Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 10-11/2023
Video Libk of the Divine Mass that was presided over today, September 10, 2023, by Patriarch Al-Rahi in the Church of Our Lady of Ilig-Mayfouk Al-Qattara in memory of the Lebanese resistance Martyrs/ with the text of his sermon.
Text of Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi's Sermon during the Martyrs Mass
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/122121/122121/
Sayyeda Illig /Bkerki site/September 10, 2023 (Google translation
“When a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24)

Bishop Aoudi’s Sermon text during the Divine Mass that he presided over in the Cathedral Church of St. George: What prevents the election of a president if it were not for interests that go beyond the constitution?
NNA/LCCC/September 10, 2023/ Google translation)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/122118/%d9%86%d8%b5-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b8%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d9%8a-%d8%a3%d9%84%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%87%d8%a7-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%88%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b7%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%af/

The Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut and its dependencies, Bishop Elias Aoudi, presided over the Divine Liturgy service in St. George’s Cathedral, in the presence of a crowd of believers.
Video Libk of the Divine Mass that was presided over today, September 10, 2023, by Patriarch Al-Rahi in the Church of Our Lady of Ilig-Mayfouk Al-Qattara in memory of the Lebanese resistance Martyrs/ with the text of his sermon.
Text of Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi's Sermon during the Martyrs Mass
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/122121/122121/
Sayyeda Illig /Bkerki site/September 10, 2023 (Google translation
“When a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24)
1. The Lord Jesus is the grain of wheat that fell on the land of Golgotha, where He died crucified, and by His resurrection three days later, the Church, the new people of God, was born. Like an ear of wheat, the martyrs of the Lebanese resistance whose memory we commemorate today are grains of wheat. Through their martyrdom, the peace of the nation and the citizens who bear witness to its values and message at the regional and international levels, and reject everything that distorts its identity and entity. Thus, the Our Lady of Ilig Association chose the theme for this year: “They were martyred, so that we may bear witness.” We salute this association: its president, our dear Mr. Fadi Al-Shamati, its administrative council and all its members, thanking them for honoring our martyrs in this holy place, in the shadow of Our Lady of Ilij and the holy patriarchs, and foremost among them is Gabriel of Hjoula, who was burned alive by the Mamluks in Tripoli Square. I also salute my brother, the archdiocese’s pastor, Bishop Michel Aoun, and thank him for his words coming from the depth of his heart. I also come to our brother, Bishop Mounir Khairallah, the pastor of the Diocese of Batroun, who is always present with us.
2. The day before yesterday, we commemorated with His Excellency our brother Bishop Maroun Al-Ammar, the sheikh of the Diocese of Sidon and the sheikh of the Druze Unitarian sect, Dr. Sami Abi Al-Munna, and His Excellency the Minister and former MP, Mr. Walid Bey Jumblatt, the twenty-second anniversary of the historic reconciliation in the mountain concluded by the Tri-Mercy Patriarch Cardinal Mar Nasrallah Boutros. Sfeir, and Professor Walid Bey Jumblatt. Her memory was a commitment from us together to continue, complete and develop it. The visit included five stops: in Shanai at the palace of His Eminence Sheikh Al-Aql, the town of Barouk, Baakline, Al-Mukhtara, and finally in Beiteddine in the Maronite Diocese of Sidon, where we celebrated the Mass of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Salvation, patron saint of the Episcopal See, with the participation of His Eminence Bishop Elie Haddad, Bishop of Sidon and Monastery. The moon is for the Greek Melkite Catholics, the bishops and priests of the diocese, the deputies of the Chouf and Aley, and other figures, and a large number of believers who came from various regions. We thank all those who organized this visit and generously made it a success with many sacrifices.
3. We, like the whole world, were hurt by the victims of the earthquake that struck a region of the Kingdom of Morocco, causing hundreds of victims, thousands of injuries, and destroyed homes. We pray to God's mercy in this holy sacrifice for the comfort of the souls of the dead, the healing of the sick, and the loss of the homeless without shelter. On behalf of our Maronite Church, we express our deep condolences to His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the Kingdom’s Ambassador to Lebanon, and the Moroccan people.
4. “They were martyred, so that we may bear witness.” Our martyrs died for us so that we might live. They redeemed us according to the example of the divine Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, who redeemed the sins of all humanity through His death on the cross, and gave us new life through His resurrection. The death of our martyrs is a responsibility that requires us to preserve the homeland, just as the death of the Divine Redeemer is a responsibility that requires us to repent for our sins and live a new life. Christ the Lord made death and resurrection a new Christian approach by saying: “He who loves his life will lose it, but he who is generous with his life will preserve it for eternal life” (John 12:25). Saint Augustine said: “It is truly painful to lose what you love. Whoever loves himself and puts God outside of his life has abandoned God. God does not remain in himself, but leaves it. Thus, by loving yourself, you remove God from your life, so you distance yourself from yourself. So return to yourself, By bringing God back to it through your repentance from sin and evil.”
5. “They were martyred, so that we may bear witness” to our Christianity as a faith, culture and civilization that characterizes our Lebanese culture and the cultures of the countries of the Arab world. Christ the Lord wants us to be “yeast in the dough” (see Matthew 13:33), “salt in food” (see Matthew 5:13), and “light in darkness” (see Matthew 5:14). We bear witness on the cultural level that Christ God made us brothers and sisters, and through him are sons and daughters of the one God. The law of this culture is love and respect for others who are different, and building bridges with them in everything that brings them together.
6. “They were martyred, so that we may bear witness” to the cultural and religious pluralism in unity, which distinguishes Lebanon from other countries in the Middle East. This pluralism in unity is regulated in the constitution. It makes Lebanon an oasis of encounter, dialogue, and general civil liberties, as recognized by the Human Rights Charter, which Lebanon has signed since its declaration in 1948, and which have become clear provisions in the constitution.
7. “Be martyred, so that we may bear witness” to live together, Christians and Muslims, in the spirit of cooperation and equal participation in governance and administration, in accordance with the Constitution and the National Charter, and with respect, mutual trust, and loyalty to Lebanon, the homeland and no other, whether to countries, people, or ideologies. This living together, based on the National Charter and regulated in the Constitution, gives legitimacy to any authority in the state, as stated in the introduction to the Constitution.
8. “They were martyred, so that we may bear witness” to Lebanon’s neutrality, neutralization and distancing itself, so that it can carry out its own mission, I mean: exercising its role as an international headquarters for dialogue between religions, cultures and ethnicities, its interest in Arab affairs, at the forefront of which is the Palestinian issue, and in issues of justice, human rights and peace. In this context, we would like to express our regret for the battles taking place in the “Ain al-Hilweh” camp, which leave dead, wounded and displaced, and spread danger and panic among the safe people in the region, in addition to striking at the heart of the Palestinian cause. Therefore, Lebanon cannot be neutral towards three things: towards Israel, towards the Arab consensus if it occurs, and towards truth and falsehood.
Neutrality requires keeping Lebanon away from regional and international conflicts, and from entering into wars at these two levels. It also requires that Lebanon control its internal sovereignty first through one army, one authority, and one foreign policy, then its external sovereignty over its borders by controlling them and defending itself with its self-organized forces.
9. “They were martyred, so that we may bear witness” to the necessity of organizing constitutional institutions, the most important of which is the election of a President of the Republic. Also, because the Taif Agreement must be implemented in letter and spirit, an end will be put to the chaos in the constitutional authority, in administrative and security appointments, to the arbitrary interpretation of the constitution amended by the Taif Agreement, and to the confusion between violating the Constitution and the Charter. Those who violate the Constitution do not hide behind the Charter.
10. We pray for the comfort of the souls of the martyrs of the Lebanese resistance, and for the consolation of their families, asking God to grant us the grace to imitate Jesus Christ, “the grain of wheat,” so that we make our lives a journey of sacrifice for spiritual, social, and national fruits, thus glorifying the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now and forever, Amen.

Bishop Aoudi’s Sermon text during the Divine Mass that he presided over in the Cathedral Church of St. George: What prevents the election of a president if it were not for interests that go beyond the constitution?
NNA/LCCC/September 10, 2023/ Google translation)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/122118/%d9%86%d8%b5-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b8%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d9%8a-%d8%a3%d9%84%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%87%d8%a7-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%88%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b7%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%af/
The Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut and its dependencies, Bishop Elias Aoudi, presided over the Divine Liturgy service in St. George’s Cathedral, in the presence of a crowd of believers.
After reading the Holy Gospel, Aoudi delivered a sermon in which he said: “In the Gospel of this Sunday, which precedes the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-giving Cross, we heard the words of the Lord Jesus: (God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.) For God did not send his only Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.) The Lord tells us about his crucifixion, which occurred in order to save the world. One of the symbols of the Old Testament is the bronze serpent that Moses raised in the wilderness in ancient times, and it was a symbol of the cross on which Christ was raised, burned. His blood is for our salvation. The cross has become a source of healing from the disease of sin, deliverance from death, and resurrection. The cross, which was a tool for murder, crime, and execution, has become a tool for human salvation and resurrection from a death inevitable by the evil opportunist. The serpent at the beginning of creation was the reason for the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, and in the Exodus, the people were bitten by serpents, and many died because of their sins and their worthless words against God and His Prophet Moses (Numbers 21). These two incidents show that the result of sin is death, either physical or spiritual, as happened with Adam and Eve due to their distance from the Lord. The brass serpent is a dead serpent, not poison. It symbolizes the divine incarnation through which Christ took on our sinful body and removed sin from it to save the human race from the power of Satan. The Apostle Paul says: “For he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
He added: “And when Moses lifted up the bronze serpent, that was a representation of Christ’s bodily ascension on the cross. He took away our sins with him, saved us from death, and qualified us for resurrection and eternal life. For this reason, we stress, in baptism in particular, that the baptized wear a cross with Christ crucified on it, not Our lack of belief that Christ rose after he was crucified, but rather an emphasis on the fact that the baptized person came out of the baptismal font to the resurrection of life established for him by the crucified Christ, who saved him from the death of sin in which his old person was immersed. For this reason, we also sing in baptism the catavasas of the Feast of the Ascension. The cross, because with the cross joy came to all the world, and there is no greater joy than a person obtaining salvation, resurrection, and new life in Christ Jesus. The salvation of the people in ancient times was by looking at the bronze serpent, but for us, our salvation is through faith in the Lord Jesus, who was raised on the cross for our salvation. The Apostle Peter says: (He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we, dying to sins, might live for righteousness) (1 Peter 2:24). Therefore, there is no salvation for us apart from the Lord who gives life to our souls. What saves man after Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection is not the law. The literal meaning is the law, but rather faith in the Lord and implementation of His commandments, the most important of which is the commandment of love, which is represented by the cross.”
Aoudi continued: “Everyone who wants salvation must love, just as (God so loved the world that he gave his only Son). True love is not words said or slogans uttered, but rather a painful application of Christ’s commandment, which involves sacrifice and giving, and includes tears and blood, which is what he wanted.” May the Lord teach it to us through his crucifixion and death. This is what we learned in the Old Testament from Abraham, the father of the fathers, who did not refuse to offer his only son as a sacrifice, because he was a true believer. Here we realize the greatness of divine love, as God replaced Isaac with a lamb, and then God himself presented his only son as a lamb. innocent of blemish, sacrificed on the cross. Here we learn more that the act of love is equal to the act of sacrifice, which is why the Lord Jesus brought them together in his words, and then the Apostle Paul reminded us of this act of redemption, saying: (Who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all) (Romans 8 : 32). Therefore, (God did not send his only Son into the world to condemn the world, but rather to save the world through him.) This is the difference between Christ and the law. The Jews were adhering to the literalism of the law, so they did not live the word, but rather were judges, while Christ came and lived on earth. Teaching us that we must live the commandments and not use them to condemn anyone. Through his cross, Christ saved everyone, Jews and Gentiles, who must maintain their salvation through their faith and living the cross of love with everyone. This is what the Prophet Isaiah said before: “The Lord has revealed his holy arm in the eyes of all nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God” (52:10).”
He stressed that “the family is one of the most important forms of love on this earth, and at the same time one of the heaviest crosses. Members of one family give themselves, one for the other. Two days ago we celebrated the birth of the Mother of God and her parents Joachim and Anna, and today we celebrate three holy martyred sisters.” And next week, there will be a martyr mother, Saint Sophia, and her three daughters. What unites the family is the bond of sacrificial love that does not seek anything for itself and does not hide any goal. The Apostle Paul says: (Love does not envy, love does not boast, is not puffed up, is not vulgar, does not seek its own, nor It rejoices in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth” (Echo 13). Love must also be evident among members of society, among citizens who are subject to the same laws, perform the same duties, and owe loyalty to their country and not to the leaders of the country. Christ died for humans, and humans did not die in order to achieve his goals or desires. .
He said: “In Lebanon, the ruler, the leader, the great, and the arrogant are all living on the remains of the homeland and the citizen. There is no longer a defect in this country, and a defect no longer has a meaning and morals have no value. Our country is governed by selfishness, interests, and low calculations. Everything is permissible, even the destruction of the state and the destruction of the judiciary. The great powers in The world is great by the power of the law in it and by its authority over everyone. No great person in it is above the law, and its great ones are brought before the judiciary even if they are presidents. The great man is great by his morals, not by his arrogance over the law and his contempt for justice. In our country, they are proud of transgressing the laws, circumventing the constitution, and escaping justice. They are proud to be followed and revered. And the sins of their followers are forgiven. Do they not realize that God alone condemns and forgives? And that the truth liberates while sin holds captive and immorality in Lebanon corrupts? The truth for us is a prisoner of injustice, lies, self-worship, and interests. What prevents the election of a president if it were not for interests that go beyond the constitution? What prevents achieving justice in a bombing case? Beirut Port, had it not been for transgressing the law, obstructing the work of the judiciary, lacking conscience, and underestimating human value? What would prevent the exposure of criminals and corrupt people, had it not been for overlooking the right that is dominant in advanced countries and absent among us in order to cover interests and implement goals? But how long can the situation continue like this?
Aoudi concluded: “Our call today is to carry the cross with joy, because the cross is a divine confirmation for us that the resurrection is inevitably coming, provided that we believe in the one who was crucified, died, and rose to save us, Amen.”

Five Lebanese army personnel injured at the Taamir checkpoint due to clashes in Ain al-Hilweh
LBCI/September 10, 2023
Five Lebanese army personnel were injured at the Taamir checkpoint due to shrapnel from artillery shells resulting from clashes in Ain al-Hilweh.

Ain al-Hilweh's new camps: A controversial shelter solution
LBCI/September 10, 2023
Some may argue that setting up tents is a spontaneous act of innocence, providing shelter for those escaping the perils of the Ain al-Hilweh camp. However, there is no doubt that the repercussions of this move are laden with danger. Perhaps the most precarious aspect is the choice of location— at the northern entrance of Sidon, next to the municipal stadium. This decision was made in more detail after a meeting between the Sidon Municipality, UNRWA, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Without delay, the tents and equipment were brought in, and 35 tents were erected on the municipal land, accommodating approximately 80 tents in total. This decision has sparked anger among the city's residents, its activists, as well as Palestinian factions in the Ain al-Hilweh camp.
To add to the turmoil, General Abbas Ibrahim commented on the camp's establishment: "The same scene, but with a 75-year difference. The only thing that changed was the tools: the first was Israeli, and the second was Palestinian. This time, the victim is the oppressor, and the oppressor is the victim. The refuge tents for the displaced from Ain al-Hilweh are the first step towards erasing the right of return." In less than an hour, following a series of communications between those involved, political parties, and Palestinian factions, the Prime Minister took action and requested the Interior Minister to remove these tents. It was agreed that efforts would continue to coordinate with UNRWA to provide shelter for those fleeing in schools and safe centers. The tents were removed, along with suspicious attempts to incite new strife that one may know where it starts but not where it ends.

"Death toll rises in Ain el-Helweh as Mikati rebukes Abbas
Agence France Presse/September 10, 2023
Three fighters and a civilian have been killed in clashes over the past hours in the Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon, official media reported, as caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati rebuked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the spiralling violence. This latest round of fighting broke out late Thursday, just weeks after deadly violence in the camp pitted members of Abbas' Fatah movement against Islamist militants. Clashes inside the camp on Saturday killed "two people from Fatah" and an Islamist, while "a civilian was killed by a stray bullet" outside the camp, Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said, reporting dozens of others wounded. "What is taking place does not serve the Palestinian cause at all and is a serious offense to the Lebanese state" and the city of Sidon, Mikati told Abbas in a phone call, his office said in a statement.
Mikati emphasized "the priority of ending military operations and cooperating with Lebanese security forces to address tensions," according to the statement on X, formerly Twitter. Ain el-Helweh is home to more than 54,000 registered refugees and thousands of Palestinians who joined them in recent years from Syria, fleeing war in the neighboring country. The camp, Lebanon's largest, was created for Palestinians who were driven out or fled during the 1948 war at the time of Israel's creation.
'Going through hell'
The Lebanese Army, which by long-standing convention does not enter the camps and leaves Palestinian factions to handle security there, called on "all relevant parties in the camp to stop the fighting." It said it was taking the "necessary measures and making the required contacts to stop the clashes, which endanger the lives of innocent" people. Dozens of families fled as the fighting intensified, carrying bags packed with basic necessities such as bread, water and medicine, the AFP correspondent said. Camp resident Mohammed Badran, 32, said he would "sleep on the streets" with his wife and two terrified children rather than return before the fighting ended. "We were going through hell," he said from a Sidon mosque where his and other families have taken refuge. An AFP correspondent saw aid workers setting up tents outside the municipal stadium in Sidon to shelter camp dwellers displaced by the fighting.
"The municipality is coordinating with the Red Cross to set up 16 tents as a first step," Mustafa Hijazi, an official in charge of disaster management at Sidon municipality, told AFP. "We expect to erect more (tents), to accommodate about 250 people," he added.
The tents were later removed by Lebanese authorities after the scene infuriated Sidon's dignitaries. An UNRWA school in the city meanwhile opened its doors to receive the displaced. A public hospital directly adjacent to the camp transferred all its patients to other facilities because of the danger, its director Ahmad al-Samadi told AFP. Five days of clashes that began in late July left 13 people dead and dozens wounded, in the worst outbreak of violence in the camp in years. That fighting erupted after the death of an Islamist militant, followed by an ambush that killed five Fatah members including a military leader. The United Nations' resident coordinator in Lebanon, Imran Riza, on Friday urged "armed groups to stop the fighting in the camp" and to "immediately" vacate schools belonging to the UNRWA. "The use by armed groups of schools amounts to gross violations" of international law, Riza said in a statement. Lebanon hosts an estimated 250,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the U.N. agency. Most live in Lebanon's 12 official camps, and face a variety of legal restrictions including on employment.

New taxes and fees: Lebanon's 2024 budget shifts to dollar payments
LBCI/September 10, 2023
For the first time in its history, Lebanon's 2024 budget, currently under discussion in the cabinet, is abandoning the local currency and moving towards collecting various fees and taxes in dollars. This shift has raised concerns among citizens as it may lead to additional price hikes for various goods if the dollar exchange rate rises against the Lebanese lira.
The main changes in the budget include:
- Customs fees will now be collected in US dollars, compared to the previous use of the exchange rate. This could result in higher prices for many consumer goods if the dollar appreciates against the lira.
- All port and airport fees in the 2024 budget will be denominated in dollars, including departure fees for travelers by sea and air.
-The fees collected by the Electricité du Liban (EDL) become in dollars after being at the exchange rate plus 20 percent, including invoices.
- Residence fees for work permit holders of all categories will also be converted to dollars.
-The petroleum sector, which has long been a dream, will now be subject to fees payable in dollars, including the state's share of this sector.
In addition to these dollar-based changes, the 2024 budget introduces several new taxes and updates to existing ones, including:
- Increasing the value-added tax (VAT) from 11 to 12 percent.
- Introducing a fee for expedited services means having citizens pay extra for faster government transactions.
- Imposing fees for solid waste collection services, additional fees on transactions with the Education Ministry, and increases in real estate transaction fees, among others.
The Finance Ministry aims to use these measures to repair the state's treasury and its financing capacity, particularly for paying public sector salaries, following the BDL's decision to suspend its funding. However, the government is using the easy way out. Critics argue that these measures place a heavier burden on citizens instead of implementing essential reforms that secure revenue, such as combatting tax evasion and smuggling or eliminating fictitious public sector jobs. How can Lebanon's economy recover under these circumstances?

Morocco and Lebanon: Solidarity and mutual aid amidst crisis
LBCI/September 10, 2023
In the wake of the devastating Beirut Port explosion on August 4, 2020, Morocco emerged as a leading global contributor in providing aid to Lebanon. A significant moment in this humanitarian response was the arrival of a large Moroccan aircraft at Beirut's Airport, carrying substantial quantities of medical supplies for first aid, food items, tents, blankets for shelter, and essential medical equipment, including items for COVID-19 prevention. Morocco also set up a field hospital in Beirut to provide medical treatment to the injured at that critical juncture. The hospital staff comprised 100 individuals, including specialized nurses and 14 doctors from various medical fields. The facility had surgical units, recovery units, radiology examination rooms, sterilization facilities, a laboratory, and a pharmacy. Fast forward to the present day, Morocco grapples with tragedy following a devastating earthquake. Despite its dire situation marked by economic collapse and state bankruptcy, Lebanon has decided to reciprocate the aid it received. Upon communicating with Moroccan authorities, it was revealed that Lebanon's immediate needs included tents for sheltering those displaced and significant quantities of blood donations. Due to limited resources, Lebanon would be unable to secure the necessary tents. In response, the Lebanese government instructed its embassy in Rabat to launch a blood donation campaign among its expatriate community. It sought the assistance of the Red Cross to establish an appropriate and expedited mechanism for procuring donated blood units in Lebanon and transporting them to Morocco.

Demographic challenge: Can Lebanon handle the influx of Syrian refugees amid economic crisis?
LBCI/September 10, 2023
In a scene becoming all too familiar, Syrians line up at bakeries searching for subsidized bread, often paying exorbitant prices for extra loaves if available. Securing more than the allotted gas cylinder is almost impossible due to scarcity or because its price can equal a month's salary for an employee, ranging from $25 to $50. The economic turmoil, the collapse of the Syrian currency, the repercussions of the Caesar Act, eight years of compulsory military service, and a lack of employment opportunities are compelling Syrians to contemplate leaving their country. For many, Lebanon seems to be the most accessible destination despite border control measures. While the military returns some, thousands of Syrians enter Lebanon each month, often facilitated by networks of Syrian-Lebanese smugglers who charge hefty fees. However, can a country like Lebanon, already grappling with economic collapse, bear the demographic consequences of this influx? According to a study by researcher Mohammad Chamseddine, if this pace of migration, coupled with Syrian births, continues, by 2076, the number of Syrians in Lebanon could parallel the number of Lebanese. The government aims to address this issue in an upcoming cabinet meeting attended by the army commander and heads of security agencies. The session will involve critical discussions and decisions, as the matter is a security and political concern. Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar is hesitant about participating in the session, as he has boycotted government meetings in the absence of a president. He believes the government's measures are inadequate to confront the impending danger. He affirmed to LBCI that he awaits communication and more effective solutions.
Nonetheless, the government must take swift action.
The Displaced Minister, Issam Sharafeddine, acknowledged that there have been no severe government initiatives to return Syrian refugees. While he recognizes the importance of security leaders attending the session, he emphasizes that the ultimate solution lies in dialogue with Syria. Some observers believe Syria seeks an official visit from Prime Minister Najib Mikati to Damascus, a step Mikati is unlikely to take due to Western restraints. On Monday, the refugee file will undergo comprehensive scrutiny from all angles, according to governmental sources. They expect to formulate executable decisions, recognizing that the recent surge of Syrian refugees poses a catastrophic threat to Lebanon's already delicate societal balance.

Naim Qassem urges Lebanese leaders not to externalize the presidential issue but to take responsibility for finding a solution
LBCI/September 10, 2023
Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem, expressed regret over the ongoing clashes in Ain al-Hilweh camp, stating that it involves fighting between brothers, puts pressure on the people, and impacts the surrounding area. He emphasized that this vengeful and senseless act is unacceptable under any pretext. Additionally, Qassem discussed the two possible paths for the Lebanese presidency. The first is through dialogue and understanding, leading to parliamentary sessions to elect the president. The second path involves a prolonged discussion on the presidential criteria, which he deemed less favorable. Qassem argued that the main criteria for the presidency are openness to all factions, a clear political vision for Lebanon's independence and resistance against Israel, and a preparedness to implement an economic rescue plan in collaboration with all stakeholders. In conclusion, he urged Lebanese leaders not to externalize the presidential issue but to take responsibility for finding a solution, as the people will hold them accountable for their actions in this critical matter.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 10-11/2023
Mossad chief accuses Iran of plotting deadly attacks, vows to hit perpetrators ‘in heart’ of Tehran
AP/September 11, 2023
JERUSALEM: The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency on Sunday said that Israel is prepared to strike “in the heart of Tehran” to track down the perpetrators of what he said were over two dozen Iranian attempts to hit Israeli and Jewish targets around the world. Speaking at a security conference, David Barnea said that Israel and its allies had foiled 27 attacks over the past year in Europe, Africa, southeast Asia and South America. “The plots being pursued by these teams were orchestrated, masterminded and directed by Iran,” Barnea told the conference at Reichman University. He added that “as we speak” Iran is trying to carry out additional attacks. “Our message is loud and clear and determined,” he said. “Make no mistake, those of you who decided to dispatch the teams. Be assured that we will get to you, and justice will be done for all to see. This has been proven in the past, and in the future, we will ramp it up to the next level.” Barnea said Israel would go after the agents involved in the plots as well as the commanders who sent them. “These prices will be exacted deep inside Iran, in the heart of Tehran,” he said. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy, citing Iran’s calls for Israel’s destruction and its support for hostile militant groups on Israel’s borders. Israel also accuses Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapon — a charge Iran denies. Iran has accused Israel of carrying out a number of deadly attacks on nuclear scientists and facilities inside Iran, though Israel rarely comments on such operations.

UK foreign minister to warn of Iran threat on visit to Israel
LONDON (Reuters)/September 10, 2023
British foreign minister James Cleverly will travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories this week, where he will press for renewed dialogue on a two-state solution and commit to tackling threats to regional security, including from Iran. On the visit that begins on Monday, Cleverly will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh. In a speech at an international security conference on Tuesday, Cleverly will discuss the security challenges facing Israel and the Palestinian territories, as well as the importance of a two-state solution. He will accuse Iran of "enabling terrorism" through its support of the militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to a statement. "The UK and Israel work closely together to keep our people safe," Cleverly said ahead of his trip. He pledged "to renew our close security partnership, in the face of unacceptable threats from the Iranian regime". He will hold talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and attend a demonstration of Israel's "Iron Dome" missile defence system. During a visit to the Palestinian territories, Cleverly will visit the Jalazone refugee camp in the West Bank to see Palestinian refugees. Violence in the West Bank has worsened over the past year with frequent Israeli raids and Palestinian street attacks. Prospects of reviving U.S.-brokered peace talks that aimed to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem remain low almost a decade after their collapse. The Palestinians have limited self-rule in the West Bank and remain split between a Western-backed administration and armed Hamas Islamists who reject coexistence with Israel. Many in Israel's current government reject Palestinian statehood.

Morocco mourns quake victims as death toll passes 2,000
Agence France Presse/September 10, 2023
Moroccans on Sunday mourned the victims of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people, as rescue teams raced to find survivors trapped in the rubble of flattened villages. The strongest-ever quake to hit the country has killed at least 2,012 people and injured over 2,059, many of them critically, according to the latest official figures. Friday's 6.8-magnitude quake struck 72 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, wiping out entire villages in rural areas. "I've lost everything", said Lahcen, a resident of the mountain village of Moulay Brahim, whose wife and four children were killed. Rescue workers recovered the bodies of Lahcen's three daughters from the rubble of what was once their home, but have not yet found the bodies of his wife and son. "I can't do anything about it now, I just want to get away from the world and mourn." Troops and emergency services have scrambled to reach remote mountain villages where victims are still feared trapped. Al-Haouz province, where the epicentre of the earthquake was located, suffered the most deaths with 1,293, followed by the province of Taroudant with 452.
First funerals
Bouchra, another resident of Moulay Brahim, dried her tears with her scarf as she watched men digging graves to bury the victims."My cousin's grandchildren are dead", she said in a knotted voice. "I saw the devastation of the earthquake live, and I'm still shaking. It's like a ball of fire that has swallowed up everything in its path," she said. "Everyone here has lost family, whether in our village or elsewhere in the region", she added. Fatema Satir, a resident in Marrakesh, told AFP many were sleeping in the street for fear of their houses collapsing. "Look where all these people are sleeping. There is no help for us, our houses have been cracked, others destroyed like my daughter's house, which was wiped out. We are in a chaotic state."Authorities declared three days of national mourning, while several countries, including Israel, France, Spain, Italy and the United States, have offered aid. Neighboring Algeria, which has had rocky relations with Morocco, opened its airspace, which had been closed for two years, to flights carrying humanitarian aid and the injured.
'Years of aid'-
The Red Cross warned that it could take years to repair the damage.
"It won't be a matter of a week or two... We are counting on a response that will take months, if not years," Hossam Elsharkawi, the organisation's Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement. The village of Tafeghaghte, 60 kilometres southwest of Marrakesh, was almost entirely destroyed by the quake, the epicentre of which was only about 50 kilometres away, an AFP team reported, with very few buildings still standing. "Three of my grandchildren and their mother are dead," said 72-year-old Omar Benhanna. "They're still under the debris. It wasn't so long ago that we were playing together." Residents buried around 70 victims in the nearby cemetery on Saturday, as the funeral rites were punctuated by cries and screams. In the evening, television channels broadcast aerial images showing entire villages of clay houses in the Al-Haouz region completely destroyed. "The public authorities are still mobilized to speed up rescue operations and evacuate the injured," the interior ministry said Saturday evening. The tremor was also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir and Essaouira, where many panicked residents took to the streets in the middle of the night, fearing that their homes would collapse. This earthquake is the deadliest in Morocco since the 1960 quake that destroyed Agadir, in which more than 12,000 people, about a third of the city's population at the time, died.

Erdogan, Sisi meet in person at G20 a decade after fallout
Agence France Presse/September 10, 2023
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held face-to-face talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi on Sunday, following a decade-long rift between the two countries. Images broadcast live by Turkish television channels showed the two leaders held talks, accompanied by several members of their delegations.

Egypt, Turkiye leaders highlight importance of reviving economic cooperation
Menekse Tokyay/Arab News?September 10/2023
ANKARA: The leaders of Turkiye and Egypt on Sunday met formally for the first time in more than a decade, on the sidelines of the G20 summit. The meeting in the Indian capital New Delhi between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi marked an historic milestone in a recent thawing of relations. In July, the two countries appointed respective ambassadors to Cairo and Ankara, effectively ending years of tensions that had strained diplomatic ties. During Sunday’s talks, Erdogan and El-Sisi highlighted the importance of rejuvenating economic cooperation, including on energy, while promoting cultural exchanges. Erdogan pointed out Turkiye’s keen interest in rekindling links in vital sectors such as liquefied natural gas and nuclear energy. The reconciliation process has been a gradual one, with both countries taking measured steps to pave the way for diplomatic re-engagement. Over recent years, Turkiye has shown its commitment to improving relations in several ways, including by ceasing the broadcast of Egyptian opposition TV channels, and detaining Egyptian dissidents using social media to support anti-government protests in Egypt. Also, the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Egyptian satellite TV channel, Mekameleen TV, last year relocated its operations from Turkiye.
Dalia Ziada, director of the Cairo-based MEEM Center for Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean Studies and a member of Diplomeds — The Council for Mediterranean Diplomacy, told Arab News that the Egyptians were pre-concerned by cooperation on regional problems. “That was clearly expressed in the official statement by the Egyptian presidency which emphasized the importance of enhancing regional cooperation as a solid strategic approach to maintaining security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean,” she said. However, she noted that the two delegations had yet to agree on holding a presidential summit in one of their capital cities. “That is crucial to engage the public citizens in the reconciliation process in order to ensure its sustainability in the long term,” Ziada added. Dr. Pinar Akpinar, assistant professor with the Gulf Studies Program at Qatar University’s College of Arts and Sciences, told Arab News that the Turkish-Egyptian rapprochement could lead to sustainable results in the short term by focusing on economic collaboration, regional cooperation, energy partnerships, security ties, and civil society engagement.
“Engaging the public and shifting away from red lines such as political ideologies toward shared interests are also critical components for success,” she said.
Akpinar pointed out that energy projects could be a focal point for collaboration between the two countries, particularly in renewable energy initiatives such as solar and wind farms. “There is potential for private-sector investments in energy infrastructure and the creation of a geo-economic triangle involving Egypt, Israel, and Turkiye to attract European investments in the energy sector,” she added. Akpinar said the rapprochement had the potential to bolster regional dynamics by enhancing energy security, stabilizing markets, and promoting economic interdependence. “Collaborative efforts in renewable energy projects and infrastructure development can provide both countries with diversified energy sources and greater resilience against supply disruptions, positively impacting neighboring nations as well. “Furthermore, their joint involvement in regional energy initiatives can position Egypt and Turkiye as influential actors in regional negotiations and conflicts, contributing to diplomatic stability and conflict mitigation while addressing shared energy needs in the region. “They could also leverage their relations with Gulf countries in this regard,” she added. Also a member of Diplomeds, Akpinar recently co-authored a policy paper with Ziada titled, “Fostering Egypt Turkiye Rapprochement through Sustainable Cooperation: A Strategic Policy Approach.”
In it they noted that improved Egyptian Turkish relations could enable the countries, “to build on their successful economic cooperation, revive military collaboration, and focus on future projects that support bilateral and regional well-being.” Ziada said cooperation in the trade of LNG that had been going on since December 2021, could be magnified by including other regional players such as Israel. “Especially in light of the ongoing successful cooperation between Egypt and Israel, since 2015, on extracting and liquifying the gas in their respective basins in the southern Mediterranean, this can deepen their cooperation,” she added. Israeli-based news television channel i24NEWS recently reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed an inter-ministerial team to examine alternatives to Israel’s current gas exports, including a way to direct it to Turkiye and consequently to southern European nations to cut reliance on the Russian pipeline.
The proposed pipeline, “aims to link the key Turkish-European pipeline with the abundant gas reserves in Israel and neighboring areas such as Egypt and the UAE”, i24NEWS reported. Ziada said Egypt could adopt a mechanism that allowed it to cooperate with Turkiye on the gas issue, without necessarily cutting ties with Greece and Cyprus or harming its previous agreements with them. “It is not an either/or equation. Egypt can do both,” she added. Ziada warned about the need for stabilizing Libya to ensure stability in the Eastern Mediterranean. Libya, she said, was “a bleeding wound in this economically critical region. Egypt and Turkiye can perfectly cooperate to ensure political stability in Libya due to their strong connections with and influence on the conflicting parties inside the country.” The rapprochement process has also been supported by recent civil initiatives such as Diplomeds, a non-profit policy group. Prominent experts from the Mediterranean region have been working since 2022 to advance Egypt Turkiye rapprochement and improve ties between Mediterranean countries by advancing peace and promoting regional cooperation. In a joint statement, Dr. Nimrod Goren, co-founder of Diplomeds and senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, and Camille Limon, Diplomeds coordinator, told Arab News: “We are working on this issue out of a conviction that progress in ties is feasible and beneficial for the two countries and their peoples, but also for their neighborhood at large. “Last year, as prospects for Egypt-Turkiye rapprochement emerged, Diplomeds assembled a multi-national policy support group, consisting of several Egyptian, Turkish, and other Mediterranean retired ambassadors, scholars, and policy analysts.
“The group worked collaboratively to assess changes in ties and rapprochement efforts, to draw recommendations for improving bilateral relations, and to identify new regional opportunities that may emerge once Egypt and Turkiye are back on good terms.”Hesham Youssef, senior fellow at the US Institute of Peace, Diplomeds’ co-founder and part of its policy support group on the topic, noted that Egyptian-Turkish relations were important for stability in the region. He said: “Stability in the region can be advanced if cooperation between Egypt, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Iran can be achieved, and this stability can be dramatically enhanced to achieve prosperity with the end of the Israeli Palestinian conflict and strong partnership with other countries in the East Mediterranean and the Middle East.”

Excluding Russia from grain deal talks will not be sustainable, Erdogan says
NEW DELHI (Reuters)/Krishn Kaushik and Aftab Ahmed/September 10, 2023
Any initiative to revive the Black Sea grain deal that isolates Russia is not likely to be sustainable, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in a press briefing after the conclusion of the G20 summit in New Delhi on Sunday. Russia quit the deal in July, a year after it was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, complaining that its own food and fertiliser exports faced obstacles and insufficient Ukrainian grain was going to countries in need. Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are going to continue to discuss the grain deal, Erdogan added. Russia is willing to send free grain to poorer countries, which Turkey favours, he told reporters, adding that Qatar had also agreed. Erdogan said he was not "hopeless" about reviving the grain deal. The Turkish president also held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the sidelines of the G20 summit regarding efforts to revive the deal, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, without giving further details.

Kyiv fends off new wave of overnight drone attacks
Agence France Presse/September 10, 2023
Ukraine said it shot down most of the three dozen drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack mainly directed around the capital. The latest attack comes as Ukraine's forces are urging more Western support for their gruelling counteroffensive to gain back land in the east and south. "We recorded the launch of 33 Shahed (drones) in the direction of Kyiv... 26 were destroyed," the Ukrainian Air Force said on Sunday. Earlier, officials said air defence downed 25 out of 32 drones. An AFP journalist in the capital heard multiple explosions -- presumably from air defence -- starting around 1:30 am (2230 GMT). "Drones entered the capital in groups and from different directions," Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, wrote on Telegram. Debris fell in several districts, damaging an apartment in a multi-storey building, as well as road surfaces and power lines, he added, saying one person was injured. Ukrainian emergency services published photos of rescuers putting out fires in several districts. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a resident suffered from an "acute stress attack" and was receiving medical assistance after debris fell in the central Podil district.
'More weapons' -
Kyiv had seen drone and missile attacks on an almost nightly basis last winter and spring, as Russia pounded cities across Ukraine in a bid to wipe out Ukraine's energy infrastructure and destroy morale. The strikes had since become less frequent, but last month the capital faced the "most powerful strike" since spring, with more than 20 drones and missiles destroyed. And as summer is coming to a close, Klitschko on Tuesday told journalists that the city was already preparing for a "tough" winter. In a conference in the capital on Friday and Saturday, officials said the West should not lose any time and provide Kyiv with powerful arms to back up its army pushing Russian troops out of the territories it seized. Newly appointed Defense Minister Rustem Umerov called for more military equipment. "We are grateful for all the support provided... We need more heavy weapons," Umerov said. He added: "We need them today. We need them now." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the provision of weapons was slowing down, hampering the counteroffensive against Russian positions.
'Fake' vote
Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar acknowledged that "the enemy is strong, they have more people and weaponry."Ukraine is leading a difficult counterassault since June, a far cry from the lightning successes of last fall. But this time, Ukrainian forces are contending with well-entrenched Russian defences built over several months of occupation. Deputy Intelligence Chief Vadym Skibitsky estimated Saturday that Russia has more than 420,000 soldiers in the east and south of Ukraine, including Crimea. The number, he said, does not include special law enforcement units "that maintain occupation authorities on our territories." Russia last year claimed to have annexed four regions -- Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson -- despite never full controlling them. Residents of those areas were expected to cast a ballot for local administrations in votes ending Sunday, which have been widely denounced as a sham. Kyiv called on allies to condemn the "fake" vote. Its SBU security service warned it has a list of "collaborators" helping organise the voting, promising punishment. But Kremlin-installed officials pressed on with the vote, seeking long-term office in areas Kyiv has vowed to re-capture.

G20 Summit in India: Mixed outcomes and diplomatic maneuvers
LBCI/September 10, 2023
In a summary of the G20 summit held in India, the Financial Times mentioned that the final statement delivered a blow to Western countries due to the lack of global consensus on supporting Ukraine. Diplomats revealed that China's rejection of the previous wording in Bali, which had used the term "Russian aggression" against Ukraine, played a decisive role in pushing the host country, India, to propose compromise language, ultimately condemning the "use of force" in Ukraine without explicitly mentioning the Russian attack. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the G20 summit as successful, while Kyiv criticized the statement, stating that there was nothing for the G20 to be proud of. President Joe Biden's hope to secure agreement from participating nations to allow Ukrainian President Zelensky to address the summit via video link was also unsuccessful. Regarding climate issues, the final statement lacked any call for a gradual phase-out of fossil fuels, contrary to the hopes of many observers. This prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to comment that the summit's stance on this matter was insufficient and called for more ambitious goals in transitioning away from oil. On the other hand, India appeared to have succeeded in showcasing its growing diplomatic influence and facilitation of dialogue. The summit served as a platform to sign a major sea and rail transport project to connect India to Europe via the Middle East. Additionally, G20 leaders agreed to the African Union's accession to their bloc. On the sidelines of the summit in New Delhi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a face-to-face meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, marking the end of a period of estrangement between the two nations. The absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin cast a shadow over the summit, leading some to speculate that their repeated absence could signal their countries' intent to disengage from the G20 in favor of expanding the competitive BRICS bloc.

Saudi and Indian envoys stress significance of crown prince’s visit to India, participation at G20
Arab News/September 10, 2023
RIYADH: India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Sohail Ejaz Khan has emphasized the significance of the visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to India and his participation in the G20 leaders’ summit, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday. Khan said that the visit holds utmost importance both for the G20 summit, which was held in New Delhi on Saturday, and for bilateral relations. He highlighted the various meetings in which the Kingdom participated throughout India’s presidency of the summit. The meetings covered a wide range of topics, including energy, finance and G20-related activities. India’s commitment to global cooperation was evident as it hosted more than 220 meetings across 60 cities, welcoming 18,000 delegates from more than 115 different nationalities. Khan said that India’s presidency of the G20 played a pivotal role in seeking inclusive solutions to address the world’s most pressing challenges and to promote comprehensive development. India took on the presidency of the G20 for 2023, drawing the participation of 19 members, including the EU, along with nine guest countries and three regional organizations. India is set to host more than 40 world leaders during this period.
Meanwhile, Saudi Ambassador to India Saleh Eid Al-Hussaini emphasized the pivotal role played by the Kingdom within the G20, serving as a key component of international efforts to foster global economic growth and prosperity.
Al-Hussaini also underscored the significance of the visit by the crown prince to the Indian capital. He pointed to the deep and historic relationship between the Kingdom and India, which had evolved significantly since 2019, highlighted by the establishment of the strategic partnership council, co-chaired by the crown prince and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Al-Hussaini spoke of the economic prominence of both countries in their respective regions and globally, citing the complementarity of their economies and their shared commitment to implementing significant visions.
These factors provided extensive opportunities for trade, investment and technology transfer, and played a crucial role in global economic security, energy and food security, he said. The ambassador said that the Kingdom was India’s fourth-largest trading partner, while India ranks as the Kingdom’s second-largest trading partner, and the volume of trade exchange between the two countries has surged by 50 percent, reaching $53 billion, compared to $35 billion in 2021. He highlighted the mutual dependence of the Kingdom and India in various supply chains for strategic goods and services. The Kingdom served as a reliable source of India’s imports of oil, petrochemicals and fertilizers and played a pivotal global role in energy security and price stability. In return, India contributed to food security and was a significant source of foreign transfers. Additionally, the Indian workforce in the Kingdom enhanced labor market dynamics and fostered stronger relations between the two nations. Al-Hussaini said that the Kingdom’s influence extended beyond the regional level to the global stage, as it ranks among the world’s major economies and is the sole Middle East member of the G20, which is a vital international platform for addressing global economic challenges. The timing of the G20 summit in India this year is particularly significant, given India’s economic growth in 2022, making it one of the world’s largest countries by population and the fifth-largest economy globally. Al-Hussaini also said that the volume of trade between the Kingdom and G20 countries in 2022 reached $421 billion. The G20 nations collectively represent 85 percent of the global domestic product, house 60 percent of the world’s population, and account for 75 percent of global trade volume. This underscored the importance, effectiveness and influence of G20 member states in promoting economic growth and stability, and their capacity to address global economic challenges, he said.

UN envoy urges donor support for Syria
AP/September 11, 2023
DAMASCUS: The UN special envoy for Syria has urged donors not to reduce their funding as the war-torn country’s economic crisis spirals. Syrian President Bashar Assad’s decision last month to double public sector wages and pensions further skyrocketed inflation and fueled ongoing protests that shook the southern Druze-majority province of Sweida and nearby Daraa. Initially sparked by deepening economic misery, angry residents in greater numbers began to call for the fall of Assad, similar to that of the country’s 2011 uprising that turned into an all-out civil war. The UN estimates that 90 percent of Syrians in regime-held areas live in poverty and that over half the country’s population struggles to put food on the table. As the conflict reached a stalemate, Syrian regime reclaimed large swaths of lost territory. With international donor support dwindling, UN agencies have been cutting programs due to budget cuts for years. The UN estimates that some 300,000 civilians died during the first decade of the uprising, while half of the pre-war population of 23 million were displaced. “The situation inside of Syria has become even worse than it was economically during the height of the conflict,” UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said in Damascus following a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad. “We cannot accept that funding for Syria is going down while the humanitarian needs are increasing,” Pedersen said. For years, the UN has been trying to restart stalled talks to reach a political settlement in Syria — including Syrian government representatives rewriting a constitution with a delegation representing opposition groups. Now with the economic crisis and current revived relations Syria has established with Arab countries — that led to restoring its membership to the Arab League which was suspended in 2011 for the government’s brutal crackdown on protesters — has renewed talks on ways to overcome the political impasse.“For Syria without addressing the political consequences of this crisis, the deep economic crisis and humanitarian suffering will also continue,” Pedersen said. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran have tried to push Syria and Turkiye to rekindle ties, the latter backing opposition groups in northwestern Syria.
Pedersen said he will meet with Arab governments, as well as Turkiye, Russia, and Iran to follow up on their respective talks’ developments.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 10-11/2023
The 'Climate Emergency' Is a Hoax
Robert Williams/Gatestone Institute/September 10, 2023
More than 1,600 scientists, including two Nobel laureates, have signed a declaration saying that "There is no climate emergency." The declaration is unlikely to get any attention from the mainstream media, unfortunately, but it is important for people to know about: the mass climate hysteria and the destruction of the US economy in the name of climate change need to stop.
"Climate science should be less political, while climate policies should be more scientific," states the declaration signed by the 1,609 scientists, including Nobel laureates John F. Clauser from the US and Ivar Giaever from Norway/US.
"Climate policy relies on inadequate models
Climate models have many shortcomings and are not remotely plausible as policy tools. They... ignore the fact that enriching the atmosphere with CO2 is beneficial... There is no statistical evidence that global warming is intensifying hurricanes, floods, droughts and suchlike natural disasters, or making them more frequent." — 1,609 scientists, There is no Climate Emergency, clintel.org.
"I was taught that you tell the whole truth [as a scientist]...." Koonin said. He noted as well the immorality of asking the developing world to cut down emissions, when so many do not even have access to electricity and the immorality of scaring the younger generations.... — Steven E. Koonin, former Undersecretary for Science at the U.S. Department of Energy; current professor at New York University, fellow at the Hoover Institution, and author of Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters. — Hoover Institution, August 15, 2023.
Of course it would be helpful to research what can be done to relieve the problems brought about by man, such as the "hole in the ozone layer," which is now closing, but climate change is not an apocalyptic emergency and needs to be attended to without bringing devastation to the hundreds of millions of people already in extreme poverty.
The Biden administration, however, appears not to be concerned about the widespread poverty and massive starvation that will be caused by the unavailability of cheap and reliable energy in underdeveloped countries, or the inflation caused by the skyrocketing prices that are crushing Americans "barely able to afford one meal a day".
These are man-made problems, created by importing expensive (nearing $100 a barrel again) -- often dirtier -- oil from adversaries of the United States, such as Russia and Venezuela, instead of extracting it far less expensively at home.
The Biden administration also does not seem concerned that it is killing wildlife, sea life and the fishing industry by installing offshore wind turbines along the Atlantic seaboard, or that mandating electric vehicles will throw virtually the entire auto maintenance industry out of work (EVs do not need routine maintenance), or that lithium batteries not only explode but cost thousands of dollars to replace. The administration even wants military equipment, such as tanks, to be electric, as if there were charging stations in the middle of foreign deserts in the event of a conflict. Moreover, according to NBC News, volcanoes, unimpressed with executive orders, "Dwarf Humans for CO2 Emissions."
The Biden administration does not even bother to act on its own climate findings: In March, the White House released a report about the impact of climate change on the US economy. "Its findings undermine any claims of an ongoing climate crisis or imminent catastrophe" Koonin wrote in July. "The report's authors should be commended for honestly delivering likely unwelcome messages.... Exaggerating the magnitude, urgency and certainty of the climate threat encourages ill-considered policies that could be more disruptive and expensive than any change in the climate itself." — Steven E. Koonin, Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2023.
Never mind that much of climate change is apparently caused by sun flares, about which we can do nothing, and which, unlike commercial industries, do not offer grants; or that major wildfires are, ironically, exacerbated by "environmentalists" for refusing to let tinderbox brush be cleared lest the creatures there be disturbed other than by a wildfire.
Climate expert Bjørn Lomborg suggests that the trillions of dollars needed to address climate change might be put to better use:
"This isn't an argument to do nothing but just to be smarter. To ensure we can transition from fossil fuels, we need to ramp up research and development to innovate down the price of green energy. We should invest across all options including fusion, fission, storage, biofuel and other sources."
"Only when green energy is cheaper than fossil fuels will the world be able and willing to make the transition. Otherwise, today's energy prices are just a taste of things to come."
"Climate models have many shortcomings and are not remotely plausible as policy tools. They... ignore the fact that enriching the atmosphere with CO2 is beneficial... There is no statistical evidence that global warming is intensifying hurricanes, floods, droughts and suchlike natural disasters, or making them more frequent." — From the declaration, "There is no Climate Emergency," signed by 1,609 scientists. (Image source: iStock)
More than 1,600 scientists, including two Nobel laureates, have signed a declaration saying that "There is no climate emergency." The declaration is unlikely to get any attention from the mainstream media, unfortunately, but it is important for people to know about: the mass climate hysteria and the destruction of the US economy in the name of climate change need to stop.
"Climate science should be less political, while climate policies should be more scientific," states the declaration signed by the 1,609 scientists, including Nobel laureates John F. Clauser from the US and Ivar Giaever from Norway/US.
The statement adds:
"Scientists should openly address uncertainties and exaggerations in their predictions of global warming, while politicians should dispassionately count the real costs as well as the imagined benefits of their policy measures...
"The geological archive reveals that Earth's climate has varied as long as the planet has existed, with natural cold and warm phases. The Little Ice Age ended as recently as 1850. Therefore, it is no surprise that we now are experiencing a period of warming.
"Warming is far slower than predicted...
"The gap between the real world and the modeled world tells us that we are far from understanding climate change.
"Climate policy relies on inadequate models
Climate models have many shortcomings and are not remotely plausible as policy tools. They do not only exaggerate the effect of greenhouse gases, they also ignore the fact that enriching the atmosphere with CO2 is beneficial...
"Global warming has not increased natural disasters
There is no statistical evidence that global warming is intensifying hurricanes, floods, droughts and suchlike natural disasters, or making them more frequent. However, there is ample evidence that CO2 mitigation measures are as damag­ing as they are costly.
"Climate policy must respect scientific and economic realities
There is no climate emergency. Therefore, there is no cause for panic and alarm. We strongly oppose the harmful and unrealistic net-zero CO2 policy proposed for 2050. Go for adaptation instead of mitigation; adaptation works whatever the causes are."
Professor Steven Koonin, former Undersecretary for Science at the U.S. Department of Energy under the Obama administration, current professor at New York University, and fellow at the Hoover Institution, authored the 2021 bestseller, Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters. In it, he states that what the largely unreadable (for laymen) and complicated science reports say on climate change is completely distorted by the time their contents are filtered through a long line of summary reports of the research by the media and the politicians.
"There are abundant opportunities to get things wrong – both accidentally and on purpose – as the information goes through filter after filter to be packaged for various audiences... It's not only the public that is ill-informed about what the science says about climate..."
Koonin adds:
"Government and UN press releases and summaries do not accurately reflect the reports themselves... Distinguished climate experts (including report authors themselves) are embarrassed by some media portrayals of the science."
In a recent interview, Koonin noted that his colleagues' reactions to his book had been that he should not be telling the public or the politicians the truth about climate change.
"I was taught that you tell the whole truth [as a scientist]. And you let the politicians make the value judgments and the cost effectiveness trade-offs and so on," Koonin said. He noted as well the immorality of asking the developing world to cut down emissions when so many do not even have access to electricity, and the immorality of scaring the younger generations: 84% of American teenagers believing, as of January 2022, that if climate change is not addressed, "it will be too late for future generations, making some part of the planet unlivable."
Of course it would be helpful to research what can be done to relieve the problems brought about by man, such as the "hole in the ozone layer," which is now closing, but climate change is not an apocalyptic emergency and needs to be attended to without bringing devastation to the hundreds of millions of people already in extreme poverty.
The Biden administration, however, appears not to be concerned about the widespread poverty and massive starvation that will be caused by the unavailability of cheap and reliable energy in underdeveloped countries, or the inflation caused by the skyrocketing prices that are crushing Americans "barely able to afford one meal a day".
These are man-made problems, created by importing expensive (nearing $100 a barrel again) -- often dirtier -- oil from adversaries of the United States, such as Russia and Venezuela, instead of extracting it far less expensively at home. The Biden administration also does not seem concerned that so long as China and India keep burning coal – the Chinese Communist Party is permitting two new coal-power plants a week, easily cancelling out whatever benefits the US might be providing, and reportedly exceeding "all developed nations combined" in carbon emissions.
The Biden administration also does not seem concerned that it is killing wildlife, sea life and the fishing industry by installing offshore wind turbines along the Atlantic seaboard, or that mandating electric vehicles will throw virtually the entire auto maintenance industry out of work (EVs do not need routine maintenance), or that lithium batteries not only explode but cost thousands of dollars to replace. The administration even wants military equipment, such as tanks, to be electric, as if there were charging stations in the middle of foreign deserts in the event of a conflict. Moreover, according to NBC News, volcanoes, unimpressed with executive orders, "Dwarf Humans for CO2 Emissions."
The Biden administration does not even bother to act on its own climate findings: In March, the White House released a report about the impact of climate change on the US economy. "Its findings undermine any claims of an ongoing climate crisis or imminent catastrophe" Koonin wrote in July.
"The report's authors should be commended for honestly delivering likely unwelcome messages, even if they didn't make a show of it. The rest of the Biden administration and its climate-activist allies should moderate their apocalyptic rhetoric and cancel the climate crisis accordingly. Exaggerating the magnitude, urgency and certainty of the climate threat encourages ill-considered policies that could be more disruptive and expensive than any change in the climate itself."
But facts will not stop the Biden administration from forging ahead with its radical policies: "I don't think anybody can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore," Biden, commenting on Hurricane Idalia, told reporters at the White House on August 30. "Just look around. Historic floods. I mean, historic floods. More intense droughts, extreme heat, significant wildfires have caused significant damage."
Never mind that much of climate change is apparently caused by sun flares, about which we can do nothing, and which, unlike commercial industries, do not offer grants; or that major wildfires are, ironically, exacerbated by "environmentalists" for refusing to let tinderbox brush be cleared lest the creatures there be disturbed other than by a wildfire.
Climate expert Bjørn Lomborg suggests that the trillions of dollars needed to address climate change might be put to better use:
"This isn't an argument to do nothing but just to be smarter. To ensure we can transition from fossil fuels, we need to ramp up research and development to innovate down the price of green energy. We should invest across all options including fusion, fission, storage, biofuel and other sources.
"Only when green energy is cheaper than fossil fuels will the world be able and willing to make the transition. Otherwise, today's energy prices are just a taste of things to come."
*Robert Williams is a researcher based in the United States.
© 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.

US should replicate the Iraqi awakening in northeast Syria
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/September 10, 2023
The area to the east of the Euphrates in Syria is witnessing an uprising of Arab tribes. This was perhaps expected due to American policies that favored one faction over the other. The uprising is not the result of one incident — the arrest of Abu Khawla, as the Syrian Democratic Forces claims — but rather the outcome of an accumulation of grievances that have built up over the years. A similar situation existed in Iraq following the 2003 American invasion, leading to spiraling violence. The situation was stabilized when Gen. David Petraeus was entrusted with the troop surge in 2007. Despite the fact that the SDF last week vowed to meet tribal demands, the US needs to have a major correction in northeast Syria similar to the surge in Iraq.
Startled by the rise of Daesh, the Americans needed a quick fix. They were also suffering from the failure of their training program for “moderate” rebels, as some US-trained fighters cooperated with extremists. The Kurds were seen as a safe bet. In Washington’s perception, they were a faction that was not prone to indoctrination. Hence, they would not turn their weapons against their benefactors.
Though the SDF is supposed to be composed of Arabs and Kurds, the PYD, which is affiliated with the terrorist PKK, is the main force. And though there are elected local councils running the affairs of people in the northeast, it is the “kadros,” or members of the PYD, who run the show.
The Americans always look for quick fixes. Empowering the Kurds at the expense of the Arabs was the quick fix needed to fight Daesh. But is this deja vu? Following the invasion of Iraq, the US started supporting Shiites over Sunnis. From a pragmatic perspective, the Shiites were the most likely to support the Americans, as they had liberated them from the cruelty of Saddam Hussein. As for moral justification, the US perceived that the Shiites, who were a majority, had been subjugated by Saddam and the Sunni minority, meaning it was their time to rule. By this simplistic logic, the US ruled Iraq.
Empowering the Kurds at the expense of the Arabs was the quick fix needed to fight Daesh. But is this deja vu?
They made the situation worse with their misguided de-Baathification policy. At the stroke of a pen, 400,000 Baath Party members became outlaws. While Shiites were granted exemptions and were allowed to keep their jobs, the Sunnis were not. This created grievances, from which the fundamentalists greatly benefited. The American invasion led to a revival of Al-Qaeda. Violence was escalating. However, the US administration realized it was doing something wrong; this was when Petraeus was tasked with the surge that stabilized Iraq. Petraeus realized that empowering one faction over another would not lead to stability — on the contrary, it would feed existing sectarian tensions. He realized that the key to stability was to address people’s grievances. He engaged with the Sunnis through the “awakening.” This was the most effective way to dry out the social incubator of Al-Qaeda.
When members of the Sunni community started refusing to give Al-Qaeda fighters refuge, they had nowhere to go. They became isolated. The awakenings were working well. This was only reversed due to the premature American exit from Iraq and after Nouri Al-Maliki took advantage of this ill-advised withdrawal to renege on all the promises and guarantees given to the Sunnis by the Americans.
Today, we see the same scenario in northeastern Syria. The Arab tribes, which feel subjugated by the SDF, are rising up. The only way to solve this problem is to adopt a more balanced policy between the Arabs and the Kurds. The US should engage with the Arab tribes the same way it engaged with Sunnis in Iraq. The biggest American concern in Syria is Daesh. Creating grievances from which Daesh will benefit is certainly not the logical way to fight the terrorist group. The best way to fight it is to get to the root of the problem: the grievances that push people to support it. Drying up the social incubator is the most effective and sustainable way to fight terrorism. So, a similar policy to the awakenings should be applied by the coalition in the northeast of Syria.
This is a golden opportunity for the US to win over the Arab tribes and to eradicate terrorism in a sustainable manner.
The US should not fall for the false accusations of the SDF, which is claiming that the Arab tribes are connected with the regime and the Iranians. This is untrue. Deir Ezzor was one of the first provinces that fought Bashar Assad and that suffered from the regime’s brutality.
This definitely does not mean abandoning the Kurds. It means adopting a more balanced policy between the two ethnic components of the community. Adopting such a policy would lead to reconciliation and social cohesion between the Arabs and the Kurds. Assad has been benefiting from Arab-Kurdish tensions. Now, the US has an opportunity to correct this. Instead of helping the SDF suppress the Arab tribes, soft diplomacy is required. The US should send delegates to engage with the Arab tribes. In parallel, it should put in place governance structures that are representative of the communities, as opposed to today, where the kadros are in control. This is a golden opportunity for the US to win over the Arab tribes and to eradicate terrorism in a sustainable manner.
America needs to reconcile with the Arab tribes that feel disenfranchised in order to make them part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. It is time to revisit the awakening in Iraq, learn lessons from it and apply them in northeast Syria.
is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is president of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.
**Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is president of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.

Arab guests at G20 summit put Global South center stage
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/September 10, 2023
It is often hard to find consensus across large diplomatic groups, and the G20 is no exception. However, the members of this group of the world’s 20 largest economies, though often lacking in commonalities, do together drive the world economy. Very much a creation of the 21st century, the G20 club of countries rose in importance after the 2008 financial crisis. The group’s growth in prominence provides a forceful addition to the role of the post-Second World War Bretton Woods institutions, which are less reflective of the balance of power in the world today. India’s invitations to the UAE, Oman and Egypt to attend this weekend’s summit, alongside members Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, put the Middle East at the forefront of the considerations of the Global South, following years of a perceived American disengagement from the region.
A fortnight after an unprecedently large BRICS meeting that saw the admission of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran to the club of large developing economies, the G20 this weekend reinforced the trend that rapidly growing economies from the developing world seek to restructure the international system based on their disenchantment with the postwar global order.
The COVID-19 pandemic created major economic inequalities and exposed the unbalanced nature of an international system that is increasingly perceived to ignore the interests of the developing world. With the growing clout of these nations allowing them to increasingly promote their vision of the world, especially their own conditions for trading in the global economy, it is little surprise that India is using its G20 moment to reinforce these arguments. Since 2004, when Canada surpassed Saudi Arabia as the largest single oil exporter to the US, the Middle East region has gradually strayed from the focus of US policymakers. Though the US remains a major trading partner of Saudi Arabia, the latter’s trade with China is almost double. A surge in oil and gas exports from the UAE to China also makes Beijing its largest trading partner. Significant and importantly growing trade with India, Egypt, Pakistan and Turkiye, among others, highlight the increased importance of South-South trade and thereby the efforts of BRICS and India to integrate new actors.
Though Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Egypt have different levels of development, they are united in their strategic importance and indeed their potential for growth. Despite their position as energy producers, they will also play a role in the future of energy.
Oman and Saudi Arabia will play a role in hydrogen production and Egypt will be a significant producer of the “transitional fuel” of gas during the global energy shift that will inevitably take place. Together occupying the Suez Canal and the straits of Hormuz and Bab Al-Mandab, these countries are integral to global supply chains and ripe for a project akin to the International North-South Transport Corridor that connects India, Iran and Russia. Alongside the strategic partnership that exists with Saudi Arabia, India has sought to expand its ties with the Kingdom beyond oil, focusing on the growing digital and innovation economy. It is little surprise, therefore, that central to India’s outreach to Western Asian nations for the G20 summit is transport. Aside from New Delhi’s increased foreign policy focus on the future centers of global trade through the auspices of the G20, it has already been building its ties in the Middle East.
The UAE’s first ever comprehensive economic partnership agreement was signed with India in February last year. A dirham-rupee trade agreement has also come into force to encourage increased bilateral trade between the UAE and India, with a target of $100 billion in non-oil trade by 2030.
Alongside the strategic partnership that exists with Saudi Arabia, India has sought to expand its ties with the Kingdom beyond oil, focusing on the growing digital and innovation economy.
A rail and port infrastructure deal that would better connect the Middle East with India, though endorsed by the US under its “Partnership for Cooperation,” is very much indicative of India’s growing clout. The plans for a far-reaching, multinational ports and railways deal are a direct counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative global infrastructure network, which also has the Middle East in its sights.
Though President Vladimir Putin’s continued absence from the G20 is significant, as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated, he is “the architect of his own diplomatic exile.”
More significant for the Arab attendees was Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision not to attend the G20 summit in New Delhi. Though seen by some as a snub toward the Western bloc at a time when China seeks to bolster the BRICS grouping, it is more likely borne of China’s resentment at India’s economic rise. India’s growing role in the Arab world is also likely to concern China, which has worked assiduously to present itself as an alternative to Middle Eastern states seeking to renegotiate their relationships with the US.
Though India’s role has been hitherto economic, the recent military exercises conducted with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Egypt, alongside increased diplomatic initiatives, could be seen as a challenge to China, which so recently sought to bring Iran and Saudi Arabia together in a major diplomatic coup.
Looking ahead, Arab nations must make sure that an apparent great-power vacuum does not force them to impossibly straddle the growing global geopolitical divide.
*Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator and an adviser to private clients between London and the GCC. Twitter: @Moulay_Zaid

World must do more to address the use of child soldiers
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/September 10, 2023
The recruitment and use of child soldiers remains one of the gravest violations and abuses against children. This globally critical issue ought to be confronted and addressed by the international community.
In spite of the existence of an international mechanism to monitor and report violations against children, the recruitment and use of child soldiers has been on the rise. The UN Security Council has identified six grave violations affecting children, one of which is the recruitment or use of children as soldiers. The other violations are: sexual violence against children; abduction of children; attacks against schools or hospitals; killing and maiming of children; and denial of humanitarian access for children.
These violations against children are interconnected and intertwined. In other words, when a growing number of children are being recruited as soldiers in a specific country or area, this means that other violations against children, such as sexual abuse or killings and attacks on children, are likely to be on the rise as well. It is worth noting that countries that witness internal conflict and war unfortunately become a ripe place for some groups to recruit boys or girls as soldiers. Conflict leads to political and economic instability, causing militias and terrorist groups to increase their activities. These groups exploit weak or failed states, as well as underdeveloped nations, and attempt to recruit more soldiers, including children, in order to gain, expand and consolidate power.
Countries that witness conflict unfortunately become a ripe place for some groups to recruit boys or girls as soldiers.
Unfortunately, children are considered more expendable, less likely to question orders and cheaper to recruit. Child soldiers often undergo harsh training that inflicts long-term mental and physical damage. This will undoubtedly have a negative impact on their families as well. This is why it is critical to help reintegrate child soldiers into society through effective rehabilitation centers and provide for physical and psychological recovery services.
Children are often sent to the front lines as combatants, but they are also forced to take on other responsibilities in the conflict or work in other positions, such as being a spy or messenger. Some girls and boys are also exploited sexually.
Proactive measures ought to be taken to help prevent the recruitment of children as soldiers. These measures include empowering boys and girls through proper education, strengthening protective laws concerning children, addressing families’ and communities’ financial hardships, and creating political and economic stability, as well as brighter prospects for the future. It is also necessary to combat the spread of extremist ideologies and raise awareness about these threats, along with preventing internal disagreements from spiraling out of control and leading to full-fledged conflict in the country.
One of the countries that is witnessing an increase in the recruitment of child soldiers is Syria. The conflict in Syria has been going on for more than 12 years and some parts of the country remain very unstable and insecure. This is particularly true of the southern areas, including the city of Deraa, which was the birthplace of the Syrian uprising and is also considered one of the most strategic places in the country. Deraa is close to the border with Jordan, as well as Syria’s Golan Heights region of Quneitra. There is also a major route from Deraa to the capital Damascus.
It should not come as a surprise that the recruitment of children as soldiers has also been witnessed in Sudan. According to the Darfur Bar Association, cases of child soldiers fighting for both parties in the conflict have been reported. In a statement issued last month, the association underscored that “international humanitarian law and various international treaties and norms prohibit the recruitment of children under the age of 15 into combat.”
Unfortunately, children are considered more expendable, less likely to question orders and cheaper to recruit.
Some groups implement different tactics to even recruit foreign children. They often prey on children and families who are vulnerable for various reasons. Some are kidnapped and coerced, while some families are lured to give up their children to fight in conflicts in exchange for financial incentives. In addition, many of these children come from lower socioeconomic classes and the recruiters exploit their poverty. In other words, militia groups will resort to any tool in order to achieve their goals.
Finally, legislation and policies to prohibit, criminalize and punish those who use children as soldiers should be strengthened. And the international community ought to more proactively enforce the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. This treaty focuses on the involvement of children in armed conflict and it was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000. It came into force in 2002 and has been ratified by 173 nations.
In a nutshell, the recruitment of children as soldiers remains one of the gravest abuses committed against children. The increasing recruitment of children to fight in conflicts not only has serious psychological and physical implications for the children and their families, but also inflicts serious damage on the security and stability of nations and broader regions. Boys and girls must be protected and empowered through education. It is crucial for the international community and human rights organizations to follow up on their promises by taking immediate action to hold to account those responsible for violating international law, abusing human rights and children, and committing war crimes. The abuse of children must stop.
**Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh