused him and his party of ties to extremist groups. Soon
after the invasion, the U.S. bombed his party's compound and then arrested Bapir
and imprisoned him for two years.
Kurds not involved in the political sphere have other, mainly economic,
concerns.Picnicking with her mother and sister and a pair of friends at the
sprawling Sami Abdul Rahman Park, built on what was once a military base under
Saddam, 40-year-old Tara Chalabi acknowledged that the "security and safety
situation is excellent here." But she ticked off a list of other grievances,
including high unemployment, the end of subsidies from the regional government
for heating fuel and frequent delays and cuts in the salaries of public
employees like her. "Now there is uncertainty if they will pay this month," she
said. Nearby, a group of university students said they are hoping to emigrate.
"Working hard, before, was enough for you to succeed in life," said a
22-year-old who gave only her first name, Gala. "If you studied well and you got
good grades … you would have a good opportunity, a good job. But now it's very
different. You must have connections." In 2021, hundreds of Iraqi Kurds rushed
to Belarus in hopes of crossing into Poland or other neighboring EU countries.
Belarus at the time was readily handing out tourist visas in an apparent attempt
to pressure the European Union by creating a wave of migrants. Those who went,
Wahab said, were from the middle class, able to afford plane tickets and
smuggler fees. "To me, it's a sign that it's not about poverty," he said. "It's
basically about the younger generation of Kurds who don't really see a future
for themselves in this region anymore."
After Iran, Saudi Arabia to re-establish ties with Syria,
sources say
Laila Bassam and Aziz El Yaakoubi/BEIRUT/RIYADH (Reuters)/Thu, March 23, 2023
Syria and Saudi Arabia have agreed to reopen their embassies after cutting
diplomatic ties more than a decade ago, three sources with knowledge of the
matter said, a step that would mark a leap forward in Damascus's return to the
Arab fold. Contacts between Riyadh and Damascus had gathered momentum following
a landmark agreement to re-establish ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, a key
ally of President Bashar al-Assad, a regional source aligned with Damascus said.
The re-establishment of ties between Riyadh and Damascus would mark the most
significant development yet in moves by Arab states to normalize ties with Assad,
who was shunned by many Western and Arab states after Syria's civil war began in
2011. The two governments were "preparing to reopen embassies after Eid al-Fitr",
a Muslim holiday in the second half of April, a second regional source aligned
with Damascus told Reuters. The decision was the result of talks in Saudi Arabia
with a senior Syrian intelligence official, according to one of the regional
sources and a diplomat in the Gulf. The Saudi government's communication office,
the kingdom's foreign ministry and the Syrian government did not respond to
requests for comment. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to the
sensitivity of the subject. The apparently sudden breakthrough could indicate
how the deal between Tehran and Riyadh may play into other crises in the region,
where their rivalry has fuelled conflicts including the war in Syria. The United
States and several of its regional allies, including Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and
Qatar, had backed some of the Syrian rebels. Assad was able to defeat the
insurgency across most of Syria thanks largely to Shi'ite Iran and Russia. The
United States, an ally of Saudi Arabia, has opposed moves by regional countries
to normalise ties with Assad, citing his government's brutality during the
conflict and the need to see progress towards a political solution.
ARAB LEAGUE SUSPENSION
The United Arab Emirates, another strategic U.S. partner, has led the way in
normalising contacts with Assad, recently receiving him in Abu Dhabi with his
wife. But Saudi Arabia has been moving far more cautiously. The Gulf diplomat
said the high-ranking Syrian intelligence official "stayed for days" in Riyadh
and an agreement was struck to reopen embassies "very soon". One of the regional
sources identified the official as Hussam Louqa, who heads Syria's intelligence
committee, and said talks included security on Syria's border with Jordan and
the smuggling of captagon, an amphetamine for which there is a thriving market
in the Arab Gulf, from Syria. Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011
in response to Assad's brutal crackdown on protests. Saudi's foreign minister
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud earlier this month said engagement with Assad
could lead to Syria's return to the Arab League, but it was currently too early
to discuss such a step. The diplomat said the Syrian-Saudi talks could pave the
way for a vote to lift Syria's suspension during the next Arab summit, expected
to be held in Saudi Arabia in April. The United Arab Emirates reopened its
embassy in Damascus in 2018, arguing Arab countries needed more of a presence in
resolving the Syrian conflict. While Assad has basked in renewed contacts with
Arab states that once shunned him, U.S. sanctions remain a major complicating
factor for countries seeking to expand commercial ties.
Report Signals Humiliating End for Russia’s Shadow Army in
Ukraine
Shannon Vavra/The Daily Beast./March 23, 2023
Yevgeny Prigozhin is preparing to pull his Wagner Group mercenaries’ attention
away from the war in Ukraine, according to a Bloomberg report that cites sources
familiar with the matter. His current plan is to focus the private mercenaries’
focus back to countries in Africa, such as Sudan, Mali, and the Central African
Republic, where Wagner has deployed forces. On Monday, Wagner posted a
recruitment notice offering deployments to African countries would last between
nine to 14 months, Bloomberg reported. The apparent decision to recalibrate
Wagner operations in Ukraine comes after a series of setbacks Wagner has faced
in trying to work with the Russian government to wage war in Ukraine. Prigozhin,
who enlisted private mercenaries from prison, was blocked in recent weeks from
recruiting from prisons. His colleague was also recently barred from accessing
Russia’s military command in Ukraine. Tensions have spilled over into the public
eye as well. Wagner Group has also had to resort to pleading with Russia in
various videos posted to social media to provide more ammunition they said was
desperately needed to try to fight in Ukraine, to no avail. It’s not clear how
quickly the changes will go into effect. Evidence has emerged this week that
suggests Wagner Group is still fighting in southern Bakhmut as well as
Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bohdanivka, and in the direction of Predtechyne, according
to the Institute for the Study of War. Witnesses Unravel the Chinese Mass Murder
Mystery That Could Ruin Putin. Though Wagner Group has been working to flood the
field with personnel, Prigozhin’s army has so far failed to capture Bakhmut,
which they have been working to seize for months. Wagner Group’s efforts have
not been particularly successful. Tens of thousands of Wagner fighters have
died, according to a Russian non-governmental organization. The White House
National Security Council characterized the losses in and around Bakhmut as “an
extraordinary cost” for Russia. The Wagner Group has at times blamed those
failures on Russia’s idle efforts to help out Wagner with supplies. “We appeal
to our colleagues and friends from the Ministry of Defense. We are confident
there is this ammunition somewhere in the stockpiles, and we need them acutely…
We will do the work for you—help us with ammunition,” some Wagner fighters said
in a recent video on social media.
Hungary would not act on Putin arrest warrant, official
says
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP)/Thu, March 23, 2023
Authorities in Hungary would not arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he
were to enter the country despite him being the subject of an international
warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, a Hungarian official said Thursday.
Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said
during a news conference in Budapest that arresting Putin would contravene
Hungarian law because the country has not promulgated the statute of the
International Criminal Court into its legal system. The court, which is based in
The Hague, Netherlands, last week issued an arrest warrant for Putin that
accused him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from
Ukraine. Gulyas said the statute of the ICC, of which Hungary is a member state,
was in conflict with Hungary’s Constitution, and that arresting Putin would
therefore violate Hungarian law. Orban's government has not yet taken a position
on the warrant, but Gulyas said he considered it counterproductive. “I think
these decisions are not the most fortunate because they lead toward escalation
and not toward peace,” he said. The chances of Putin facing trial in The Hague
are highly unlikely because Moscow does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction or
extradite its nationals. However, the warrant could limit the Russian leader's
ability to travel to the tribunal's 123 member nations, which could arrest him
in accordance with the warrant. Since Russia invaded Ukraine 13 months ago,
Hungary has condemned the war but refused to supply Ukraine with weapons or
allow their transfer across its borders. It has also threatened to veto certain
European Union sanctions against Moscow and has held up the adoption of a major
EU funding package to Kyiv. Earlier this week, Hungary refused to join the other
26 EU members in signing a resolution in support of the ICC warrant for Putin.
Putin’s shattered army will never recover
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon/The Telegraph/March 23, 2023
It was the 19th-century military theorist Carl von Clausewitz who described war
as “the realm of uncertainty”. In Ukraine, the fog of war is thick, and growing
ever thicker. It’s impossible to gauge the true state of the battles raging in
the east of the country. For some, Ukraine’s heroic defence against the renewed
Russian offensive marks a victory of sorts. For others, the high losses they are
sustaining are indicative of Russia’s ability to remobilise and regroup. But if
the latest information coming out of Russia is to be believed, Putin and his
generals are in a worse state than many realise. In a bizarre twist, the Russian
army appears to be morphing into the Red Army of yesteryear, with trains spotted
carrying 1950s T55 tanks to the front line, hurriedly lifted out of storage. It
is the latest sign of a serious, perhaps fatal, armour shortage among Putin’s
forces. As a former tank commander, I cannot overstate the insanity of sending
such outdated heavy weaponry to the front – the Russians must be truly
desperate. Either that or they have lost the plot. In the 21st century, these
old tanks are little more than steel coffins. A modern rifle could pierce their
armour, let alone a drone or modern Western tank. To a “tankie” like me, it’s
the equivalent of a First World War biplane taking on a new stealth fighter. If
I was a Russian tank commander – God forbid – and my commanding officer told me
to fight in one of these museum pieces, I would stand to attention, turn to the
right, salute, and march home.
The problem is that the Russian generals still believe their own propaganda.
They believe in the myth of the indestructible Soviet tank rolling across
Europe. Before the invasion, Russia’s minister of defence, Sergei Shoigu,
invested heavily in a fleet of modern tanks when he reformed the armed forces.
Their effectiveness was impeded by corruption, however, and then they were
largely destroyed in the initial invasion last year. Once they were gone, they
were gone for good and impossible to replace. I said at the time it was hard to
see how the Russians could ever truly recover; so it has proved. And far from
giving the Russians any chance of victory, these relics will only hasten their
defeat.
Critics of my view will argue that it’s quantity not quality that matters; that
even these relics in large numbers are a daunting prospect on the battlefield.
Nonsense. One need only study the Battle of Kursk in 1943 – the largest tank
battle in history – to see the folly of sending large numbers of old tanks
against superior models and advanced anti-tank weaponry. The Russians lost
around 2,500 T34s in that hideous battle, yet 80 years later they want to use
outdated tanks against even more modern technology. It’s lunacy. When Britain’s
Challenger 2s arrive in Ukraine, they will pick off T55s as though in a
fairground shooting gallery. And even if these Soviet tanks managed to hit a
Challenger 2, it’s likely the crew wouldn’t even notice. A British tank round
would probably go through two or three of them before it ran out of energy. It
now makes complete sense why the Russians are trying to frame the rounds we are
donating as biohazards (made as they are with harmless depleted uranium). They
know they will decimate their “new” tank battalions, which will not be able to
land a punch back. At this vital moment, as certain Western countries equivocate
about their continued support of Ukraine, it is important we don’t buy into
Putin’s propaganda that Russia is remobilising so many men, munitions and
materiel that it will be ultimately unstoppable. It is simply not true. The core
of the Russian army is broken and unrecoverable. Its advanced tanks are wrecks
and its men exhausted, unable to advance more than a few miles a week in this
new push. In short: it will take years for Russia to rebuild – time it does not
have as the new wave of Western weapons begins to arrive. If tanks designed
many, many decades ago are what Russia is resorting to, we should station guards
at the Tank Museum in Dorset in case the Russians try to steal them. They would
be better use than the ones Putin is now bringing out of storage to relieve his
beleaguered forces. Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a former commander of the
1st Royal Tank Regiment. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a regular contributor to
the Telegraph's 'Ukraine: The Latest' podcast. With over 24 million downloads,
it is your go-to source for live reaction and correspondents reporting on the
ground. You can listen here.
Ukrainian children reveal scale of abuse at Russian
're-education' camps
Nataliya Vasilyeva/The Telegraph/March 23, 2023
Russian authorities are beating Ukrainian children in an attempt to "re-educate
them", according to one teenager who was among more than a dozen freed from
Moscow-run youth facilities after months of negotiation.
Parents of more than a dozen children sent by Russian authorities to a youth
camp on the Black Sea peninsula last year were able to finally bring them back
to Ukraine on Wednesday, a non-governmental organisation that managed the
evacuation said.
The children, mostly teenagers, were living in Russian-occupied parts of the
Kherson and Kharkiv regions when local education authorities suggested sending
them for a trip to a summer camp in Crimea, which has been controlled by Russia
since 2014.
But authorities at the summer camp refused to send them back when the children’s
home towns, including the city of Kherson, were liberated by the Ukrainian army
later in the year. Save Ukraine, the charity that organised the evacuation, said
it helped some of their parents to travel to Crimea via Poland, Belarus and
Russia in order to retrieve their children. Parents and children were seen
hugging and kissing as they arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday. Some of them were
seeing their siblings or parents for the first time in months. One of the
children interviewed by local television spoke of mistreatment. The teenage boy,
who was not identified, told local television that children from Kherson were
punished for expressing pro-Ukrainian views.
“We will take you to an orphanage, you will sit there and understand
everything,” the boy quoted a security officer at the camp as threatening him
and other teenagers.
He also said he saw a bruise on a teenage girl’s back – allegedly from a stick
that the security officer had used to beat the children. The boy said the camp’s
director told him that his parents had decided to give him up and that he would
be put up for adoption. He said he then called his mother, who told the
administration she had no such thing in mind. The camp administration reportedly
told the boy’s mother at some point: “You’re not going to take them anyway. They
will be children of Russia.” The repatriation was carried out less than a week
after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir
Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s children’s rights ombudsman, over
Russia’s suspected involvement in the unlawful deportation and transfer of
children from Ukraine’s occupied territories.
Mr Putin has not commented on the allegations. Ms Lvova-Belova earlier this week
defended what she called an “evacuation” of Ukrainian children, claiming that
they have not had a single complaint from a parent who wanted to get their child
back.
The Ukrainian government says more than 16,000 children have been deported from
the occupied territories to Russia while a Yale study has identified 43
facilities involved in holding about 6,000 children, aged four months to 17.
Some of those have been put into orphanages, foster care, or put up for
adoption, ostensibly after losing or becoming separated from their parents
during the invasion. Ms Lvova Belova last month said she herself had adopted a
15-year-old boy from Mariupol. Others, including most of those repatriated on
Wednesday, were told they were going to summer camps in Russia and Crimea for a
few weeks but became trapped when the lines moved and their homes were liberated
by the Ukrainians.
Denis, the father of a teenage girl and a young boy, told Ukraine's Channel 5 on
Wednesday the head teacher of their school in Kherson assured him his daughter
would be safe when he sent them off to a youth camp in Crimea.
“We waited for six and a half months - and now they’re here,” he said.
Russia has defended what it calls evacuating children to safety. But children
who have returned from Russia have spoken about attempts to re-educate them.
At some of the camps, Ukrainian children were asked to learn and sing the
Russian national anthem and were taught that Ukraine was part of Russia. Some
Ukrainian parents who willingly sent their children to youth camps in Crimea or
mainland Russia were first hesitant to go public about their plight, fearing
that they could be targeted for perceived pro-Russia sympathies. One family from
a village in the Kharkiv region told The Telegraph last year that they had
agreed to send their daughter to a summer camp in Krasnodar, in southern Russia,
for safety reasons after a shell hit a neighbouring house. When the village
changed hands weeks later the collaborating official who organised the trip fled
with the documentation and contact details of the camp in question, making it
difficult to track her down. Attempts by third parties to organise evacuations
have been complicated because the camps often insist they will only release the
children to their parents or legal guardians. Although some parents have made
the journey, travelling from Ukraine to Russia now involves crossing several
international borders. Crossing the lines at the only checkpoint between
occupied and Ukrainian controlled territory can take days or even weeks. Save
Ukraine, the non-governmental organisation handling the repatriation, said there
are still at least 61 Ukrainian children at the camp in Crimea who need to be
claimed by their parents.
Vietnam may resist diplomatic upgrade with Washington as U.S.-China tensions
simmer
HANOI (Reuters)/Thu, March 23, 2023
A push by the United States to upgrade ties with Vietnam this year is facing
resistance in Hanoi, over what experts say are concerns that China could see the
move as hostile at a time of tension between superpowers Beijing and Washington.
The United States is hoping for an upgrade in the relations this year, ideally
to coincide with the 10th anniversary in July of its comprehensive partnership
with Vietnam. The United States is a major investor in Vietnam and the largest
ever U.S. business mission visited the country this week. Though it is Vietnam's
biggest export market, it is currently ranked as a third-tier diplomatic partner
for Hanoi. Its top tier consists of China, Russia, India and South Korea are,
while its second tier, which Washington wishes to join, includes European
countries and Japan. A formal ties upgrade this year "is not considered
realistic anymore," said Florian Feyerabend, the representative in Vietnam for
Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Though the move would be largely symbolic,
Vietnam's leaders are hesitating, fearing possible retaliation from China,
according to experts, who cited discussions with Vietnamese officials. "Given
the intensifying China-U.S. competition and proximity between China and Vietnam,
Hanoi may feel reluctant to formally upgrade its comprehensive partnership with
Washington," said Bich Tran, adjunct fellow at the Washington's Center for
Strategic and International Studies. China is Vietnam's biggest trading partner
and a vital source of imports for its manufacturing sector. The two neighbours
have a long history of conflict and mistrust and remain at odds over islands,
features and resources in the South China Sea. Asked whether Vietnam was ready
to upgrade ties with the United States this year, a spokesperson for its foreign
ministry on Thursday said that would happen "when the time is right", stressing
the strong relations they already enjoy. High-level meetings could offer a
chance for a last-minute breakthrough on the U.S.-Vietnam ties, the experts
said, with diplomats hoping to arrange a meeting of their foreign ministers,
while their leaders could meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan in
May. A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Vietnam said the two countries were
working together to elevate their partnership. Le Hong Hiep, a Senior Fellow at
Singapore's ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, said there was no doubt Vietnam wants
to upgrade ties with Washington, but it was unlikely to agree to that this year.
But "the upgrade may no longer be a priority for the U.S. in the future," he
said.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on March 23-24/2023
Stifling debate on Israel will only hold back peace
Jonathan Gornall/The Arab Weekly/March 23/2023
As long as that debate remains shut down by the atmosphere of moral fear imposed
by Israel’s global army of advocates, the Israeli government will continue to
treat Palestinians as second-class citizens.
A clue to the disingenuous nature of the highly successful efforts of the global
pro-Israel lobby to conflate any criticism of the behaviour of the state with
anti-Semitism can be found in an extraordinary statement issued by the chief
executive of an organisation called UK Lawyers For Israel.
UKLFI was founded in 2011 by a group of British lawyers “concerned about the
failure to combat the use and abuse of law by enemies of Israel.”
In the past, UKLFI has targeted the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions (BDS) movement. This aims “to end international support for Israel’s
oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international
law.”
UKLFI says the movement is bent on “the delegitimisation of Israel,” but in fact
its aims merely parallel those of the international boycott movement that helped
to end apartheid in South Africa.
Last month UKLFI took on a softer target, a group of Palestinian schoolchildren,
who attend two United Nations schools in Gaza.
As part of an art project in collaboration with young patients at Chelsea and
Westminster Hospital in London, an exhibition of plates the children had painted
was put on display at the entrance to the children’s outpatients’ department.
UKLFI leapt into action. The very presence of the exhibition, “Crossing Borders,
a Festival of Plates,” made Jewish patients visiting the hospital feel
“vulnerable, harassed and victimised.”
Jews, said Jonathan Turner, the chief executive of UKLFI, “should not have to
face a wall of anti-Israel propaganda when they go to hospital.”
It was a curious and revealing statement.
Why should Jewish patients in the UK be offended or otherwise bothered by
criticism of Israel, any more than, say, Christian patients might be bothered by
criticism of the UK? Regardless, the speed at which the hospital removed the
offending plates was evidence of the effectiveness of the conflation agenda.
Thanks to groups such as UKLFI and many similar organisations around the world,
anti-Semitism and criticism of the behaviour of Israel’s government have now
become falsely but inextricably conflated, effectively shutting down debate
about the behaviour of Israel toward Palestinians.
To criticise Israel, goes the canard, willingly adopted by brow-beaten Western
politicians and media alike, is to criticise Jews. To express support for
Palestinians is to be accused of anti-Semitism.
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as “anti-Palestinianism.”
Take the case of Roger Waters, the former frontman of Pink Floyd, a staunch
advocate of Palestinian rights and an outspoken critic of what he calls the
“apartheid state” of Israel. In February a court in Frankfurt labelled him one
of the world’s “most widely known anti-Semites” as it ordered a venue in the
city to cancel one of his concerts. Other German cities are following suit.
In the past Waters has accused Israel of “abusing the term anti-Semitism to
intimidate people, like me, into silence,” a charge for which the evidence
continues to mount.
Everyone, including the British government, knows Israel is in the wrong over
Palestine. But the British government’s view of Israel’s behaviour is as
unequivocal as its response is toothlessly pragmatic.
Responding to a 2021 online petition urging it to impose sanctions, the
government demurred, while at the same time urging Israel “to cease its policies
related to settlement expansion immediately and instead work towards a two-state
solution.”
Settlements, the statement went on, “are illegal under international law and
present an obstacle to peace.”
But behind the words, it is business as usual. This week the British and Israeli
foreign ministers signed an agreement boosting economic, security and technology
ties.
The consequences of Israel’s wilful encouragement of its illegal settlers are
evident in the current wave of tragic tit-for-tat violence and killings, a
pattern that has continued pretty much ever since the British reneged on the
promises they made to their Arab allies in World War I, declaring instead
“sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations” and viewing “with favour the
establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”
The 1917 Balfour Declaration, which became British policy as soon as Britain was
handed the territory of Palestine to manage as a mandate after the defeat of the
Ottoman Empire, contained one proviso that was swiftly forgotten: that in the
event of the creation of a Jewish state, “nothing shall be done which may
prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in
Palestine.”
Today, the Israeli government is openly prejudicing those rights by encouraging,
funding and even arming the illegal settlers.
Relations between Israel and the Arab states are thawing, a development that can
only be welcomed. The Abraham Accords initiative has rightly awakened hopes of a
more peaceful and mutually profitable future for the region.
But full and widely-accepted rapprochement after such a long history of
suffering and mutual distrust in Palestine can be achieved only through honest
debate.
As long as that debate remains shut down by the atmosphere of moral fear imposed
by Israel’s global army of advocates, the Israeli government will continue to
treat Palestinians as second-class citizens while the transition to peace and
security in the region that full acceptance of the state of Israel in the entire
Arab world would bring will remain out of reach.
Lamenting Israel’s perpetuation of this unhappy state of affairs should not be
forbidden, but rather encouraged by all, including the many Jews throughout the
world and within Israel itself who abhor what is going on, supposedly in their
name.
*Jonathan Gornall is a British journalist, formerly with The Times, who has
lived and worked in the Middle East and is now based in the UK.
Copyright: Syndication Bureau
www.syndicationbureau.com
Rehabilitating Syria or the Assad regime?
Haitham El-Zobaidi/The Arab Weekly/March 23/2023
Assad was unable to correctly interpret global changes. However, his greatest
failure was his inability to grasp the changes in his own country.
Let us start from the end of the article, which is to pose the question of
whether there is a solution in Syria apart from the continuation in power of the
Assad regime?
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has made all kinds of political mistakes,
starting with his secular regime’s reliance on a sectarian party such as
Hezbollah, his warm praise of the Muslim Brotherhood Hamas and his yielding to
Qatar’s incitement against Saudi Arabia, not to mention his description of his
foes as “half men.”
Perhaps the worst aspect of all of this was his feeling as a young president
that he had his whole life ahead of him to solve Syria’s problems. This was
especially obvious in his talk about investing in information technology when he
headed the Syrian Informatics Association during the rule of his father, the
late President Hafez al-Assad. We eventually discovered that Syria of the year
2000, when he assumed power and the Syria of 2011 when a revolution broke out
against him, had remained mired in stagnation while the world moved on
politically, economically and demographically. Assad did not heed the major
transformations which were changing the face of the region, especially the US
invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam’s regime, nor the consequences of
the assassination of Rafik Hariri in Lebanon and his move to bring back Turkey
to the region under the pretext of rapprochement with the regime of Prime
Minister, then President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
If one looks at the problems of Syria today, one finds that they are an
extension of the misplaced political investments by the Assad regime. The
Islamists, who have traditionally constituted the most acute threat to its rule,
are the result of a reconciliation sponsored by Qatar between the Assad regime,
the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Alternatively it could be because of a naive
approach to the danger posed by Salafists who infiltrated Syria to join the war
in Iraq, before bringing this war back to Syria under such banners as those of
ISIS, al-Qaeda and Al-Nusra. Celebrating Erdogan was part of the equation of
accepting the presence of Islamists in power, directly, as in the case of
Hamas’s takeover of Gaza, or indirectly, as in the case of Hezbollah. For some
reason, Assad believed that he could use all Islamists to his advantage, at
times to prevent the Americans from re-directing their tanks from Baghdad to
Damascus and at others to fashion a national narrative of confrontation with
Zionism and Israel under the banner of the Palestinian cause and resistance.
Assad was unable to correctly interpret global changes. However, his greatest
failure was his inability to grasp the changes in his own country. There was his
open-ended project for change without any real change. There were the closed
horizons faced by Syrian young people. Then there was the desert encroachment in
the eastern and northern parts of the country, which resulted in the internal
exodus of large numbers of Syrians who found themselves with few immediate or
long term options. Then the big explosion occurred, which Assad tried to
pre-empt by saying that the situation in Syria was different from that of
Tunisia, for example. We did discover at the end of the day that Syria is indeed
different from Tunisia and that it sits on an explosive barrel with no possible
comparison with other countries of the region.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia have invested heavily in the Syrian crisis, each for its
own reasons. There was Qatar, with its well-known opportunism and its belief
that the era of the Brotherhood had finally come and that the Turkish role would
guarantee Doha’s control of Syria after Assad. There was also Saudi Arabia’s
dual motive for revenge: one because of Assad’s real or supposed role in the
assassination of Rafik Hariri, who constituted the most important Saudi asset in
Lebanon and who was killed during the Syrian military rule of that country. The
second reason for Saudi vindictiveness was Syria’s diatribes against the Saudi
government. Damascus used all kinds of disparaging terms to describe Saudi
Arabia. It did so for no reason except to please the Qataris and the Iranians.
Qatari and Saudi hostility to the Assad regime continues to this day, or to be
more precise, their hostility to what is left of the Assad regime, as a state,
of its territorial control and of its role in the region. Today, Assad appears
to be in a stronger position, perhaps because he found someone to back him in
his war, or because his enemies today are much weaker than they were when the
Syrian civil war erupted. Qatar is quieter today and Saudi Arabia cares more
about Saudi Arabia itself than, for example, about Lebanon and the pettiness of
its leaders, while Turkey’s economic and political conflicts at home and abroad,
have overwhelmed Ankara’s attempts to impose its influence on the region.
Even before the earthquake, there were those who seriously considered the
rehabilitation of Syria as a country, even if this meant the rehabilitation of
the regime. Does the sultanate of Oman have any illusions about the nature of
Assad’s rule? Does a country such as the UAE, which values social peace between
rulers and theirs citizens, accept Assad’s behaviour in dealing with his own
people? The answer will undoubtedly be No. But these are responsible countries
that know that what is at stake today is Syria, not the Assad regime. Whoever
has any doubts that this is the most realistic viewpoint, should take a look at
what happened in Iraq and Yemen, when the collapse of the two regimes in Baghdad
and Sana’a brought tremendous woes to both countries and the region. What was
happening in Raqqa and other places which witnessed the crimes of ISIS, is
sufficient to explain why many Syrians chose to stand by the Assad regime while
they are aware of all its shortcomings, staying away from the shadow of ISIS or
al-Nusra. There was no love lost for the regime, but Syrians asked themselves as
they were making up their minds: which do we hate more, the regime or ISIS?
When Qatar worked to drag the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League in a
showdown against Syria (and Yemen), almost everyone yielded and went so far as
to accept what the Qatari foreign minister at the time, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim,
was trying to dictate on the GCC and the League. The situation today looks
different. The Arab world has learned different lessons about the dangers of
isolating important countries such as Syria and Yemen, and before them Iraq. The
unanimous agreement to put pressure on the Assad regime or Ali Abdullah Saleh,
led to disasters in the two countries and in the region as a whole. Qatar
maintains close relations with Iran, while Iran threatens Saudi Arabia from the
south in Yemen and has reached the Mediterranean through a land corridor that
passes through Iraq and Syria. This has produced a gratuitous Arab consensus in
favour of empowering Iran in the region, and not necessarily a position aimed at
deterring Assad or Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime.
In recent days, Assad was in Abu Dhabi and a few days before that in Muscat.
These two visits and other possible trips ahead, are a responsible way for
rehabilitating Syria, not for celebrating its regime. Stubbornness and hatred
have no place in trying to ensure the survival of Syria, even if this means
dealing with Bashar al-Assad and his regime. Returning to our starting point,
which will be the closing question: should a responsible approach to dealing
with the situation in Syria necessarily deny the regime the possibility of
staying in power?
Stanford Law Disruptions Were Orchestrated by the National
Lawyers Guild
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./March 23, 2023
Let us understand what the National Lawyers Guild is.
The Guild, in addition, refused to support Soviet or Cuban dissidents.
The Guild has never abandoned its Marxist-Leninist provenance. It supports
Antifa, which also employs violence to disrupt speakers.
The National Lawyers Guild is not a liberal organization. It does not support
civil liberties, due process or freedom of speech. It is the epitome of "free
speech for me but not for thee."
Many decent people question whether hateful, offensive and even speech deemed
"dangerous" by some, should be protected. The answer resides in history.
Whenever governments are empowered to ban such expression, they use that power
expansively, to censor speech critical of their leaders or partisans. The
appetite of the censor is voracious. What are seen as legitimate opinions by
dissenters are deemed by others — especially those in power — as hateful,
offensive or dangerous. Freedom of speech for all is anything but free. It can
be hurtful and risky. But in the end, it is worth the costs.
It deplores capitalism and the free market: "don't fund capitalism, fund the
groups working to dismantle it." And it opposes due process for those with whom
it disagrees, for instance, declaring of a "Mass Defense Program" that sends out
"legal workers, law students, and lawyers providing legal support for protests":
"We will only show up to actions and in support of movements that directly align
with our values."
Since its inception, the National Lawyers Guild has relied on "useful idiots" –
well-meaning left-wingers and liberals who have no idea what the Guild really
represents. It disguises its most extreme positions when presenting itself to
the public, but advertises them to its members. It also hides from the public
the fact that despite its name, the membership Guild consists primarily of
non-lawyers. When it was truly a lawyers' organization, it was slightly more
centrist. And then in the 1970s, the Guild opened its membership to "jailhouse
lawyers" (who are not lawyers), legal workers (who are not lawyers), law
students (who are not yet lawyers) and anyone else who works with or for lawyers
or law firms.
The Guild has more than 100 chapters in American law schools. Its membership
includes many law professors. It apparently plans to organize nationwide
disruptions of the kind we have seen at Stanford. The Guild creates the illusion
that these disruptions are spontaneous reactions to conservative provocations.
They are anything but.
As the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall observed: "The freedom to
speak and the freedom to hear are inseparable; they are two sides of the same
coin." These disrupters violated both rights.
Thus far disruptions have occurred at Yale, Stanford and Georgetown law schools.
But you can be sure that they are coming to a law school near you. The NLG will
not be satisfied until no conservative speaker is allowed to speak at any law
school. That is its objective, and it may well succeed, because cowardly
administrators — especially deans of diversity, in order to avoid the
embarrassment of what happened at Stanford, Yale and Georgetown — will try to
make sure that conservative speakers are not invited. They understand that it is
much harder to object to the less visible non-invitation of conservative
speakers than to publicly disrupting them.
We who support freedom of speech for all sides must organize as well. We cannot
count on the American Civil Liberties Union anymore: its silence supports the
censorship of the National Lawyers Guild. Our voices must be heard against
censorship-by-disruption, by non-invitation or by any other improper means. The
disruption by several dozen Stanford University law school students of a speech
to be given by federal judge Kyle Duncan was organized by the local chapter of
National Lawyers Guild as part of a nationwide effort to suppress conservative
speech. Pictured: An abortion rights rally at Stanford Law School, on May 3,
2022. (Image source: Suiren2022/Wikimedia Commons)
It turns out that the disruption by several dozen Stanford University law school
students of a speech to be given by federal judge Kyle Duncan was not a
spontaneous exercise of freedom to protest.
It was a well-planned and carefully orchestrated effort to prevent other
Stanford students from hearing the judge's conservative views. The disruption
was organized by the local chapter of National Lawyers Guild as part of a
nationwide effort to suppress conservative speech. Although not all the
participants were associated with the NLG, the main organizers were. The Guild
praised "every single person" who participated in the disruption, and called it
"Stanford Law School at its best," suggesting it would confront "judicial
architects of systems of oppression" with "social consequences for their
actions." Here the consequences went beyond "social" to censorial.
Let us understand what the National Lawyers Guild is. Begun in the 1930s as an
alternative to the American Bar Association, its original membership consisted
of traditional left-wing liberals and communists. After Nazi Germany and the
Soviet Union made the notorious Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939, most of the
liberals resigned. Adolf Berle, a prominent "New Dealer," quit because it had
become obvious that the Guild "is not prepared to take any stand which conflicts
with the Communist Party line."
When Hitler then broke the pact and invaded the Soviet Union, the Guild changed
its policy and rejected Hitler. After Japan attacked the United States in 1941,
the Guild "remained silent" rather than oppose the internment of more than
100,000 Americans of Japanese descent.
In 1948, the Guild "supported the establishment of the State Israel" because
that was the position of the Soviet Union. In 1967, the Soviet Union began to
turn against Israel and increased support for the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO), so did the Guild. Since that time, the Guild has been a
strong supporter of Palestinian terrorism and other efforts to destroy Israel.
The Guild, in addition, refused to support Soviet or Cuban dissidents.
The Guild has never abandoned its Marxist-Leninist provenance. It supports
Antifa, (see here, here, here and here) which also employs violence to disrupt
speakers.
The National Lawyers Guild is not a liberal organization. It does not support
civil liberties, due process or freedom of speech. It is the epitome of "free
speech for me but not for thee." It will not be swayed by the argument that
hateful, dangerous speech should be tolerated at any cost, and defines such
speech broadly to include judicial decisions by Judge Duncan.
Many decent people question whether hateful, offensive and even speech deemed
"dangerous" by some, should be protected. The answer resides in history.
Whenever governments are empowered to ban such expression, they use that power
expansively, to censor speech critical of their leaders or partisans. The
appetite of the censor is voracious. What are seen as legitimate opinions by
dissenters are deemed by others — especially those in power — as hateful,
offensive or dangerous. Freedom of speech for all is anything but free. It can
be hurtful and risky. But in the end, it is worth the costs.
The National Lawyers Guild seemingly despises America, and in 2020 passed a
resolution declaring:
"The United States government is based on and dedicated to preserving white
supremacy, hetero-patriarchy and imperialism... US uses its various government
agencies to implement its policies and crush political resistance."
It deplores capitalism and the free market: "don't fund capitalism, fund the
groups working to dismantle it." And it opposes due process for those with whom
it disagrees, for instance, declaring of a "Mass Defense Program" that sends out
"legal workers, law students, and lawyers providing legal support for protests":
"We will only show up to actions and in support of movements that directly align
with our values."
This is not to say that all the students who participated in the Stanford
disruption agree with these positions. Since its inception, the National Lawyers
Guild has relied on "useful idiots" – well-meaning left-wingers and liberals who
have no idea what the Guild really represents. It disguises its most extreme
positions when presenting itself to the public, but advertises them to its
members. It also hides from the public the fact that despite its name, the
membership Guild consists primarily of non-lawyers. When it was truly a lawyers'
organization, it was slightly more centrist. And then in the 1970s, the Guild
opened its membership to "jailhouse lawyers" (who are not lawyers), legal
workers (who are not lawyers), law students (who are not yet lawyers) and anyone
else who works with or for lawyers or law firms.
The Guild has more than 100 chapters in American law schools. Its membership
includes many law professors. It apparently plans to organize nationwide
disruptions of the kind we have seen at Stanford. The Guild creates the illusion
that these disruptions are spontaneous reactions to conservative provocations.
They are anything but.
Demonstrations and protests are protected by the First Amendment and by the
principles of free speech. Preventing speakers from addressing willing listeners
is not. Nor is harassing students who invite conservative speakers, as the
National Lawyers Guild has done. They violate not only the rights of the
speakers they disrupt, but also of those students who came to hear them. As the
late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall observed: "The freedom to speak and
the freedom to hear are inseparable; they are two sides of the same coin." These
disrupters violated both rights.
Thus far disruptions have occurred at Yale, Stanford and Georgetown law schools.
But you can be sure that they are coming to a law school near you. The NLG will
not be satisfied until no conservative speaker is allowed to speak at any law
school. That is its objective, and it may well succeed, because cowardly
administrators — especially deans of diversity, in order to avoid the
embarrassment of what happened at Stanford, Yale and Georgetown — will try to
make sure that conservative speakers are not invited. They understand that it is
much harder to object to the less visible non-invitation of conservative
speakers than to publicly disrupting them.
We who support freedom of speech for all sides must organize as well. We cannot
count on the American Civil Liberties Union anymore: its silence supports the
censorship of the National Lawyers Guild. Our voices must be heard against
censorship-by-disruption, by non-invitation or by any other improper means.
Addendum: After my criticism of the events at Stanford were written, the Dean of
the law school, Jenny Martinez, wrote a lengthy letter announcing that the
diversity Dean, who improperly intervened in support of the disrupters, was on
leave. The letter, which should be widely read, is an articulate defense of
freedom of speech, academic freedom of students to hear controversial views, and
university neutrality. She refused to accede to the demands of radical students
that she take back her apology to Judge Duncan and she said that student
disrupters would be held accountable. She should be commended for her defense of
constitutional values.
*Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at
Harvard Law School, and the author most recently of Get Trump: The Threat to
Civil Liberties, Due Process, and Our Constitutional Rule of Law. He is the Jack
Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute, and is also the host
of "The Dershow" podcast.
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Saudi Arabia-Iran deal: Iran has a great
opportunity to attract foreign investment
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 23, 2023
If the Iranian government continues to honor the agreement that it reached with
Saudi Arabia this month, it has a great opportunity to improve the country’s
economy.
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan was last week asked how soon he thinks
the Kingdom might start making investments in Iran and vice versa. He replied:
“When people really stick to the principles of what was agreed, I think that
could happen very quickly. Our aim, and I think this has been made very clear
previously by our leadership, is to have a region that is stable, that is able
to provide for its people, and prosper. And there is no reason for that not to
happen.”
Foreign investments are critical for any country, particularly the Islamic
Republic in these critical times as it seeks to boost its economy. According to
ResearchFDI, foreign investment can “stimulate a target country’s economic
development and create a more conducive environment for companies, the investor,
and stimulate the local community and economy.” The Canadian market research
firm added that FDI “creates new jobs and more opportunities as investors build
new companies in foreign countries. This can lead to an increase in income and
more purchasing power to locals, which in turn leads to an overall boost in
targeted economies.”
The Iranian government is not opposed to foreign investments. In fact, Tehran
has long attempted to attract foreign investments. For example, after the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal was reached in 2015 and UN Security
Council sanctions against Tehran were lifted, the Islamic Republic actively
tried to facilitate foreign investments. Then-Minister of Industry, Mines and
Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said: “The government (and) the parliament are
trying to remove all the obstacles for free investment and for reducing
interference of government in private investment.”
A report by Reuters at the time also stated that the Iranian government had
“offered to sell state assets to foreigners, said it would cut the government’s
role in the economy and pledged a tight monetary policy as it sought to attract
billions of dollars of investment from abroad after over a decade of isolation.”
In fact, many foreign companies made business deals with Iran after the nuclear
agreement. For example, French car manufacturer PSA Group signed a deal worth
nearly a half billion dollars with Iran Khodro and Total signed a contract to
buy 150,000 to 200,000 barrels of oil per day from Tehran. Once the nuclear deal
was reached, foreign countries and companies appeared to be rushing to rekindle
business with the Islamic Republic, which had effectively been cut off from
global trade.
The Iranian government reciprocated this interest in conducting business with
other countries in many areas, including technology, manufacturing, gas and oil.
After the nuclear deal, several international oil companies, including Shell, BP
and Eni, expressed an interest in returning to Iran’s oil market.
Among European countries, Germany and France were the first to rush to rekindle
business with the Islamic Republic. Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s economic minister
and vice chancellor at the time, visited Iran in 2015 along with a business
delegation.
Iranian leaders also planned to strengthen their airplane fleet. After the
nuclear deal was reached, Mohammed Khodakarami, the director of Iran’s Civil
Aviation Organization, stated that “Iran will buy a total of 80 to 90 planes a
year from the two aviation giants (Airbus and Boeing) in the first phase of
renovating its air fleet.”
Foreign investments are critical for any country, particularly the Islamic
Republic in these critical times as it seeks to boost its economy.
Iran has great potential for foreign investments. The first appealing sector in
Iran is the energy sector: oil and gas. The Islamic Republic has the world’s
fourth-biggest proven crude oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas
reserves.
Additional enticing sectors are Iran’s consumer and technology markets. At more
than 80 million, it has the second-largest population in the Middle East and is
in the top 20 in the world. What is more intriguing regarding the consumer
market is that more than 60 percent of the population are under 30 years of age.
Iran also has a highly educated population but suffers from a high level of
brain drain. Even under economic sanctions, Iranians spent more than $75 billion
on food, more than $20 billion on clothes and $18.5 billion on tourism in 2012.
Finally, the Islamic Republic of Iran is considered to be the world's largest
untapped emerging market.
If the Iranian government sticks to its new agreement with Saudi Arabia, it will
enhance its legitimacy and bring the country out of isolation, offering great
economic opportunities, particularly from foreign investments.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Seizing the moment in Yemen through the GCC-EU partnership
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/March 23, 2023
The diplomatic breakthrough announced between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Beijing
on March 10 has raised hopes of progress toward a political solution in Yemen,
where Iran has sustained the Houthi rebels with funding, training and arms,
including drones and ballistic and anti-shipping missiles.
To seize on this rare opportunity, the European Council on Foreign Relations and
the current Swedish EU presidency convened a meeting on March 17 in Brussels to
explore how the EU and Gulf Cooperation Council could work together to move
things forward. The meeting included officials and experts from Yemen, the GCC
and the EU, in addition to the UN, US and Sweden’s special envoys to Yemen.
The systematic engagement between the GCC and Yemen started in 2001, when Yemen
joined the GCC institutions on education, health, labor and sports, followed
later by six additional organizations. In 2002, the Sanaa Accord was signed to
align Yemen’s economic laws with those of the GCC. In 2006, a joint GCC-Yemen
committee was tasked with studying Yemen’s development needs and ways of
integrating its economy into the GCC’s. The UN, World Bank, OECD and others
helped in that effort. The committee agreed on a 20-year timeframe for
integration and, in 2006, mobilized about $6 billion, 70 percent of which came
from GCC donors, for Yemen’s development needs.
That process of GCC-Yemen integration was partially sidelined in 2011 as focus
shifted to managing the political crisis resulting from widespread protests.
Through the GCC Initiative, a power-sharing agreement was reached in 2011, with
early elections and a transitional government in early 2012, following which the
joint committee mobilized another $9 billion to fund the transition, with 80
percent coming from GCC sources, especially Saudi Arabia. The GCC also helped
fund and organize the National Dialogue Conference in 2013-2014.
However, with Iran’s support, the Houthis overthrew the government in September
2014 and Yemen descended into the civil war that has continued ever since. The
GCC has sided with the internationally recognized government. Despite the war,
Yemen’s further integration with the GCC nevertheless remained a stated goal,
although it became more difficult to pursue as focus and resources shifted
toward peace-making and providing urgent assistance to the millions of Yemenis
who became dependent on outside help.
In March and April 2022, the GCC hosted in Riyadh about 1,000 Yemenis from the
government, parliament and civil society. Although the Houthis were invited,
they chose to stay away. The 10-day talks resulted in a new power-sharing
arrangement — the Presidential Leadership Council.
A truce was announced during the talks and that has held since April 2, 2022,
which is unprecedented in this conflict. But despite the UN and the Presidential
Leadership Council’s valiant efforts, there has been no movement toward a
political solution, while the economy has stagnated and the humanitarian
situation remains worrisome.
The Saudi-Iranian deal may change all that and create the momentum needed to
break through the obstacles that have plagued Yemen’s peace-making. While
strictly speaking an agreement to resume diplomatic ties and reopen embassies,
the deal has a greater symbolic and psychological impact, not only in Yemen but
throughout the region. Direct Saudi-Houthi talks have also contributed to the
new cooperative atmosphere.
This new climate may explain the sudden conclusion of a prisoner swap deal. On
Monday, agreement was reached between the government and the Houthis to release
877 detainees after more than four years of negotiations.
Like the GCC, the EU has expressed a deep interest in helping Yemen transition
from war to peace, reconciliation and stability. Last year, the two blocs agreed
on a new strategic partnership framework that could serve as a mechanism to
cooperate on Yemen, utilizing this rare moment of optimism after the Saudi-Iran
breakthrough and the Saudi-Houthi talks in Sanaa.
I presented six main priorities for discussion in the Brussels meeting last
week. The first was supporting UN efforts to maintain the informal truce.
Ramadan and the holidays make it likely to continue, but it should be formalized
and, if possible, turned into a ceasefire.
The second priority was UN-mediated political talks, which have so far failed to
make progress. The prisoner swap earlier this week was significant, but it
should be followed by other steps, including progress on the Taiz blockade and
Hodeidah revenue sharing.
Third was Presidential Leadership Council unity and empowering it to manage the
economy and strengthen state institutions.
Fourth was humanitarian assistance. During last month’s pledging conference for
Yemen in Geneva, only a fraction of the UN’s funding goal was met, as donors
shifted their attention to the Ukraine war and the aftermath of the Turkiye-Syria
earthquake.
Fifth was development assistance. While Saudi Arabia and the UAE have continued
to provide significant development aid, most other donors have focused their
efforts only on humanitarian assistance.
The Saudi-Iranian deal may change create the momentum needed to break through
the obstacles that have plagued Yemen’s peace-making.
The final priority was security. The GCC and EU have recently agreed to increase
their security cooperation. A good place to start is maritime security,
safeguarding the freedom of navigation and reducing arms smuggling to Yemen.
The guiding principle in all of this should be promoting GCC-Yemen integration
as a goal. The EU could help maintain that focus, as it is the paramount example
of successful integration, while taking into consideration Yemen and the GCC’s
special particularities.
Despite many obstacles, the GCC and Yemen are destined to integrate. Their
shared geography, history and culture make it inevitable. Economic logic and the
complementarity between the two sides argue for cooperation and against
conflict. They need to complete the process of integration that was started 22
years ago and gained significant momentum between 2006 and 2011, but has since
derailed. The GCC-EU partnership could serve as a useful tool to overcome the
inevitable challenges of integration and make it happen faster.
*Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the GCC assistant secretary-general for political
affairs and negotiation, and a columnist for Arab News. The views expressed in
this piece are personal and do not necessarily represent GCC views. Twitter:
@abuhamad1