Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 01-02/2023
Thirteen points of contention: The complex border dispute between Lebanon and Israel
LBCI/September 01/ 2023
Thirteen is the number of points reserved between Lebanon and Israel. The army divided these points into two sections:
The first section, referred to as Basket A by the army, extends into Lebanese territory at a depth of 25 meters or less, which includes:
- Ras Naqoura, known as B1
- Aalma El Chaeb
- Boustane
- Marwahin
- Yaroun
- Meiss El Jabal
- Odaisseh - Kfarkela
The second section, or Basket B, includes points that extend into Lebanese territory at a depth of 25 meters or more, which are:
- Two points in Aalma El Chaeb
- Rmeish
- Blida
- Odaisseh
- Mtolleh al-Wazani
In 2017, it was agreed during the meetings held in Naqoura under the auspices of international forces to address 7 out of the 13 points, the most important of which are those located adjacent to the settlement of Misgav Am. Reservations were maintained on the remaining 6 points. The main dispute revolves around point B1, which Israel refused to discuss during negotiations concerning Basket A, which includes Aalma El Chaeb, Boustane, Marwahin, Yaroun, Meiss El Jabal, and Odaisseh - Kfarkela. Israel argues that allowing Lebanon to control point B1 would pose a security risk since it overlooks an Israeli tourist attraction. Lebanese experts, on the other hand, assert that Israel's primary reason for holding onto it is the oil wealth in that location.  If this point had returned to Lebanon before maritime demarcation, Lebanon's maritime borders would have been much broader. However, delineating the borders at the disputed 13 points is no less complicated than the dispute over the Shebaa Farms, Kfarshouba Hills, and northern Ghajar.  Lebanon considers these farms and hills to be Lebanese and completely occupied after Israel advanced beyond the withdrawal line.

Hochstein urges Lebanon, Israel to agree land border
Agence France Presse/September 01/ 2023
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein who oversaw a maritime border deal between Lebanon and Israel, countries technically still at war, has said it was time to delineate their land border also. "It's time for us to review the framework, and the framework envisioned... to achieve an outcome of a maritime boundary and to work on the land peace as well," Hochstein told reporters in Beirut. Hochstein is U.S. President Joe Biden's special coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security. Last October, after lengthy mediation, he brokered what Biden called the "historic" maritime accord between Israel and energy-starved Lebanon, which have no diplomatic relations. The deal paved the way for both countries to exploit offshore gas reserves. On August 16, French firm TotalEnergies said a drilling rig had reached Lebanese waters ahead of exploration for gas, months after the landmark accord was signed. Last Thursday Lebanon began exploratory drilling on Block 9, the site of the Qana field, part of which is in Israeli territorial waters. The authorities in Lebanon are counting on the presence of natural resources to help battle an economic crisis that has gripped the country since 2019.
"Over the last couple of days, I've been here to listen to the views of the Lebanese government, to go down south and see by myself the Blue Line and the surrounding areas to understand and learn more about what is needed in order to be able to potentially achieve an outcome," Hochstein said on Thursday.
Hochstein added that he now plans to hear the Israeli view "and to make an assessment if this is the right time and if we have a window of opportunity to be able to achieve it." After Israeli forces pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000, ending 22 years of occupation, the United Nations drew a "blue line" delineating the border between the two countries. South Lebanon is a bastion of Hezbollah, and the area has seen sporadic clashes. The U.S. envoy also called on Lebanon to elect a new president to implement reforms that could open the way for international aid.
Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term ended in October last year, with neither of the two main blocs -- Hezbollah and its opponents -- having the majority required to elect one. "I am impatient about the pace of reforms and I am disappointed by all the lost opportunities," Hochstein told reporters. During his trip, he went by helicopter to the ancient site of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, also a Hezbollah stronghold. Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in 2006 in which more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, died in Lebanon and 160, mostly military, were killed on the Israeli side.

US Could Help Settle Lebanon, Israel Border Dispute, Says White House Adviser
Asharq Al Awsat/September 01/ 2023
A senior US envoy visiting Beirut said Thursday that Washington is looking into possibilities for solving a decades-old border dispute between Lebanon and Israel, a year after he brokered a deal on the maritime frontier between the two nations. Amos Hochstein, a senior advisor to US President Joe Biden, also expressed disappointment with Lebanon's reluctance to implement reforms amid the country’s historic economic meltdown. He spoke to reporters at the end of a two-day visit to Lebanon during which he met with the caretaker prime minister, the Parliament speaker and other officials. Hochstein last year brokered a maritime border deal between Lebanon and Israel paving the way for gas exploration in the area, in what many hope will eventually help pull Beirut out of its economic crisis. Lebanon and Israel have formally been at war since Israel’s creation in 1948. Asked whether he is coming to mediate between Lebanon and Israel over their disputed land border, Hochstein said that he listened to the views of the Lebanese government, then visited the border area “to learn more about what is needed in order to be able to achieve an outcome.”Hochstein added that he now plans to hear the Israeli view “and to make an assessment if this is the right time and if we have a window of opportunity to be able to achieve it.” He added that the US “always supports what enables stability and security.”Caretaker foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Reuters that Hochstein had said he would speak to Israel next and if both agreed, |America would be ready to work with us”. The Shebaa Farms and the Kfar Shouba hills were captured by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and are part of Syria’s Golan Heights that Israel occupied in 1981. The Lebanese government says the area, that has been a source of tension for years, belongs to Lebanon. Lebanon has been in the grips of its worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by the country’s political class. Despite the fact that the crisis has been ongoing for nearly four years, the country’s ruling class has been resistant to reforms demanded by the international community in order to release billions of dollars in soft loans and investments.Earlier in August, an offshore drilling rig arrived at its destination in the Mediterranean Sea off Lebanon’s coast and will start operations soon. “I am optimistic. I’m always optimistic about what is possible in Lebanon, but I’m also impatient about the pace of reform,” Hochstein said. “I’m disappointed by all the lost opportunities.”He added that “as Lebanon takes steps to put the country on the path toward economic growth and peace, it can count on the US for continued support.” He added that the Lebanese people are hoping to see a president elected and a fully functioning go.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abdollahian: Neither Iran nor Saudi Arabia has any intention of interfering in political decisions made by Lebanese politicians
LBCI/September 01/ 2023
Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, has affirmed his rejection of any external interference that could affect the political decisions made by Lebanon's political elite. "We believe that if these interventions continue, they will only further complicate the situation," he said. During a press conference, he noted that "the Islamic Republic of Iran has never interfered in the internal affairs of the Lebanese Republic. However, as long as Lebanon requests it, the Islamic Republic will not hesitate for a moment to provide any support required to support Lebanon, its state, army, people, and resistance."
He emphasized that Iran supports any consensus reached by Lebanese political officials. "We view positively the restoration of relations between Tehran and Riyadh to their normal state, and there are some other countries currently engaging in dialogue with the Islamic Republic of Iran, whether openly or secretly, to return relations to their normal state with Iran," the Iranian Foreign Minister stated. He also declared that neither Iran nor Saudi Arabia intends to interfere or influence the political decisions made by Lebanese politicians.

Abdollahian says Iran refuses to interfere in Lebanon's affairs
Naharnet/September 01/ 2023
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who had arrived Thursday in Beirut, met Friday with Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. On Thursday, upon his arrival to Beirut's airport, Abdollahian said he will urge the Lebanese officials for a swift election of a president, adding that the Lebanese must choose their president themselves. Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that one of the keys to reaching a political solution in Lebanon would be "the need to clarify Iran's interference in the region."Macron criticized the "regional destabilization activities that Iran has carried out in recent years." He thus affirmed that to restore a constructive engagement, it would be crucial for Iran to clarify its policy towards its direct neighbors, Israel and Lebanon. In a joint press conference with Bou Habib, Abdollahian said the presidential file is an internal Lebanese affair and stressed that Iran refuses to interfere in other countries' affairs. The Iranian Foreign Minister vowed to "continue to strongly support Lebanon" and reiterated that Iranian companies are ready to help the crisis-hit country solve its electricity problem. "The economic cooperation between Lebanon and Iran would benefit both countries," Abdollahian said. On Thursday, Abdollahian met with leaders of Palestinian factions including the leaderships of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Lebanon. He affirmed Tehran’s "strong support" for the Palestinian people, their resistance and their cause, al-Mayadeen said.vernment take office. Lebanon has been without a president since October of last year and is currently run by a caretaker government. “The absence of empowered leaders has been detrimental to the country and it’s the people of Lebanon who have been paying the greatest price for the impasse,” he said.

Iran FM rebuffs Macron remarks over Lebanon 'interference'
Agence France-Presse/September 1, 2023
Iran's foreign minister on Friday rejected accusations from France over Tehran's interference in Lebanon, urging President Emmanuel Macron to focus instead on his own country. Macron had told a conference of French ambassadors earlier this week that a "key element" to resolve Lebanon's political crisis was "the clarification of regional interference, including that of Iran". "I advise Mr Macron to focus on the situation inside France instead of paying attention to questions of interference in other countries," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said during a visit to Beirut. Mired in a gruelling economic crisis since 2019, Lebanon has been governed by a caretaker cabinet for more than a year and without a president since late October. Lebanese lawmakers failed 12 times to elect a successor to former president Michel Aoun amid bitter disputes between the powerful Iran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah and its opponents. "Iran has always played the most constructive role in helping Lebanon," Amir-Abdollahian told a press conference at the Iranian embassy. French special envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian -- who has been tasked with helping resolve divisions among Lebanon's sectarian politicians -- is expected in Beirut later this month. Amir-Abdollahian's visit is his second since April, when he called on Lebanon to overcome its political deadlock and elect a president, urging foreign governments not to interfere in the choice. Tehran is the key backer of Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah group, the only faction that kept its weapons after the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. Amir-Abdollahian also met Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah during the visit, as well as senior officials from Palestinian factions close to Tehran, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in 2006. Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Beirut Thursday after a trip to Damascus, where he held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Iran has long been one of Assad's main supporters, helping him claw back territory lost to rebels during Syria's 12-year war.

Iranian FM Urges Lebanese Officials to Elect New President
Asharq Al Awsat/September 01/2023
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian urged all Lebanese parties to reach an understanding regarding the election of a president, stressing that the Lebanese leaders should decide on this matter. Abdollahian arrived Thursday in Beirut coming from the Syrian capital, Damascus. He is on an official visit to Lebanon during which he will meet with several Lebanese officials. He expressed delight at being in Lebanon, insisting that "Iran only wanted the good for Lebanon." “I expect regional and international countries to support Lebanon economically and commercially,” he added. The Iranian official also noted that during previous talks with Saudi officials, he heard what he described as “positive and constructive statements about support for Lebanon.”He further called on all the countries to back Lebanon.

Qatar expected to replace France in presidential file efforts
Naharnet/September 01/2023 
A Qatari delegate will visit Lebanon prior to French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian’s upcoming trip to the country, al-Jadeed TV reported. “This points to the disunity of the five-nation committee, seeing as the Qataris and Americans are not betting on the French initiative,” al-Jadeed added. Al-Akhbar newspaper meanwhile said that “it is premature to conclude that the French initiative in the presidential file has ended,” while noting that “the political forces are awaiting an imminent Qatari drive.”“This impression is based on the activity of Qatari security officials and Qatar has never been absent from the domestic scene in the first place,” the daily added. “There are reports saying that Doha will not enter the Lebanese arena except after Paris officially exits it, amid information that Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are willing to show leniency towards the solutions that Doha will carry, contrary to what happened with Paris,” al-Akhbar said.

Lebanese Speaker Calls for 7-Day Dialogue Ahead of Open-Ended Presidential Vote Sessions
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/September 01/2023
Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri has called on the heads of parliamentary blocs and political parties to participate in a seven-day dialogue at the parliament in September to set the sage for open-ended sessions to elect a president. Berri was speaking on Thursday at an event organized by this Amal Movement to mark the 45th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr during a visit to Libya. Addressing some parties in the country, especially “snitches,” Berri said he was working to ensure the presidential elections were held very soon. He affirmed that the elections can’t be achieved by imposing a candidate on others or disrupting the work of the legislative and executive constitutional institutions. “You have mistaken the address, and you don’t know who I am,” Berri told the “snitches,” advising them to save transit money and costs for staying in hotels. Berri touched on the oil and gas exploration in Lebanese waters. He responded to the claim of the Free Patriotic Movement that former President Michel Aoun made the achievement, saying that the work began in 2002 when Aoun was in Paris, and the Development and Liberation bloc presented a proposal in 2010, which was approved in August 2010. The Speaker said he hoped drilling in Block No. 9 would be fruitful, lauding the sacrifices made and the “martyrs” who made it possible. Furthermore, Berri announced that Amal and Hezbollah were ready to repel any Israeli aggression and defend the border.

Bassil lauds Berri's 'positive' words, hopes for president in September
Naharnet/September 01/2023
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has expressed optimism about a presidential dialogue which might take place in September, as he again called for decentralization, creating a trust fund and completing the Central Bank forensic audit. In a speech Thursday, Bassil said the FPM had a clear condition to participate in a dialogue suggested by French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian. "Our condition was to reach at the end of the dialogue a consensus that would lead to successive presidential election sessions," he said. Speaker Nabih Berri called on Thursday on the heads of parliamentary blocs and political parties to participate in "dialogue in parliament for seven days at most in September" before going to "open-ended sessions to elect a president."Bassil described Berri's words as "positive". "If that is the case, God willing, we will have a president in September," Bassil said. On another note, Bassil reiterated his warning against the Syrian displacement to Lebanon and called for preventing the naturalization of the refugees.

LF says Berri's call for 'prior agreement' on president violates constitution
Naharnet/September 01/2023
MP Sethrida Geagea of the Lebanese Forces bloc on Friday said that Speaker Nabih Berri is “insisting that he will not call for a presidential election session unless there is a prior agreement.” “This stance in itself is a major constitutional violation, seeing as the constitution does not stipulate consensus but rather election,” Geagea said. “This is a new chapter of the attempt by a group of Lebanese to impose their will on others, once through force and another through abusing authority,” the MP added. Accordingly, Geagea called on Berri to “immediately call for an open-ended session with successive rounds as per the constitution, in order to elect a president for the country, because there is no solution of the vacuum crisis other than this solution.”“As for betting on the despair of the sovereign camp or the Lebanese so that they bow once again and submit to the will of this (other) camp, this will never happen no matter how much their obstruction of the presidential vote protracts,” Geagea added. Berri called Thursday on political blocs to engage in dialogue in September to elect a president, a vacancy that has been unfilled for 10 months. Crisis-hit Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term ended in October last year, with neither of the two main blocs -- the Iran-backed Hezbollah and its opponents -- having the majority required to elect one. "I call on the leaders and representatives of the parliamentary blocs to take part in a dialogue in parliament in September, for a period not exceeding seven days, following which open sessions would be held... to achieve the election of a president," Berri said. The speaker, whose Amal Movement is closely aligned with Hezbollah, said he was making the appeal "before it is too late."Berri has so far refused requests from members of the anti-Hezbollah camp to hold open sessions until a president is elected. The blocs opposed to Hezbollah and its allies have refused to take part in talks to agree on a head of state before proceeding with a vote, preferring to rely on the democratic process.

Sami Gemayel to Berri: Parliament is not your property
Naharnet/September 01/2023
Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel on Friday rejected Speaker Nabih Berri’s call for dialogue that would precede open sessions for the election of a president. “The proposal to hold successive sessions to elect a president on the condition that we participate in dialogue is an acknowledgment that you were deliberately violating the constitution and that all the excuses that you were using are invalid,” Gemayel said in a post on the X social media platform. “The implementation of the constitution is not a political blackmail card. Parliament in not your property; it belongs to the Lebanese people,” Gemayel added. Berri called Thursday on political blocs to engage in dialogue in September to elect a president, a vacancy that has been unfilled for 10 months. Crisis-hit Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term ended in October last year, with neither of the two main blocs -- the Iran-backed Hezbollah and its opponents -- having the majority required to elect one. "I call on the leaders and representatives of the parliamentary blocs to take part in a dialogue in parliament in September, for a period not exceeding seven days, following which open sessions would be held... to achieve the election of a president," Berri said. The speaker, whose Amal Movement is closely aligned with Hezbollah, said he was making the appeal "before it is too late." Berri has so far refused requests from members of the anti-Hezbollah camp to hold open sessions until a president is elected. The blocs opposed to Hezbollah and its allies have refused to take part in talks to agree on a head of state before proceeding with a vote, preferring to rely on the democratic process.

Lebanese Government Warns of New Wave of Syrian Refugees
Beirut: Youssef Diab/Asharq Al Awsat/September 01/2023
The Lebanese government has warned of a new wave of Syrian refugees despite efforts by the state to return the displaced to their homeland.
The new displacement, which threatens to exacerbate economic and social conditions, is seen as the largest since hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled to Lebanon following the widespread protests that turned into an armed confrontation in 2012.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati chaired on Thursday a meeting to discuss the issue of refugees. The meeting was attended by Caretaker Minister of the Displaced Issam Charafeddine, Acting Chief of General Security Major General Elias Baysari, and Secretary General of the Higher Defense Council Major General Mohammad Mostafa. Charafeddine said the meeting focused on the new wave of Syrian displacement that began three weeks ago, adding it constitutes a dangerous phenomenon as the displaced continue to enter Lebanon via illegal crossings. He indicated that the meeting discussed a mechanism to deter this, stressing the importance of border control and coordination with the Syrian competent authorities. The minister warned against harboring refugees, mainly since smuggling networks are operating regularly on both sides of the border. Four border guard brigades are deployed in the northern and eastern regions on the border with Syria, but they are unable to monitor all crossings, which makes it easier for smuggling networks to operate on both sides. A security source revealed that the Lebanese army arrested 850 Syrian people during August, whether on the border or at the checkpoints in Wadi Khaled, Shudra, Akrum, Hermel, al-Qasr, and others. The source confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the army deploys about 4,000 soldiers on the northern and eastern borders with Syria, but the issue of controlling the 370 km borderline is difficult and complex. The army closed dozens of crossings over the past weeks, said the source, but infiltrations continue because active networks on the Lebanese and Syrian sides coordinate to facilitate smuggling operations. Meanwhile, the mayor of al-Amayer in Wadi Khaled, Ahmed al-Sheikh, asserted that municipalities "are not responsible for controlling borders and preventing infiltration.” He confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Land Border Regiment is tasked with clamping down on smugglers, admitting activists were helping the displaced persons enter Lebanon. Sheikh noted that every unemployed Lebanese or Syrian person in Lebanon has taken advantage of the situation and became active in smuggling operations, adding that the current wave of displacement comes from the areas controlled by the regime.

Lebanon welcomes extension of UN peacekeeping mandate
Jamie Prentis and Thomas Helm/ The National/August 01/2023
Resolution was passed after France and US reached compromise on language regarding the freedom of movement of troops. Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has welcomed the UN Security Council's decision to renew the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in the country, despite the terms not meeting all of the government's demands. Beirut sought a return to the terms of the 2021 renewal, under which the freedom of movement of soldiers in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon was more restricted than in 2022. The resolution to extend mandate of Unifil, which patrols the UN-demarcated border between southern Lebanon and Israel, was passed after a compromise was reached between France and the US over the language regarding freedom of movement. The debate over the renewal of the mandate, which was set to expire on Thursday, centred on whether Unifil had to notify Lebanese authorities before going out on missions. The final text says “Unifil does not require prior authorisation or permission to undertake its mandated tasks" and that "Unifil is authorised to conduct its operation independently, while continuing to co-ordinate with the government of Lebanon”. Mr Mikati welcomed the latter clause, saying it "takes into account a key element requested by Lebanon, concerning the role of Unifil to operate "in co-ordination with the Lebanese government”. “What has been achieved is an essential step to safeguard Lebanon’s rights and sovereignty," he said. The Security Council resolution also calls for Unifil to be allowed unimpeded access to the UN-demarcated frontier between Israel and Lebanon. Lebanon's UN representative Jeanne Mrad said the "text unfortunately did not reflect all of our concerns". "This freedom of movement should be upheld, yes, but also should involve controls," she said. Hezbollah, the armed group that wields significant influence in south of the country, has faced accusations of impeding Unifil’s access to the area. The role of Unifil has been a cause of debate on both sides of the border. Orna Mizrahi, a former deputy national security adviser to the Israeli government, said “Israel is not satisfied with what Unifil soldiers are doing". "From our perspective they’re not fulfilling their mandate," she said. “The main purpose of their mandate was to restrict the presence of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The reality today is that Hezbollah is on the border and southern Lebanon is full of weapons." Unifil, formed initially to ensure the withdrawal of Israeli troops after the invasion of Lebanon in 1978, had its mandate strengthened in 2006 after Hezbollah and Israel fought a month-long war. Hezbollah has previously condemned any provision that would mean Unifil did not co-ordinate with Lebanese authorities. An official in the Iran-backed group did not respond to a request for comment. Ms Mizrahi said that “while Unifil troops are not fulfilling their mandate, it’s true that they are helpful sometimes"."They co-ordinate trilateral co-operation with Israel and Lebanon’s army, for example," she said, “They can also solve problems and get a close picture of what’s going on the ground. "They occasionally act along the border and prevent escalation. Their usefulness is a big debate in Israel. “I think they’re better than nothing. This is the strategy that the government is currently adopting. Rather than saying Unifil shouldn’t be there, it is trying to find ways to improve their mandate."Last December, an Irish Unifil soldier was killed and three others were injured when their vehicle came under fire in southern Lebanon – but outside of the normal area of operations for the peacekeeping mission.The attack took place in a Hezbollah stronghold, although the group denies any involvement.

USAID launches $96.9M project to improve learning outcomes for students in Lebanon
Naharnet/August 01/2023
On August 1, 2023, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded a contract to RTI International, a nonprofit research institute and leading international development organization, to implement the new five-year $96.9M Quality Instruction Towards Access and Basic Education Improvement (QITABI) 3 to support Lebanon’s education system. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) and the Center for Educational Research and Development (CRDP), USAID’s QITABI 3 will improve literacy, numeracy, social and emotional learning (SEL), and inclusive education outcomes for students nationwide. The project will also provide life skills and career guidance to students at the intermediate and secondary levels. Commenting on the launch, USAID Mission Director, Julie Southfield stated: “We are excited to introduce this new project, which will continue to improve the quality of education across Lebanon. QITABI 3 is a reflection of our belief that quality education creates pathways for greater economic growth and transformational change. It is one of many chapters in the historical and ongoing partnership between the United States and Lebanon to support this country’s young learners and prepare them for a brighter future.” QITABI 3 will provide technical support to the Ministry of Education and CRDP on improving inclusive curriculum, research, and assessment capacities. QITABI 3 will also improve the learning outcomes for approximately 350,000 learners; enhance instructional practices for 25,000 teachers; increase retention rates across 1,200 public and low-cost private schools; and strengthen the system to ensure access to more equitable learning opportunities for the most disadvantaged and for children with disabilities.
“Since 2013, the U.S. Government, through USAID, has invested over $500 million to support Lebanon’s education sector. From classroom libraries to online lessons, educational boxes, summer school, university support and full merit scholarships, USAID has provided students with the tools and skills to gain a well-rounded learning experience and contribute to Lebanon’s development and prosperity,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

Judicial Strike Looms Again: Judges' Demands and Pending Crisis
LBCI/August 01/2023
After nearly a year since judges returned from their strike, which extended from August to December 2022, some have announced their decision to suspend work until further notice.One hundred eleven judges out of approximately 500 that comprise the judicial body agreed on Thursday evening through their WhatsApp group to go on strike starting Monday. The judges are still on their judicial vacation, which ends on the fifteenth of September. Therefore, the strike's impact will be significant only in the chambers where substitute judges are present if they were part of the strike.
The reasons behind some judges retaking this step are as follows:
First, there is delay in the disbursement of the financial allowance given to them monthly in addition to their salaries, which ranges between five hundred and twelve hundred dollars depending on each judge, and it has not been paid for August.
Second, the failure to fulfill promises made to them when they ended their previous strike regarding increasing the resources of the solidarity fund. The fund no longer covers the total cost of healthcare; instead, only a portion is covered in Lebanese pounds at an exchange rate of 30,000 pounds. As for family compensations, judges have been informed that they will receive school allowances in Lebanese pounds, while all schools charge fees in dollars. Third, the deteriorating conditions of the judiciary palaces.
In contrast to those who chose to go on strike, some judges believe this step will not yield any benefit, especially during vacation. Some have chosen to wait until after the General Assembly called for by the Supreme Judicial Council between the fifteenth and the twentieth of September. They consider that this decision should be issued by the Supreme Judicial Council, which is monitoring the matter through meetings with the Minister of Justice, the President of the Council of State, the President of the Court of Audit, and the President of the Judges' Solidarity Fund, Judge Ali Ibrahim. Will the concerned parties find a solution to the judges' demands, or will a new judicial crisis erupt after the end of the judicial vacation on the fifteenth of this month?

Divided Lebanese leaders unite to fight rainbows
Associated Press/August 01/2023
Rainbows, school books, movies and drag shows have all been targeted in Lebanon in recent weeks as politicians, religious leaders and vigilante groups step up a campaign against the LGBTQ+ community in a country that has long shown relative tolerance.
At a time when Lebanon is in the grips of one of the world's worst economic meltdowns in more than a century, the country and its leaders have been deeply split on how to deal with the crisis. Political factions have been so divided they haven't been able to choose a new president for 10 months. But in recent weeks they united to fight the LGBTQ+ community. Politicians and religious leaders have intensified a campaign that in many ways mirrors the culture wars in the United States, raising alarm over symbols and trends that might normalize queerness as an existential threat to society. It comes at a time when an escalating crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community is also underway elsewhere in the region. In some cases, the targeting comes after a spate of recent Quran burnings in Europe, which sparked angry protests in Iraq and other Muslim-majority countries. Local religious and political leaders have painted the LGBTQ+ community as part of Western attacks on Islamic values. In these demonstrations, many protesters burned rainbow flags.
In Iraq, some lawmakers are pushing a proposal that would expand a 1988 law on prostitution to include a paragraph imposing life in prison or the death penalty on those who have same-sex relations. Lebanon was once seen as a place of relative tolerance in the region when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights. That has changed in recent years, as crackdowns on free speech and expression have surged. In recent months, both rhetoric by politicians and harassment by individuals have increased.
Last week, several dozen men from a Christian extremist group dubbing itself the Soldiers of God trashed a Beirut club hosting a drag show. They beat up several people, driving some patrons to hide in a bathroom. "This is the venue of Satan!" one member yelled while filming on his mobile phone. "Promoting homosexuality is not allowed! This is just the beginning!" The education minister also recently banned a game of Chutes and Ladders that was distributed to schools as part of a USAID project because it was decorated with a rainbow, Lebanese media reported. A video circulated online showing a man in the northern city of Tripoli using black paint to cross out a rainbow on the side of a van distributing books. In early August, Culture Minister Mohammed Murtada requested for the General Security Directorate to ban the movie "Barbie," saying it "promotes homosexuality and transgenders." The Directorate, however, ruled that the movie is permitted, and it is reportedly expected to start showing in early September.
The Islamic Cultural Center submitted a request to the public prosecutor's office to shut down Helem, the first LGBTQ+ rights organization in Lebanon and the Arab World, founded in 2004. The prosecutor's office referred the case to the Interior Ministry, which has not yet acted on it.
Some shops have removed rainbow-decorated cakes or T-shirts from display. In June, the Interior Ministry restricted events connected to Pride month. The anti-LGBTQ+ campaign is being spearheaded by religious figures from Lebanon's multiple of Christian and Muslim sects, as well as political officials. In a meeting earlier this month, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, several government ministers and the head of the Maronite Church Cardinal Beshara al-Rahi discussed homosexuality. Afterward, the premier told reporters that "there is unanimity to abide by moral Lebanese and family values."
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, called in a recent speech for the death penalty on people engaged in same-sex acts, calling homosexuality "a clear and present danger." He accused NGOs of circulating books for school children that promote homosexuality and called for the books to be banned. The group Soldiers of God was formed in 2019 as a sort of Christian self-defense group. Its young men would tour Beirut's predominantly Christian eastern neighborhoods acting as guards against strangers coming in — at a time when frictions with rival supporters of Hezbollah often broke out.
Lebanon does not have a law that clearly bans same-sex acts. But Article 534 of the penal code prohibits sexual relations that "contradict the laws of nature" and has been used to penalize homosexuality, although some judges have held that consensual same-sex relations do not fall under the law. In July, a handful of legislators called for abolishing Article 534. One of them, independent lawmaker Mark Daou, accused Hezbollah of using LGBTQ+ "to create a diversion" and to "terrorize a group within society."
The attempt sparked a backlash. The spiritual leader of Lebanon's minority Druze community, Sheikh Sami Abou el-Mouna, said eliminating the article would promote "vice and permitting what is prohibited." Some lawmakers took back comments backing the abolishment. The backlash made some strange political allies.
In response to the call to repeal Article 534, Ashraf Rifi, a staunchly anti-Hezbollah Sunni legislator, said he is working on a draft law that criminalizes any attempt to legalize homosexuality.
Meanwhile, the Union Center for Research and Development, a reportedly pro-Hezbollah think tank, put forward a study titled "Resisting Homosexuality in Lebanon," which calls for criminalizing homosexuality. Hussein Ayoub, an official at the center, said he hopes a parliament member will adopt the study's proposals to put into law. He denied that his center did the study on behalf of Hezbollah. Khaldoun Oraymet, a senior Sunni cleric religious judge, called homosexuality "satanic" and "a very dangerous phenomenon." He said mosques, churches, schools and families should fight it. Many LGBTQ+ people are laying low, even in areas where they once could freely mingle and express themselves. Tarek Zeidan, who heads Helem, told The Associated Press that political leaders are scapegoating a vulnerable group to distract from their failure to solve the country's economic and political breakdown and infrastructure collapse. "Do any of these people have solutions for water, electricity, and health care? They have nothing," Zeidan said. "And when they have nothing to offer, they create an enemy."

Lebanese wine and arak: Crafting a worldwide reputation
LBCI/September 1, 2023
For over 150 years, the journey of Lebanese wine began, securing its place among the finest wines globally. Today, this wine has arrived in America, after the European countries, and now China is trying to attract Lebanese production of this "red gold," and to begin with, with 10 million bottles out of 15 million bottles that Lebanon produces annually. The results of the wine industry extend beyond the economy and exports. This industry can be used to promote tourism, allowing visitors to learn about the wine-making process and savor its products. In addition to wine, Lebanese Arak is also in demand globally. Today, most Arak distilleries are improving their production standards to compete in the international spirits market. Lebanon now stands at a significant opportunity to be a key player in the global wine and Arak market.

Lebanon launches mechanical inspection tender: A step towards enhanced road safety
LBCI/September 1, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Interior Bassam Mawlawi announced during a joint press conference with the Chairman of the Public Procurement Authority, Jean Ellieh, the launch of a mechanical inspection tender. He stated that this is stipulated by law and is necessary to secure the state's and citizens' rights regarding service and safety, emphasizing that it is a significant step towards road safety, which should be integrated with all state activities, including road infrastructure. Mawlawi noted, "As for the contract with the Valle company, it expired in 2013, and the Cabinet extended it until 2015. After that, the company continued to operate without legal justification, which prompted us to send a letter to the Cassation Public Prosecution due to imposing fees on citizens without legal grounds.""Based on this, we suspended the company's operations and worked diligently to draft new tender conditions that ensure fair competition under the supervision of Jean Ellieh," he added. He stressed that they are committed to the safety and rights of citizens and will not accept the squandering of their money or the state's funds. Mawlawi explained that the State Shura Council annulled a tender in 2018 because it was conducted for an entity other than the Traffic Management Authority, expressing his refusal "to criticize the tender without reviewing it, and they do not want to inspect it." He also mentioned that the Public Procurement Authority has completed the tender conditions. He stated, "Two days ago, the Court of Audit issued a consultative opinion with judicial status, in response to a request from the Traffic Management Authority, regarding the payment method and the work deadline for Inkript company, which suspended the public facility in violation of the law."In turn, Ellieh stated, "This is the first time that a tender for mechanical inspection centers is attended with a transparent set of conditions that no one except the experts who worked on it and supervised it had any involvement in."

Barbie Movie Overcomes Censorship Hurdles, Set for Lebanon Debut on September 7
LBCI/September 1, 2023
A rollercoaster of anticipation and political debate has finally reached its thrilling climax: Grand Cinemas announced on Instagram that the long-awaited "Barbie" movie, originally scheduled for an August release, will make its Lebanon premiere on September 7.  The news comes after Culture Minister’s controversial, but ultimately unsuccessful, efforts to ban the film, claiming it contained "LGBTQ content."Critics slammed the Culture Minister’s move as a blatant violation of freedoms, arguing that it went against the country's commitment to free expression. The minister’s attempt to ban the movie has not only heightened its profile but has also spurred a vigorous public debate on censorship and civil liberties in Lebanon. After undergoing the standard approval process through the Film Control Committee, the movie was deemed suitable for audiences aged 13 and above, with parental guidance suggested for those under 13. The Instagram announcement has set the Lebanese social media landscape abuzz, with many framing the movie's eventual approval as a win for freedom of expression.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 01-02/2023
Nobel Foundation reverses, invites Iran to 2023 Prize Ceremony
Adam Lucente/Al Monitor/September 1, 2023
Iran will again be able to attend Nobel Prize events after the eponymous organization reversed on Thursday its decision to bar the country in response to the ongoing Iranian protests. The Stockholm-based Nobel Foundation said in a press release that “ambassadors from all countries that are diplomatically represented in Sweden and Norway, respectively, will be invited to the prize award ceremonies.” The organization said the decision is a response to the “increasingly polarized world” and its desire to “convey the important messages of the Nobel Prize to everyone.”The Nobel Prize awards take place every year on Dec. 10. The Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Oslo, while the rest are awarded in Stockholm. The Nobel Foundation’s statement did not explicitly mention Iran. However, the Islamic Republic was excluded from last year’s ceremonies. “We believe that given the serious and escalating situation, Iran’s ambassador should not be invited to the Nobel Prize award ceremony,” said the foundation in October of last year, according to The Associated Press. Iran has embassies in both Oslo and Stockholm. The decision also paves the way for Russia and Belarus to attend. The two countries’ diplomats were barred from attending last year due to the invasion of Ukraine, per The AP. Iran did not immediately comment on the decision. Why it matters: Iran was barred from the Nobel Prize events following the outbreak of widespread anti-government protests and riots in the country nearly a year ago, that were met with a violent crackdown from the Iranian authorities. The protests — which began after Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman, died in police custody after allegedly being beaten to death last September — are also driven by economic conditions but have not managed to cause cracks in the regime. The protests are ongoing, as is the state’s response. Executions in Iran have also increased significantly this year in response to the demonstrations. Iran continues to face international isolation, is subjected to Western sanctions, some introduced in response to the crackdown against protesters.
Know more: Tension brewed between Iran and Sweden recently over Stockholm's decision to allow the Quran burnings Along with other Middle Eastern countries, Iran condemned the burnings and desecrations of the Quran carried out by Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika in Sweden in June and July. The Swedish government said last month that it would review impacts on national security before future decisions.

Israeli Forces Raid West Bank Town, Sparking Firefight That Kills Palestinian Teacher
Asharq Al Awsat/September 01/ 2023
The Israeli military on Friday raided a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank, besieging an apartment and sparking a gunfight with local fighters that killed an apparently uninvolved Palestinian teacher, his family and Palestinian health officials said. It was the latest in a series of Israeli army raids in the occupied territory that have resulted in a high Palestinian death toll. Israeli security forces stormed into a town near Tubas, northeast of the Palestinian city of Nablus, and surrounded a house where gunmen were believed to be holed up. Israeli soldiers called on the wanted militants through loudspeakers to surrender, residents said. When the gunmen refused, the Israeli military launched soldier-fired missiles and grenades at the building to try to force them out. Videos showed giant plumes of smoke billowing from the apartment. But the fighters refused to surrender themselves and managed to flee the wrecked house, the local branch of the Palestinian “Islamic Jihad” group claimed. “Our fighters provided cover with heavy fire to break the siege on the house and allow our brothers to withdraw safely from the area,” the group said in a congratulatory message to its members. The Israeli army said it searched the hide-out and found improvised explosive devices in a children's room, along with other military equipment like high-capacity gun magazines. It said its forces arrested two suspects in the town of Aqaba near Tubas, without specifying whether they were the wanted gunmen in the besieged building.
During the firefight, 36-year-old Palestinian Abdulrahim Ghanem was killed while walking home to his wife after spending the early morning tending to his sheep and vegetables at his farm, his 33-year-old cousin Islam said.
Ghanem worked as an eighth grade English teacher at a school in the area, Islam added, declining to give his own last name for fear of reprisals. He said that Ghanem avoided politics as much as he could and had no connection to the local armed group. The Israeli army said it was not specifically aware of Ghanem's situation but that soldiers reported they killed one Palestinian who they identified as a gunman. The contradictory accounts could not immediately be reconciled. The Palestinian Health Ministry blamed Israel for his death, saying that an Israeli army bullet struck Ghanem in the head. Ghanem was buried a few hours later. During the funeral, scores of Palestinians streamed through the streets chanting against Israel as they held Ghanem aloft, his body wrapped in a simple white sheet rather than in any Palestinian faction flags. Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh on Friday issued a statement about the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank, condemning Israel's “incursions into Palestinian cities, villages and towns, and the detention of hundreds of Palestinians, all of which aim to try to drag the territory into a spiral of violence.”
Early Friday, the Israeli army said it also raided several other towns in the West Bank and the city of Nablus, arresting seven suspected gunmen. The near-daily military raids have fueled tensions in the region and have ushered in some of the worst fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank since the last Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s. Over 180 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since the start of this year, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were gunmen. But stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and those not involved in the confrontations have also been killed. Some 31 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis during that time. On Thursday, a Palestinian driver rammed into an Israeli military checkpoint in the West Bank, killing an Israeli soldier who had migrated from Ukraine. Israel says the raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks. Palestinians say the raids undermine their security forces, inspire more militancy and entrench Israeli control over lands they seek for a hoped-for future state. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

Unprecedented breakdown in Israel-US channels as Netanyahu bars ministers from visiting Washington
Ben Caspit/Al Monitor/September 1, 2023
TEL AVIV — Communication channels between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the Biden administration are significantly troubled, as Israeli Cabinet ministers are still banned from meeting their American counterparts in Washington. The visit of Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallat to New York this week reflected that amply. Under strict orders from Netanyahu, Gallant did not go anywhere near Washington or the Pentagon on his visit. Nor did he meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, national security adviser Jake Sullivan or with any of the US officials who manage the strategic alliance between the two countries. Normally, a ban imposed by an Israeli leader on a high-level US visit would have generated shocked headlines in Israel, but these are unusual times in Israel under the most hard-line government in its history. Gallant’s US trip, which included a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a fundraiser and a personal visit to his son who lives in the United States, did not elicit anything more than raised eyebrows.
"Have never happened" before
The Biden administration responded to this “non-visit” by sending US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf and National Security Council Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk to meet with Gallant in New York. Their talks reportedly centered on the growing tensions with Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border, which Gallant said was also the thrust of his meeting with Guterres. The Defense Ministry did not mention his meetings on any of its statements. Israeli and American news outlets nonetheless covered them. “Such things have never happened,” a senior Israeli security source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, also referring to Biden’s publicly stated refusal to issue a White House invitation to Netanyahu in the eight months since he took office. “We can't remember an order by an Israeli prime minister that none of his senior officials hold working meetings with American colleagues in Washington as long as he himself is not invited there."The one exception to this ban is Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close Netanyahu confidant who serves as the prime minister’s personal envoy and has carte blanche to meet with anyone he wants in the US capital. Dermer, and occasionally national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, are tasked with Israel’s US-mediated contacts on normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia. The Israeli and American defense establishments maintain a vast array of contacts and relationships through dozens of channels. Almost every head of an agency or department, including directors of weapons research and development divisions, deals directly with his American counterpart. At the working levels, contacts are regular and efficient, and include papers and agenda items constantly exchanged between the sides. The head of the Mossad has regular contacts with the director of the CIA, as does the commander of Israel’s military intelligence unit 8200 with his counterparts at the National Security Agency, and the Defense Ministry’s head of the political-security division with the US undersecretary of defense for policy.
These contacts serve as platforms for a myriad of issues, ranging from coordination of operations, defense procurement, intelligence cooperation and much more. Sticky issues and policy matters are resolved at the level of the two nations’ defense chiefs, who also often help cut through bureaucratic red tape. This is how relations between the American and Israeli security establishments were managed for decades. Not so this year, with both sides awaiting the long-delayed main event — a meeting between Biden and Netanyahu to pave the way for a resumption of regular relations.  Biden has reluctantly agreed to meet the Israeli leader, probably sometime between Sept. 17 and Sept. 21. Israel is hoping for a White House meeting but the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York are also being mentioned as a possible venue. "The president will meet the prime minister eventually, but Israel is not making it easy for us to schedule this meeting," a senior American official recently told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz was asked this week on Channel 13 News about Gallant’s US visit and absence of official, high-level meetings in Washington. "I wouldn't have let that happen," Gantz said. "I would have insisted." Gantz recounted how he rushed to Washington to nail down issues relating to Israel's qualitative advantage over the Gulf states in response to reports that the United States intended to sell the United Arab Emirates F-35 Stealth fighters as part of the 2020 Abraham Accords normalizing ties with Israel. "I flew to Washington and did what I had to do, without asking anyone," Gantz said. Nonetheless, he added that he trusts Gallant to do what is best for Israel. The Biden administration views Gallant as one of its few interlocutors in the current ultranationalist, ultrareligious Netanyahu government. Netanyahu almost fired him in March when Gallant warned that the government-led judicial overhaul constituted a threat to Israel’s security. Netanyahu only reversed his decision under strong public pressure, from Washington's direction, too. Why does Gallant not walk out given Netanyahu’s directives limiting his freedom of action? "I wish our deterrence against [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah was on the level of Netanyahu's deterrence vis-a-vis Yoav Gallant," a senior Likud source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.
Tough times ahead
The defense minister himself has told his associates recently that he prefers to try to stabilize the system from within rather than stepping down. He, apparently, does not trust the identity of the minister that Netanyahu may appoint to replace him. "Netanyahu is not in a rational situation," said one of the defense minister's associates, speaking with Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "He is capable of making absurd appointments in the Defense Ministry as well. It is better for Gallant to be inside and exert influence than to be ejected." But tough times are ahead for Gallant once the Knesset returns from its summer recess in mid-October after the Jewish High Holidays and resumes its deeply controversial legislative agenda. Two particularly explosive bills in the pipeline are a permanent draft exemption for young ultra-Orthodox men and a proposed bill equating the status of yeshiva students with that of military combatants. Both spell an end to the underlying concept of Israel’s “people’s army” and generate widespread opposition even within Netanyahu’s Likud party. Gallant is not expected to support them, at least not in their current versions. The non-event of his US visit will pale compared to these domestic developments, as well as the spike in Palestinian terrorism against Israelis, escalating tensions with Hezbollah and Iran's continued nuclear race.

Reports: New Jordanian Strike in Southern Syria Hits Alleged Drug Factory
Asharq Al Awsat/September 01/ 2023
A Jordanian airstrike has reportedly targeted an alleged drug factory in southern Syria, which has turned into a hotspot for manufacturing and smuggling drugs and weapons, and human trafficking. Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Jordan will continue its war against militias smuggling drugs and weapons from Syrian territories. Observers in Amman believe Syria needs more seriousness in implementing the commitments made at the meetings of the Ministerial Committee concerned with the Syrian crisis. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Thursday that warplanes "which are likely to be Jordanian" launched an airstrike targeting a drug-manufacturing factory near al-Ghariyah town in al-Suwaida countryside, which led to its destruction. No causalities were reported. According to the Observatory, the raid included two successive bombings. Local sources said that the bombed area has several farms and is considered a hub for drug smugglers in southern Syria, as Captagon trade and smuggling are active through these areas. Amman has expressed its concern on several occasions about the ongoing arms and drug smuggling operations, which took a new and advanced turn after smugglers began using drones. On Monday, the Jordanian Army said it downed a drone heading from Syria in the third such incident this month, while officials said an increase in weapons being smuggled across the border was raising concerns about a new threat beyond drugs. The Jordanian Army has thwarted several operations to smuggle weapons, drugs, and explosives and attempts to infiltrate Jordanian territories. They arrested a few smugglers while the rest escaped to Syria. Several journalists said that Jordanian officials were dissatisfied with Syria's response. Last May, Jordan carried out rare airstrikes on southern Syria, hitting an Iran-linked drugs factory in Daraa and killing a smuggler allegedly behind big hauls across the two countries' border, local and intelligence sources said. Back then, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi declined to confirm his country had carried out the strike. "When we take any step to protect our national security or confront any threat, we will announce it at the right time," he said during a press conference. However, residents of Umm al-Rumman categorically denied any connection between the farm owner and smuggling operations and suggested that the Jordanian forces received false information, according to the local opposition website Al-Rased. The opposition Suwayda24 network quoted Mansour Hassan al-Safadi, the farm owner, as denying any illegal activity on his farm, stressing that it is used for raising livestock, poultry, and for agricultural work. He affirmed his support for any party that fights smuggling operations and said that the farm and its workers are not involved in any smuggling operations, suggesting the attack was likely the result of "misleading" information.

Protests Persist in Syria’s Sweida in Spite of Damascus’ Efforts to Contain them
Asharq Al Awsat/September 01/ 2023
Anti-government protests have persisted in Syria’s Sweida for the 12th consecutive day. Several people took to the streets on Thursday in the city center to demand the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, improvement in living conditions, implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 2254 and politcal transition of power. In the predominantly Druze majority region, the protests have enjoyed the backing of spiritual leaders Hikmat al-Hijri and Hammoud al-Hinnawi. Protests also erupted in Daraa, Idlib, Hama, the Aleppo countryside and regime strongholds in coastal regions. An activist told Asharq Al-Awsat that the “popular uprising in Sweida has restored hope for all Syrians as they have expressed the demands of the Syrian revolution for freedom, dignity and social justice for all.” “These demands can only be achieved through the ouster of the oppressive regime and all its symbols and members and the establishment of a fair and unified national democratic state that embraces all Syrians regardless of their religion and political affiliations,” he added. Activist Maan Khaddaj said the people are “fed up with the deteriorating economy and mismanagement of state affairs and its resources throughout Syria.” “The intensity of the protests in Sweida has taken everyone by surprise,” he remarked. He noted the similarities between the current protests and the ones that broke out in 2011, saying the demands are same. He revealed that the regime attempted to contain the current protests by dispatching a delegation to meet Druze spiritual leader and Damascus supporter Youssef al-Jarbouh on Tuesday. The delegation demanded an end to the protests, but they have persisted, meaning the regime’s calls are falling on deaf ears. A protester, Anas, described the rallies as “the new hope.”“It is an opportunity for the Syrians to break their silence and speak out against the state of affairs the current authority has led them to,” he went on to say. “It is the right time to release years of pent-up frustrations,” he remarked, saying the peaceful protests are the best way to achieve the goals of the Syrian people.

Syrian Militants Kill at Least 9 Soldiers in Attack in the Country’s Northwest
Asharq Al Awsat/September 01/ 2023
Al-Qaeda-linked militants attacked an army position in northwest Syria on Friday, killing at least nine government soldiers and wounding others, opposition activists said. There was no immediate word from the government. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said nine soldiers died as well as one of the attackers, who belong to the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, the strongest opposition group in northwest Syria. It said 12 soldiers and one HTS member were wounded in the attack. Taher al-Omar, an opposition activist who closely follows HTS, said the attack in the northwestern province of Latakia killed 18 soldiers and several others. The attack came less than a week after insurgents in northwest Syria attacked an army position, killing and wounding more than 30 troops. In another part of north Syria, Türkiye-backed opposition gunmen briefly captured the village of Mahsanli, which is controlled by Kurdish fighters. The Kurdish forces regained control of the village in a counteroffensive hours later, the Syrian Observatory said. The Kurdish-led Manbij Military Council, part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, said the situation in Mahsanli was again under control after several Türkiye-backed gunmen were killed. Opposition activists reported a Russian airstrike on the village after it fell into the hands of opposition fighters. A truce reached between Russia and Türkiye in March 2020 that ended a Russian-backed government offensive on Idlib province has been repeatedly violated, resulting in scores of people getting killed and wounded. Syria’s 12-year conflict, which started with peaceful anti-government protests and morphed into a war, has killed half a million people and displaced half the country’s prewar population of 23 million. More than 5 million Syrians are now refugees, most in neighboring countries. Russia has been a main backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad and joined the war in September 2015, helping tip the balance of power in his favor. Türkiye is a main backer of the armed opposition.

US calls for end of fighting in east Syria, warns of IS resurgence
Associated Press/September 01/ 2023
The United States military has called for an end to days of fighting between rival U.S.-backed groups in east Syria, warning it may help the resurgence of the Islamic State group. The fighting that broke out Monday — and left at least 40 people dead and dozens wounded in the eastern oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour — was the worst in years. East Syria is where hundreds of U.S. troops have been based since 2015 to help battle IS militants. The clashes pitted members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces against its former ally the Arab-led Deir el-Zour Military Council and some regional Arab tribesmen who had sided with them. The Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve said in a statement that it continues to closely monitor events in northeast Syria adding that "we remain focused on working with the Syrian Democratic Forces to ensure the enduring defeat of Daesh, in support of regional security and stability." It used the Arabic acronym to refer to IS. Sporadic clashes occurred in different parts of the area along the border with Iraq on Thursday and both sides were reportedly bringing in reinforcements. On Wednesday, the SDF and the council jointly said that Ahmad Khbeil, better known as Abu Khawla, would no longer command the Deir el-Zour Military Council. He and four other militia leaders were dismissed over their alleged involvement in "multiple crimes and violations," including drug trafficking. Khbeil was also removed over "coordination with external entities hostile to the revolution," apparently a reference to his purported contacts with the Syrian government in Damascus and its Iranian and Russian allies. The latest round of clashes raised concerns of more divisions among the SDF and its allies in eastern Syria, where IS had once controlled large swaths of territory and where the extremist group's militants still stage occasional attacks. "Distractions from this critical work create instability and increase the risk of Daesh resurgence," the U.S. military said. "The violence in northeast Syria must cease, and the effort returned to creating peace and stability in northeast Syria, free from the threat of Daesh." On any day, there are at least 900 U.S. forces in eastern Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors. They partner with the SDF to work to prevent an IS comeback.

Syria: Five Killed in Clashes between Zakia Residents and 4th Brigade
Damascus: Asharq Al Awsat/September 01/ 2023
Clashes broke out between Zakia town residents in Damascus countryside and local militants linked to the 4th brigade - led by Maher Assad who is the brother of Bashar Assad. Clashes erupted after a wanted individual from the town was killed as he was chased by militia members. Local sources in Damascus countryside reported that some Zakia residents burnt several houses of local militia members during hours-long clashes that resulted in the death of five, three from the 4th brigade and two armed men from the town. Moreover, four were wounded and three were kidnapped from Maher Assad's brigade. Activists from Zakia Alhadath website said that its correspondent was wounded by a stray bullet as she covered the clashes. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that three members of the 4th brigade were killed, and three others were detained. In addition, two armed men were killed while four others were wounded. SOHR noted that the clashes broke out after the death of an individual during an attempt to arrest him by a local militia. Moreover, one of the three detainees admitted that three officials planted explosive devices in Zakia to target anti-regime figures. The opposition website, Damascus Voice gave further details, by saying that Nazeer Shaaban, a resident of Zakia, was shot in the chest by Jamal Zinedine, a member of Muawiya Tohme – a militia affiliated with the 4th brigade. Last week, regime forces dispatched military reinforcements to Zakia and installed checkpoints at its entrances. They further threatened to raid the town after the spread of anti-regime banners as protests persisted in Sweida. Negotiations were held with the town’s elders to contain the tension, and a settlement was reached on Sunday regarding some of those wanted by the regime. But tension erupted again Wednesday night.

Syria: clashes in Damascus countryside with Maher Assad brigade leave 5 dead
Beatrice Farhat/Al Monitor/September 1, 2023
At least five people were killed on Thursday in clashes between local militants and residents of a town in the Damascus countryside, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based monitoring group with a vast network of sources on the ground. The SOHR said the violence erupted after a group of militants affiliated with the Fourth Division of the Syrian army, an elite brigade led by President Bashar al-Assad’s brother Maher al-Assad, killed a man in the town of Zakia while attempting to arrest him on Wednesday evening. According to the opposition-affiliated news website Sawt al-Asima (Damascus Voice), Nazeer Shaaban, a 37-year-old resident of Zakia, was shot multiple times in the chest by Jamal Noureddine, a member of the Fourth Division-affiliated group. The killing reportedly came after Shaaban found out that Noureddine and Muawiya Tohme, the leader of the local militia, had intentionally bombed a shop that maintained water well equipment in the town earlier this month because of a dispute with its owners. During Thursday’s clashes, the locals set fire to the houses of some members of the militia in Zakia, according to the SOHR. Four people were also injured in the fighting.
According to local reports, tension has been brewing in the town since residents began raising anti-regime banners last week, coinciding with the protests in the southern province of Suwayda. The Syrian army sent reinforcements around Zakia in response to the recent moves. Even as Arab countries begin to open up to Assad 12 years after the devastating war began, unrest is occurring in government territory. Suwayda has seen growing protests against the regime since mid-August, which initially began in response to the rise of fuel prices. Similar protests took place in neighboring provinces, including Daraa, as well as in Aleppo in the north. Meanwhile, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been engaged in violent battles with local Arab tribes in northeast Syria. The clashes first broke out on Monday, one day after the SDF arrested the head and several members of the Deir ez-Zor military council, whom it accuses of multiple crimes and violations. Since then, at least 40 fighters from both sides and 15 civilians have been killed, according to local sources.

Sudan Refugees Stranded without Healthcare in Chad
Asharq Al Awsat/September 01/ 2023
Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Sudan's war have crossed into Chad to find themselves in overcrowded camps, sweltering in plastic huts and awaiting healthcare that never comes. One of them, Adam Bakht, is an elderly man with a sparse beard who said he counts "diabetes, asthma and allergies" among his ailments. But he has received only "an injection to ease the pain", he told AFP from a camp in Adre, bordering Sudan's Darfur region which has been gripped by horrific violence. In a bright white jellaba, Bakht was desperately waiting for medical attention, along with another 200,000 refugees in the town who are trying to survive. The camps that house them are running low on everything -- medical personnel, sanitary facilities and medicine -- in scattered makeshift clinics. Still, hundreds arrive in unending columns every day, fleeing on foot to escape the raging clashes between the army, paramilitary forces and tribal fighters who have also entered the fray.
300 patients a day
The new arrivals in Adre may now be safe from the gunfire, but they soon learn they are still in danger -- including from torrential rains that pummel camps already experiencing shortages of food and water, according to aid group Doctors without Borders (MSF). "Malaria cases have sharply increased with the onset of Chad's rainy season, and people are at increased risk of contracting waterborne diseases such as cholera," MSF has warned. "A lot of diseases are currently circulating," said Muzammil Said, a 27-year-old who sought refuge in Chad himself before volunteering to help keep one of the clinics running. Every day, they receive "up to 300 patients" who lie on beds placed directly on the sand, close to each other. The small team has neither the space nor the supplies to better equip the "hospital": a barebones set-up of branches and tarpaulin where staff sterilize what they can in iron sinks. At rudimentary workstations, they ration the few boxes of medicine left over from international donations. "Providing medicine is a huge challenge because it's so expensive. We need help," Said told AFP. Bakht is still waiting for the pills he was promised since he fled El Geneina, the West Darfur capital ravaged by war. "My diabetes medication is supposed to arrive in three days, but for my asthma they told me to buy an inhaler from outside the camp," he told AFP. But Chad is the third least-developed country in the world, according to the United Nations, with an already crippled healthcare system, especially in remote areas such as Adre. The country has one of the world's highest rates of maternal mortality, and one in five children dies before the age of five.
Starving children
Child mortality has already surged within the camps, where dozens of children under five have died of malnutrition, according to the UN. Since the war began, at least 500 more children have died from hunger within Sudan, where the World Food Program warns that more than 20 million people face severe hunger. "The majority of our patients are sick with malaria, eye infections, respiratory diseases and malnutrition," volunteer doctor Nour al-Sham told AFP from the "North" camp in Adre. Those arriving from Darfur, a deeply impoverished and war-scarred region, have long suffered the effects of a fragile healthcare system. In Sudan, even before the current conflict began in April, 78,000 children under five died every year "from preventable causes, such as malaria", the UN says. The risk of disease soars in the absence of clean water, for which people "begin lining up ... at 2:00 am" amid shortages in some camps, MSF reported. Aid groups -- already navigating security challenges and bureaucratic hurdles -- say international donors have supplied just a quarter of the funding they have promised, more than four months into the war. And in Chad, where need was already extreme, the situation has only grown worse. Even before Sudan's current conflict, Chad hosted tens of thousands of refugees from Cameroon in the southwest and the Central African Republic in the south. That is in addition to 410,000 Sudanese refugees who had already fled the atrocities of the war in Darfur that began in 2003. The new conflict in Sudan has driven more than 382,000 refugees to Chad, according to the UN refugee agency, more than 200,000 of them to Adre. According to UN projections, another 200,000 people could cross the border from Sudan, where the violence shows no signs of abating.

Ukraine says drone attack on Russian airport launched inside Russia
Agence France Presse/September 01/ 2023
Ukraine's military intelligence said Friday that a recent drone attack on an airport in northwestern Russia which damaged several transport planes was carried out from within Russian territory. The claim came as Kyiv said police in the capital were responding to bomb threats as children returned to classrooms for a second academic year since Russia's invasion. The attack this week on Pskov airport some 700 kilometers from Ukraine marked the latest strike to rock Russian territory since Kyiv vowed to "return" the conflict to Russia in July. "The drones used to attack the 'Kresty' air base in Pskov were launched from Russia," Ukraine's intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on social media Friday. "Four Russian IL-76 military transport planes were hit as a result of the attack. Two were destroyed and two were seriously damaged," he added. Budanov said the aircraft had been used by the defence ministry to transport troops and cargo. The Kremlin said this week that military experts were working to find out which routes drones are taking in order "to prevent such situations in the future". Asked about Ukrainian claims on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment and instead deferred questions to the defence ministry. The region of Pskov, which was also targeted by drones in late May, is surrounded by NATO members Estonia and Latvia to its west and Belarus to its south.
'Calm' urged after bomb scare -
Budanov's comments came hours after Russian air defences destroyed a drone approaching Moscow, the city's mayor said, a day after a similar attack on the capital. Russian media reported that air traffic at Moscow's Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports had been temporarily halted. A recent uptick in aerial assaults have hit the capital's financial district, ripped holes in commercial buildings and even struck the Kremlin but officials have dismissed the increase in attacks. The reports of bomb threats in Ukraine's capital came as the country's education ministry said nearly four million students were returning to school, both online and in person. "We have received information about explosives in Kyiv's schools," police spokeswoman Yulia Girdvilis told AFP. "All educational institutions are being checked by Kyiv police forces with the involvement of the State Emergency Service."The police force said any evacuations would be decided by schools and the police, calling on people to "stay calm."Ukrainian officials announcing the beginning of the new school year said that Russian attacks since the beginning of the invasion in February 2022 had damaged or destroyed thousands of schools. Andriy Sadovy, the mayor of the western city of Lviv, said pupils will be learning to fly drones, releasing a picture of students behind computers. "This is our new reality," he wrote on social media alongside images of children holding controllers and sitting in front of monitors simulating drone flights.
Putin to host Erdogan
Alongside the increase in drone attacks inside Russia, tensions have been building on the Black Sea after Moscow in July scrapped a deal allowing maritime exports from Ukraine. But Ukraine has established an alternate route for cargo vessels and announced Friday that two more vessels had departed, defying a Russian naval blockade. Turkey, which brokered the deal allowing grain exports from Ukraine with the United Nations, has urged Moscow to return to the accord. The Kremlin announced Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will host his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea resort of Sochi for talks on Monday, likely on the scuppered agreement. Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on a visit to Moscow this week that reviving the deal to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea was "critical" for global food security.

Iraq jails Iranian, 4 Iraqis for life for killing US citizen
Agence France Presse/September 01/2023
An Iraqi court has sentenced an Iranian and four Iraqis to life in prison for the murder of a U.S. civilian, in a verdict welcomed by Washington. Stephen Troell, who had been living in Baghdad with his family, was shot dead in unclear circumstances on November 7, officials said. Baghdad's Karkh district court "sentenced five people to life imprisonment, one of Iranian nationality and four Iraqis", a judicial source told AFP on condition of anonymity. The five men had "confessed" to the murder and said that their intention had been to kidnap Troell for ransom, not to kill him, the source said. A second judicial source confirmed the verdict. The United States welcomed the ruling in a statement Thursday. "It is critical that all those responsible for the brutal, premeditated assassination of Mr. Troell face justice and accountability," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. He voiced hope that the verdict brings "some measure of justice" to Troell's family. Troell was shot dead while driving in Baghdad's Kerrada shopping district, an Iraqi interior ministry source said last year. No Iraqi officials or security sources have been able to tell AFP why the killing took place in a city where such attacks on foreigners have been rare in recent years. Troell had lived with his wife and children in the Iraqi capital for at least two years. US media reported that he was a teacher of English and his social media profiles testified to his strong Christian faith. The security situation in Iraq has improved since Baghdad declared victory over jihadists of the Islamic State group in 2017. However, political violence still exists, and a campaign of killings and kidnappings took place after a large popular revolt against the government in October 2019. No group ever admitted responsibility for these crimes, although the finger is often pointed at pro-Iran groups, and activists say no one has ever been brought to account. In July 2020 prominent academic Hisham al-Hashemi, an internationally recognized expert in Sunni Muslim extremism, was shot dead outside his Baghdad home by men on motorcycles. His murder sparked outrage across Iraq and was denounced by Western countries as well as the United Nations. Hashemi had thrown his support behind the previous year's protests against Iraq's ruling establishment, which was seen by many as inept, corrupt and too close to Iran. The number of small arms in Iraq was estimated in 2017 by non-government group the Small Arms Survey to be 7.6 million in a country with a population then of 39 million.

Human Rights Organizations Call for Investigation into Death of Detainee Due to Protests in Iran
LBCI/September 01/ 2023
Human rights organizations called on Friday for an investigation into the reasons behind the death of a prisoner in Iran who had initially been sentenced to death in a case related to the protests that erupted last year following the death of Mahsa Amini, accusing the authorities of torturing him. Iran's judiciary announced on Thursday the death of Javad Rouhi, a man in his early thirties, in a hospital in Noshahr in Mazandaran province (north) after suffering an "epileptic seizure" earlier in the day. Rouhi had been sentenced to death in January for charges of "corruption on earth," "apostasy by insulting the sanctity of the Quran by burning it," and "destroying and burning public property."

Macron Calls for Firmness in Banning Veils in Schools
LBCI/September 01/ 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron called for a firm approach to banning the wearing of veils and other Islamic clothing just three days before the start of the school year. During his visit to a vocational high school in Orange, southern France, he stated that the government "will not let anything pass. We know that there may be cases ... perhaps due to negligence, but there are many cases of attempting to challenge the republican system. We must be firm."On Thursday evening, French Education Minister Gabriel Attal sent a memo to heads of educational institutions reaffirming that wearing veils and long shirts "express religious affiliation in the school environment and cannot be tolerated there."

Libya's PM rejects normalization with Israel following secret meeting
Associated Press/September 01/2023
One of Libya's rival prime ministers has rejected the prospect of normalizing relations with Israel days after news broke of a secret meeting between the countries' two foreign ministers. Last Sunday, the Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen publicly announced that he and Libya's foreign minister had held a private meeting in Rome the previous week, the first ever between top diplomats from both countries. The next day, Libya's Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah suspended Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush and launched investigation into the meeting. It is illegal to normalize ties with Israel under a 1957 law in Libya, which has long been hostile toward Israel and supportive of the Palestinians. "We affirm our rejection of any form of normalization," Dbeibah said during a televised ministerial meeting on Thursday evening. "Long live Libya, long live Palestine, and long live the Palestinian cause in all of our hearts," he remarked. Israel's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Dbeibah's remarks. The meeting ignited angry street protests in several Libyan cities, prompting Mangoush to flee to Turkey for fear of her safety. Her exact whereabouts remain unknown. "Unfortunately there was an individual in the government who acted independently," Dbeibah said in reference to the Rome meeting. Harsh measures would be taken in response, he added, but provided no further details. Two senior Libyan government officials previously told The Associated Press that the prime minister did in fact know about the talks between his foreign minister and the Israeli chief diplomat. One of the officials said Dbeibah gave his approval the meeting, while the second said Mangoush then briefed the prime minister about it after her return to Tripoli. The second official also said Dbeibah gave his initial approval for joining the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords, but he was concerned about public backlash in a country where the support for the Palestinian cause is strong. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Libya slid into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. For years, the country has split between the Western-backed government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the country's east. Each side has been backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 01-02/2023
Pakistan: Muslim Mobs Hunt Christians
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute./September 01/2023
Hundreds of Christians fled their homes on August 16 when, in the eastern Pakistani district capital of Jaranwala, Muslim mobs started an anti-Christian riot, vandalizing churches and setting churches and Christians' homes on fire -- all based just on an accusation that a Quran had been desecrated.
At least 20 churches throughout the city were set on fire and more than 400 homes belonging to Christians damaged.
"Two Christian individuals are accused of desecrating the Quran. People are demanding life imprisonment, but the accusation is false. They have done nothing. The accusation was fabricated by an Islamist group, Tehreek-e-Labbaik." — Faraz Pervaiz, a Christian Pakistani asylum-seeker who fled to Thailand after being accused in Pakistan of blasphemy for criticizing political Islam, reporting through his sources on the ground, August 2023.
"On August 16, 2023 a woman carrying these documents with torn pages of Quran knocked the door of Raja and Rocky, later be accused of blasphemy. When they opened the door, the woman started shouting at the family and accusing them that you have desecrated the Quran. The family was shocked. Meanwhile this woman started making loud noises to wake the people up. 'Raja and Rocky has committed blasphemy,' she was shouting, 'and you Muslims are sleeping!'" — Faraz Pervaiz, August 2023.
The Muslim mobs then started attacking Christian homes and churches; the Christians fled and slept outside to avoid being burned alive, Pervaiz said.
"Christians are sleeping under open sky now. They are helpless. They get no support from any organization or the Government. They get no food support, and no new shelter is provided. They are starving. They are too scared to go back to their homes. They fear being killed... The police were helping the perpetrators and the vigilantes. There was no military intervention to stop the attacks. ...The newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan has condemned the incidents, but Christians need help, which he could have provided. But he did not because he knew that entire Muslim community would stand against him." — Faraz Pervaiz, August 2023.
To urge Muslims to hunt down Pervaiz, mullahs in Pakistan have led demonstrations where the crowds were encouraged to chant: "There is only one punishment for insulting the Prophet. Sever the head from the body! Sever the head from the body!"
In 2019, Pervaiz's home address in Bangkok, Thailand, was revealed in a video released on social media, with calls to every Muslim to find and kill him and his family. Several mullahs also attached fatwas to the video calling on Muslims to kill him. Posters with his photograph were plastered across many cities, including outside mosques and government offices in Lahore and Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.
Meanwhile, Pakistani Islamists have placed a bounty on Pervaiz. The Tahreek-e-Labbaik political party announced the first bounty of $62,000 in 2015. The next year, a cleric doubled it to $124,000. Pervaiz told Gatestone that many Islamist parties in Pakistan have placed a bounty on him; the amount now totals $400,000.
The UN and other members of the international community seriously need to reconsider their relations with the government of Pakistan. It is a systematic violator of human rights and a major supporter of Islamist terrorism. A government that treats its minorities so unjustly and inhumanely needs to be held to account.
On August 16, following an alleged incident of Quran-desecration in the town of Jaranwala, Pakistan, Muslim mobs started an anti-Christian riot, vandalizing churches and setting churches and Christians' homes on fire.
Hundreds of Christians fled their homes on August 16 when, in the eastern Pakistani district capital of Jaranwala, Muslim mobs started an anti-Christian riot, vandalizing churches and setting churches and Christians' homes on fire -- all based just on an accusation that a Quran had been desecrated.
At least 20 churches throughout the city were set on fire and more than 400 homes belonging to Christians damaged. The rioters attacked and vandalized a Christian cemetery and burned the office of the Christian assistant commissioner of Jaranwala.
The violence began after word spread from calls on mosque minarets that desecrated pages of the Quran had been discovered outside the home of a Christian family. Several thousand enraged Muslims assembled in the city center and began throwing stones at the churches, while others set them on fire. Videos and photos of the violence were shared on social media.
At least 19 churches were fully burned, 89 Christian homes destroyed -- including those of pastors and priests -- and 15 homes partially destroyed, according to a report from Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP).
Faraz Pervaiz, a Christian Pakistani asylum-seeker who fled to Thailand after being accused in Pakistan of blasphemy for criticizing political Islam, has been reporting on the riots through his sources on the ground.
In an interview with Gatestone, Pervaiz related:
"Two Christian individuals are accused of desecrating the Quran. People are demanding life imprisonment, but the accusation is false. They have done nothing. The accusation was fabricated by an Islamist group, Tehreek-e-Labbaik.
"On August 16, 2023 a woman carrying these documents with torn pages of Quran knocked the door of Raja and Rocky, later be accused of blasphemy. When they opened the door, the woman started shouting at the family and accusing them that you have desecrated the Quran. The family was shocked. Meanwhile this woman started making loud noises to wake the people up. 'Raja and Rocky has committed blasphemy,' she was shouting, 'and you Muslims are sleeping!'
"The accused family rushed out. They knew that Islamists are not going to inquire fairly but if they were captured, would sever their heads. The escaping family started informing their friends that they had done nothing but still they were being exposed to these allegations. The news spread like fire and every single Christian left their house to save themselves from injury or death.
"A few hours later the radical Islamic group started announcements through the mosques that 'Raja and Rocky has blasphemed against the Quran and Muhammad so it is time to send them to hell.'"
The Muslim mobs then started attacking Christian homes and churches; the Christians fled and slept outside to avoid being burned alive, Pervaiz said.
"Christians are sleeping under open sky now. They are helpless. They get no support from any organization or the Government. They get no food support, and no new shelter is provided. They are starving. They are too scared to go back to their homes. They fear being killed.
" The police were helping the perpetrators and the vigilantes. There was no military intervention to stop the attacks.
"The newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan has condemned the incidents, but Christians need help, which he could have provided. But he did not because he knew that entire Muslim community would stand against him."
Since then, the government of caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar promised to hand out two million rupees ($6,800) to 100 families on August 25. Raja and Rocky, however, based on the accusations against them, have been placed under arrest.
Pervaiz himself has been a target of Pakistan's Islamists since he began speaking out in defense of Christians after a 2013 Muslim mob attack on a Christian neighborhood in Lahore, capital of Punjab province. He led protests demanding action from the police and began a blog that challenged the politics and theology of Islam and criticized Islam's prophet.
"We are not criminals," Pervaiz told The Catholic Register.
"Our only crime is that we speak against their brutality. I don't have words to explain to you their barbarism towards us. How Christians are marginalized every day. No one raised this issue."
Under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, one can be sentenced to death for speaking out against Islam or its prophet Mohammed. Pervaiz has several fatwas, Islamic rulings, against him, calling for him to be killed.
Islamist parties and average Muslims, often with the consent of the government, take the law into their own hands to punish those who are even just accused, often unjustly, of having violated those laws. In 2014, in a village in Punjab province, "a local cleric told his community through the loudspeakers of his mosque to punish the couple for burning a few pages of the Koran," according to a police source.
"A mob then gathered outside the house of Shehzad Masih, 32, and his wife Shama, in her 20s, dragged them out and beat them to death, police said."
To urge Muslims to hunt down Pervaiz, mullahs in Pakistan have led demonstrations where the crowds were encouraged to chant: "There is only one punishment for insulting the Prophet. Sever the head from the body! Sever the head from the body!"
In 2019, Pervaiz's home address in Bangkok, Thailand, was revealed in a video released on social media, with calls to every Muslim to find and kill him and his family. Several mullahs also attached fatwas to the video calling on Muslims to kill him. Posters with his photograph were plastered across many cities, including outside mosques and government offices in Lahore and Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. As a result of death threats by phone and text messages, Pervais moved his family to a secret location outside Bangkok.
Meanwhile, Pakistani Islamists have placed a bounty on Pervaiz. The Tahreek-e-Labbaik political party announced the first bounty of $62,000 in 2015. The next year, a cleric doubled it to $124,000. Pervaiz told Gatestone that many Islamist parties in Pakistan have placed a bounty on him; the amount now totals $400,000.
The message is as with Salman Rushdie, who was nearly murdered, and the many people whose "crime" was to speak their minds: We will hunt you down wherever you are. You cannot escape or hide.
Pervaiz still has not found safety and is pleading for help from Western governments:
"God is merciful. Thank God we are not in Pakistan. We are seeking asylum in Thailand but have received no assistance. Even the UNHCR [UN Refugee Agency] told us to find a private sponsor for asylum. We are still looking for a country who can help us to find shelter and live peacefully."
The Islamist response in Pakistan, even to a claim of blasphemy, is abuse, threats, destruction and even death. According to the NGO Open Doors:
"In Pakistan, Christians are considered second-class citizens and are discriminated against in every aspect of public and private life....
"Pakistan's infamous blasphemy laws are increasingly being leveraged to accuse Christians and other non-Muslims of insulting the Prophet Mohammed or the Quran – punishment can be the death penalty. False accusations are often made to target Christians after an unrelated dispute, and even a false accusation can lead to mob violence.
"Christian women and girls are constantly at risk of sexual assault, abduction and forced conversion. This was brought to the world's attention in 2020 when 13-year-old Arzoo was taken from her parents by a 44-year-old Muslim man. Two days later, Arzoo's father was informed that the abductor had produced a marriage certificate stating Arzoo was 18 and had converted to Islam. A court gave custody to the 'husband'.
"Thankfully, after outcry both inside and outside Pakistan, judges ordered Arzoo's release. But many families never see their girls again, as the authorities rarely bring the perpetrators to justice.....
"Christian men are particularly vulnerable to being falsely accused under Pakistan's blasphemy laws. They are often compelled to take lower-state jobs referred to as 'chura', a derogatory word meaning 'filthy'. Church leaders can be arrested if they don't abide by the authorities' wishes, and these arrests are often intended to act as warnings to intimidate the Christian minority."
The UN and other members of the international community seriously need to reconsider their relations with the government of Pakistan. It is a systematic violator of human rights and a major supporter of Islamist terrorism. A government that treats its minorities so unjustly and inhumanely needs to be held to account.
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, a research fellow for the Philos Project, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 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.
**Picture Enclosed: Police officials and residents stand amid debris beside Saint John Church, one of the churches that was attacked and gutted by fire in Jaranwala, August 17, 2023. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19939/pakistan-muslim-mobs-hunt-christians

Christian Post Interview: Raymond Ibrahim on the Crusades
Raymond Ibrahim/September 01/2023
On Aug. 27, 2023, the Christian Post published an article titled, “Defenders of the West author: Crusades were a response to Muslims who launched ‘brutal holy wars’ against Christians.” Written by CP reporter Ian M. Giatti, it follows:
Remember when FIFA banned England football fans from wearing Christian crusader-style costumes ahead of the World Cup in Qatar because it could be considered “offensive against Muslims”?
Turns out the reason is more complex than you might think — at least according to Raymond Ibrahim, an author and expert on Islamic history and doctrine, who says the most misunderstood aspect of the Crusades is the notion that they were offensive wars of aggression.
Ibrahim’s latest book, Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam, takes a second look at the historical revisionism surrounding the Crusades when the Roman Catholic Church and European powers fought religious wars for more than 200 years between 1095 and 1291 to regain control of Jerusalem and the Holy Land under Islamic rule.
“We are not told that four centuries earlier Islam erupted out of Arabia and violently conquered three-quarters of what was once the Christian world, including all of the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, and most of the Mediterranean islands,” Ibrahim told The Christian Post via email Tuesday.
Many historians, said Ibrahim, neglect to mention that in the decades before the First Crusade, the Turks — whom the author said were “the latest standard bearers of the jihad” at the time — had launched renewed invasions into Christian land, including by conquering Asia Minor, an ancient Christian region where many of Saint Paul’s epistles were addressed.
It was during this time, around the mid to late 11th century, that Ibrahim says “tens of thousands of Christians” were slaughtered or enslaved, including in Ani, the medieval capital of Armenia, where roughly 1,000 churches were burned down by invading Muslim hordes.
According to Ibrahim, it was this wave of anti-Christian violence and bloodshed that moved Alexius, the Eastern Roman emperor, to ask for help from the West in what is known today as the First Crusade.
“Many churches in Jerusalem — including the Church of the Resurrection — were being desecrated and destroyed, and even Western pilgrims were being attacked and killed,” said Ibrahim, who pointed to one particularly graphic attack in which multiple Islamic invaders sexually assaulted a German nun who was on pilgrimage.
“Something had to be done, and so the First Crusade was born,” he added.
Much of this history, the author said, has been subject to “modern revisionist retellings” in which historians portray the Crusades as an unprovoked assault in which “the West just decided to attack and terrorize the Middle East.”
He pointed to the teachings of Georgetown professor John Esposito, who was quoted as saying, “Five centuries of peaceful coexistence [between Islam and Christendom] elapsed before political events and an imperial-papal power play led to centuries-long series of so-called holy wars that pitted Christendom against Islam and left an enduring legacy of misunderstanding and distrust.”
Another falsehood surrounding the Crusades, said Ibrahim, is espoused by former nun and self-described “freelance monotheist,” Karen Armstrong, who claims the “idea that Islam imposed itself by the sword is a Western fiction, fabricated during the time of the Crusades when, in fact, it was Western Christians who were fighting brutal holy wars against Islam.”
In fact, Ibrahim said from the very dawn of Islam, Christians knew and recorded that this new religion — which is translated “submission” in Arabic — spread by the sword.
“No word, of course, that it was Muslims who first launched these ‘brutal holy wars’ against Christians and were the ones who for centuries had been ‘exterminating’ Christians,” he added.
However historical and crucial to the history of Christianity, Ibrahim acknowledged that such a depiction of Christ’s followers bearing the Cross and the sword is far removed from Evangelicalism and other contemporary Christian streams.
The author pointed to the tendency of many 21st century Christians “particularly of the ‘liberal’ variety” who subscribe to what Ibrahim coined “doormat Christianity,” one which “begins and ends with their ‘turning the other cheek,’ showing ‘tolerance’ and never judging.”
On the contrary, said Ibrahim, the biblical mandate underpinning the Crusades was the foundation for what is today called Just War theory.
“For most of Christian history, Just War was an uncontested fact,” he said. “It meant that lawbreakers and aggressors were to be fought and punished, including through capital punishment and warfare.
“It’s often forgotten that Christianity was a very muscular religion for most of history, especially during the Medieval era in question. Certainly, Christians exhibited love for others … though wrongdoers — in this case, Muslims severely persecuting fellow Christians — had to be punished.”
Citing the work of Christopher Tyerman, professor of history of the Crusades at the University of Oxford, Ibrahim said the very earliest Christian theologians had concluded that “the so-called charity texts of the New Testament that preached passivism and forgiveness, not retaliation, were firmly defined as applying to the beliefs and behavior of the private person [and not the state].”
Ibrahim continued, “This is because there is ‘no intrinsic contradiction,’ Tyerman says, ‘in a doctrine of personal, individual forgiveness condoning certain forms of necessary public violence to ensure the security in which, in St. Paul’s phrase, Christians ‘may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty’ (1 Tim. 2:2).”
The author’s review of the history of the Crusades stands in stark contrast to other contemporary works on the topic which have compared the Crusades to “white supremacists” in the United States and Europe…. keep reading

The Scene in Sudan After Burhan’s Departure
Osman Mirghani/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 01/2023
Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan’s departure, after five months of war, has set many developments in motion. It has opened the floodgates of analysis and interpretation. Many questions about his departure from the Army Command headquarters persist, including those about how he left to the steps that will and what comes next. The most prominent question, the central question, is: Will his departure give rise to a negotiated solution or escalation?
Before attempting to try find an answer, a brief overview of how it all happened could be useful, as it helps shed light on the objectives. If his departure was part of a regional and international deal or arrangement, as some circles have claimed, a negotiated solution to end the war would seem likely. However, if he left through a military operation, the potential outcomes, including escalation, would be endless.
His speech which addressed the officers and soldiers at the Flamingo Naval Base on Monday suggests that Burham was keen on responding to some of the interpretations that have emerged. He affirmed a military operation allowed for his departure from the headquarters of the General Command of the Armed Forces, that soldiers from various units of the army had participated in this operation, and that martyrs had fallen.
The Rapid Support Forces’ apparent surprise and confusion following the operation give credence to his claims. Indeed, until the eve of the operation, their spokesmen were reiterating that Burhan had been besieged in his headquarters and could hardly move a few meters. When the clips of Burhan in Omdurman emerged, the RSF began claiming that Burhan had fled for fear of his headquarters falling after the Armored Corps Base. The RSF had indeed made a breakthrough early on, but the tables subsequently turned through the counteroffensive of the armed forces.
We should also note that Burhan also took a hard line in his speech in Port Sudan, which also points to the likelihood of escalation and undermines claims that a negotiated solution has been agreed to. Indeed, other figures in the armed forces have said that the balance of the battles in Khartoum is tipping in their favor, which was deployed soldiers in new locations. In his speech, Burhan poured cold water on the “comprehensive solution” that Rapid Support Forces have claimed is imminent on X, stating that he would not make deals “with any party that has betrayed the country” and that the army is working on “deciding the war,” which is close to coming to an end.
In the speech he gave the day before yesterday in Cairo, the first stop on his foreign tour, he hit back at the Rapid Support Forces once again. However, he struck a slightly more conciliatory tone, albeit with deliberate ambiguity. He said that the armed forces are keen “on putting an end to this war, putting an end to this tragedy,” without repeating what he said at the Flamingo Naval Base about the hostilities ceasing through “decisive” action rather than negotiations.
The delegation that accompanied Burhan on his visit to Cairo included more military figures than politicians ; it included three officials, namely the Director of the General Intelligence Service, Lieutenant General Ahmed Ibrahim Mufaddal, the Director General of the Defense Industries System, Lieutenant General Mirghani Idris Suleiman, and Foreign Affairs Minister Ambassador Ali Al-Sadiq.
This suggests discussions were not focused on negotiations. Burhan said that he wanted to put the Egyptians “in the picture” regarding the situation in Sudan, meaning that he relayed the army’s assessment of the recent course of events and where the top brass believes things are headed. Furthermore, the presence of the Director General of the Defense Industries System suggests that the military wants to enhance its capabilities as it fights on several fronts in Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan.
In his speech, Burhan also stressed that the delegation wants the world to “look at this war objectively”, and added that the war “was launched by a faction that had sought to seize power.” He sent three messages in his speech “to reassure Sudan’s friends and neighbors.” Firstly, he sought - as he had in his Port Sudan speech - to dispel accusations that the army is a haven for the Kezan (Muslim Brotherhood), which he claims has become the “boogie man of all those who want to destroy the Sudanese people.” This is in reference to RSF claims that they are at war with “remnants.”
The second message is that they are “seeking an end to the war.” The third is that the army does not want to keep ruling the country and only intends to oversee the transitional period before holding free and fair elections.
Nothing Burhan has said or done, thus far, affirms that he seeks a negotiated solution. In fact, the grave tone of his speeches suggests the contrary, at least at the present time. His discussion of a “new” transitional period suggests that he may be to form a caretaker government, especially since no one is happy with the current government. Indeed, most people can hardly sense its presence and do not know the names of most of its ministers.
Perhaps the army leadership believes that forming a government would, on the one hand, satisfy the citizens complaining about the continued absence of the executive and the lack of state services at a time when their suffering is intensifying; and hit back, on the other, at that the claims of some neighbors - such as Kenya and Ethiopia - that there is a “leadership vacuum” in Khartoum,.
However, forming a government will not be achieved without overcoming obstacles or problems, even if the criteria is competence. Assuming that most of the Sudanese would welcome the government if it bring basic services, these obstacles are overcome, Burhan and the military command would still face the problem of making arrangements for the transitional period. This would inevitably require engaging civic forces, and before that, ending the war. How this is done will determine many things in the coming period.

Democracy and the Crisis of Authority
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 01/2023
Dreaming of freedom in his prison cell in Chateau d’If, Edmond Dantes the hero of Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 novel “The Count of Montecristo” dreams of the nearby port of Marseilles as a haven of peace and freedom. Two centuries later, Dantes might have revised his dream as France’s second largest city and biggest port is depicted as a European version of Chicago in the Prohibition times with gang warfare, shootings, protest strikes by police, and tension among “communities” routine features of daily life.
The usually tame French media describe the situation as “a challenge to law and order” while France’s ebullient Interior Minister and thus supreme chief of the police Gerard Darmanin talks of “widespread incivility”. President Emmanuel Macron goes further by warning about ”a loss of authority” which he intends to correct by as yet unknown measures.
Loss of authority isn’t limited to Marseilles gangs engaged in war over a bigger share of the drug market with Nigerian Yardies, North African “fraternities” and cabals from the Balkans trying to acquire, defend or expand their respective turfs. Authority is also under constant challenge in Paris itself where one could see numerous shop windows shattered by protesters in the recent riots against a two-year increase in the legal minimum retirement age. Even once sleepy cities such as Nimes and Limoges have been affected by “loss of authority”.
It is, therefore, no surprise that President Macron has chosen “restoring the authority of the state” as the main theme of his post-holidays political performance. In a press interview last week he mentioned the word “authority” 15 times, following that with an invitation to political parties and trade unions to attend meetings at the Elysees Palace to probe ways of restoring the seemingly lost authority of the state.
However, Macron’s first moves and the ideas his entourage are circulating look more like dancing around the issue rather than addressing its root causes.
The first move has come in the shape of imposing a ban on the wearing of a North African folkloric dress, called “abayeh”, in public schools. The new Minister of Education Gabriel Attal presents the move as “an urgent measure to protect the nation’s secular (laicitie in French) values”.
This despite the fact that the French Council of Islamic Cult, a group funded by the government, has ruled that abayeh isn’t an Islamic symbol.
Where does authority come from?
The classical answer is that it comes from the two key tools of persuasion and coercion that a properly constituted government has for imposing its decisions. Beyond that, however, one may argue that authority emanates from continuity of rules and mores, the accumulation of a cultural, including religious, heritage that transcends here-and-now considerations.
Seen in that light one might claim that France lost the concept of authority with its first Great Revolution in the 18th century.
The triple moto of that revolution- liberty, fraternity and equality- contradict the concept of authority which necessitates a hierarchy of social and thus political status. Liberty, not defined within legal limits, could encourage hyper-individualism if not anarchy. Fraternity would efface social, cultural, and religious distinctions and, ultimately responsibilities in the service of the state while equality represents a challenge to authority which is built on a hierarchy.
President Macron tries to address that problem by talking of “duties” as opposed to “rights”, something that contradicts the core values of the French Revolution. In the French Revolution’s world view, citizens, regardless of whether they do their duties or not, have inalienable rights. In Macron’s redefinition a citizen’s rights may look like rewards for duties performed.
But who fixes those rights and duties?
The answer offered is the shopworn cliché of democracy which, in its naked form could mean the tyranny of a majority, in other words the worst kind of tyranny.
Could one talk of duties in the service of an autocratic regime that one hasn’t chosen? Things become even worse when you form a government without a majority, as is the case in France and, in different forms, in many other Western democracies today.
That could lead to an odd situation in which you may be in office but not in power or, even if you manage to simulate being in power, you are not in authority. In the latter case coercion may appear as a substitute for authority, hence the widening and increasingly violent use of police to “restore law and order”.
Political correctness and the cult of the victim complicate the matter further.
If you talk of authority, such as the current governments in Hungary and Poland do, you are labeled “authoritarian” if not “autocratic”. And anyone claiming some kind of victimhood, historic, racial, religious, cultural, sex-based, or class-based could demand to be absolved from respecting any authority outside his or her own circle.
In the politically correct lexicon one talks not of obeying the law but of respecting it when one deems it worthy of respect. PC propagators also use “consent” as a substitute for obedience in a system based on law.
Thus, manufacturing ersatz consent becomes a business that, in the United States at least, is developed into an art if not a full-blown science.
Macron’s device for manufacturing ersatz consent is the holding of referendums on “key issues affecting the lives of citizens”. He plans to amend the constitution to allow the governments to organize referendums on a wider range of issues. This, of course, is a means of downscaling the authority of representative democracy and a sign of political laziness. Complex social; economic and cultural issues cannot be decided with a yes or no by a public that is bound to lack the necessary information and probing skills even if, unlike all referendums held in France so far, a majority of those eligible to vote do go to the polls.
Kant cited three sources for authority: power, wealth and esteem. But that was when Europe had an authoritarian system in which monarchy, the wealthy aristocracy, and the church represented Kant’s triplets of authority.
Every system is corrupted by exaggerating its core value which, in this context, means that too much democracy corrupts the democratic system in which the pendulum moves either towards authoritarianism or governability.
In most western democracies today the pendulum is moving dangerously close to ungovernability often in the form of governments posturing to govern on a day-by-day basis. The challenge for Macron and others is to gingerly nudge the pendulum in the opposite direction. But don’t hold your breath.