Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 09-10/2024
Elias Bejjani/Video & Text: The Historical Relations between Jews and Persians: Enmity or Alliance?/Elias Bejjani, June 9, 2024
Lebanon Will Not Emerge from the Quagmire of Persian Occupation Unless the Maronites Fulfill Their Leading Role through Leaders Who Believe Their Sacred Duty is to Protect the Lebanese Temple/Elias Bejjani/June 07, 2024
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai: No Legitimacy for Any Authority That Contradicts Coexistence
Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut EliasAudi to Officials: If the Country Disappears, There Will Be Nothing Left to Rule
Southern Front: One Hezb Casualty
Israeli Bombing Resumes in South Lebanon
Two killed, fires in south Lebanon after Israeli strikes
20 so far arrested over US embassy attack
Bassil Visits Rai to Talk About Presidency
Fighting corruption no longer has meaning," says Judge Aoun, adding, "I leave with a clear conscience at least"
Bassil: What happened with Mount Lebanon's Public Prosecutor is an illegal assault on a key position
Ghada Aoun: When Justice Is (Finally) Served!/Roger Merheb/This is Beirut/09 June 2024
Justice Minister's Bureau: We will work within our powers to resolve every dispute that impacts judicial work's progress
The Judiciary in the Hands of a Supremacist Militia/Amine Jules Iskandar/This is Beirut/ 09 Jun 2024
A Conditional Revaluation of Stocks and Fixed Assets/Liliane Mokbel/This is Beirut/ 09 Jun 2024
Franjieh: If we are to continue with the theory of President Aoun & FPM, then Lebanese Forces Chief ought to be their natural candidate for...
Hariri marking ISF's Day: First line of defense for the law
Ghada Ayoub to Lebanese government: For compensating innocent, defenseless civilians
Nayla Tueni wins the “International Women’s Champion” award for courage, press freedom & women’s rights

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 09-10/2024
No Word from White House on Whether Biden to Meet Netanyahu in Washington
Sullivan says ‘innocent people were killed’ in Israeli rescue operation
Hamas Armed Wing Says 3 Hostages Were Killed in Israeli Operation in Gaza
Israel Keeps Pounding Central Gaza as Palestinian Death Toll in Hostage Rescue Raid Rises to 274
Gaza's Health Ministry says 274 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raid that rescued 4 hostages
Centrist Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war Cabinet, resigns over lack of plans for postwar Gaza
Aid delivered to Gaza from newly repaired US-built pier
Yemen Houthi rebels claim latest attack on cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden
Iran OKs 6 candidates for presidential race, but again blocks Ahmadinejad
Iran helicopter crash shows Tehran's reliance on an aging fleet as well as its challenges at home
Seven Democrats who could replace Biden if he drops his 2024 reelection bid
Ukraine says it struck a top fighter plane deep inside Russia
4 arrests made at pro-Palestinian demonstration downtown: police
Trudeau to Call Vote on Contentious Tax Change This Week
At least 9 dead after suspected militants in Kashmir fire at Hindu pilgrims, sending bus into gorge
French President Macron calls a snap legislative election after defeat in EU vote
Armenian archbishop calls four days of protests to seek ouster of PM

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on June 09-10/2024
Palestinianism Began with Nazism And Today Is Based on Antisemitism, Sexism, Homophobia and Denial of Human Rights. So Why Is the Left So in Love with It?/Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./June 9, 2024
From Iraq to Lebanon... The Path of the Ruling Elites/Mustafa Fahs/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 09/2024
Non-Secretive Negotiations/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 09/2024
Europe and Us: Forms of Mutual Influence/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 09/2024
Seven Democrats who could replace Biden if he drops his 2024 reelection bid/John L. Dorman/Business Insider/June 09/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 09-10/2024
Elias Bejjani/Video & Text: The Historical Relations between Jews and Persians: Enmity or Alliance?
Elias Bejjani, June 9, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/130543/130543/
This question is often raised: Is there really a historical enmity between Israel and Iran, as well as between Jews and Persians, or is there a history of love, alliance, and goodwill?
Looking back at history, it becomes clear that the term "enmity" was never used to describe the relationship between the two sides at any time. This notion of enmity began to be promoted by the mullahs with a "jihadist" background after they took power in Iran in 1979 following the ousting of the Shah. Before the rule of the mullahs, history shows that Jewish-Persian relations were not hostile, but were complex and rich, involving periods of cooperation and alliance, as well as times of conflict. This history spans several centuries, intertwining interests and cultures at various stages. Below is a brief summary of these relations:
Babylonian and Ancient Persian Periods
Relations between Jews and Persians prominently begin during the Babylonian and ancient Persian periods. In 586 BCE, Babylon, led by Nebuchadnezzar II, destroyed the Kingdom of Judah and exiled many Jews to Babylon. In this context, the Persian King Cyrus the Great (550-530 BCE) is seen as a savior for the Jews. After conquering Babylon in 539 BCE, he issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple. This act earned Cyrus great respect in Jewish tradition, and he is referred to as "the Lord's anointed" in the Bible (Isaiah 45:1).
Achaemenid Era
During the Achaemenid period, Jewish communities in the Persian Empire enjoyed a significant degree of religious freedom and autonomy. The Jewish community in Babylon flourished, with notable figures like Nehemiah and Ezra playing vital roles in the reconstruction of Jerusalem.
Parthian and Sassanian Eras
With the fall of the Achaemenid Empire and the rise of the Parthian Empire (247 BCE - 224 CE), good relations between Jews and Persians continued. The Parthians, who were in conflict with the Romans, found allies in the Jews against a common enemy. This situation persisted during the Sassanian period (224-651 CE), where Jewish communities enjoyed considerable autonomy, and Jewish culture developed through ongoing interactions with Persian culture.
Relations During the Islamic Conquest
With the Islamic conquest of the Persian Empire in the 7th century CE, dynamics changed significantly. Persian control declined and was replaced by Islamic rule. Nevertheless, Jewish communities in Iran continued to exist, experiencing periods of tolerance and persecution over the centuries.
Safavid and Qajar Eras
During the Safavid (1501-1736) and Qajar (1789-1925) eras, there were periods of tension and alliance. The Shiite Safavid government strictly enforced Sharia laws, leading to some pressures on Jewish communities. However, in later periods, especially during the Qajar rule, Jews in Iran saw a relative improvement in their conditions.
Modern Era
In the modern era, especially under Shah Reza Pahlavi and his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Jewish community in Iran enjoyed increased rights and significant improvements in their economic and social conditions. However, after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the situation changed dramatically, with the new government led by Ayatollah Khomeini adopting more conservative policies towards religious minorities, including Jews.
Iranian-Israeli Relations Under Khomeini
Despite the major shift in Iranian policy after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran and Israel experienced secret alliances and mutual aid during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). During this period, Israel supplied Iran with advanced weapons, including aircraft parts and anti-tank missiles. This clandestine relationship was exposed in the "Iran-Contra" affair, revealing that the United States and Israel had cooperated to supply Iran with arms in exchange for the release of American hostages held in Lebanon. This move was part of a broader strategy to balance the power of Iraq under Saddam Hussein, who posed a common threat to both Israel and the West.
Current Relations Between Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran
Relations between Israel and Iran are among the most complex and tense in the Middle East. These tensions have deepened significantly in light of the ongoing Gaza war, with Iran providing substantial support to Hamas. This support includes supplying weapons, training, and funding, which strengthens Hamas in its confrontation with Israel. Israel, on its part, views Iran as the greatest threat to its national security due to its nuclear program, regional ambitions, and support for anti-Israel militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel accuses Iran of attempting to destabilize the region by increasing its influence in countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq. In the current context, tensions have heightened with the escalation of the conflict in Gaza. Israel feels directly threatened by the rockets launched by Hamas towards its cities, which Israel believes are aided by Iranian smuggling and manufacturing efforts. Conversely, Iran sees its support for Hamas as a means to enhance its regional influence and to resist what it perceives as Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. These tensions exacerbate the current situation, making the quest for peace increasingly challenging.
Conclusion
Through this long and complex history, it is evident that relations between Jews and Persians have been a mixture of cooperation and conflict. There have been periods of strong alliances and cultural cooperation, as well as times of tension and enmity. This intricate history reflects the complex nature of human relations, where interests, religions, and politics intertwine in various ways. Modern relations between Israel and Iran under Khomeini add a new dimension to this dynamic, showing that political interests can sometimes overcome declared religious hostilities, albeit temporarily, in the face of common threats.
The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com

Lebanon Will Not Emerge from the Quagmire of Persian Occupation Unless the Maronites Fulfill Their Leading Role through Leaders Who Believe Their Sacred Duty is to Protect the Lebanese Temple
Elias Bejjani/June 07, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/130496/130496/
In brief, without diminishing the capabilities and patriotism of others, without arrogance or a sense of superiority, and without distorting history and truth, but from a perspective of sincere faith and patriotism, we firmly believe that Lebanon will not rise from its fall, fragmentation, and the tragedy of occupation unless the Maronites rise. Lebanon will not be liberated in the absence of Maronite leaders, in heart, mind, and spirit, who believe their role is sacred, and that they are the protectors of the temple because its glory was given to their Church, and not to others. Their role is to lead all those who want their country to be free, sovereign, independent, a beacon of civilization, coexistence, openness, freedom, and equality. The disintegration of the Lebanese factions and the shortcomings of their leaders, for whatever reason, are not important and will not be influential if the Maronites have leaders who understand their role and can assume it with courage and selflessness. Everyone will stand and rise when the Maronites lead and march forward. The primary and most dangerous problem in Lebanon today is the absence of civil, spiritual, and elite leaders from the Maronites. We do not say that the current Maronite leaders, without exception, are traitors or collaborators, but they are nationally deficient and emasculated figures, lacking vision and possessing shallow and weak faith. Thus, they do not meet the requirements of the current time. In reality, they are weak and incapable figures, and this is why we need to change them. Yes, we Maronites created Lebanon, and this is a fact, not arrogance; we created it to be a homeland for us and for others. Presently, it is in a state of loss, fragmentation, chaos, and occupation because our current leaders are not the men can deal with the ongoing crisis locally, regionally and globally.
What non-Maronite Lebanese must understand is that Lebanon will not rise unless the Maronites rise and lead, as is their historic sacred role in protecting the temple. The most important thing is that we, the Maronites, understand and fulfill this role. Otherwise, we are neither true Maronites nor do we deserve the sacred temple nation whose glory was given to us.

Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai: No Legitimacy for Any Authority That Contradicts Coexistence
This is Beirut/09 June 2024
During his sermon on Sunday in Bkerke, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai emphasized that “Lebanon cannot be manipulated by not electing a president because it undermines the covenant of coexistence.” He stated that the preamble of the constitution states that there is no legitimacy for any authority that contradicts coexistence. Rai stressed that a president is “the only constitutional guarantor of the unity of the Lebanese people.”“Only the president can restore the lost legislative authority to the parliament and the executive authority to the resigned government in administration, appointments, and other matters,” he added. The Maronite Patriarch recalled the letter Saint Pope John Paul II wrote to all bishops of the Catholic Church on September 7, 1989. The pope had stated that “Lebanon is more than a country: it is a message of freedom and a model of pluralism for both the East and the West,” adding, “the absence of Lebanon is undoubtedly one of the greatest pricks of conscience for the world.”Rai considered that no matter the hidden reasons behind not electing a president for Lebanon after it has existed for over a hundred years, “not electing a president undermines the covenant of coexistence at the level of parliament and government, and their legitimacy in the absence or exclusion of the Christian president.” He reiterated that “the preamble of the constitution states that there is no legitimacy for any authority that contradicts coexistence.”The Maronite Patriarch read another passage of Saint Pope John Paul II who wrote in his apostolic exhortation “A New Hope for Lebanon,” that “Lebanon, composed of several human communities, is considered by our contemporaries as a model land. Today, as in the past, people of different cultural and religious backgrounds are called to live together on the same land, to build a nation of dialogue and coexistence, and to contribute to the common good. Today, Christian and Islamic communities strive to make their traditions more vibrant. This positive behavior can rediscover shared and complementary cultural riches, strengthening national coexistence.”Rai concluded his sermon by saying, “If only our political leaders understood all of this and place the issue of Lebanon above all considerations.”

Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut EliasAudi to Officials: If the Country Disappears, There Will Be Nothing Left to Rule
This is Beirut/09 June 2024
Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut Elias Audi wondered “what the Lebanese officials are waiting for,” in reference to the collapse of the country. “Do they realize, all of them—representatives, government, and leaders—that if the country disappears, there will be nothing left for them to rule, no one to represent, and no one to lead? There will be no positions to compete for and no chairs to vie for,” he said. Audi considered that Lebanese officials “do not hear the cries of the people nor see the misery that most citizens of this country have reached.”
In his Sunday sermon, he stated that “years have passed since the citizens’ uprising, the explosion in the capital, and the collapse of the country, add to it the end of the term of the previous parliament and president, and new representatives were elected, yet they neither fulfilled their constitutional duties nor has the government implemented a rescue plan.”Audi recalled “the torch of freedom,” the late journalist Ghassan Tueni, as a rebel against injustice, ignorance, fanaticism, polluted thinking and moral decay, and a defender of Lebanon. Tueni proclaimed, “There is no life for Lebanon and no future for coexistence without democracy. Sovereignty, like independence, is built from within and is not taken from the outside by borrowed security, which has failed, let alone by borrowed defense.”“If he were alive, he would be the first to reject the breach of the constitution, the obstruction of presidential elections, the violation of the country, and the rights of the people that we are experiencing,” Audi said. Audi said that “blindness in our days afflicts many of those who have sight, especially those who cling to the superficial and external appearances of faith.” He prayed that the vision of people, especially our officials, be enlightened, “so they may recognize the right path they must take to save the country. The officials, leaders, and heads of Lebanon fit the Lord’s saying: ‘For they have eyes but do not see, ears but do not hear, nor do they understand.’”

Southern Front: One Hezb Casualty
This is Beirut/09 June 2024
South Lebanon witnessed increased fire exchange amid intense operations on Sunday, as Hezbollah mourned Ali Khalil Hamad from Aitaroun, born in 1988. The Israeli Radio announced that sirens sounded in Upper Galilee for the fourth time in half an hour after Hezbollah declared “launching missiles at Sammaka site in Kfarchouba hills and achieving direct hits.”In a statement, Hezbollah also announced “conducting an aerial attack with a squadron of drones on the headquarters of the artillery battalion in Odem.” Moreover, the pro-Iranian formation declared “targeting Israeli artillery in Zaoura in the occupied Syrian Golan.”Earlier, Hezbollah claimed “shelling Ramtha base, in Kfarchouba, with missile weaponry.”On the other hand, Khiyam was the target of Israeli artillery, after the Israeli army indicated that “several rockets were fired from Lebanon and landed in open areas, north of Israel.”Earlier today, Israeli warplanes expanded their airspace flying at medium and low altitudes above Beirut and over the Keserwan region. In the morning, the Israeli army declared “attacking a launcher used by Hezbollah, in Hula, south Lebanon.”Earlier at dawn, Hezbollah’s air defenses launched surface-to-air missiles toward an Israeli warplane in the skies of southern Lebanon, forcing it to retreat beyond the border. They also forced a fighter jet in the skies over Zahrani to withdraw. The earthquake felt by residents of Sidon was caused by the activation of Hezbollah’s defenses and their explosion in the skies over Zahrani.

Israeli Bombing Resumes in South Lebanon
This is Beirut/09 June 2024
The cross-border exchange between Hezbollah and Israel continues relentlessly. Fires from Israeli missiles are igniting the regions in the South of Lebanon. In the latest field developments, Hezbollah’s air defenses launched surface-to-air missiles at dawn toward an Israeli warplane in the skies of southern Lebanon, forcing it to retreat beyond the border immediately. It also forced a fighter jet in the skies over Zahrani to withdraw. The earthquake felt by the residents of Sidon was caused by the activation of Hezbollah’s defenses and their explosion in the skies over Zahrani. Additionally, Israeli aircraft carried out a raid a short while ago on Sunday morning and targeted the Qudam neighborhood in the town of Hula.On Saturday night, Hezbollah targeted a group of Israeli soldiers who were attacking with phosphorus shells and setting fires in the forests opposite the town of Ramya with rocket weapons. The outskirts of the villages of Dhayra, Alma al-Shaab, Tayr Harfa and Labbouneh witnessed intermittent artillery shelling accompanied by the dropping of illuminating bombs. The Israeli forces launched an air raid at around 10:50 PM on Saturday, firing a guided missile targeting the Al-Zuqaq neighborhood in the town of Aytaroun in the Bint Jbeil district.

Two killed, fires in south Lebanon after Israeli strikes
Agence France Presse/09 Jun 2024
Israeli strikes have killed two people and sparked wildfires in southern Lebanon, state media said, with Hezbollah announcing the death of two fighters. Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in the eight months since the Gaza war began, triggered by the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack. The deadly clashes have intensified in recent weeks, causing multiple brush fires on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border and raising fears the conflict could broaden. Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said Saturday that "an Israeli drone carried out an air attack with two guided missiles, targeting a cafe in Aitaroun and killing the cafe's owner, Ali Khalil Hamad, 37, and a young man named Mustafa A. Issa."
The agency also reported a "violent airstrike" on the border village of Khiam.
Israel's army said in a statement that "one of its planes struck a Hezbollah terrorist in the Aitaroun region."The airforce had also targeted militant infrastructure in the Khiam and Markaba regions, it added. Shortly after, Hezbollah said it had launched Katyusha rockets on a town across the border "in response to the Israeli enemy's attacks against southern villages and safe houses, and the targeting of civilians, notably in Aitaroun where two people were killed." Hezbollah later announced that one of its fighters had been killed by Israeli fire. It identified him as Radwan A. Issa, without providing further details. More than eight months of border violence, which began on October 8, has killed 458 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but including about 90 civilians, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side of the border, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed, according to the army.
'Phosphorus shells'
"Israeli artillery bombarded today the outskirts of the town of Alma al-Shaab with incendiary phosphorus shells, causing fires in the forests that spread to the vicinity of some homes," NNA reported earlier on Saturday. It added that the fire had reached "large areas of olive trees."Lebanese authorities and several international rights groups have accused Israel of using white phosphorus rounds in its strikes on its northern neighbor. White phosphorus, a substance that ignites on contact with oxygen, can be used as an incendiary weapon. Its use as a chemical weapon is prohibited under international law, but it is allowed for illuminating battlefields and can be used as a smokescreen. Rescuer Ali Abbas of the Risala Scout association, affiliated with Hezbollah ally the Amal Movement, told AFP that "Israel deliberately bombs forested areas with phosphorus with the aim of starting fires."According to him, rescuers on the grounds have been struggling to extinguish the flames, while the Lebanese military avoids sending helicopters to assist for fear of more Israeli attacks. Further east, the NNA reported that "a large fire broke out at positions belonging to the Lebanese army and UNIFIL," the UN peacekeeping mission, in the area of the border village of Mays al-Jabal. It is located near the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel. A security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that fires broke out near military positions but have not reached them or caused any casualties. The U.N. peacekeepers in a statement reported a "bushfire near one of their positions in Houla," which was put out with help from Lebanese troops and civil defense forces."The fire didn't cause any damage to UNIFIL assets or personnel," it said.The NNA said "several landmines exploded, and firefighting operations are still continuing" in the area.

20 so far arrested over US embassy attack
Agence France Presse/09 Jun 2024
Lebanese authorities have arrested 20 people after a shooting near the U.S. embassy in Beirut said to be in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, a judicial source told AFP. A Syrian man was arrested Wednesday after the shooting at the embassy, and a judicial official said at the time that the assailant carried out the attack "in support of Gaza."The U.S. embassy said on X that "small arms fire was reported in the vicinity of the entrance" and that "thanks to the quick reaction" of the Lebanese army, security forces "and our embassy security team, our facility and our team are safe."The judicial source said "the number of people arrested over the attack on the American embassy has risen to 20, including the Syrian assailant Qais Farraj, who is receiving care at the military hospital in Beirut.""Among those arrested are his father, his brother, clerics who gave him religious lessons and those with whom he was in continuous contact," added the source, who supervises preliminary investigations by intelligence services. The source added that more people could be arrested or released based on the outcome of the investigation, which is seeking to determine whether any of the suspects had links to an Islamic State group cell or any other militant groups. But the source said existing evidence suggested it was unlikely the attack was part of an organized operation. A security official told AFP at the time of the attack that the gunman acted "alone", adding that a Lebanese national working for the embassy suffered light injuries to his eye. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller later said Washington was aware the person arrested appeared to be wearing "ISIS insignia", referring to the Islamic State group. The United States, he said, was "conducting a full investigation with the Lebanese authorities into the actual motivations."

Bassil Visits Rai to Talk About Presidency
This is Beirut/09 June 2024
Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) chief Gebran Bassil said that the real fear is “laxity with regard to the presidential vacancy, and this issue must be separated from the others.”After meeting with Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, Bassil stated that “there is a process aimed at preventing and blocking the election of a president of the Republic,” adding that “after a year of waiting (since the last unsuccessful electoral session on June 14, 2023), we must deploy our efforts to agree on a president capable of building a State and protecting Lebanon.”Bassil blamed his political opponents for the lack of initiative and the stalemate in the presidential election, saying that his party was “ready to unite with the other Christian forces and blocs for this purpose, but that the Patriarch has not been able to launch such an initiative, because certain political forces do not want it.” Moreover, he criticized “the permissiveness of the judiciary,” commenting on Acting Public Prosecutor Jamal Hajjar’s decision to dismiss Ghada Aoun, the Public Prosecutor at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, from the cases she was working on. This was on the grounds that her behavior did not conform to the rules of the profession. He said that they will not be silenced – a normal reaction on his part since he was the main person benefiting from Ghada Aoun’s violations of the law. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati sent a memorandum on Friday to all ministries, administrations and services asking them to comply with Judge Hajjar’s instructions. These instructions forbade the various security services from communicating with Ghada Aoun or carrying out her orders, asking them to refer henceforth to the Advocate General at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal.

Fighting corruption no longer has meaning," says Judge Aoun, adding, "I leave with a clear conscience at least"
NNA/June 9, 2024
Public Prosecutor in Mount Lebanon, Judge Ghada Aoun, wrote today on her platform “X” account: “This country does not deserve justice. This country deserves a mafia regime that controls all its capabilities...Amidst the horror of what happened and in the face of the shameless attack on a judge who is trying to lift injustice and apply the law, what I saw were only tweets...Congratulations for having this system!”She added: “Fighting corruption no longer has meaning...At least I leave with a clear conscience...Congratulations on the robbing of $8 billion and protecting all the perpetrators...Congratulations to you for having Riyad Salameh, for having your lifetime savings withheld by the banks...If this is your reaction and the reaction of your leaders in the face of the theft of the era, then there is no hope...I say it, unfortunately, congratulations to you, having this corrupt regime!”

Bassil: What happened with Mount Lebanon's Public Prosecutor is an illegal assault on a key position
NNA/June 9, 2024
Head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, said after meeting with Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rahi that "starting our movement from the patriarchal edifice is an obvious and natural matter. We anticipated [the presidential vacancy] from Diman two years ago, and we informed Patriarch Al-Rahi that we were not candidates for facilitation, and I asked him to bring us together as Christians to be proactive, not reactive, but the rest of the parties did not respond." MP Bassil added: "When nominating Jihad Azour, I informed Patriarch Al-Rahi that we must have a plan for the next day if they disrupt the quorum and the vacuum continues."Bassil pointed out that what happened with the Prosecutor General of Mount Lebanon was an extralegal assault on a key position, in addition to her fight against corruption. “There is ambiguity because some do not understand the extent of the danger and are happy to consider what happened as a blow to the movement [FPM], but this is a blow to depositors and to everyone who is trying not to repeat the experience of stealing our money," Bassil went on. Finally, he indicated that "after October 7, we took action and we saw at this stage that there are new initiatives. Therefore, we are making an effort to agree on a consensual president based on two conditions: building the state and protecting Lebanon. These people are there if we really want to elect a president."

Ghada Aoun: When Justice Is (Finally) Served!
Roger Merheb/This is Beirut/09 June 2024
On Sunday morning, the Public Prosecutor at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, Ghada Aoun, had the nerve to tweet the following on her X account: “This country does not deserve justice; it deserves a mafia regime that controls all its resources. […] The fight against corruption no longer makes sense. At least I leave with a clear conscience. Congratulations on this corrupt system!”This tweet came just days after she was removed from all the cases she was handling by Acting Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation Judge Jamal Hajjar, following her dismissal from office. Ghada Aoun had been sanctioned in May 2023 by the Judicial Disciplinary Council for conduct in violation of professional ethics. Nevertheless, the judge once again chose not to comply with the ruling against her, going so far as accusing the prosecutor of “usurping” his position. It seems Ms. Aoun suffers from selective amnesia. Her conduct in recent years is unprecedented in the history of the Lebanese judicial system. Aoun committed repeated and flagrant violations. Strongly backed by the political support of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), she disregarded all judicial procedures initiated against her to curb behavior that was primarily detrimental to the judiciary, and the country as a whole. She openly denigrated her superiors on social media, which she used to boost her campaigns at the expense of basic principles of justice. She refused to appear before the Disciplinary Council and to acknowledge the numerous complaints filed against her. She discredited those within the judiciary who opposed her conduct, portraying the Lebanese justice system as a divided and weak institution, undermined by political manipulation. An expert in “double standards,” the “judge of the old guard and the chaotic mandate” is none other than the very same judge of the corrupt, mafia-like, and abusive system she now criticizes! What exactly are her achievements besides launching witch hunts and abusing power? Wasn’t she proud of her allegiance to the FPM, fighting tooth and nail to advance the agenda of the Aounist party (whose leader is heavily sanctioned by the US for corruption!), regardless of the potential consequences for the country? If this is what she means by having a “clear conscience,” as she claimed in her tweet, did she really need to commit a crime in order to test that so-called conscience? This remains debatable, as she was – unequivocally – the executioner of the late Michel Mecattaf, and undeniably the one who caused his death.
In fact, from the case regarding Michel Mecattaf’s company to the dossier concerning Lebanese banks, the magistrate – although the title does not fit her – engaged in numerous excesses and unleashed tirades on social media – actions prohibited by law. She also repeatedly disregarded decisions made by her former hierarchical superior, Public Prosecutor of the Republic Ghassan Oueidate. The latter had decided to remove her from financial cases after she initiated lawsuits in spring 2021 against Michel Mecattaf and his company, falsely accusing them of illegally (according to her) transferring funds abroad at the end of 2019 – despite the legality of the company’s activities, which complied with local and international monetary rules and regulations. Furthermore, she seized documents and computers from the company and entrusted them to a reputed “praying mantis” known to be close to Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Furthermore, Ghada Aoun had unremorsefully turned a blind eye to the development of Hezbollah’s financial institution, al-Qard al-Hassan, with its opaque sources of funding, under various unconvincing pretexts, consistently diverting attention away from the Lebanese banking sector, which is governed by law and legal codes. Thus, Ms. Aoun would rather see the country succumb to the dictates of a pro-Iranian militia, instead of advocating for legitimate and lawful Lebanese banking institutions. The moral of the story: Ghada Aoun has – fortunately – failed to destroy two fundamental sectors of the country: the judiciary and the banking sector. Nevertheless, she will forever be notorious for her ludicrous prosecutions, conduct unworthy of her position, and neurotic tweets. Dear Ghada Aoun, it’s now our turn to congratulate you!

Justice Minister's Bureau: We will work within our powers to resolve every dispute that impacts judicial work's progress
NNA/June 9, 2024
The office of Caretaker Justice Minister, Henry Khoury, confirmed in an issued statement today that the Minister will work, within his powers, to resolve every dispute that affects the progress of judicial work. This comes in the wake of what is happening between the Public Prosecution of Cassation and the Public Prosecution of Appeal Courts.

The Judiciary in the Hands of a Supremacist Militia
Amine Jules Iskandar/This is Beirut/ 09 Jun 2024
As Lebanese society has grown indifferent to accusations of “collaboration with the Zionist enemy,” Hezbollah has shifted its focus to the new hot topic of the 2019 popular uprising: corruption. Every target it aims to undermine is now accused of this offense. Its political, media and legal apparatus promptly mobilizes to fabricate the necessary files to expedite its downfall. In an article published in December 2023, we highlighted the military tribunal’s use as a tool to silence any opposition to Hezbollah’s theocratic regime. Now, it appears that elements within some judicial bodies have also been co-opted into serving the Islamist, fascist and supremacist agenda of this militia.
From Takhuinism to Corruption
To subdue or compromise businessmen, persecution is carried out through the fabrication of corruption cases. Often mimicking takhuinism (accusation of treason) tactics, proof of innocence may ultimately be attested, and legal exoneration may be attained after several months. However, this extended timeframe is plenty enough to destroy the individual, their company or their institution. Such extended harassment can lead to the social, professional or even physical demise of the person, as was the case with Michel Mecattaf in March 2022. His company, once a major player in overseeing the flow of US dollars to and from Lebanon, has now been supplanted by the parallel and illicit network managed by Hezbollah and its affiliated mafias. The same pattern has been observed in other sectors of the food industry. Companies that once held a significant portion of the market in certain areas have collapsed, making way for the rise of new enterprises directly linked to Hezbollah. The process is consistent: every food company takes inventory of its stock to sort out expired products. These items are then isolated until they are disposed of. At this point, infiltrated employees alert the relevant ministry, which steps in to seize the goods, arrest the owner and close down the factory. The victim is defenseless against a meticulously coordinated effort involving undercover employees, ministry officials, law enforcement, Hezbollah-affiliated media and a justice system that is either loyal to or influenced by the party.
The Case of Wooden Bakery
On May 28, the owner of Wooden Bakery, Assaad Bou Habib, was arrested in similar circumstances: a sudden uncovering of allegedly expired wheat stockpiled at one of its branches in Bekaa. He was imprisoned for five days under inhumane and often life-threatening conditions, while law enforcement attempted to not only seal the relevant branch, but the entire company and its main factory. Different samples from every wheat category used by Wooden Bakery were sent to the laboratory for analysis and were confirmed to be clean. However, despite these findings, the prosecutor did not release the results after having publicly tarnished the company’s reputation, leading to a drop in its revenue. Such a stark contrast with the case of spoiled chocolate and cereals seized in the southern region during that same week, where the offenders escaped scrutiny and their identities were kept anonymous. What a stark contrast with the case of the forged signature by Minister Mohammad Fneich’s brother. This forgery used to dispose of unlicensed medications on the market went with zero consequences. Yet again, what a stark contrast with the case of the missing newly printed fiscal stamps by a State that couldn’t care less about their whereabouts.
Market Monopoly
Through such operations, the chicken market and other food products have managed to fall into the hands of Hezbollah-affiliated families. Likewise, the pro-Iranian party has gained control over American dollar transactions across Lebanon. Unless there’s a serious awakening and a coordinated, effective response, bread will be next in line. In the absence of such action, a businessman or company unaffiliated with Hezbollah will no longer take the risk to invest in Lebanon. Before going after Assaad Bou Habib’s bakery, Hezbollah’s apparatus zeroed in on Paul Mansour’s flour mills. Moreover, a significant number of businesses operating legitimately across various sectors such as marble, ceramics, iron and ready-to-wear have already closed down due to unfair competition from Hezbollah supporters, who are exempt from taxes, social charges and customs fees. Hezbollah is not solely focused on instigating a geographical and demographic transformation in Lebanon, but even more so, on triggering a cultural and economic shift. By stifling any prospects of developing or sustaining business activity in Lebanon, Hezbollah is eradicating job opportunities and forcing the youth to immigrate. The Shiite party is consolidating its dominance across all sectors of the economy, education, healthcare, finance and justice, undermining all existing structures in favor of its parallel system.
Post 2019 Revolution
The takhuinism tactic accusations are effective when it comes to putting sovereign figures behind bars. On the other hand, it has become less effective in socially ostracizing them through slander and dishonor. Since 2019, the political awakening that has arisen built a barrier against such accusations, which are currently being mocked. Meanwhile, the 2019 Revolution instilled a deep aversion to any form of corruption. As such, Hezbollah’s media-legal apparatus shifted its focus on this new reality. In this context, every accusation of corruption stirred up by its media outlets is swiftly echoed across all platforms, including those of the opposition. As such, the latter is inadvertently contributing to the humiliation and isolation of the victim, who will fall and surrender, handing over another sector of the economy into the hands of the Islamist, fascist and totalitarian regime, whose sectarian dominance has become blatant. Oftentimes, the fact that the chosen target – who will become the prey and the victim – is at the helm of an empire, will guarantee the downfall operation’s optimum profit. This media-judicial-mafia apparatus orchestrates these actions at carefully spaced intervals, targeting one victim at a time to avoid arousing suspicion and thwarting any potential solidarity. It has gone after the “Zionists,” but elicited no reaction, as they were not Zionists. It targeted the “ultra-conservative Christians,” yet no one reacted as they were not ultra-conservative. It caused the demise of the “super-rich,” but no reaction either, as they are not super-rich. It lashed out at the “corrupt ones,” but again, no one reacted as they were not corrupt. Lebanon is dying due to the overall collective apathy.

A Conditional Revaluation of Stocks and Fixed Assets
Liliane Mokbel/This is Beirut/ 09 Jun 2024
Economic organisms are urging MPs to promptly discuss and approve amendments to Article 45 of the income tax law. The amendments grant companies an “exceptional” authorization to revalue their inventory and fixed assets, and to manage exchange rate differences from foreign currency receivables and accounts. They can either recognize gains or losses immediately in taxable income or spread them over several fiscal years to ease the impact on financial results of a single period. According to economic organisms, the amendments to Article 45 of the income tax law were included in the 2024 budget proposal. However, they were inadvertently neither discussed nor voted on by the Parliament in plenary session. In this context, an exceptional authorization to revalue their inventory and fixed assets would allow private sector companies to avoid “astronomical and undue” tax burdens caused by price inflation and the dramatic devaluation of the Lebanese pound. It would also help ensure their sustainability and that of their employees.
The Update of the Prices of Stocks
Revaluation is the accounting operation that allows a company to update the value of its inventory and fixed assets listed in its balance sheet, meaning to replace their book value with their market value or fair value. In this respect, it’s worth mentioning that the revaluation surplus corresponds to the excess between the current value of an asset and its net book value. Revaluing inventory and fixed assets in the current multidimensional crisis, where the Lebanese pound has depreciated by 98%, is crucial for ensuring the accuracy of company financial statements, managing replacement costs effectively, adhering to accounting principles of prudence and matching, and adopting sound risk management strategies and tax obligations.
Tax and Accounting
The tax rationale lies in the fact that fluctuations in the value of inventory, whether positive or negative, impact a company’s “reported profits” and consequently, its tax liabilities. From an accounting standpoint, ensuring a more precise alignment between costs and revenues in financial statements requires inventory to be evaluated based on its current cost or market value.
Replacement Costs
As for replacement costs, if a company imports goods or raw materials, the devaluation of the Lebanese pound means that these imports have become pricier in local currency terms. Consequently, the replacement cost of current inventory will increase. Similarly, future selling prices will rise due to imported inflation, requiring a reassessment of stocks to reflect the new cost reality.
Judicial Audit
Some observers fear that the revaluation of stocks and assets may be diverted from its initial purpose and used for tax evasion or to conceal abuses perpetrated by certain economic key players, within the framework of state subsidies for the pound’s exchange rate or the purchase of specific consumer products. To address this concern, they demand the inclusion of the requirement to implement Law 240 of 16/7/2021 into the amendments to Article 45 of the tax law. This law mandates a judicial audit of the accounts of those who have received state subsidies.

Franjieh: If we are to continue with the theory of President Aoun & FPM, then Lebanese Forces Chief ought to be their natural candidate for...
NNA/June 9, 2024
Head of the “Marada” Movement, Sleiman Franjieh, considered that “being Christians means preserving the free economic system and restoring confidence in the banking sector,” and “to be Christians in Lebanon implies being Lebanese who give and sacrifice for Lebanon, and if Lebanon is in danger, we will all be Lebanese, united and with one heart...”In his address today marking the 46th commemoration of the Ehden massacre on June 13, 1978, Franjieh said: “In the history of the First Republic, the Maronites gave Lebanon the best figures for the Presidency of the Republic, Bshara El-Khoury, Camille Chamoun, Fouad Chehab, Sleiman Franjieh...and during their reign, Lebanon was prosperous and witnessed its golden age.”He recalled that former President Sleiman Franjieh was not the strongest Christian in the late sixties, nor did he enjoy a popular majority at that time like Sheikh Pierre Gemayel and President Chamoun. However, despite that fact, members of the Parliament Council back then elected Sleiman Franjieh as President of the Republic, as he explained. Franjieh continued to indicate that after the Taif Agreement, the concept of the Presidency of the Republic changed and so did the nature of the system, whereby the president became more of an arbiter than the actual head of the executive authority, and a large portion of Christians complained about the decline in the role of the president and his ability to influence the political system.
He went on to explain that after 2005, the team of former President Michel Aoun put forward an equation which implied that the President of the Republic must be the one with most representation among the Christians, similar to the Parliament Speaker who represents the Shiites the most and the Prime Minister who represents the Sunnis the most... “This equation was translated in 2014 in the meeting in Bkirki, in which I participated...I had clear and frank observations in characterizing and classifying the strong president, yet despite that, I agreed so that it would not be said that I stood against consensus and harmony,” Franjieh explained. At this current stage, Franjieh considered that if we were to comply with such a formula and the logic of President Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement, then the Lebanese Forces Chief Samir Geagea ought to be FPM’s natural candidate for presidency.

Hariri marking ISF's Day: First line of defense for the law
NNA/June 9, 2024
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, on Sunday, congratulated the Internal Security Forces on the occasion of their 163rd anniversary, where he wrote on his platform “X” account: “Congratulations to the Internal Security Forces in the person of its director, officers and members, marking ISF’s 163rd anniversary...You were and still are the first line of defense for the law, protecting the youth from the scourge of drugs and citizens from theft and murder...All of Lebanon will remember your confrontation of the espionage and terrorism networks, in which you have shed precious blood...”

Ghada Ayoub to Lebanese government: For compensating innocent, defenseless civilians
NNA/June 9, 2024
Member of the "Strong Republic" Parliamentary Bloc, MP Ghada Ayoub, wrote today on her social media account: “In the name of the Lebanese people, and as representatives of the entire nation, we submitted a question to the Lebanese government about the legality of its decision to pay aid worth $20,000 to the families of martyred combat fighters from the pockets of the Lebanese (budget reserve), resulting from a war decision to support Gaza and Hamas that it did not take as stipulated in Article 65 of the Lebanese Constitution...while emphasizing the necessity of solely compensating innocent and defenseless civilians.”

Nayla Tueni wins the “International Women’s Champion” award for courage, press freedom & women’s rights
NNA/June 9, 2024
The International Women's Foundation announced that Ms. Nayla Tueni, President of the An-Nahar Group, has won the "Global Women's Champion" award, which is on the agenda of the upcoming "Global Women's Davos" on June 20 in Cannes, France. The Foundation said that Tueni, “a well-known Lebanese journalist and politician, is being honored in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of journalism, freedom of the press, and her tireless defense of women’s rights and equality.” “As CEO and editor-in-chief of the prestigious Arabic-language newspaper An-Nahar, she was a fearless voice in the pursuit of truth and justice, and her steadfast commitment to freedom of the press and her courageous stance against corruption made her a symbol of hope and empowerment for women in the Middle East region,” the Foundation underlined. Following the award presentation, Tueni will join Ayati Dashkar, a youth leader at the International Women’s Foundation and the Queendom Metaverse Foundation, in an open dialogue that explores the topic of creativity as a force for good and equality for women and girls in a new and bold way. The awards ceremony will be held at "Canopy by Hilton Cannes" in conjunction with the "Cannes Lions of Creativity Festival", and the event is expected to attract 300 delegates from 20 countries, highlighting the pivotal role of women in steering a bold path towards equality.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 09-10/2024
No Word from White House on Whether Biden to Meet Netanyahu in Washington
Asharq Al Awsat/June 09/2024
The White House declined to say on Sunday whether President Joe Biden will meet Benjamin Netanyahu when the Israeli prime minister visits Washington next month to address the US Congress. "I don't have anything to announce today," Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation," adding the two men were in regular communication. "He's coming to address the Congress. The president talks to him all the time," Sullivan said. Netanyahu is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on July 24. Biden has been a staunch supporter of Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza, but there have been tensions between the two men over how Israel is conducting the war. Biden, who is running for re-election in November, has faced criticism over his support for Israel from his left-leaning political base as the Palestinian death toll mounts from Israel's assault. Sullivan said he hoped a ceasefire and hostage deal would be in place that by the time Netanyahu came to Washington. Hamas must simply say "yes" to the proposal on the table, he said. Biden, who returns to the United States from France later on Sunday, has welcomed the rescue by Israeli forces of four hostages held by Hamas and vowed to keep working until all hostages were released and a ceasefire achieved.

Sullivan says ‘innocent people were killed’ in Israeli rescue operation
Lauren Sforza/The Hill/June 9, 2024
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed that “innocent people were killed” in the Israeli military operation that rescued four hostages over the weekend. The Israeli military said it rescued four hostages in a special operation in central Gaza on Saturday. CNN’s Dana Bash asked Sullivan on “State of the Union” whether the U.S. can confirm how many people were killed in the operation, noting that two separate hospitals in the area said at least 236 people were reportedly killed. Sullivan explained that the Gaza Health Ministry and the Israeli military have put out differing numbers and that the U.S. could not confirm how many casualties there were. “We, the United States, are not in a position today to make a definitive statement about that. The Israeli defense forces have put out one number. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has put out another number,” he said. “But we do know this, Dana. Innocent people were tragically killed in this operation. The exact number we don’t know, but innocent people were killed. And that is heartbreaking. That is tragic,” he added. He said that the Biden administration would prefer a cease-fire deal to get hostages home instead of military operations. He said Biden “thinks the best way to get all of the hostages home is in a deal where they’re brought out diplomatically, where there’s no need for military operations to get every last hostage out.” “In the absence of that, without Hamas saying yes to the deal, unfortunately, we are going to continue to see ongoing conflict and military operations in which Israel makes efforts to recover its citizens and, frankly, to recover American citizens. What we would much prefer to see is a cease-fire where the hostages come out peacefully,” he added. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday that at least 274 Palestinians were killed in the operation, and another 700 were wounded. The ministry also said that at least 37,000 have been killed in the ongoing fighting since the war began after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Sullivan also said Sunday that the U.S. was not militarily involved in the Israeli hostage rescue mission. “Well, the one thing I can say is that there were no U.S. forces, no U.S. boots on the ground involved in this operation. We did not participate militarily in this operation,” he said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Hamas Armed Wing Says 3 Hostages Were Killed in Israeli Operation in Gaza
Asharq Al Awsat/June 09/2024
Hamas' armed al-Qassam Brigades said in a video posted on its Telegram channel on Sunday that three hostages were killed, including a US citizen, in an Israeli military operation on Saturday in which some hostages were freed. The group did not release the names of those said to be killed, but the video showed what appeared to be three unidentifiable corpses using censor bars over their faces. "Your captives will not be released unless our prisoners are freed," the video added. Israel rescued four hostages held by Hamas in a hostage-freeing operation in central Gaza's al-Nuseirat on Saturday which killed 274 Palestinians. A Hamas assertion on Saturday that some hostages were killed in the operation was dismissed shortly afterwards as a "blatant lie" by an Israeli military spokesman. The Palestinian death toll is the worst over a 24-hour period of the Gaza war for months and including many women and children, Palestinian medics said.

Israel Keeps Pounding Central Gaza as Palestinian Death Toll in Hostage Rescue Raid Rises to 274
Asharq Al Awsat/June 09/2024
Israeli forces pounded central Gaza anew on Sunday, a day after killing 274 Palestinians during a hostage rescue raid, and tanks advanced further into Rafah in an apparent bid to seal off part of the southern city, residents and Hamas media said. Palestinians remained in shock over Saturday's death toll, the worst over a 24-hour period of the Gaza war for months and including many women and children, Palestinian medics said. In an update on Sunday, Gaza's health ministry said 274 Palestinians were killed - up from 210 it reported on Saturday - and 698 were injured when Israeli special force commandos stormed into the densely populated Al-Nuseirat camp to rescue four hostages held since October by Hamas militants. Sixty-four of the dead were children and 57 were women, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Sunday. Israel's military said a special forces officer was killed in exchanges of fire with militants emerging from cover in residential blocks, and that it knew of "under 100" Palestinians killed, though not how many of them were fighters or civilians. Hamas' armed wing said on Sunday three Israeli hostages, including one with US citizenship, were killed during the raid, but provided no names. It released a video of what appeared to be corpses with censor bars obscuring their faces. A Hamas assertion on Saturday that some hostages had died was rejected as "a blatant lie" by the Israeli military. Gaza's health ministry said another 798 Palestinians were injured in the Israeli raid, and one of them, 4-year-old Tawfiq Abu Youssef, was in critical condition when visited in hospital on Sunday by his father Raed. The boy was first thought to have died before he moved his hand slightly while in the arms of a relative rushing him to hospital - captured in a video that went viral on social media. "I had already dug his grave," his father told Reuters, adding that most members of his extended family were among those killed in the raid.
MORE AIRSTRIKES IN CENTRAL GAZA
In central Gaza on Sunday, Israeli airstrikes on houses in the city of Deir Al-Balah and in the nearby Al-Bureij refugee camp killed three Palestinians in each location, while tanks shelled parts of Al-Nuseirat and Al-Maghazi camps, medics said. The Israeli military said in a statement its forces were continuing operations east of Al-Bureij and Deir al-Balah, killing a number of Palestinian gunmen and destroying militant infrastructure. Israel sent forces into Rafah in May in what it called a mission to wipe out Hamas' last intact combat units after eight months of war, in which Israeli forces have bombed much of the rest of Gaza to rubble while advancing against fierce resistance from militants embedded in crowded cities and built-up camps. Israeli tank forces have since seized Gaza's entire border strip with Egypt running through Rafah to the Mediterranean coast and invaded many districts of the city of 280,000 residents, prompting around one million displaced people who had been sheltering in Rafah to flee elsewhere.
ISRAELI TANKS ADVANCE FURTHER IN RAFAH
On Sunday, tanks advanced into two new districts in an apparent effort to complete the encirclement of the entire eastern side of Rafah, touching off clashes with dug-in Hamas-led armed groups, according to residents trapped in their homes. Palestinian medics said an Israeli airstrike on a house in Tel Al-Sultan in western Rafah killed two people. The Israeli military said troops of its 162nd division were raiding some districts of Rafah where they had located "numerous additional terror tunnel shafts, mortars, and (other) weapons" belonging to Palestinian Islamist militants. Hamas precipitated the war with a lightning cross-border attack into Israel last Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. About half the hostages were freed during a brief November truce. Israel's ensuing air and ground war in Gaza has killed at least 37,084 Palestinians, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said in its Sunday update. The ministry says thousands more dead are feared buried under the rubble. Attempts by the United States and regional countries to broker a deal that would release all remaining hostages in return for a ceasefire have repeatedly stumbled on Israeli and Hamas intransigence over terms for an end to the war.A humanitarian catastrophe has unfolded as the war has dragged on, with over three-quarters of Gaza's 2.3 million population displaced, malnutrition widespread and basic infrastructure in ruins. Gaza's conflict has destabilized the wider Middle East, drawing in Hamas' main supporter Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, which has been clashing with Israel along its northern border for months, raising fears of all-out war. Concern about an escalation in Israeli-Hezbollah hostilities and a sharp decline in expectations of a Gaza ceasefire have weakened Israel's shekel currency by 3% to 3.75 to the dollar since June 4.

Gaza's Health Ministry says 274 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raid that rescued 4 hostages
Wafaa Shurafa And Samy Magdy/DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP)/June 9, 2024
At least 274 Palestinians, including dozens of children, were killed, and hundreds more were wounded, in the Israeli raid that rescued four hostages held by Hamas, Gaza's Health Ministry said Sunday. The Israeli military said its forces came under heavy fire during the complex daytime operation deep in central Gaza. The killing of so many Palestinians, in a raid that Israelis celebrated as a stunning success because all four hostages were rescued, showed the heavy cost of such operations on top of the already soaring toll of the 8-month-old war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The operation in Nuseirat, a built-up refugee camp dating to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, was the largest rescue since Oct. 7, when Hamas and other militants stormed across the border, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostage. Scores of hostages are believed to be held in densely populated areas or inside Hamas’ labyrinth of tunnels, making rescues extremely complex and risky. A raid in February freed two hostages while leaving 74 Palestinians dead. Israel's massive offensive has killed over 36,700 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. It said 64 children and 57 women were killed in the latest raid, and 153 children and 161 women were among the nearly 700 wounded.
SCENES OF HORROR AT GAZA HOSPITAL
In Gaza, medics described scenes of chaos after the raid. Overwhelmed hospitals were already struggling to treat the wounded from days of heavy Israeli strikes in the area. “We had the gamut of war wounds, trauma wounds, from amputations to eviscerations to trauma, to TBIs (traumatic brain injuries), fractures and, obviously, big burns,” said Karin Huster of Doctors Without Borders, an international charity working in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. “Kids completely gray or white from the shock, burnt, screaming for their parents. Many of them are not screaming because they are in shock.”The Israeli military said it had attacked “threats to our forces in the area,” and that a special forces officer was killed in the operation. Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Saturday the hostages were held in two apartments about 200 meters (219 yards) apart. He said the forces moved in simultaneously on both. Rescuers came under heavy fire as they moved out, including from gunmen firing rocket-propelled grenades, he added, and the military responded with heavy force, including from aircraft. Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz lashed out at critics of the operation in a post on X, saying “only Israel’s enemies complained about the casualties of Hamas terrorists and their accomplices.” Inside Israel, local media have focused heavily on the Israeli toll, the hostages and military efforts with relatively little coverage of the situation for Palestinians inside Gaza.
‘MY BROTHER DIED OF GRIEF’
Israelis celebrated the return of Noa Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan, 22; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 41. Argamani was one of the most widely recognized hostages after being taken, like the three others, from a music festival. Her mother, Liora, who has late-stage brain cancer, had released a video pleading to see her. Argamani’s father told Army Radio the reunion with her mother “very difficult” as Liora was “just unable to express her feelings and could not say what she was really waiting to say to Noa.”Meir Jan’s aunt, Dina, said his father had died Friday, hours before the operation. “My brother died of grief,” she told Israel’s Kan public broadcaster. Dr. Itai Pessach at Sheba Hospital, where the freed captives were being treated, said none had serious physical injuries and it would likely be days before they could be discharged. They have lost friends and family, and staff "have been assisting them in rebuilding the infrastructure of their life,” he told reporters. About 120 hostages remain, with 43 pronounced dead, after about half were released in a weeklong cease-fire in November. Israeli troops have recovered the bodies of at least 16, according to the government. Survivors include about 15 women, two children under 5 and two men in their 80s. But Hagari on Saturday acknowledged that the military can’t carry out operations to rescue everyone.
WHAT LIES AHEAD
The latest rescue has lifted spirits in Israel as divisions deepen over the best way to bring hostages home. Many Israelis urge Netanyahu to embrace a cease-fire deal U.S. President Joe Biden announced last month, but far-right allies threaten to collapse his government if he does. Hours after the rescue, thousands of Israelis again gathered to protest the government and call for a deal. Benny Gantz, a popular centrist member of Israel’s three-member War Cabinet who had threatened to resign from the government if it didn’t adopt a new plan by Saturday for the war, was set to speak later Sunday. Netanyahu on Saturday urged him not to step down. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to the Middle East this week, seeking a breakthrough in cease-fire efforts. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN that mediators Egypt and Qatar had not received official word from Hamas on the proposed deal. In a separate interview with CBS, Sullivan didn't say whether Biden would meet Netanyahu when he comes to Washington next month to address Congress. International pressure is mounting on Israel to limit civilian bloodshed in its war in Gaza. Palestinians also face widespread hunger because fighting and Israeli restrictions have largely cut off the flow of aid.

Centrist Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war Cabinet, resigns over lack of plans for postwar Gaza
Melanie Lidman/JERUSALEM (AP)/June 9, 2024
Benny Gantz, a centrist member of Israel’s three-man war Cabinet, announced his resignation on Sunday. The move does not immediately pose a threat to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who still controls a majority coalition in parliament. But the Israeli leader becomes more heavily reliant on his far-right allies. Gantz said that Netanyahu is making “total victory impossible” and that the government needs to put the return of the hostages seized Oct. 7 by Hamas "above political survival.”The popular former military chief joined Netanyahu’s government shortly after the Hamas attack in a show of unity. His presence also boosted Israel’s credibility with its international partners. Gantz has good working relations with U.S. officials. Gantz had previously said he would leave the government by June 8 if Netanyahu did not formulate a new plan for postwar Gaza. He scrapped a planned news conference Saturday night after four Israelihostages were dramatically rescued from Gaza earlier in the day in Israel’s largest such operation since the eight-month war began. At least 274 Palestinians, including children, were killed in the assault, Gaza health officials said.

Aid delivered to Gaza from newly repaired US-built pier
Associated Press/June 9, 2024
The first aid from an American-built pier arrived in Gaza on Saturday since storm damage required repairs to the project, the U.S. military said, relaunching an effort to bring supplies to Palestinians by sea that had been plagued with problems. The pier constructed by the U.S. military was operational for only about a week before it was blown apart in high winds and heavy seas on May 25. A damaged section was reconnected to the beach in Gaza on Friday after being repaired at an Israeli port. About 1.1 million pounds (492 metric tons) of humanitarian aid was delivered to Gaza through the pier on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. It reiterated that no U.S. military personnel went ashore in Gaza. The U.S. Agency for International Development works with the U.N. World Food Program and their humanitarian partners in Gaza to distribute food and other aid coming from the U.S.-operated pier. The deliveries came the same day that Israel mounted a heavy air and ground assault that rescued four captives, who had been taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack that launched the war in Gaza. At least 210 Palestinians, including children, were killed, a Gaza health official said. Pushing back against social media claims, U.S. Central Command said in a tweet that neither the pier nor any of its equipment, personnel or other assets were used in the Israeli operation. It noted that Israel used an area south of the pier "to safely return hostages." "The temporary pier on the coast of Gaza was put in place for one purpose only, to help move additional, urgently needed lifesaving assistance into Gaza," the U.S. military said. USAID said in a separate statement that no humanitarian workers were involved in the Israeli operation. "Humanitarian aid workers in Gaza are operating in extremely difficult and insecure conditions and must be protected," the agency said by email. "Aid workers operate under the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence."
The movement of aid through the pier brings back online one way to get desperately needed food and other emergency supplies to Palestinians trapped by the eight-month-old Israel-Hamas war. Israeli restrictions on land crossings, and fighting, have greatly limited the flow of food and other vital supplies into the territory. The damage to the pier had been the latest stumbling block for the project and the persistent struggle to get food to starving Palestinians. Three U.S. service members were injured, one critically, and four vessels were beached due to heavy seas. Early efforts to get aid from the pier into the Gaza Strip also were disrupted as crowds overran a convoy of trucks that aid agencies were using to transport the food, stripping the cargo from many of them before they could reach a U.N. warehouse. Officials responded by altering the travel routes, and aid began reaching those in need. Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters on Friday that the lessons learned from that initial week of operations made him confident greater amounts of aid could be delivered now. He said the goal was to get to 1 million pounds of food and other supplies moving through the pier into Gaza every two days. To date, about 3.5 million pounds of humanitarian aid has been delivered through the maritime route, Central Command said Saturday. Relief agencies have pressed Israel to reopen land routes that could bring in all the needed aid. Israel says it has allowed hundreds of trucks to enter through a southern checkpoint and pointed the finger at the U.N. for not distributing aid. The U.N. says it is often unable to retrieve the aid because of the security situation. U.N. agencies have warned that over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by the middle of next month if hostilities continue. President Joe Biden's administration has said from the start that the pier wasn't meant to be a total solution and that any amount of aid helps. Biden, a Democrat, announced his plan for the U.S. military to build a pier during his State of the Union address in early March, and the military said it would take about 60 days to get it installed and operational. It took a bit longer than planned, with the first trucks carrying aid for the Gaza Strip rolling down the pier on May 17. The initial cost was estimated at $320 million, but the Pentagon said this past week that the price had dropped to $230 million, due to contributions from Britain and because the cost of contracting trucks and other equipment was less than expected.

Yemen Houthi rebels claim latest attack on cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden
Jon Gambrell/MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) /June 9, 2024
A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels hit an Antigua- and Barbuda-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, the latest assault on shipping in the region. The missile hit the ship's forward station late Saturday, starting a fire that those on board later put out, the private security firm Ambrey said. A second missile fired at the ship missed and people “on board small boats in the vicinity opened fire on the ship during the incident,” Ambrey added, though no one was hurt onboard. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center similarly reported the attack and fire in the same area off Aden, saying “damage control is underway." Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack in a prerecorded video message Sunday, saying the vessel had been targeted with both missiles and drones. He identified the vessel as the Norderney, a ship that tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed was still in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday afternoon. Saree also claimed unreported attacks on a warship and another vessel in the Arabian Sea, without providing any evidence to support his claim. The Houthis have exaggerated some of their attacks since launching their campaign.
The Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital nearly a decade ago and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since shortly after, have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. They say the attacks are aimed at stopping the war and supporting the Palestinians, though the attacks often target vessels that have nothing to do with the conflict. The war in Gaza has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians there, while hundreds of others have been killed in Israeli operations in the West Bank. It began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage. The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, killed three sailors, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. A U.S.-led airstrike campaign has targeted the Houthis since January, with a series of strikes May 30 killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, the rebels say. But while gaining more attention internationally, the secretive group has cracked down at dissent at home. Eleven Yemeni employees of United Nations agencies and others working for aid groups have been detained by the Houthis under unclear circumstances, as the rebels face increasing financial pressure and airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition. The rebels also recently sentenced 44 people to death.

Iran OKs 6 candidates for presidential race, but again blocks Ahmadinejad
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/June 9, 2024
Iran’s Guardian Council on Sunday approved the country’s hard-line parliament speaker and five others to run in the country’s June 28 presidential election following a helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others. The council again barred former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a firebrand populist known for the crackdown that followed his disputed 2009 re-election, from running. The council’s decision represents the starting gun for a shortened, two-week campaign to replace Raisi, a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once floated as a possible successor for the 85-year-old cleric. The selection of candidates approved by the Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists ultimately overseen by Khamenei, suggests Iran’s Shiite theocracy hopes to ease the election through after recent votes saw record-low turnout and as tensions remain high over the country’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, as well as the Israel-Hamas war. The Guardian Council also continued its streak of not accepting a woman or anyone calling for radical change to the country’s governance. The campaign will likely include live, televised debates on Iran’s state-run broadcaster. Candidates also advertise on billboards and offer stump speeches to back their bids. So far, none of them has offered any specifics, though all have promised a better economic situation for the country as it suffers from sanctions by the U.S. and other Western nations over its nuclear program, which now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Such matters of state remain the final decision of Khamenei, but presidents in the past have leaned either toward engagement or confrontation with the West over it. The most prominent candidate remains Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, 62, a former Tehran mayor with close ties to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. However, many remember that Qalibaf, as a former Guard general, was part of a violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999. He also reportedly ordered live gunfire to be used against students in 2003 while serving as the country’s police chief. Qalibaf ran unsuccessfully for president in 2005 and 2013. He withdrew from the 2017 presidential campaign to support Raisi in his first failed presidential bid. Raisi won the 2021 election, which had the lowest turnout ever for a presidential vote in Iran, after every major opponent found themselves disqualified.
Khamenei gave a speech last week alluding to qualities that Qalibaf’s supporters have highlighted as potentially signaling the supreme leader’s support for the speaker.
Yet Qalibaf’s role in crackdowns may be viewed differently after years of unrest that have gripped Iran, both over its ailing economy and the mass protests sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf, or hijab, to the liking of security forces. Other candidates include Saeed Jalili, former Jalili, former senior nuclear negotiator, who ran in 2013, and registered in 2021 before withdrawing to back Raisi. Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani also withdrew in 2021 to back Raisi. Mostafa Pourmohammadi is a former minister of justice. Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Raisi’s vice president, ran in the 2021 presidential elections and came in last with just under 1 million votes. Masoud Pezeshkian is the only reformist candidate among a slate of hardliners, and is not seen as having much chance.
The Guardian Council disqualified Ahmadinejad, the firebrand, Holocaust-questioning former president. Ahmadinejad increasingly challenged Khamenei toward the end of his term and is remembered for the bloody crackdown on the 2009 Green Movement protests. He was also disqualified in the last election by the panel. It also blocked former speaker of parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a conservative with strong ties to Iran’s former relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani. It was the second election in a row in which Larinjani was barred from running. Former Iranian Central Bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati, who ran in 2021, and Eshaq Jahangiri, who served as vice president under moderate President Hassan Rouhani, were also disqualified. The election comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West over its arming of Russia in that country’s war on Ukraine. Its support of militia proxy forces throughout the wider Middle East has been increasingly in the spotlight as Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack ships in the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others were killed in the May 19 helicopter crash in the far northwest of Iran. Investigations are continuing, though authorities say there’s no immediate sign of foul play in the crash on a cloud-covered mountainside. Raisi was the second Iranian president to die in office. In 1981, a bomb blast killed President Mohammad Ali Rajai in the chaotic days after the country’s Islamic Revolution.

Iran helicopter crash shows Tehran's reliance on an aging fleet as well as its challenges at home
JON GAMBRELL/DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/June 9, 2024
By the time Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi boarded his window seat on a helicopter ferrying him, the foreign minister and six others, thick clouds already had begun forming around the mountaintops along the Azerbaijan-Iran border. Despite the worsening weather, the helicopter lifted off for a trip about 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest to a new oil pipeline near Tabriz. Within an hour, the Bell 212 helicopter had crashed into a cloud-covered mountainside. While the cause of the May 19 crash remains unknown, the sudden death of the hard-line protégé of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exposed the contradictions and challenges facing the country's Shiite theocracy. The Iranian military investigators probing the crash have previously faced international criticism over their report on troops shooting down a Ukrainian airliner in 2020. The hourslong desperate rescue attempt after the helicopter crash saw Tehran even reach out to the United States for help, just weeks after launching an unprecedented attack on Israel and as it enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Even the type of helicopter that crashed links back to Iranian history, both before and after the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“Iran is a culture of dualities,” said Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near-East Policy who studies Iran's military. “Some aspects, they seem so good and well-managed, well-oiled and very capable. ... In many levels, it's quite lacking.”Iranian military investigators have released two statements on the crash, largely ruling out possibilities rather than offering a suspected cause. They've rejected the possibility of an onboard “explosion caused by sabotage" or a “cyberattack” targeting the Bell 212, a two-blade, twin-engine helicopter more widely known as the Huey for its use by the U.S. military in the Vietnam War.
“The recorded conversations between the flight crew show that the last contact with the pilots up to the time of the incident and when they stopped responding lasted 69 seconds,” the investigators said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. “No emergency declaration was recorded during that time.”In conspiracy-minded Iran, some officials still insist foul play could have caused the crash. However, some other officials have begun to ask why the helicopter took off from the site of the new Giz Galasi Dam when the weather had started to turn.Mostafa Mirsalim, a member of the country's Expediency Council, wrote on the social platform X that he had asked prosecutors to “address the mistakes that led to the loss of the president and his delegation,” without elaborating. Abbas Abdi, a prominent journalist, also wrote on X that the flight path taken by Raisi's helicopter suggested the pilot didn't follow a standard Iranian practice of shadowing main roads in rural areas. That can both help navigation and provide a safe landing area in an emergency. Former Iranian Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Abolhassan Banisadr both survived helicopter crashes while in office.
The helicopter involved in the crash, nearly 30 years old, came directly from a Bell manufacturing plant in Montreal, Canada, to the Iranian air force, according to data from the firm Cirium. It counts 12 Bell 212 aircraft registered in Iran that are still in service.
Bell Textron Inc., based in Fort Worth, Texas, said it "does not conduct any business in Iran or support their helicopter fleet, and we do not have knowledge about the active state of the helicopter involved in this accident.”But despite being decades old, the Bell 212 and its military counterpart the Huey still are flown around the world. In the United States, Hueys still fly as part of America's nuclear forces to support its silos and for some VIP missions, said Roger D. Connor, an aeronautics curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Over 440 still fly worldwide, according to Cirium. “It’s a simple aircraft to fly by medium helicopter standards. It doesn’t typically have much automation which can have both positive and negative implications for operators,” Connor said. “More automation means more opportunities for pilot confusion in certain circumstances, but also better capabilities in low-visibility conditions.”Iran's use of the Bell 212 remains pervasive, in part due to the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who struck deals to purchase hundreds of the helicopters and had plans to build a local variant, Nadimi said. Those already in the country at the time of the Islamic Revolution ended up being a key component of Iran's bloody war against Iraq in the 1980s. But as Western sanctions dried up the supply of parts, fewer of the aircraft were airworthy, despite efforts to locally overhaul them. That saw Iran engage in covert means to secure parts, sparking several U.S. criminal cases for those involved, who sought everything from safety equipment to full engines and night-vision goggles for the aircraft. Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sought to blame sanctions for the crash. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller responded by saying America was “not going to apologize for our sanctions regime at all” as Iran has used aircraft to “transport equipment to support terrorism.”“Ultimately, it’s the Iranian government that is responsible for the decision to fly a ... helicopter in what was described as poor weather conditions, not any other actor,” Miller said. Meanwhile, questions remain over why Iran couldn't find the helicopter for hours, even though one of the victims reportedly talked by cellphone with officials. Such calls, in theory, can be triangulated by security services. Also, it remains unclear if the helicopter had any emergency tracker, which are common on aircraft. While the investigation continues, Nadimi said he believed that the Bell 212 that flew Raisi did not have advanced avionics that could have been useful for low-visibility flight. However, he stressed that the major issue in the crash likely involves who allowed the flight to take off as the weather turned poor and whether the pilot faced pressure from his VIP passengers to make the journey no matter what. “Pilot error, human error might be to blame, but there was a chain of events that caused this crash, not just pilot error," Nadimi said. “That helicopter should have been able to clear that terrain and fly safely to its destination. They should not have been dispatched for flying.”

Seven Democrats who could replace Biden if he drops his 2024 reelection bid
John L. Dorman/Business Insider/June 09/2024
President Joe Biden's reelection bid has the strong backing of most elected Democrats.
Biden is committed to the race, but there's public speculation on whether he'll stay in the contest. In the unlikely event that Biden left the race, an array of Democrats would be in the mix to lead the party.After President Joe Biden announced his reelection bid last April, the vast majority of Democratic leaders coalesced around his candidacy, which wasn't surprising for an incumbent. But Biden has one of the most unusual backgrounds of any president in US history: He's been a fixture in Washington for more than 50 years as a Delaware senator, vice president, and now president. And if he's reelected to a second term this fall, he'd be 82 years old at the time of his inauguration in January 2025 and 86 at the end of a second term. Biden's age has become a cause of concern among many voters, including some who are inclined to back him over former President Donald Trump. The worries were amplified after the special counsel Robert Hur released his report on the probe into Biden's handling of classified documents, in which no charges were recommended, but the president's acuity and memory were questioned. Through it all, Biden has defended his reelection bid, argued that his age is an asset, pushed back against the special-counsel report, and articulated why he should be reelected — pointing to accomplishments such as the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act and touting the low national unemployment numbers. What does this all mean? Biden is unlikely to leave the race, especially as he dominated the Democratic presidential primaries and is committed to a rematch with Trump. But speculation about whether he'll bow out of the contest continues to swirl. In the event that Biden does somehow bow out after winning the overwhelming majority of the 3,936 delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination, a new nominee would have to be selected at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this August. But it'd be a messy process given that the primaries are now completed. Virtually every major Democratic governor or senator is behind the president's reelection bid and long ago dismissed the thought of replacing him on the ballot this year.
But who could be a Biden successor if such a scenario were to occur?
Vice President Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris
Harris, by many measures, would be a natural successor to Biden.
As vice president, she's worked closely with Biden on things as varied as voting rights and foreign policy. She was previously a San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, and California senator and is a historic figure in her own right as the first Black, Indian American, and female vice president. And she has become the face of the administration's challenge to the raft of GOP-crafted abortion restrictions following the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. But Harris previously launched a 2020 presidential bid that seemed promising but fell flat with voters over time. (She eventually ended her campaign before the start of the primaries and caucuses.) As vice president, Harris has been heavily praised by Biden. But her office struggled with turnover and reports of dysfunction earlier in her term. She has also had to contend with less-than-ideal approval ratings, which have raised concerns among some Democrats about her electability as the party also looks to 2028 — when she'd be a potential frontrunner, given her positive marks with Black voters and young voters.
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California
Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom wearing caps.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor who was also California's lieutenant governor, leads the most populated state in the country and, in recent years, has become one of Biden's most prominent Democratic surrogates. California is often used as a foil by national Republicans to contrast with the conservative policies of states such as Florida and Texas. But Newsom has been outspoken in not only promoting the Golden State but touting Democratic policy stances and legislative wins — and he's not afraid to take his arguments straight to the GOP. As governor, Newsom has taken on more moderate stances in recent years on issues involving labor and tackling homelessness in his state. Newsom's political trajectory could collide with that of Harris, his fellow Bay Area native, but they've long maintained a strong working relationship, and the governor has been highly complimentary of her work with Biden.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the two-term governor of battleground Michigan, is accustomed to tough political fights. And over the course of her governorship, she has won a lot of those battles: Democrats in recent years have performed strongly in the Wolverine State, holding every top statewide office and flipping control of the state legislature in the 2022 midterm elections. When Whitmer ran for reelection in 2022 against the Republican Tudor Dixon, she won by nearly 11 points, reflective of her broad appeal with the electorate in a state where the margins are often tight. This fall, Michigan is expected to be one of the closest states in the country in the presidential race. And Whitmer, a former state lawmaker and ex-prosecutor, is set to be a critical voice for the Biden campaign across Michigan. The governor has encouraged Biden to speak more forcefully about abortion rights, an issue that has galvanized many voters — but especially women — across the country after Roe was overturned. In a potential field without Biden, Whitmer's Midwestern background, strong alliance with organized labor, and moderate appeal could make her a strong contender. But she would also be a new face in a contest that will probably feature Trump on the GOP side.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who's served in the Senate since 2007, ran for president in 2020 and made a surprisingly strong finish in the New Hampshire primary — even outperforming Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at the time.But her campaign wasn't able to get the sort of momentum it needed in the South Carolina primary for her to continue her bid, and she exited the race. Still, Klobuchar would be a candidate to watch in an open field, as she boosted her national presence in the primary and could point to a long-standing record of bipartisan accomplishments representing Minnesota in the Senate.
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey
Sen. Cory Booker also ran for president in 2020, ending his campaign in January that year.But the former Newark mayor has been a national figure for years and is seen as a likely 2028 contender. He could easily jump-start a potential 2028 campaign in South Carolina, as he campaigned throughout the state in 2019 and 2020. In the scenario that Democrats would have to choose a candidate other than Biden, he would probably be a part of the conversation.
Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina
Gov. Roy Cooper isn't a big name among Democratic voters outside North Carolina, at least not yet. The former state lawmaker, onetime North Carolina attorney general, and current two-term governor rose through the ranks of government and, along the way, navigated political divides that would bedevil most politicians. In a GOP-leaning state where Democratic candidates have to compete on tricky terrain, Cooper, a moderate, has come out on top. Democrats have not tapped a Southern governor as their presidential nominee since Bill Clinton in 1992. Looking to the future, probably in 2028, Cooper is someone who's poised to be on the minds of many in the party.
Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland
Gov. Wes Moore, an Army veteran who's also a Rhodes Scholar, was first elected to the governorship in 2022. He has focused heavily on tackling issues such as child poverty and housing affordability, two of the most vexing public-policy challenges for leaders on both the state and federal levels. One of Moore's major pushes is to reshape how patriotism is defined in politics, as he told Business Insider during his first gubernatorial campaign that one party or movement couldn't claim the idea as their own.
"I refuse to let anybody try to wrestle that away," Moore told BI in an October 2022 interview, "or claim that they have a higher stake or some higher claim to it than I or my family or people who I served with or my community members." The governor, seen by many as a potential 2028 contender, has been a strong political ally of both Biden and Harris. While Moore may be relatively new to elective politics, his profile only continues to grow within the Democratic Party.
Correction: February 23, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated one of President Joe Biden's arguments for why he should be reelected. He has touted low national unemployment numbers, not low national employment numbers.

Ukraine says it struck a top fighter plane deep inside Russia
Susie Blann And Joanna Kozlowska/KYIV, Ukraine (AP) /June 9, 2024
Ukraine on Sunday said its forces hit an ultra-modern Russian warplane stationed on an air base nearly 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the front lines. The strike came shortly after its Western allies allowed Kyiv to use their weapons for limited strikes inside Russia. But it wasn't immediately clear what hit the airfield allegedly housing the twin-engine Su-57 stealth jet, lauded as Moscow's most advanced fighter plane. Its distance from Ukraine suggests it was most likely hit by drones. Kyiv’s main military intelligence service shared satellite photos it said showed the aftermath of the attack. If confirmed, it would mark Ukraine's first known successful strike on a Su-57. In one photo, black soot marks and small craters can be seen dotting a concrete strip around the parked aircraft. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, the strike took place on Saturday at the Akhtubinsk base in southern Russia, some 589 kilometers (366 miles) from the front line. The Ukrainian agency said that the plane, which is capable of carrying stealth missiles across hundreds of kilometers (miles), was among “a countable few” of its type in Moscow's arsenal. According to reports by Russian agencies, Moscow's air force obtained “more than 10” new Su-57s last year, and has placed an order for a total of 76 to be delivered by 2028. Ilya Yevlash, a spokesman for Ukraine's air force, told Ukrainian media in April that Moscow was trying to keep its Su-57 fleet “at a safe distance” from Ukrainian firepower.
The strike comes after the United States and Germany recently authorized Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they are supplying to Kyiv. Ukraine has already used U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia under newly approved guidance from President Joe Biden that allows American arms to be used for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. But the airstrip's distance from Ukraine, as well as unofficial comments from Russia, point to the likely use of Ukrainian-made drones. Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion more than two years ago, Kyiv has ramped up domestic drone production and used the munitions to strike deep inside Russia. In January, drones hit a gas terminal near St. Petersburg that lies over 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) north of the border. A popular pro-Kremlin Telegram channel, thought to be run by a retired Russian army pilot, claimed that three Ukrainian drones struck the Akhtubinsk airstrip on Saturday and that flying shrapnel damaged the jet. “It is now being determined whether it can be restored or not. If not, it would be the first combat loss of a Su-57 in history,” the Fighterbomber channel reported.
A military correspondent for Russia's state-run RIA news agency, Aleksandr Kharchenko, in a Telegram post Sunday denounced Moscow's failure to build hangars to protect its aircraft. But the post stopped short of directly acknowledging the strike.
Russia's so-called “military bloggers” like Fighterbomber are often seen as sources of information on military losses in the absence of an official Kremlin comment. Russia's Defense Ministry or senior political figures did not comment Sunday. The ministry on Saturday claimed its forces downed three Ukrainian drones in the Astrakhan region, home to the Akhtubinsk airstrip. Igor Babushkin, the governor of Astrakhan, that same day reported that Ukraine attempted to strike an unspecified facility there, but claimed the attack was unsuccessful. Russia's Su-57 fleet has been largely absent from the skies over Ukraine, and has instead been used to fire long-range missiles across the border. The U.K. Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence briefing last year that Russia is likely trying to avoid “reputational damage, reduced export prospects, and the compromise of sensitive technology" that would come from losing any Su-57 jets in enemy territory.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces kept up drone attacks on Russia's southern border regions, according to local Russian officials. Three drones hit Belgorod province late on Saturday, damaging a power line and blowing out windows but causing no casualties, said Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov. Another five drones and a Ukrainian-made missile were brought down over the region on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said. According to an update by Pepel (Ashes), a channel run by Belgorod journalists now based outside Russia, Ukrainian drones on Sunday afternoon struck an ammunition depot outside the town of Rakitnoye, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) from Ukraine. Footage circulating on social media showed thick plumes of smoke rising into the sky. In one video, a woman’s voice is heard, saying “I wonder if soldiers lived there?” Gladkov, the governor, did not directly comment on those claims, but confirmed that a blaze had broken out in a “non-residential building” near Rakitnoye. He said no one was hurt. Across Ukraine’s front-line provinces, Russian shelling killed at least three civilians and wounded at least nine others on Saturday and overnight, according to reports by regional officials. A man died and two women suffered wounds in the village of Khotimlya, east of Kharkiv, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. Shelling also damaged the local school, a council building, a shop and private homes, Syniehubov said. Heavy battles continued in the area as Ukrainian troops try to beat back Russia's invading forces after a weekslong push by Moscow that sparked fears for Kharkiv, located just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Russian border, and a wave of civilian evacuations. Russia’s coordinated new offensive has centered on the Kharkiv region, but seems to include testing Ukrainian defenses in Donetsk farther south, while also launching incursions in the northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions. The easing of restrictions on the use of Western weapons will help Ukraine protect Kharkiv by targeting Russian capabilities across the border, according to Ukrainian and Western officials. It is unclear what other impact it may have on the direction of the war, in what is proving to be a critical period. The move drew a furious response from Moscow, and warnings it could embroil NATO in a war with Russia. But Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, described it as “common sense.”“What was happening up around Kharkiv ... was a Russian offensive where they were moving from one side of the border directly to the other side of the border, and it simply didn’t make sense not to allow the Ukrainians to fire across that border, to hit Russian guns and emplacements that were firing at (them),” Sullivan said Sunday in an interview with CBS's “Face the Nation.”

4 arrests made at pro-Palestinian demonstration downtown: police
CBC/Sun, June 9, 2024
Toronto police say four people were arrested at a pro-Palestinian demonstration on Saturday.Officers were on scene at a demonstration in the area of University Avenue and Armoury Street at around 5:10 p.m. In a news release Sunday, police said four people who were attending the protest were taken into police custody. One of the four individuals was under a large flag being held up by demonstrators and was seen painting the roadway, the release said. "While officers were placing the suspect under arrest, other demonstrators attempted to prevent officers from making the arrest," police said. One person allegedly assaulted an officer during the arrest, according to the release. "Police learned that protestors were using a large flag to conceal that they were painting the street," police spokesperson Const. Laurie McCann said in an earlier a statement to CBC Toronto Saturday."When officers attempted to confiscate the flag, some protestors reacted aggressively and obstructed police." A 52-year-old Toronto woman was charged with mischief or damage to a property exceeding $5,000. A 28-year-old Toronto woman was charged with obstructing and assaulting a peace officer. A 25-year-old Niagara man was charged with obstructing a peace officer. A 31-year-old Brampton man was charged with obstructing a peace officer. According to a post on Instagram by group Toronto 4 Palestine, the protest was staged outside of the U.S. Consulate on University Avenue. Demonstrators were calling for an immediate ceasefire, in support of the thousands of protesters who circled the White House with a red banner Saturday, demanding that U.S. President Joe Biden enforces a "red line" in Gaza. All four accused are scheduled to appear in court on July 19.

Trudeau to Call Vote on Contentious Tax Change This Week
Christine Dobby/Bloomberg/June 9, 2024
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government will call for a vote this week on a planned hike in the capital-gains tax inclusion rate, a measure that would raise billions in additional government revenue and has attracted the ire of the business community. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will put forward a motion in the House of Commons on Monday, she said in a speech in Toronto on Sunday. The proposed reforms will follow the “broad outlines” that the government has previously announced, she said, including an implementation date of June 25 and no change to the exemption for gains on the sale of primary residences. “Tomorrow we will introduce changes that will result in a small number of Canadians paying a little more in tax,” Freeland said. The government said in April that it plans to increase the capital-gains tax on companies and individuals in years when they record gains of more than C$250,000 ($182,000). Currently, half of those gains are subject to corporate or personal income tax; that will rise to two-thirds. Exemptions and reductions are available for owners of certain small businesses, farms and fishing operations. The move has attracted widespread criticism from business groups, who argue it will hurt Canada’s ability to attract investment and worsen productivity woes. Trudeau said last month that the tax change is about asking the wealthy to contribute more to society. Freeland’s budget estimated the measure will raise almost C$20 billion in new tax revenue over five years — though that figure rests on the assumption that some investors will rush to sell assets by June 24. That’s the last day to realize a gain at the current lower tax rate.

At least 9 dead after suspected militants in Kashmir fire at Hindu pilgrims, sending bus into gorge
Shah Abbas/SRINAGAR, India (AP) /June 9, 2024
Suspected militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir's Jammu province fired at a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims on Sunday and at least nine were killed after the vehicle fell into a deep gorge, officials said. The bus was carrying pilgrims to the base camp of the famed Hindu temple Mata Vaishno Devi when it came under attack in the region's Reasi district, senior administrative officer Vishesh Mahajan said. A police officer said some of the victims had gunshot wounds and blamed the attack on Muslim militants who are fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which also left 33 others injured. The police officer spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters. Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmir’s independence or merger with neighboring Pakistan. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. New Delhi insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle.Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict. Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

French President Macron calls a snap legislative election after defeat in EU vote
PARIS (AP)/June 9, 2024
French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he was dissolving the National Assembly and calling a snap legislative election after his party suffered a heavy defeat in elections for the European Parliament. In an address to the nation from the Elysee presidential palace, Macron said: “I’ve decided to give you back the choice of our parliamentary future through the vote. I am therefore dissolving the National Assembly.” The vote will take place in two rounds on June 30 and July 7, he said. The move comes as first projected results from France on Sunday put the far-right National Rally party well ahead in the European Union’s parliamentary election, defeating Macron’s pro-European centrists, according to French opinion poll institutes.

Armenian archbishop calls four days of protests to seek ouster of PM
Mark Trevelyan/June 9, 2024
A large crowd protested in Armenia's capital Yerevan on Sunday against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, led by a Christian cleric who announced the start of four days of rallies to seek to drive him from office. Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is seeking to tap into popular anger over military defeats and territorial concessions to Azerbaijan, but Pashinyan has so far withstood the pressure. "For four days, we will stay in the streets and squares, and with our determination and will, we will achieve victory," said Galstanyan, who called on parliamentary factions to hold a special session on Tuesday to remove the government from power. A live video stream on YouTube showed thousands of people rallying in the centre of Yerevan and then marching peacefully through the streets with music blaring. There were no reports of arrests or clashes. After weeks of protests against Pashinyan appeared to be losing momentum, Galstanyan is attempting to bring matters to a head with demands for a change of power within days. He is calling for the appointment of a transitional government to "implement reconciliation", manage foreign relations and prepare for snap elections. But Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center in Yerevan, said the move smacked of desperation in the face of waning protest numbers. The archbishop's campaign was hampered by a lack of political experience and the absence of a clear strategy or alternative vision, he said. The demonstrations, as yet, "do not pose any real challenge to the government. The only danger of escalation is from a possible over-reaction by the security forces," Giragosian told Reuters. Pashinyan is a former journalist who came to power after a wave of street protests in 2018. He came under heavy domestic pressure in 2020 after major losses to Azerbaijan in the second war the two countries had fought in three decades. Last year Azerbaijan followed up with a lightning offensive to take back its Karabakh region, prompting an exodus of 100,000 ethnic Armenians who had enjoyed de facto independence there for three decades. Pashinyan has criticised Russia for not intervening with its peacekeeping force in the region to stop Azerbaijani forces from retaking Karabakh. He has publicly questioned Armenia's traditional alliance with Moscow and started to forge closer ties with the West. A senior U.S. official, Assistant Secretary of State James O'Brien, was due in Yerevan on Monday for talks on bilateral ties and moves towards a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. The trigger for the latest demonstrations against Pashinyan was his decision to hand back four deserted border villages to Azerbaijan in May. Opponents called it a betrayal, but Pashinyan defended their return as a necessary step to avoid a further war that would end badly for Armenia.

Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on June 09-10/2024
Palestinianism Began with Nazism And Today Is Based on Antisemitism, Sexism, Homophobia and Denial of Human Rights. So Why Is the Left So in Love with It?
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./June 9, 2024
It was [Hitler's friend, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-] Husseini who turned the Arab-Jewish dispute from a resolvable conflict over land to an irresolvable conflict over religion.
Were a Hamas-run state to replace Israel "from the river to the sea", it would be a theocratic regime closer to that of Iran than to the autocracies of Jordan or Egypt. Jews and Christians would not be allowed to live as equal citizens in such a state. Indeed, in areas currently controlled by Hamas, Christians and other non-Muslim minorities have been ethnically cleansed.
Hamas is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Iranian mullahs....
The real focus of these demonstrations is not on the alleged victims, but rather on the alleged perpetrators. The perpetrators are actually more anti-Israel than pro-Palestinian... It has always been more about identifying with the alleged perpetrators -- Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Castro, Che Guevara -- than with the alleged victims.
It is Hamas, not Israel, that is responsible for much, if not all, of the victimization of Palestinian civilians.
The disproportionate focus on the Palestinians and Israel can be explained only by bigoted hatred of the nation state of the Jewish people and its alliance with the US, and the wish to see them brought down.
The founder of the Palestinian movement in the run-up to the Second World War was a proud Nazi and friend of Adolf Hitler. It was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who turned the Arab-Jewish dispute from a resolvable conflict over land to an irresolvable conflict over religion.
The founder of the Palestinian movement in the run-up to the Second World War was a proud Nazi and friend of Adolf Hitler. Haj Amin al-Husseini was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, the religious leader of the Muslims in what is now Israel but was then called Palestine, and, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, governed under a British Mandate. It was Husseini who turned the Arab-Jewish dispute from a resolvable conflict over land to an irresolvable conflict over religion.
Husseini decided it was against Islamic sharia law to allow Jewish sovereignty over even an inch of what had previously been Ottoman territory, which he decreed was forever religious Muslim land, part of an endowment, or "waqf," to be held in trust for Allah. He opposed the creation of any Jewish state, regardless of how small, even if it was part of a two-state solution that offered a far larger percentage of the land to a state for the Palestinians.
Husseini spent the war years in Berlin as Hitler's guest, plotting to extend Hitler's genocide against Jews from Europe to the Middle East. He participated in the genocide of Jews and others in the Balkans. For this, he was designated a Nazi war criminal at the end of the war, and had to escape to Egypt to avoid being tried and hanged.
Following his death, he was succeeded by his mentee Yasser Arafat, who relied on terrorism against civilians as his primary methodology for destroying the nation-state of the Jewish people. Arafat turned down offers of a two-state solution because he could never accept the existence of a state for the Jewish people.
Following Arafat's death in 2004, there was an election for the Palestinian Legislative Council, between Fatah and Hamas. Hamas won the 2006 elections, and polls to this day show far greater support for that Islamist group than for the somewhat more secular Fatah.
The Hamas charter is antisemitic to its core, blaming the Jews for most of the world's evils, from the French and Russian revolutions to both of the two world wars: "There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it." (Article 22).
Hamas, as well as Palestinian clerics in the West Bank, declare homosexuality a sin punishable by death and oppose any sort of equality for women.
Were a Hamas-run state to replace Israel "from the river to the sea", it would be a theocratic regime closer to that of Iran than to the autocracies of Jordan or Egypt. Jews and Christians would not be allowed to live as equal citizens in such a state. Indeed, in areas currently controlled by Hamas, Christians and other non-Muslim minorities have been ethnically cleansed.
Hamas is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Iranian Mullahs, who, since the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's 1979 Revolution, regard Israel as the "Little Satan" the US as the "Great Satan".
Considering the sordid history and current status of Palestinianism, it is quite remarkable that, among all the causes in the world, the left has chosen that cause as its primary focus. Left-wing students do not demonstrate in favor of the Kurds, the Uyghurs, Iranian dissidents or Syrian victims of genocide. There are more demonstrations on behalf of Palestinians than for Ukrainian victims of Russian aggression.
How can this counterintuitive reality be explained? It is rather simple. The real focus of these demonstrations is not on the alleged victims, but rather on the alleged perpetrators. The perpetrators are actually more anti-Israel than pro-Palestinian. Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran are the perpetrators denying statehood to the Kurds. China is the perpetrator of violence against the Uyghurs. The Syrian and Iranian regimes are responsible for the violence against their citizens. Russia invaded Ukraine.
The left does not hate these oppressors. They do hate Israel and its primary ally, the United States, because they are free market, Western states. Consequently, they support the enemies of these enemies, who in this case are the Palestinians. In previous wars, the left supported the Viet Cong, Pol Pot, North Korea and Cuba. It has always been more about identifying with the alleged perpetrators -- Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Castro, Che Guevara -- than with the alleged victims.
Of course, there are Gazan civilians who are deserving of left wing (and other) support. Justifiable criticism of Israel is also legitimate. But fabricated disproportionate criticism of Israel at the same time as disproportionate support for Palestinians, to the exclusion or minimization of others, is not fair – or accurate. It is Hamas, not Israel, that is responsible for much, if not all, of the victimization of Palestinian civilians. Israel can and should be criticized for civilian casualties that were preventable – in the "fog of war" many are not -- or that are their fault. But none of this explains or justifies the singular focus of the left on the Palestinians and Israel. Nor does the false claim that Israel is a "colonial" or "settler" state explain the passionate hatred directed against Israel by the left. There are real colonial, settler states such as New Zealand, which has been quite critical of Israel and supportive of the Palestinians. No one demonstrates against New Zealand, Turkish-occupied Cyprus, or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The disproportionate focus on the Palestinians and Israel can be explained only by bigoted hatred of the nation state of the Jewish people and its alliance with the US, and the wish to see them brought down.
**Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School, and the author most recently of War Against the Jews: How to End Hamas Barbarism. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute, and is also the host of "The Dershow" podcast.
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20688/palestinianism-began-with-nazism

From Iraq to Lebanon... The Path of the Ruling Elites
Mustafa Fahs/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 09/2024
From Iraq to Lebanon, dates converge and events intersect, but differ only in names, to the point where the history of the two modern countries, that is, since their founding more than a century ago, can be described as a common history of two states, or two common histories of one country.
If any person - quoting ideas - simply wanted to replace the name of Iraq with Lebanon, in an article by Professor Hazem Saghieh entitled, “Iraq Is Seemingly Being Founded from Scratch and Not Being Founded”, which was published in this newspaper on June 2, he would only need to change the names of the perpetrators so that the quote becomes applicable to Lebanon, in its difficult past and complex present.
In the Iraqi and Lebanese cases, there are parties or sides, and at distant times and events, that have made and are making a great effort to deny or monopolize the geographical and demographic formation.
Those do not hesitate at every turn, or whenever they feel powerful, to tamper with the first founding identity of the two entities that was hastily formed under colonialism, and which the modern national state failed to consolidate, either because of a defect that distorted its narrative, or as a result of a military coup, as in Iraq, or the defense of sectarian privileges, like we saw in Lebanon.
The irony was that the events of 1958, which coincided with the fall of the monarchy in Iraq, led in Lebanon to the political elite handing over power to a military figure, the late President Fouad Chehab, who succeeded in securing the state and preserving a high degree of civility within its institutions, with the help of his generals. Despite the power of his security apparatus, Fouad Chehab is recognized for building state institutions. Those who criticized him were implicitly, and then publicly, rejecting his bold steps to integrate sects and expand their partnership.
The Chehab era came in response to the first mini-civil war, known as the “events of 1958,” which constituted an early warning of a broader civil conflict that occurred in 1975, as a result of the Lebanese right’s clinging to its privileges and using force to protect them, which encouraged the left to resort to confrontation and try to obtain them by force.
In the July 14 coup, Iraq entered a bloody phase of its history that continues until today at the hands of General Abdul Karim Qasim. This period aroused the appetite of the Baath Party, which ousted Qasim with a bloodier coup and left behind a more horrific occupation, whose identity, cultural, social and political repercussions are still present to this day. Iraq was handed over to a political elite that dedicated itself to dismantling the state and taking care of subsidiary identities, working to erase the history of its predecessors, waging internal wars and acting externally by proxy.
In describing the Iraqi situation, Hazem Saghieh says: “Naturally, passion for finding the truth or allegiance to an objective historical account is the least of the parties to the dispute’s concerns. But if kinship-based, sectarian, or ethnic loyalty drives the debate, the responsibility of the party pursuing hegemony far outweighs that of the parties trying to stand in its way.”
In Lebanon, the party seeking hegemony does not stop trying to rewrite history according to its terms. It denies the establishment of the entity and tries to blame colonialism for what it considers its marginalization more than a century ago. It leaps above the Taif Agreement and parity, and sometimes resorts to counting if faced with a demographic impasse, or threatens with power whenever the “formula” besieged it. This party does not hesitate to disrupt the constitution, empty and seize state institutions, monopolize national identity, and fabricate new founding dates attributing their achievements to its own authority.
From the coup against Chehabism that began in 1970, with the arrival of the late President Sleiman Franjieh, until the end of the civil war, and then the assassination of President Rafik Hariri and up to the October Uprising, the division is still raging over the unified book of history, over belonging, identity, the constitution, and institutions, and the ruling elites were still under the influence of consuls, foreign projects, and hegemony over the state.

Non-Secretive Negotiations
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 09/2024
Negotiations are always shrouded in secrecy, with some parties keen on declaring victory for having succeeded in the negotiations and others doing everything in their power to avoid seeming like they had foiled them. However, when in the case of the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, it is a different story.
After President Joe Biden proposed a three-phase ceasefire plan, the situation seems entirely different in the Gaza negotiations. The United States had been waiting for Netanyahu and his government's approval and then for the approval of Yahya Sinwar and the confused Palestinian factions.
As all of this was happening, the Iranian Supreme Leader publicly spoke of how the region needed the October 7th operation on the Gaza envelope and stressed that the operation had stopped the normalization process in the region. After that, the Supreme Leader publicly declared that there should be no ceasefire. The Supreme Leader made this statement at a time when the United States had still been waiting for Yahya Sinwar's response. His remarks made the international community forget about Netanyahu’s intransigence. President Biden even walked about on his assertion in the Time magazine interview, in which he had said that Netanyahu was prolonging the war to achieve political ends.
On top of this and that, Netanyahu has achieved a "limited" victory that will give him more time with the liberation of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza. He is expected to deliver a speech about this operation later on, after the writing of this article.
There is no doubt that Netanyahu will announce a "limited" victory in that speech and remind the world of the hostage issue. Its success will buy him time, both domestically and internationally. His government will constantly try to remind the world about the hostages, and present Netanyahu as the leader who can bring them back home to the Israeli people.
All of this, particularly the narrative about the liberation of Israeli hostages, will undermine the position of ceasefire advocates, as well as reduce both international and domestic pressure on Netanyahu. The ultimate losers, here, are the innocent civilians in Gaza.
The Palestinian armed factions cannot present a convincing narrative around this issue. Indeed, the facts suggest that Yahya Sinwar has been complying, up until the time of writing, with the instructions of the Iranian Supreme Leader, who has now publicly opposed a ceasefire in Gaza and the negotiations.
Even if Sinwar decided, at this point, to change his mind and agree to a ceasefire, a truce and negotiation- even if he makes unprecedented concessions- Netanyahu’s stance will harden following the hostage release operation. He will not fear the Israelis or the opposition in Israel.
This is the current state of play, and these are the facts. Thus, the opportunities to end the bloodshed in our region, specifically around the Palestinian question and in Gaza, have been squandered. Iran's vision for the region is responsible, as regional security and stability are the least of Tehran's concerns.
That is why I say that we are looking at non-secret negotiations. It is easy to identify those who are genuinely seeking to stop the bloodshed and protect the Palestinian cause and its people. It is the Arabs, who are led by Saudi Arabia. It is also easy to identify the side that does not care, namely Iran.
All of this is happening before the world's eyes, particularly the US administration and its president. As I mentioned earlier, there are no secrets in these negotiations. Iran is reminding the world and before it the region, that it is disrupting the talks. Its calculations are always incorrect, and its actions only add to the loss of lives and resources.

Europe and Us: Forms of Mutual Influence
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 09/2024
If we are to believe the press reports and opinion polls, we should expect a dark day for Europe; that day is today. The continent’s elections, according to these reports and polls, could grant the far right more power than the centrist forces, whether on the right or left.
This is not good news for refugees and migrants, as these parties are opposed to their asylum and immigration, but it is not good news for the European project itself, which these parties are also against, either. Thus, the new parliament will have an impact on four fronts over the next five years:
- On climate change, with the far-right freezing Europe’s environmental agenda and its modest achievements, as well as pitting it against agriculture and what it considers to be farmers’ interests.
- On asylum and immigration, which are seen as threats to Europe’s “identity,” with Islamophobia central to this perception.
- On integration initiatives, which the far-right seeks to slow down, if not prevent altogether, to bolster nationalism within EU countries.
- On the Russian-Ukrainian war, with most of the far-right parties refusing to support Ukraine. Some parties in this camp are accused of having ties with Vladimir Putin, and the latter is charged with providing them with various forms of support.
Accordingly, these elements are blamed for Europe’s economic decline since the COVID-19 pandemic and Europe’s diminishing role on the global stage.
The fears are compounded by the fact that the far right has already won elections in Italy, the Netherlands, and Hungary, and comes in first place in French, Austrian, and Belgian public opinion polls, and it is part of coalition governments in Finland and Slovakia.
Just two days ago, however, the continent, along with the entire progressive world, was celebrating an event of a different nature: the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landing, when tens of thousands of Allied soldiers landed on those French shores and drove the final nail into the coffin of German Nazism.
Europe then witnessed over three decades of economic prosperity whose way was paved by the American “Marshall Plan” to rebuild it. This period also saw the emergence of the “welfare state”, which presented an excellent and unprecedented model for combining democracy and socialism.
Therefore, history does not call on anyone to be assured of inevitability. Indeed, its bright pages do not guarantee that darkness and deterioration will not return, just as its dark moments do not have keys that close the door to the future. There is no linear progress in history, as those described as optimistic claim, nor is linear decline, as those described as pessimistic claim. There is no dawn that ends every night, as poems preach, nor is there, as elegies forewarn, a night that prevents every dawn.
The only certainty is that only when they begin in Europe do either of these two trajectories become global. As fascism rose in the 1930s, a climate of fanaticism, tension, and militarism prevailed across the globe. With the defeat of fascism in the 1940s, the gates to independence movements and the spread of new, more open and liberal ideas and values, were unlocked.
As we wait for the non-European world to launch trajectories that become universal, drawing the peoples of Europe and the rest of the world, a massive question that spurns even greater concern will loom following the elections of this unhappy day: does Europe feel like it has rushed towards a universalism whose repercussions and hardships it can no longer bear?
When it began leaving religion, Europe embarked on this mission alone. No one also followed suit; rather, they became more committed to it. When nationalism began to wane in Europe, it only grew stronger and more robust elsewhere. When Europe embarked on adopting more liberal values and ideas about morals and sexuality, with even its churches not lagging behind, others became increasingly mired in reactionary ideas that hasty optimists thought had disappeared.
As an increasing number of former colonies became independent states, success stories plummeted to a minimum. Lampoons of colonialism, which had become a thing of the past, and threats of bringing it to an end after it had ended, remained the most prominent indication of independence. And as soon as a blemish or shortcoming appears in the trajectories of the non-European world, intellectuals rush to accuse modernity and enlightenment of being behind it.
The source of the justifiable fears that discontent with universal values will ravage Europe is based on an assessment that we often tend to ignore.
We tend to assume that Europe, and with it the United States, are two entities that influence us but are not influenced by us, and that they change us but are not changed by us. Influence and change, in this narrative, go to mythical and conspiratorial lengths to present us as oppressed and persecuted peoples, and the influence and impact of what happens in our regions on Europe and the US as non-existent or practically so.
This is not accurate, and it does not provide solid ground for betting on our playing an opposite role, one that serves both our interests and Europe’s, as well as affirming our agency in this universe.

Seven Democrats who could replace Biden if he drops his 2024 reelection bid
John L. Dorman/Business Insider/June 09/2024
President Joe Biden's reelection bid has the strong backing of most elected Democrats.
Biden is committed to the race, but there's public speculation on whether he'll stay in the contest. In the unlikely event that Biden left the race, an array of Democrats would be in the mix to lead the party.After President Joe Biden announced his reelection bid last April, the vast majority of Democratic leaders coalesced around his candidacy, which wasn't surprising for an incumbent. But Biden has one of the most unusual backgrounds of any president in US history: He's been a fixture in Washington for more than 50 years as a Delaware senator, vice president, and now president. And if he's reelected to a second term this fall, he'd be 82 years old at the time of his inauguration in January 2025 and 86 at the end of a second term. Biden's age has become a cause of concern among many voters, including some who are inclined to back him over former President Donald Trump. The worries were amplified after the special counsel Robert Hur released his report on the probe into Biden's handling of classified documents, in which no charges were recommended, but the president's acuity and memory were questioned.
Through it all, Biden has defended his reelection bid, argued that his age is an asset, pushed back against the special-counsel report, and articulated why he should be reelected — pointing to accomplishments such as the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act and touting the low national unemployment numbers.
What does this all mean? Biden is unlikely to leave the race, especially as he dominated the Democratic presidential primaries and is committed to a rematch with Trump. But speculation about whether he'll bow out of the contest continues to swirl.
In the event that Biden does somehow bow out after winning the overwhelming majority of the 3,936 delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination, a new nominee would have to be selected at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this August. But it'd be a messy process given that the primaries are now completed.
Virtually every major Democratic governor or senator is behind the president's reelection bid and long ago dismissed the thought of replacing him on the ballot this year.
But who could be a Biden successor if such a scenario were to occur?
Vice President Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris
Harris, by many measures, would be a natural successor to Biden.
As vice president, she's worked closely with Biden on things as varied as voting rights and foreign policy. She was previously a San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, and California senator and is a historic figure in her own right as the first Black, Indian American, and female vice president. And she has become the face of the administration's challenge to the raft of GOP-crafted abortion restrictions following the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. But Harris previously launched a 2020 presidential bid that seemed promising but fell flat with voters over time. (She eventually ended her campaign before the start of the primaries and caucuses.)
As vice president, Harris has been heavily praised by Biden. But her office struggled with turnover and reports of dysfunction earlier in her term. She has also had to contend with less-than-ideal approval ratings, which have raised concerns among some Democrats about her electability as the party also looks to 2028 — when she'd be a potential frontrunner, given her positive marks with Black voters and young voters.
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California
Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom wearing caps.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor who was also California's lieutenant governor, leads the most populated state in the country and, in recent years, has become one of Biden's most prominent Democratic surrogates. California is often used as a foil by national Republicans to contrast with the conservative policies of states such as Florida and Texas. But Newsom has been outspoken in not only promoting the Golden State but touting Democratic policy stances and legislative wins — and he's not afraid to take his arguments straight to the GOP. As governor, Newsom has taken on more moderate stances in recent years on issues involving labor and tackling homelessness in his state. Newsom's political trajectory could collide with that of Harris, his fellow Bay Area native, but they've long maintained a strong working relationship, and the governor has been highly complimentary of her work with Biden.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the two-term governor of battleground Michigan, is accustomed to tough political fights. And over the course of her governorship, she has won a lot of those battles: Democrats in recent years have performed strongly in the Wolverine State, holding every top statewide office and flipping control of the state legislature in the 2022 midterm elections. When Whitmer ran for reelection in 2022 against the Republican Tudor Dixon, she won by nearly 11 points, reflective of her broad appeal with the electorate in a state where the margins are often tight. This fall, Michigan is expected to be one of the closest states in the country in the presidential race. And Whitmer, a former state lawmaker and ex-prosecutor, is set to be a critical voice for the Biden campaign across Michigan. The governor has encouraged Biden to speak more forcefully about abortion rights, an issue that has galvanized many voters — but especially women — across the country after Roe was overturned. In a potential field without Biden, Whitmer's Midwestern background, strong alliance with organized labor, and moderate appeal could make her a strong contender. But she would also be a new face in a contest that will probably feature Trump on the GOP side.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who's served in the Senate since 2007, ran for president in 2020 and made a surprisingly strong finish in the New Hampshire primary — even outperforming Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at the time.But her campaign wasn't able to get the sort of momentum it needed in the South Carolina primary for her to continue her bid, and she exited the race. Still, Klobuchar would be a candidate to watch in an open field, as she boosted her national presence in the primary and could point to a long-standing record of bipartisan accomplishments representing Minnesota in the Senate.
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey
Sen. Cory Booker also ran for president in 2020, ending his campaign in January that year.But the former Newark mayor has been a national figure for years and is seen as a likely 2028 contender. He could easily jump-start a potential 2028 campaign in South Carolina, as he campaigned throughout the state in 2019 and 2020. In the scenario that Democrats would have to choose a candidate other than Biden, he would probably be a part of the conversation.
Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina
Gov. Roy Cooper isn't a big name among Democratic voters outside North Carolina, at least not yet. The former state lawmaker, onetime North Carolina attorney general, and current two-term governor rose through the ranks of government and, along the way, navigated political divides that would bedevil most politicians. In a GOP-leaning state where Democratic candidates have to compete on tricky terrain, Cooper, a moderate, has come out on top. Democrats have not tapped a Southern governor as their presidential nominee since Bill Clinton in 1992. Looking to the future, probably in 2028, Cooper is someone who's poised to be on the minds of many in the party.
Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland
Gov. Wes Moore, an Army veteran who's also a Rhodes Scholar, was first elected to the governorship in 2022. He has focused heavily on tackling issues such as child poverty and housing affordability, two of the most vexing public-policy challenges for leaders on both the state and federal levels. One of Moore's major pushes is to reshape how patriotism is defined in politics, as he told Business Insider during his first gubernatorial campaign that one party or movement couldn't claim the idea as their own.
"I refuse to let anybody try to wrestle that away," Moore told BI in an October 2022 interview, "or claim that they have a higher stake or some higher claim to it than I or my family or people who I served with or my community members." The governor, seen by many as a potential 2028 contender, has been a strong political ally of both Biden and Harris. While Moore may be relatively new to elective politics, his profile only continues to grow within the Democratic Party.
Correction: February 23, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated one of President Joe Biden's arguments for why he should be reelected. He has touted low national unemployment numbers, not low national employment numbers.