Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 14-16/2024
May The Curse Be Upon Political parties & Officials Who betrayed the Cedar Revolution and sold out the March 14 Coalition/Elias Bejjani/March 14/2023
Elias Bejjani/Video and Text: Reading in Sister Maya Ziadeh’s Plea for Prayer for Jihadist Hezbollah Militants Who Glorify Death, Occupy Lebanon, and Seize Church Real Estate Properties/Elias Bejjani/March 12, 2024
Despite the challenges Beirut comes alive during Ramadan as Lebanese pray for peace
UN investigation: Israeli tank responsible for Reuters cameraman's death in Lebanon
Reflections on UN Resolution 1701: Revisiting peace amidst border tensions
Hamadeh to LBCI: March 14th stands as a genuine reaction to the assassination of a 'symbolic figure'
Bou Habib demands an integrated solution for Lebanon to stabilize the situation in the south while meeting with Maronite League
Armed Display at a Funeral in Beirut Sparks Fears of Return to Chaos
Lebanon: National Moderation Bloc Adamant to Ease Election of President
Israel-Hezbollah border clashes: Latest developments
Head of France DGSE discusses border clashes in surprise visit to Lebanon
Bou Habib lashes out at Mikati, rules out Israeli ground war
Assassinating The ‘Independence Uprising’ Paved The Way For Hezbollah's Hegemony
Hezbollah Terror Plot in Brazil/Ottolenghi, Emanuele/Reichman University/PUBLISHED ON/February 20, 2024

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 14-16/2024
Palestinian leader appoints longtime adviser as prime minister in the face of calls for reform
Aid efforts intensify for famine-stalked Gaza
Israel says UN should organize more convoys for north Gaza
Israeli Fire Kills Six Gazans Awaiting Aid Trucks, Say Palestinian Health Officials
Aid Ship Slowly Heads For Gaza as Calls For Assistance Grow
Italy arms exports to Israel continued despite block, minister says
China, Russia and Iran put on show of force with Mideast naval drills
Yemen's Houthis Fired Missile in Gulf of Aden, No Damage Reported
Report: US Held Indirect Talks with Iran over Red Sea Attacks
Biden Extends National Emergency with Respect to Iran
Sweden Won't Help Citizens Held in ISIS Camps Return, Says FM
Sisi: Rafah Operation Threatens More than 1.5 Million Displaced People
Russia Bans 227 US Citizens from Entering the Country
British Government Publishes Official Definition of Extremism
Egypt calls on Israel to open land crossings for Gaza aid
Russians Warned to Flee Border Cities While They Still Can
Turkiye’s foreign minister seeks Iraq’s support against Kurdish militant group

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on March 14-16/2024
Jizya: The Return of Muslim Extortion/Raymond Ibrahim/The Stream/March 14/2024
TikTok: China's Instrument of War/Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute./March 14, 2024
The Resounding Foundational Tragedy Shrouded in Neglect/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
A new era of Gulf-Central Asian cooperation/Arman Shakkaliyev/Arab News/March 15, 2024
Franco-German rivalry risks destabilizing the EU/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/March 15, 2024
US’ Gaza floating port proposal highlights its failures/Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/March 15, 2024
World must recommit to the fight against Islamophobia/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 15, 2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 14-16/2024
May The Curse Be Upon Political parties & Officials Who betrayed the Cedar Revolution and sold out the March 14 Coalition
Elias Bejjani/March 14/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=116550&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=53330
On the 18 anniversary of the March 14 uprising, we pray reverently for the souls of all the righteous, sovereign and patriotic heroic martyrs.
Definitely, it was a deadly sin committed by the all the mercenary Lebanese leaders, officials and politicians who betrayed the Cedar’s Revolution, and sold out the March 14 Coalition.
These mercenaries belittled the martyrs sacrifices by their low and despicable entry into the Trojan presidential deal with the occupier, the terrorist Iranian Hezbollah Armed Militia.
History will not remember those dwarfs who sold the Cedar’s Revolution, and the March 14 coalition, without humiliation, contempt, if it mentions them. They we be remembered with shame, they surely will rest for ever in history’s dustbin.
These foolish traitors fell into the traps and instinctive Satan’s temptations and drowned themselves in greed. They sold the March 14 Sovereign-patriotic Coalition with national myopia and blindness of insight.
They exchanged the people’s revolution, sovereignty, and the blood of martyrs, with authority and personal benefits. They ungratefully stepped over the sacrifices and blood of Lebanon’s righteous martyrs.
As a result of their greed, shortsightedness, narcissism, and worshipping of authority, the terrorist Iranian Hezbollah armed militia managed to entirely control and occupy Lebanon.
Because of this patriotic deviation and sin, Lebanon has lost its role and message, and fell under the Hezbollah hegemony and occupation.
Meanwhile, we affirm with peace of conscience that the sovereign and patriotic spirit of March 14 coalition is alive and active in the souls, hearts and consciences of our free sovereign Lebanese people, while it is completely dead in the hearts and minds of all political parties, politicians and puppet officials who betrayed it and traded sovereignty with personal benefits and authority.
Hence, in times of misery and unhappiness, the people of March 14 Coalition are a national necessity.
In times of servility and surrender, the popular spirit of March 14 Coalition is the answer.
And in a time of deceit, heresy, outrageous, and the lie of what was falsely and cowardly called “political realism,” the people of March 14 Coalition have knocked down the Trojans’ masks and exposed them.
At a time when personal interests prevail over public and national ones, people’s support to the culture and values of March 14 Coalition continues to prevail.
And at a time when belittling the blood of the martyrs and forgetting their sacrifices, the March 14th Coalition of consciences will not forget the sacrifices of its heroes, and will not trade in their blood.
And in a miserable and betrayal time where the Trojans, scribes and Pharisees dominate our Lebanon’s official Decision Making process, and dragging the country and its people into astray and alien paths, the people of March 14 Coalition is a must.
And at a time when politicians have lost the compass of freedom, dignity and self respect, the goals and struggles, of March 14 Coalition remain the solution, the foundation and the cornerstone.
In conclusion, the spirit of March 14, remains an urgent need for the continuation of struggle and strengthening the ranks of the liberals.

Elias Bejjani/Video and Text: Reading in Sister Maya Ziadeh’s Plea for Prayer for Jihadist Hezbollah Militants Who Glorify Death, Occupy Lebanon, and Seize Church Real Estate Properties
Elias Bejjani/March 12, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/127823/127823/
A recent incident has sparked widespread debate across social media platforms following Sister (Nun) Maya Ziadeh’s call for her students at "Immaculate Conception School in Ghabala town- Kesrouan" to pray for what she termed as "resistance fighters" in southern Lebanon. The Hezbollah  Terrorists. This incident underscores a disturbing ignorance or deliberate disregard for Christian principles.
Prayer holds significant importance within Christianity, with Christ himself teaching us the Lord’s Prayer, emphasizing repentance and forgiveness. However, (The Nun), Sister Maya Ziadeh's request to pray for individuals, the Hezbollah Jihadist, who glorify death, occupy Lebanon, and engage in acts of terrorism is a distortion of this principle. Prayers are not  intended to bless sinful acts but rather for repentance and redemption.
Sister Maya's call for prayers extends to individuals (Hezbollah Iran Terrorist proxy) involved in criminal activities, including the unlawful seizure of church property and the persecution of Christians. Moreover, her support for those seeking to transform Lebanon into Jihadist a puppet state under Iranian influence is deeply troubling.
In response, there have been numerous comments both in support and opposition, with some, like Gebran Bassil, attempting to justify her actions. However, Bassil and others fails to acknowledge Hezbollah's own admission that their members are jihadist, undermining claims of martyrdom in defense of Lebanon.
The real issue here lies not in praying for the people of the South, but in the dangerous rhetoric perpetuated by individuals like Sister Maya Ziadeh. Their support for groups like Hezbollah, a terrorist organization backed by the Iranian regime, only serves to perpetuate violence and instability in Lebanon.
In conclusion, it's imperative to distinguish between genuine resistance and terrorist activities. Sister Maya Ziadeh's call for prayers for Hezbollah Jihadist fighters only contributes to the culture of violence and undermines the true principles of Christianity.

Despite the challenges Beirut comes alive during Ramadan as Lebanese pray for peace
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/March 14, 2024
BEIRUT: With Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of daytime fasting, coinciding this year with the latter half of Lent, the Christian season of personal sacrifice leading up to Easter, the Lebanese people face additional challenges during this time but remain hopeful of better days ahead.
For Muslims, obtaining essential food supplies required for iftar, the evening meal with which they break their fast each evening during Ramadan, places additional burdens on many families already facing hardship as a result of the long-running economic crisis in the country, during which the currency has lost about 95 percent of its value. More recently the fear of an escalation of Hezbollah’s conflict with Israel in southern Lebanon, and the effect it is having on local agriculture, has added another dimension to the crisis. Fattoush salad, an iftar staple, now costs the equivalent of about $10, as do basic meat dishes, as a result of a lack of official regulation of prices. The cost of a lettuce is more than 130,000 Lebanese pounds ($1.46), packs of other greens are 80,000 pounds and 1 kilogram of onions costs 160,000 pounds. Vendors say demand is high but supply is low, in part because it is difficult for farmers to work their fields in the south of the country because of cross-border fighting. “Everything is now priced in US dollars,” said Fatima Al-Masri as she shopped for produce at a vegetable market in Tarik Al-Jadidah, Beirut.
“What about those who are paid in Lebanese pounds? On normal days, our salaries are entirely spent on the first week of the month, let alone during Ramadan. “Without receiving food boxes containing essential items, such as rice, sugar, oil and cereal, from benevolent people, we wouldn’t have been able to diversify our iftar meals amid the austerity.”Ibrahim Tarchichi, head of the Bekaa Farmers Association, said cold weather and frost have affected crop yields in Bekaa Valley, pushing up the cost of farm produce. Prices are expected to drop as warmer weather arrives, he added.
“Additionally, there is a high demand for vegetables from both Christians, who depend on them for their fasting, and Muslims, who consider them key ingredients for their iftar meals,” Tarchichi said. The economic crisis has forced many Lebanese to change their fasting habits during Ramadan in the past few years, especially those who were used to enjoying sweets, juices and pastries at iftar. Aida, a 50-year-old mother of four young men, said the average cost of a Ramadan meal for her family of six is more than $30, or about 2.7 million Lebanese pounds.
The financial challenges have not only affected meal tables during Ramadan but also the traditional festive decorations that normally brighten up neighborhood streets during the holy month. They have been replaced by posters urging people to fulfill their charitable obligations during Ramadan through donations to help orphans, the sick and other needy people.
The Beirut Bkheir Association, for example, donates money to some mosques in Beirut to help facilitate Taraweeh prayers, a special evening prayer during Ramadan, in cooperation with Dar Al-Fatwa, Lebanon’s highest Sunni religious authority, and its affiliated institutions.
Beirut, like many coastal towns and cities in Beirut, bustles with shoppers during the day and cafes remain open until dawn during Ramadan. This contrasts sharply with the situation in southern border regions affected by the current conflict, however, where population centers have become ghost towns.
In addition to the effects of the political and financial crisis, Beirut is also still coming to terms with the devastating effects of the massive explosion at the city’s port on Aug. 4, 2020. In an attempt to revitalize the city, efforts are being made to attract and entertain people, from the breaking of the fast at iftar until late into the night. Carts filled with dates, nuts and sweets line illuminated streets bustling with people walking around, chatting in cafes or listening to traditional Ramadan music. Again, an aspect of the festivities involves encouraging people to help others. Zeina Seif from the charitable Ajialouna organization said she sees these efforts during Ramadan as daily opportunities to help people who need medical treatment, provide assistance to the elderly, or empower women. “Our concern is to help people and revitalize Beirut’s struggling downtown area,” she said. “The situation in the south is difficult and scary but we have relied on God and decided to take the step, and we are working based on Islamic ethics.” A Ramadan village has been established in Beirut’s city center to bring a spirit of tranquility to the streets. A few hundred yards away, a Ramadan square was set up at the Forum De Beyrouth, which faces the port and was destroyed by the 2020 explosion. Now it has become a gathering point for artists and craftspeople to exhibit their work, a place for Ramadan celebrations, and a food market. Still, for many people Ramadan is a challenging time as they struggle to make ends meet. When Ramadan began, commentators in traditional and social media urged people who can afford more extravagant iftars and celebrations to refrain from posting pictures of them online, out of respect for those who are hungry, especially Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile tourism experts said that the Israeli escalation of its military operations at the start of Ramadan, targeting areas deep inside Lebanon, has caused many tourists to cancel planned trips to Lebanon during the holy month and Eid holidays. Jean Abboud, head of the Association of Travel and Tourist Agents in Lebanon, said the sector is “waiting for a ceasefire on the southern border. If security stabilizes, the tourist movement will be better.”

UN investigation: Israeli tank responsible for Reuters cameraman's death in Lebanon
LBCI/March 14, 2024
In the first results of the Israeli war on Lebanon, a United Nations investigation concluded that an Israeli tank killed Reuters TV cameraman Issam Abdallah on October 13 last year. The report prepared by UNIFIL revealed that the journalists were identifiable, stating that members of the international force did not record any exchange of gunfire across the border before an Israeli tank opened fire.

Reflections on UN Resolution 1701: Revisiting peace amidst border tensions
LBCI/March 14, 2024
On August 11, 2006, United Nations Resolution 1701 was issued, bringing an end to the war between Hezbollah and Israel that had started on July 12 of the same year. Eighteen years have passed since the issuance of this resolution, during which relative calm prevailed along the Lebanese-Israeli border until the outbreak of the Battle of the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7, 2023. With eyes on the border front, discussions have resurged about the urgent need for full implementation of Resolution 1701, aiming not only for a permanent ceasefire but also for a long-term solution between Lebanon and Israel. The United Nations, concerned with Resolution 1701, considers its implementation pivotal for regional peace. Conversely, failure to implement it threatens regional security, with Lebanese bearing the brunt of the consequences. While Hezbollah is the key party involved in implementing the resolution, its effective execution begins with Israeli compliance. It is evident that the practical implementation of Resolution 1701 is contingent upon the cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip. In the interim, local, regional, and international debates persist regarding its implementation unless the war in Lebanon escalates, necessitating another international decision.

Hamadeh to LBCI: March 14th stands as a genuine reaction to the assassination of a 'symbolic figure'
LBCI/March 14, 2024
MP Marwan Hamadeh viewed March 14th as a genuine response to the assassination of a symbolic figure at the time and to prevent assassinations, which everyone failed to stop. On LBCI's "Nharkom Said" TV show, he considered that the Lebanese people who reacted on March 14th could rise against any threat to Lebanon's essence with its institutions, ideology, spirit, message, and demography. He noted that the resistance in the south was effective against the Israeli aggression. He said: "We noticed fatigue on the Lebanese side and a predicament on the Israeli side, which led to [the establishment of] Resolution 1701, which mandated the war to stop at the time."He added: "Hezbollah's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in his recent speech, linked the exit from war to the solutions brought to Gaza." He pointed out that previously, Nasrallah used to decide on confrontational actions while leaving the decision for peace to Lebanon. However, nowadays, the decision for peace is tied to Gaza, implying involvement from Tehran, and thus may require "deeper negotiations between Tehran and Washington." Hamadeh affirmed that the Israeli army is expanding its war by air because it cannot enter by land, which encourages Lebanon to seek a solution in its favor.

Bou Habib demands an integrated solution for Lebanon to stabilize the situation in the south while meeting with Maronite League
LBCI/March 14, 2024
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Abdallah Bou Habib visited the Maronite League and was received by its president, Ambassador Khalil Karam, members of the Executive Council, and its former presidents. During the meeting, Ambassador Karam delivered a welcome speech, asking questions about the Syrian displacement, the closure of diplomatic missions, which caused uproar and objections, and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. In turn, Bou Habib said that Lebanon demands an integrated solution to stabilize the south. He mentioned the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and that it includes Israel's withdrawal from the Shebaa Farms, the Kfarchouba Hills, and the occupied part of the town of Ghajar, and support for the Lebanese army, and increasing its numbers and equipment so that it can strengthen its deployment in the south. Bou Habib spoke at length about the dilemma of Syrian displacement to Lebanon and the existential threat posed by those returning for economic reasons. He added that the lack of opportunities in Syria and the suffering with international agencies, UN bodies, and some Western donor countries indicated that this issue was at the heart of the mission of the Cypriot Foreign Minister's visit to Lebanon. Bou Habib said, "Displacement is our primary concern, especially since it has become the focus of a Lebanese consensus on the need to address it sustainably by assisting the displaced economically and carrying out early recovery projects that help them return to their villages in Syria, most of which have become safe."  He emphasized that this includes implementing pilot projects to rehabilitate neighboring villages and facilitate the return of the displaced to them. Regarding the issue of suspending the work of some diplomatic missions and rationalizing spending in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs explained that the closure of these missions would be reconsidered.

Armed Display at a Funeral in Beirut Sparks Fears of Return to Chaos
Beirut: Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat.
Armed groups appearing earlier this week in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, particularly during the funeral procession of a fallen fighter from the “Islamic Group,” have stirred concerns among residents. Many fear a return to chaos, especially with the government’s failure to address the issue. The Islamic Group bid farewell to three fighters who died in Lebanon’s south, accompanied by masked gunmen, interpreted by some as a show of strength. The head of the Islamic Group Ali Abu Yassin justified the armed presence, citing the threat from the Israeli enemy. However, Yassin assured that the Islamic Group is not parading militarily in Beirut, and the display was a reaction to the event, aimed at Israel, not the Lebanese. “Our project has been and remains to build the state and establish genuine partnership with all Lebanese components. At this critical moment, we call for Lebanese unity in facing the Israeli enemy and its projects,” Yassin told Asharq Al-Awsat. Beirut hasn’t seen such displays since the civil war’s end, except in 2008 when Hezbollah took military action. Lebanese lawmaker Melhem Khalaf expressed concern, stating that armed displays indicate an unstable situation. He stressed the need for a strong state to ensure citizens’ security. Lebanese fear a return to chaos, especially with the state’s focus on military matters in the south and anticipation of Israeli escalation. Former Minister Rashid Derbas interpreted the armed display as a show of strength for a specific group but assured that it doesn’t mean Beirut will regress into chaos. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, he emphasized that chaos is not caused by one group but by major countries if they seek to spread it. Derbas highlighted the Lebanese army’s capability to maintain security. Military and strategic expert Col. Khaled Hamadeh suggested the Islamic Group chose armed action under Hezbollah’s umbrella, aiming to support the resistance project. He expressed regret over the state’s limited ability to control security, highlighting the near absence of official security in Lebanon.

Lebanon: National Moderation Bloc Adamant to Ease Election of President
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
The National Moderation parliamentary bloc reiterated on Thursday that its initiative to help end the vacuum at the top state post and elect a new president are “ongoing” regardless of the obstacles the initiative is facing. Meanwhile, ambassadors from the group of five countries (the Quintet committee) involved in the Lebanese issue are expected to resume their meetings with Lebanese officials starting next week. Ambassadors of the Quintet (US, France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar) are expected to meet with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai on Monday. Hezbollah party, meanwhile, is adamant on backing its candidate, Marada party leader Sleiman Franjieh. Lebanon has been without a president since October 2022 when the term of Michel Aoun ended without the election of a successor. Bickering between the political blocs over a suitable candidate has thwarted the polls.
Abou Faour. After a brief visit to Saudi Arabia last week, MP Wael Abou Faour of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc held talks with Berri. In a statement on Tuesday, the MP said that ambassadors of the Quintet fully back the initiative of the National Moderation bloc.
He said the first thing the bloc agreed on was to sit for dialogue and to eliminate all the names of candidates that do not garner the approval of all parties. The bloc has recently met with Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan. MP Ahmed al-Kheir, the bloc’s spokesperson said: “The backing we got from the Mufti, the Quintet, Maronite Patriarch and the Maronite Bishops all affirm that the initiative is still going”. The National Moderation bloc has proposed holding a consultative session at parliament with the aim of agreeing on a presidential candidate and securing the needed two-thirds quorum at parliament at successive elections sessions that would be called for by Berri. The speaker would in turn vow to the bloc to call for the elections. The bloc has been holding a series of meetings with other blocs to reach an agreement on the mechanism to launch the dialogue, focusing on who will make the invitation for the talks and who will moderate them. The bloc has also demanded that the participants not make any preconditions over the dialogue.

Israel-Hezbollah border clashes: Latest developments
Associated Press/Agence France Presse
Israeli warplanes targeted Thursday a house in al-Naqoura and the outskirts of the southern town of Kounin, while Israeli artillery targeted Wadi Hamoul and the outskirts of Tayr Harfa. Hezbollah had carried out five attacks on northern israel and the occupied Shebaa Farms on Wednesday, while Israeli warplanes struck overnight the southern border towns of al-Labbouneh and Mays al-Jabal. Since the war in Gaza erupted in October, there have been near-daily exchanges along the Lebanon-Israel border and international mediators have scrambled to prevent an all-out war in tiny Lebanon. The United States and other governments continue with efforts to prevent the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip from spilling over into Lebanon as Hezbollah militants and Israeli soldiers trade fire across the volatile Lebanon-Israel border. Hezbollah has vowed not to stop the fighting until a cease-fire is reached in Gaza. Since hostilities began, at least 322 people have been killed in Lebanon, mainly Hezbollah fighters but also 56 civilians, according to an AFP tally. In Israel, at least 10 soldiers and seven civilians have been killed in the cross-border exchanges, the military says. The fighting has raised speculation Israeli forces could stage an invasion into Lebanon as well. Hezbollah's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday that Israeli forces were too "exhausted" to launch an all-out war. "The Israeli army is exhausted... on the northern front, in the West Bank and in Gaza," Nasrallah said in a televised address. "This enemy and this enemy's society are showing signs of fatigue," he said, alleging that Israel's army "was lacking personnel".

Head of France DGSE discusses border clashes in surprise visit to Lebanon
Naharnet/14 March 2024
Head of France's foreign intelligence agency Nicolas Lerner has made a surprise visit to Lebanon for the first time since his appointment, al-Akhbar newspaper reported Thursday. Lerner discussed in Lebanon Wednesday the border situation and the diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip from spilling over into Lebanon, the daily said. Since the war in Gaza erupted in October, there have been near-daily exchanges along the Lebanon-Israel border and international mediators have scrambled to prevent an all-out war in tiny Lebanon.
U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein who visited Lebanon earlier this month had said he can't "guarantee" that an anticipated Gaza ceasefire would apply to Lebanon.
Lerner discussed in Lebanon the possible impact of a Gaza truce on Lebanon, al-Akhbar said.

Bou Habib lashes out at Mikati, rules out Israeli ground war
Naharnet/14 March 2024
Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has lashed out at caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, accusing him of “encroaching” on his role as foreign minister through “his repeated attempts to usurp the ministry’s powers.”“Mikati does not take into account that we are in a pluralistic country, and as a Christian I do not accept his behavior seeing as he is infringing on the most senior Christian post” in the state, Bou Habib added, in an interview on Tele Liban. “The premier meets international envoys alone on purpose and even when he travels outside Lebanon he asks the (Lebanese) ambassadors in the visited countries to leave him alone after the memorial pictures,” Bou Habib lamented. Separately, the minister ruled out “an Israeli ground war on Lebanon.”Israel “knows that such a war would not be a walk in the park for it,” Bou Habib added, expecting “a long war of attrition through Israel’s drones.”“I support (ex-)president Michel Aoun’s stance on the unity of arenas, but I’m dealing with the fait accompli,” Bou Habib said. Aoun had recently said that he does not support Hezbollah’s involvement in the so-called unity of arenas strategy of the Iran-led axis in the region.

Assassinating The ‘Independence Uprising’ Paved The Way For Hezbollah's Hegemony
Hanna Saleh/Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
When it began "distracting" the enemy "in support of Gaza" on October 8th, Hezbollah was confident that the home front would acquiesce. Indeed, Hezbollah has imposed its decisions on the country. It was assured that the majority opposed its decision to drag Lebanon into a destructive war that would have no impact, and it does not take seriously the statements denouncing its foreign agenda issued by the "opposition" of the sectarian regime.
It has been more than five months since Hezbollah instigated its "mini-war," doubling down on a policy that has cost Lebanon dearly, with 325 lives already lost. Hezbollah is not concerned by the scale of the horror and destruction in tens of border towns that have been reduced to scorched earth, and from which between 130,000 and 150,000 people have been displaced after Israel replicated its attacks on Gaza to impose a security belt! This raises the question of how "the party" became powerful enough to lead the country in whichever direction it wants and "subdue" its supposed opponents!
To do so, it seems that we must refer back to the events of 2005, exactly 19 years after March 14. On March 13, the committee that had emerged from the "Bristol Gathering" (a political bloc opposed to the presence of Syrian troops on Lebanese territory) held a meeting. The attendees discussed logistics and how to ensure that the mass protest scheduled for the new day would be a success. They were comforted by their confidence that 500,000 Lebanese would head to the streets in response to Hezbollah and its axis's protest to "Thank Syria"!
The scene of the next day surpassed even the most optimistic expectations. More than one million and a half Lebanese citizens showed up, making it the largest protests Lebanon had ever seen. They raised the Lebanese flag, called for the withdrawal of the Syrian army, and demanded truth, justice, and the prosecution of the major figures of the police. It was the climax of the "Independence Uprising." Nonetheless, seeing power-hungry politicians jostling to get on the podium, and hearing the things some of them said in their speeches, Samir Kassir felt compelled to warn us that "it's over"!"
This popular protest was supposed to oust the isolated president, Emile Lahoud, a symbol of the police state. Instead, the sectarian leaders of the March 14 Forces feared their people and rushed to conclude the "Quadripartite Agreement" with Hezbollah, the head of the resistance axis. They chose to reinforce the sectarian-quota-based spoil-sharing regime, a "federation of sects" as the writer Rafiq Khoury called it, deviating from the course that had been set by the Taif Agreement. They abandoned Lebanese citizens' dreams of reinstating the constitution and building a normal state in which laws are respected, freedoms are safeguarded, and people compete based on their merit.
As a result, the "Independence Uprising" was assassinated, and it became impossible to correct the national power imbalance that had been imposed by the Syrian army, whose control over the country had been facilitated by the tragedies of the civil war, which culminated in the destruction of the "War of Elimination" that Michel Aoun had declared against his opponents, the Lebanese Forces.
The "Quadripartite Agreement" and the subsequent "July War" both empowered Hezbollah to gradually chip away at state institutions, and they led to the "Black Shirts’'" invasion of Beirut on May 8, 2008, paving the way for the sin that was "Doha Agreement." This "agreement" left the country beholden to arbitrary concoctions instead of the constitution, most notably the "blocking third," which granted Hezbollah the right to veto state decisions. This "agreement" also imposed the inclusion of the famous "Army, People, and Resistance" mantra in the ministerial statements of all the governments formed since then. In turn, Hezbollah turned its back on the army and the people, fortifying its parallel statelet.
"National unity" governments provided cover for its hijacking of the state and overlooked its violations of UN Resolution 1701. These governments also covered for its demonization of the Resolution with claims that it protects the enemy's borders - in fact, the Resolution had forced Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and offered us a security guarantee. It soon became clear that Hezbollah could not reconcile the role entrusted to the party with the Resolution, and that to implement it would be to shoot itself in the foot!
The climate created by the "federation of sects" and its patronage networks gave rise to an extremely dangerous "presidential settlement" in 2016. It reaffirmed the success of the coup against the "Independence Uprising" and was the culmination of the coup against the "Taif Agreement" and the republic. The first time, it happened when the country was under the control of Syrian occupiers, and the second time, it was under the control of Hezbollah and its Iranian agenda. Afterward, things were bundled together and the intelligence of the people was insulted with claims that the March 14 forces, which won a parliamentary majority in 2005 and 2009, had been prevented from governing by the presence of arms.
In reality, they did not try to govern or develop a governance program. Let us remember that, the night of his major electoral victory in 2009, Saad Hariri raised the slogan "We all live under the skies of Lebanon" and his government granted Hezbollah and its camp the "blocking third," allowing them to bring down his government the moment Hariri entered the White House in 2011. Since then, Hezbollah has formed Lebanon's government and shaped its public policies, which were approved by others!
Early on, the opposition of the sectarian-quota-based spoil-sharing regime removed itself from the decision making process. It prioritized narrow factional interests and each party devoted itself to maximizing its share of the spoils within the regime, strengthening sectarian leaders whose quables have led to the implosion of remnants of the state. These regime parties have lost their national legitimacy, as they left institutions to crumble and allowed the state to be ripped apart. Moreover, by covering up for the encroachment of the mini-state by joining Hezbollah's governments as well as parliamentary committees, they allowed the Mullah regime to tighten its grip. This merely rhetorical opposition does not bother Hezbollah. It does nothing to undermine its role or hinder its accumulation of greater political power, especially as the facade of state authority now lies in the hands of Nabih Berri and Najib Mikati, both of whom have passed their loyalty test, consolidating the marginalization of the presidency.Although this state of affairs has disrupted all efforts to find solutions, the mafioso alliance, the child of the sectarian-quota-based spoil-sharing regime, was not deterred by the horrors of an open-ended war on the Lebanese or the expansion of the scope of Zionist attacks to Baalbek. It has gone ahead with its plan to deliberately impoverish the country and its people. The political, ministerial, parliamentary, and militia cartel of plunder now has its sights on Lebanon's state assets and gold reserves, which it wants to liquidate to line the pockets of the mafia of arms and corruption.

Hezbollah Terror Plot in Brazil
Ottolenghi, Emanuele/Reichman University/PUBLISHED ON/February 20, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/127863/127863/
تقرير يتناول مؤامرة حزب الله الإرهابية في البرازيل
أوتولينغي، إيمانويل/جامعة رايخمان/تم النشر في/20 شباط 2024 (ترجمة موقع غوغل)
Abstract
This article examines a thwarted Hezbollah terror plot targeting Jewish sites in Brazil, orchestrated by two Brazilian nationals of Middle Eastern descent, facilitated by Hezbollah’s shift in strategy from using trained agents to employing local recruits via intermediaries. The narrative unfolds with the arrest of a Lebanese drug trafficker in the Tri-Border Area, revealing Hezbollah’s deep-rooted connections within the local Lebanese diaspora, exploited for both drug trafficking and terror financing. The involvement of local businessmen and the recruitment of Brazilian nationals underscore Hezbollah’s adaptation and the complexities of its operational tactics, contrasting with its traditional reliance on its External Security Organization. The investigation highlights Hezbollah’s leveraging of diaspora communities for establishing illicit finance networks, a strategic maneuver unveiled by the DEA’s decade-long investigation into Hezbollah’s criminal activities. The article delves into the backgrounds of the plot’s orchestrators, their ties to the diaspora, and their recruitment methods, painting a detailed picture of Hezbollah’s operational evolution and its implications for global security. The foiled plot serves as a stark reminder of the persistent threat posed by Hezbollah’s international network and the challenges of countering its multifaceted operations.
On November 8, Brazilian authorities foiled[1] a Hezbollah terror plot against Jewish targets in Brazil, including two synagogues in the country’s capital, Brasilia. Tipped off by Israel’s Mossad[2], Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) initially detained several Brazilian nationals, alleged Hezbollah-hired agents[3]. Eventually, the PF identified two Brazilian nationals of Middle Eastern descent as the plot ringleaders: Mohamed Khir (or Kheder) Abdulmajid[4], who is Syrian, and Haissam Houssim Diab[5], who is Lebanese. Abdulmajid and Diab, according to the PF, lured at least six Brazilians to Beirut, where they offered[6] them large sums of money to hit Jewish targets[7] in Brasilia, including two synagogues.
How did it come to be that Hezbollah relied on two intermediaries – both apparently petty businessmen in Brazil’s expatriate Shi’a communities – to recruit Brazilian nationals for the grim task of murdering Jews? Why lean on local businessmen and foreign mercenaries when in all past instances of terror plots Hezbollah hatched in the region, it always relied on its own well-trained External Security Organization (ESO) agents for the job of planning and carrying out the attacks? And who exactly are Mohamed Abdulmajid and Haissam Diab?
In recent times, Iran has been known to occasionally contract mercenaries. In 2021, for example, Iran hired[8] three Azerbaijani nationals to assassinate Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad in New York. That same year, an Iranian Quds Force operative recruited[9] two Colombian criminals to assemble members of the Colombian underworld to target Israeli and U.S. businessmen and diplomats in Bogotá. For Hezbollah, however, this is a first.
To answer these questions, initially, we need to turn to the past, and more precisely to the arrest of Akram Abed Ali Kachmar, a minor Lebanese drug trafficker in the Tri-Border Area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, or TBA. Sometime in the early evening hours on April 8, 2017, a unit of SENAD, Paraguay’s anti-narcotics police, stormed his apartment in Ciudad Del Este, Paraguay. Paraguay’s authorities had evidence[10] of Kachmar’s business ties to Ali Issa Chamas, another Lebanese national arrested[11] the previous year while he was trying to ship 39 kilograms of cocaine to Turkey. The Chamas’ arrest gave investigators a window into local drug trafficking networks run by Lebanese nationals and some leads into their ties to Hezbollah. Chamas’ connections, for example, included a Brazilian drug baron, Lebanese associates in Paraguay, and buyers in the United States, Europe, and Lebanon. Authorities pursued them one by one. In February 2017, they arrested[12] Munir Özturk and Eray Uç, two Turkish nationals of Lebanese descent who were part of Chamas’ network. Their confiscated passports, provided to this author by a Paraguayan intelligence source, showed multiple trips to Iran, Turkey, and Northern Cyprus, a hub of Iranian activities[13]. Uç’s brother, Garip, whom the PF detained in Brazil in June 2023, was a chemical engineer working for the PCC[14], one of Brazil’s organized crime syndicates.
It was now Kachmar’s turn to fall into the SENAD’s dragnet. Why this minor anti-narcotics operation would have anything to do with a major Hezbollah terror plot six years later becomes immediately apparent from police reports and evidence gathered at the arrest scene, which this author obtained from a Paraguayan intelligence source. Alongside Kachmar, sitting in his living room, there were three other Lebanese nationals. One of them was Haissam Diab, the guy later implicated in the Brasilia terror plot. Corporate records obtained from the Sayari Analytics platform show that Diab owns a small sandwich shop in São Paulo[15] and used to run a small electronics store in Brasilia[16] – hardly the stuff that pays the hundreds of thousands of dollars[17] he and Abdulmajid allegedly promised their recruits. But his connection to Kachmar, alongside other indicia we will discuss later, suggests that Diab could be a player in Hezbollah’s Business Affairs Component. And if that were the case, Hezbollah would rely on someone they already trust to run risky business for their benefit in keeping with past practices. Hezbollah leveraged its local networks in the TBA to support its two terror attacks against Israel’s embassy and the AMIA Jewish Cultural Center in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994. This is not new.
In a decade-long investigation[18] that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA, conducted against drug trafficking and money laundering networks whose revenues went to fund Hezbollah, DEA realized that the terror group’s facilitators were not just run-of-the-mill white-collar criminals for hire but had some closer, more intimate ties to the mothership. The DEA also understood that this was by design: Hezbollah leaders relied on members of the Shi’a Lebanese diaspora to establish illicit finance networks for funding purposes. In the process of doing so, a loose structure emerged, which DEA called the Business Affairs Component (BAC) of Hezbollah’s ESO.
Shortly after law enforcement agencies successfully rounded up suspects in a large anti-narcotics operation in Europe tied to Hezbollah drug trafficking and money laundering, the DEA revealed[19] the existence of the BAC. According to the DEA, the BAC founder was the late Imad Mughniyeh[20], Hezbollah’s arch-terrorist and the mastermind of Hezbollah’s deadliest terror attacks, including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marines barracks and French paratroopers in Beirut, the 1992 bombing of Israel’s embassy and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA building, the Jewish cultural center, both in Buenos Aires. Mughniyeh died in a car bomb in Damascus in 2008, and while his brother-in-law, Mustafa Badreddine, took control of the ESO, Abdallah Safieddine[21] – Hezbollah’s ambassador to Tehran – and Adham Tabaja[22], a Hezbollah member acting as a sort of CEO, ran the BAC. The DEA did not dwell upon the BAC’s command structure, membership recruitment, the way it functions, or much else, except that it was[23] “involved in international criminal activities such as drug trafficking and drug proceed money laundering.” Hezbollah is a hierarchy of councils, units, branches, departments, and bureaus. The ESO itself is under the Jihad Council of Hezbollah, and it is highly compartmentalized. The BAC, by contrast, is less a department and more like a joint venture of talented freelancers, opportunists, and ideologues working as contractors for Hezbollah.
Soon after the February 2016 press release, a DEA-authored affidavit in support of an arrest warrant against three Lebanese drug traffickers[24] offered further clues about the BAC’s nature. “To meet its financial needs,” it explains, “Hezbollah maintains a wide network of non-member supporters or associates engaged in raising capital.” The DEA described them as “culturally aligned compatriots” who are “more concerned with generating cash than religious or political doctrine” and who “readily remit portions of their profits back” to Hezbollah. To say that they are more concerned with generating cash does not mean they are not devout to their faith and flag. But they are not the flock’s most pious.
Diab fits the bill. His presence in the TBA was no mere family visit, and Ciudad Del Este, the Paraguayan side of the TBA, where Diab was when the SENAD detained him, is a hotbed of illicit financial activities, many of which are tied to Hezbollah’s terror finance networks.
In recent years, drug trafficking, a key revenue source for the terror group, has become prevalent in the area due to changes in cocaine’s trade routes[25] and the steady penetration of Paraguay[26] by regional crime syndicates[27]. Diab’s friend Kachmar was part of a broader network of drug traffickers that Paraguayan authorities repeatedly targeted with multiple arrests and investigations. All[28] had[29] suspected links[30] to Hezbollah, and they had a global distribution network for their merchandise that included Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. Diab could very well have been one of the network members, and some clues to a possible active role in the BAC emerge from his phone, seized during the April 8, 2017, raid and likely gathering virtual dust on a Paraguayan government server since then.
When the SENAD agents entered Kachmar’s apartment, they had no grounds to charge Kachmar’s friends and arrest them. Still, they briefly detained them, questioned them, seized their electronics, and imaged them before returning the phones and tablets to their legitimate owners. That includes Diab’s mobile phone, which, considering his later involvement in the Brasilia terror plot, is potentially a treasure trove of information. Yet even as the plot investigation unfolded, Brazilian authorities were initially unaware of Diab’s past run-ins with the law, his connection to Hezbollah, or his close links to Abdulmajid.
That Diab did not remain on the radar of local law enforcement agencies in Latin America raises important questions about their cooperation, information sharing, and awareness of Hezbollah’s presence and its modus operandi, which in turn highlights the reluctance of most countries in the region to treat Hezbollah as a terrorist group – only five out of 33 countries in the Latin America and Caribbeans region have designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization so far, and Brazil is not one of them. Though Paraguayan anti-narcotics detained Diab – a Brazilian national – they did not notify their Brazilian counterparts, nor did they seek their assistance. Had they done so, they might have learned more about Diab, or they could have shared information about him, which the Brazilians could later rely on when his name emerged in connection to the Brasilia terror plot. Because Brazil does not consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization and its law enforcement agencies did not know of Diab’s close relationship with a network of Lebanese drug traffickers, they did not track Diab and his broader network of contacts in Brazil and abroad. And, as his phone contents suggest, there were good reasons for that.
First, there is his connection to a prominent, Brazil-based Iraqi Shi’a cleric – a potential link to Hezbollah’s FRD – and his friendship, possibly partnership, with Lebanese drug traffickers. Diab also has[31] multiple[32] social media[33] accounts[34] – which, his phone contents show, he mainly used for messaging purposes to keep in touch with a vast network of contacts in Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Lebanon, Morocco, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Venezuela.
But the most striking contact to emerge from his phone is someone named Abou Najib. It’s a nickname, Arabic for “father of Najib,” and while it tells us that a person is a family man with offspring, it reveals nothing more of their identity. Yet, once searched on the TrueCaller.com database of worldwide phone numbers, the cell phone comes up as “Hassan Chams Exchange.” It might be a coincidence, but Haissam Diab is from Chtaura, in the Beqaa Valley. You would not know much about this quaint mountain village close to the Syrian border were it not for the fact that Chtaura is the location of several money exchange businesses, including one named Chams Exchange. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned it in 2019[35], because, according to the Treasury, the currency exchange business “moves money to and from Australia, Colombia, Italy, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Spain, Venezuela, France, Brazil, and the United States as part of his narcotics money laundering activities.” Corporate records from Lebanon’s Ministry of Justice also show another exchange, located in the same building as Chams Exchange, as belonging to Diab’s uncle. Diab also has another contact in his phone, linked to another exchange house in Chtaura[36]. Based on these connections, Diab, like other TBA-based Lebanese, could very well be a money transmitter for Hezbollah, helping move drug money from his traffickers’ contacts to the exchange houses there that for years now have supported Hezbollah’s drug money laundering efforts.
This may be the biggest red flag from Diab’s phone, but there are other notable clues. Another contact is Sobhi Fayad, a TBA-based Hezbollah financier whom the Treasury sanctioned in 2006. Diab’s phone contacts also include Munir Özturk’s wife, Akram Kachmar, members of the Chams clan in Lebanon, alongside many Diab’s, both in Lebanon and Brazil.
The evidence reviewed so far suggests that Diab could plausibly be a member of the BAC. He is clearly sympathetic to Hezbollah – one of his Facebook accounts displays a photo of the late ESO commander, Mustafa Badreddine[37], the brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyah, as wallpaper. He has connections to the criminal underworld – drug traffickers and all – and possibly to a money launderer sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for being a significant conduit of Hezbollah’s drug money. There is plenty of devotional Shi’a material populating his phone memory – and then there are numerous ladies whom Haissam, when not busy talking to his contacts, assiduously engaged with on the dating app, Tinder. They are not the flock’s most pious, but they are still committed to the cause.
What about Abdulmajid? Both Diab and Abdulmajid are part of the large Shi’a Lebanese Diaspora community, which in the past century left Lebanon and settled first in West Africa and, later, in Latin America. These communities quickly became part of the patronage network for Amal[38], the Shi’a political movement and paramilitary organization founded by Imam Musa Sadr and currently led by Lebanon’s parliament Speaker, Nabih Berri. But starting in the early 1980’s, first in competition and then jointly with Amal, Hezbollah assiduously cultivated ties with these diaspora communities, through dedicated units such as its Foreign Relations Department[39] (FRD), which act as a liaison between Iran and Shia communities[40] worldwide. This is the most visible element of Hezbollah’s overseas activity. It manifests itself through the total control of Shi’a communal institutions, much in the way Hezbollah does[41] with Shi’as in Lebanon. Like in Lebanon, across Diaspora Shi’a communities, Hezbollah clerics lead mosques; teachers from Hezbollah’s Al Mahdi schools run educational institutions; scout instructors from Hezbollah’s al Mahdi scouts’ movement head local chapters[42], and other loyalists take charge of charitable associations. These efforts ensure enduring loyalty among diaspora members, help radicalize youth, and guarantee steady support for Hezbollah’s worldview despite generational change. The FRD is not just a recruitment conduit. It is also a funding channel, as evidenced by the 2009 U.S. Treasury designation of Sheikh Abd Al Menhem Qubaysi[43] in the Ivory Coast, the role played by his successor, Sheikh Ghaleb Khojok, as a significant contributor to Hezbollah’s sanctioned financial institution[44], Al Qard al Hassan, and that of the once Brazil-based Sheikh Bilal Mohsen Wehbe, who, according to the U.S. Treasury[45], “has been involved in transferring funds collected in Brazil to Hizballah in Lebanon.”
The FRD has a strong presence in Brazil, given that the Lebanese Shi’a diaspora there is likely the largest in the entire region. The FRD cleric formerly responsible for Latin America, Sheikh Wehbe, resided in São Paulo, and worked at the local Mesquita do Bras, until November 2018 (the U.S. Treasury outed him and sanctioned him[46] in 2010).
Family remains a large driver of immigration for these communities. People who ventured out first later brought over spouses; as they became successful, they paved the way for other relatives to join and then relied on kinship to expand business ties and trade with relatives who settled elsewhere. Many Lebanese Shi’a businessmen who sought and found fortune abroad not only have been drawn to Hezbollah through communal institutions but also maintain familial ties with Hezbollah – through a sibling in the clerical hierarchy, an uncle in the Hezbollah-run Al Mahdi scouts or its namesake schools, a cousin in the ranks of Hezbollah’s military cohorts, a spouse who hails from a Hezbollah family. The family ties, spread across the world throughout the vast expanse of the Lebanese diaspora, cement the bounds of loyalty and provide the global infrastructure of Hezbollah’s financial networks. Hezbollah recruits among these cohorts to join the BAC. These individuals take charge of money movements and illicit activities in close coordination with the FRD, recruit other family members, and rely on family ties to keep a tight ship.
The family connection is likely the reason a young Abdulmajid made it to Brazil sometime around 2008. Although he is Syrian, and Haissam Diab is Lebanese, they are relatives. Brazilian immigration and Lebanese voters’ records show that Abdulmajid’s mother, Nehad Diab, is a Lebanese Shi’a, from the village of Hazerta, near Zahle, in the Beqaa Valley. It is a stone’s throw away from Chtaura, whence Haissam hails. They are from the same clan, if not the same family. There are many other Diab’s in Brazil, including in Brasilia, São Paulo, and Foz do Iguaçu, the city on Brazil’s side of the TBA. And they are mostly Abdulmajid’s family relatives from his mother’s side – some with past problems with the law, including contraband[47]. Facebook photos from Abdulmajid’s account confirm the close family connection. He spent considerable time in the TBA in late 2008-early 2009, visiting Diab-named relatives and, apparently, briefly working at a shop in Ciudad Del Este.
Along with family comes the ideological zeal that may have made Abdulmajid a candidate for a Hezbollah operation.
His social media reveals[48] a young, enthusiastic supporter of both Hezbollah and Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad. In 2021, as Syria held presidential elections, Abdulmajid posted a photo of himself voting at the Syrian embassy in Brasilia and even of his ballot, showing he voted for Assad. In 2016, he posted pictures of himself in Syrian army fatigues, standing on a tank and an armored personnel carrier, presumably at a Syrian army base. In 2013, photos on his brother’s Facebook page[49] showed the siblings attending an anti-American and pro-Assad demonstration in front of the U.S. embassy in Brasilia. Of course, none of this proves anything more than political devotion. But Abdulmajid is not just a Syrian-born Brazilian with a strong allegiance to his homeland, its dictator, and his murderous allies. In 2018, he accompanied[50] Sheikh Mohammed Sadeq Maadel, aka Moaddel Ebrahimi, a prominent Iraqi cleric[51] who works at São Paulo’s main Shi’a mosque, to an official visit at the Syrian embassy – an indication that Abdulmajid may work closely with the local Shi’a religious networks tied to Iran and Hezbollah. The Sheikh is friends with Haissam Diab on social media as well.
Sheikh Ebrahimi is not just a cleric. After serving many years at Brazil’s oldest Shi’a mosque in Curitiba, he moved to São Paulo, where he worked closely with Sheikh Wehbe, the Brazil-based FRD representative for Latin America. Among his many friends on social media, one finds numerous Diabs, including Haissam and Hicham Hussein Diab. Hicham is Haissam’s younger brother (his contact details appear on Haissam’s phone). He lives in Brasilia. Little transpires of him in public sources, aside from a Facebook friendship with the late Samer Abou Hamdan, another Lebanese former convict who was gunned down[52] in São Paulo in November 2017, and a few family photos, including with older brother Haissam[53]. However, one thing stands out. Hicham serves on the board of directors of a Shi’a religious center, the Centro Cultural Beneficente Islamico en Brasilia[54](CCBIB), alongside two other Lebanese nationals, Ismail Ali and Ali Abou Hamdan (another contact on Haissam’s phone). They are not part of our story, but the center’s president, Sayid Marco Tenorio, might be.
Tenorio is a Brazilian Communist militant and political activist, a convert to Shi’a Islam, and a vocal supporter of Iran[55], the Polisario Front[56], and Hamas[57]. He lobbies for Hamas through the Palestine-Brazil Institute, or IBRASPAL[58], a Brazilian NGO headed by Dr. Ahmad Shehada[59], brother of the slain founder of Hamas’ Izzadin el Qassam Brigades, Salah Shehada[60], and, until early October 2023, through Brazil’s Congress, thanks to his former job as an advisor to a member from Brazil’s Communist Party. But after October 7, even his boss found Tenorio’s glorification of Hamas too hard to stomach and fired him[61]. Using his now revoked access to Brazil’s Congress, he once facilitated a meeting[62] between Sheikh Wehbe[63] – the Hezbollah FRD representative in Latin America as mentioned earlier– and members of the Brazilian Congress. He also visited Iran, where he met Iran’s president[64], Ebrahim Raisi; met the leader of the Polisario Front[65]; accompanied[66] an Iranian parliamentary delegation to the TBA; worked[67] for the Brazil-Iran parliamentary friendship; and publicly commemorated[68]the slain commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Forces, Qassem Soleimani, at an Iranian cultural center in Sao Paulo. Tenorio is close to the Iranian regime, has unfettered access to its stalwarts, and runs its ideological sounding board in Brasilia alongside three members of the local Lebanese Shi’a community, including the brother of a now suspected Hezbollah terrorist. It might be a benign coincidence, but this is the kind of space where Iran’s worldview and Hezbollah activities come together to exchange notes.
Sheikh Ebrahimi visits CCBIB regularly – the community there is too small to have a resident cleric. Given his connection to the center, the two suspects, and the Iranian regime – the Iranian ambassador regularly visits the center, too – it is plausible to assume that he serves there as an itinerant cleric. But there may be more. With Wehbe gone, the post of FRD representative in Brazil has apparently remained vacant, with Wehbe running the Latin America operation for Hezbollah remotely from Lebanon. It is possible that Sheikh Ebrahimi, who worked with Wehbe, is part of Hezbollah’s clerical nomenclature and maybe the new FRD person in Brazil. If so, his connections to both Haissam Diab and Mohamed Abdulmajid would not just be that of a pastoral guide to his spiritual flock but possibly more – that of a handler.
There is no proof of Abdulmajid’s attendance at the CCBIB. Still, at least one CCBIB board member, Ismail Ali, posted a social media picture of himself[69] at the Lebanese restaurant in Brasilia, which Abdulmajid used to own. The small group of Shi’a Lebanese in the capital, many of whom appear to be family relations, all seem to know one another. Besides, there is ample evidence of Abdulmajid’s religious devotion. In the last year, he began posting videos of sermons by Shi’a clerics. And since October 7, until his previous post on November 9, his social media activity focused obsessively on Hamas, first glorifying the October 7 massacres and then reposting pro-Hamas propaganda as Israel launched its military response. Finally, according to media reports[70], Abdulmajid was involved in contraband, in addition to reportedly playing an active role in moving money to Hezbollah through two tobacco stores[71] in Belo Horizonte, formally owned by his wife.
This snapshot is not the whole story, for sure. But it makes Abdulmajid a poster child for Hezbollah’s operations in the diaspora: despite growing up in relative affluence in a Western democracy, this young man is wedded to a violent revolutionary cause and weaponizes his radical ideas through illicit business activities, family networks, and clerical support from the religious infrastructure Hezbollah and Iran created in the diaspora, eventually becoming a recruiter, probably thanks to a mixture of his devotion to the cause, his proven talents, and his local connections.
The PF investigation will no doubt uncover more elements as it moves along. But what emerges, at least tentatively, is a familiar landscape. What we find, all in the same space, is this. Iranian-sponsored cultural centers run by Lebanese Shi’a close to Hezbollah and zealous converts; Hezbollah clerics; and members of close-knit Shi’a Lebanese family and business networks engaged in illicit commercial and financial activities, which Hezbollah leverages for fundraising and, when the time comes, for operational tasks too.
Relying on local supporters is not unheard of – in fact, the overseas financial networks Hezbollah leverages for its revenue streams can provide and have in the past provided, logistical support to terror attacks. Operatives need explosives and warehouses to store them; money, local safehouses, safe passage with counterfeit documents; and much more, which friendly, sympathetic locals will offer. There is a history of this division of labor in Latin America, after all. This is not the first time Hezbollah has taken its war against Israel there – in fact, it has a long record of both successful and failed plots – including the already mentioned murderous attacks it carried out in Argentina. This time, however, is different. And that may be the reason why Hezbollah, this time, chose to recruit mercenaries instead of sending its own agents to murder its victims.
The reason for this change of tactics may have to do with the ongoing Gaza war. After October 7, Hezbollah announced that if Israel launched a ground operation inside Gaza, it would open a second front in Israel’s north. Despite failing to make true of its threats, Hezbollah has deployed its elite forces along the Lebanon-Israel border. It is currently engaged in a low-intensity conflict with Israel that could quickly escalate. Rallying around the resistance flag without necessarily triggering a full-fledged conflict is a difficult balancing act, which a terrorist attack could upset, giving Israel a reason to launch a full-scale attack against Hezbollah. But task random Brazilians with blowing up Jews in Brasilia, and there is plausible deniability. With antisemitic incidents on the rise globally, a successful attack could have been disguised as a hate crime plotted by local extremists rather than one orchestrated by Hezbollah. That, too, might explain why, instead of following the script of previous overseas terror operations, Hezbollah tasked Abdulmajid and Diab – both living in Brazil for more than a decade and with no previously known ties to Hezbollah – as intermediaries to recruit willing assassins.
Be that as it may, the many characters we’ve mentioned all offered clues to connections to Hezbollah – one of sympathy and support at the very least, which may include familial and business ties and closeness to Hezbollah’s religious nomenclature overseas.
The plot was foiled, fortunately. But the Hezbollah networks in the region are still intact, and Iran’s cultural emissaries and Hezbollah’s FRD clerics are still in place. There is no shortage of guns for hire south of the Rio Grande. And the region, by and large, still refuses to acknowledge that Hezbollah is a terror organization bent not only on fundraising but also on murdering innocents. This story should be a cautionary tale. Here’s to hoping it is not a dry run.
[1] https://oglobo.globo.com/blogs/bela-megale/post/2023/11/pf-prende-terroristas-ligados-ao-hezbollah-e-que-planejavam-ataques-no-brasil.ghtml
[2] https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/mossad-confirms-taking-part-in-operation-to-thwart-hezbollah-attack-in-brazil/
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/08/brazil-hezbollah-terror-plot
[4] https://www.em.com.br/nacional/2023/11/6654302-bh-dono-de-tabacaria-e-suspeito-de-aliciar-brasileiros-para-grupo-terrorista.html
[5] https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2023/11/23/operacion-trapiche-en-brasil-hezbollah-apuesta-por-el-contrabando-de-cigarrillos-electronicos-para-financiar-el-terrorismo/
[6] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12801491/Brazilian-musician-Michael-Messias-Hezbollah-offer-killings.html
[7] https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazilian-hezbollah-suspect-cased-out-synagogues-brasilia-documents-show-2023-12-06/
[8] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-targeting-masih-alinejad-dissidents-60-minutes/
[9] https://www.investigativeproject.org/9018/colombia-uncovers-another-iranian-foreign
[10] https://www.instagram.com/p/CQgKSAmsP2F/
[11] https://www.lanacion.com.py/2016/08/19/cocaina-aeropuerto-guarani-minga-guazu/
[12] https://www.adndigital.com.py/supuestos-narcos-turcos-fueron-capturados-por-la-senad/
[13] https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/12/10/iran-using-northern-cyprus-as-terrorist-staging-ground/
[14] https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2023/06/29/detuvieron-en-brasil-a-garip-uc-un-narcotraficante-vinculado-a-la-red-de-hezbollah-en-sudamerica/
[15] https://www.consultasocio.com/q/sa/haissam-houssim-diab
[16] https://casadosdados.com.br/solucao/cnpj/casa-bo-comercio-de-eletro-eletronicos-ltda-00480663000150
[17] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12801491/Brazilian-musician-Michael-Messias-Hezbollah-offer-killings.html
[18] https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/obama-hezbollah-drug-trafficking-investigation/
[19] https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2016/02/01/dea-and-european-authorities-uncover-massive-hizballah-drug-and-money
[20] https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/who-was-imad-mughniyeh
[21] https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/tg1057
[22] https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jl0069
[23] https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2016/02/01/dea-and-european-authorities-uncover-massive-hizballah-drug-and-money
[24] https://www.moneylaundering.com/news/colombia-based-hezbollah-associate-knew-anti-money-laundering-protocols/
[25] https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/02/26/cocaine-routes-paraguay-transit-country/
[26] https://insightcrime.org/news/evolving-crime-persistent-corruption-paraguay/
[27] https://urbanviolence.org/brazils-primeiro-comando-da-capital-takes-flight/
[28] https://www.investigativeproject.org/case/808/us-v-chamas
[29] https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2018/01/11/buscan-a-dos-traficantes-de-droga-turcos-vinculados-al-grupo-terrorista-hezbollah-que-escaparon-de-prision-en-paraguay/
[30] https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/02/14/paraguay-is-a-fiscal-paradise-for-terrorists/
[31] https://www.facebook.com/haissam.diab.395
[32] https://www.facebook.com/people/Haissam-Diab/pfbid021yzZ8R433byXqqKhkgUsJkUjngZ2tJB6p9Tp4uQibbw9S6WjBMgL4Ca79Ufs1bUql/
[33] https://www.facebook.com/haissamdiab.diab.1
[34] https://www.facebook.com/haissam.diab.3
[35] https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm650
[36] https://lb.kompass.com/c/ghassan-ali-chams-co-for-exchange/lb025232/
[37] https://www.facebook.com/hshdhd.behrb/
[38] https://ict.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Ottolenghi-Match-Made-in-Heaven_2022_10_06_0801.pdf
[39] https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/hezbollahs-diplomats-go-operational
[40] https://www.ict.org.il/images/Iranian%20Threat%20Network.pdf
[41] https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/from-latin-america-to-west-africa-hezbollah-s-complex-web-of-connections-is-fuelling-its-terrorist-activity-1.904231
[42] https://iranwire.com/en/features/70326/
[43] https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/tg149
[44] https://thedispatch.com/article/time-to-target-hezbollahs-illicit/
[45] https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/tg997
[46] https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/tg997
[47] https://www.jusbrasil.com.br/processos/226261147/processo-n-49410-5120174013400-do-trf-1
[48] https://www.facebook.com/mohamed.brazil.14
[49] https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=553692848000842&set=pb.100000803942387.-2207520000&type=3
[50] https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10214920024747467&set=pb.1633432299.-2207520000
[51] https://www.facebook.com/muaddelm
[52] https://www.metroworldnews.com.br/foco/2017/11/18/comerciante-libanes-e-morto-tiros-na-zona-sul-de-sao-paulo.html
[53] https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=331237670606763&set=pb.100011615985212.-2207520000&type=3
[54] https://cnpj.biz/33859753000106
[55] https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/01/25/iran-commemorates-death-of-qassem-soleimani/
[56] https://noticiaspia.com/sahara-occidental-lucha-anticolonial-invisible/
[57] https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/hamas-and-the-legitimate-right-of-defense/
[58] https://www.facebook.com/Ibraspal/
[59] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230318-panama-detains-head-of-brazil-palestine-institute/
[60] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salah_Shehade
[61] https://revistaoeste.com/brasil/sayid-tenorio-ira-hezbollah/
[62] https://revistaoeste.com/brasil/sayid-tenorio-ira-hezbollah/
[63] https://oglobo.globo.com/brasil/noticia/2023/11/11/o-que-se-sabe-sobre-acoes-do-hezbollah-na-america-do-sul.ghtml
[64] https://www.instagram.com/p/CwWJJDcM9_P/?img_index=1
[65] https://www.instagram.com/p/CxOfHpBpRcl/?img_index=1
[66] https://portaldatransparencia.gov.br/viagens/43618966
[67] https://casadosdados.com.br/solucao/cnpj/instituto-de-amizade-brasil-ira-iabi-52481866000165
[68] https://www.instagram.com/p/CYgcG-yumJQ/?img_index=1
[69] https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=984747534932804&set=pb.100001926991828.-2207520000&type=3
[70] https://g1.globo.com/fantastico/noticia/2023/11/12/exclusivo-fantastico-descobre-a-identidade-do-principal-investigado-na-operacao-que-apura-o-recrutamento-de-brasileiros-pelo-grupo-extremista-hezbollah.ghtml
[71] https://bhaz.com.br/noticias/bh/dono-de-tabacaria-em-bh-suspeito-liderar-grupo-extremista/
 

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 14-16/2024
Palestinian leader appoints longtime adviser as prime minister in the face of calls for reform
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)/March 14, 2024
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed his longtime economic adviser to be the next prime minister in the face of U.S. pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority as part of Washington's postwar vision for Gaza. Mohammad Mustafa, a U.S.-educated economist and political independent, will head a technocratic government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that could potentially administer Gaza ahead of eventual statehood. But those plans face major obstacles, including strong opposition from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israel-Hamas war that is still grinding on with no end in sight. It’s unclear whether the appointment of a new Cabinet led by a close Abbas ally would be sufficient to meet U.S. demands for reform, as the 88-year-old president would remain in overall control. “The change that the United States of America and the countries of the region want is not necessarily the change that the Palestinian citizen wants,” said Hani al-Masri, a Palestinian political analyst. “People want a real change in politics, not a change in names ... They want elections.”He said Mustafa is “a respected and educated man” but will struggle to meet public demands to improve conditions in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli restrictions imposed since the start of the war have caused an economic crisis. In a statement announcing the appointment, Abbas asked Mustafa to put together plans to re-unify adminstration in the West Bank and Gaza, lead reforms in the government, security services and economy and fight corruption. Mustafa was born in the West Bank town of Tulkarem in 1954 and earned a doctorate in business administration and economics from George Washington University. He has held senior positions at the World Bank and previously served as deputy prime minister and economy minister. He is currently the chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund. The previous prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, resigned along with his government last month, saying different arrangements were needed because of the “new reality in the Gaza Strip.”
The Palestinian Authority was established in the 1990s through interim peace agreements and was envisioned as a stepping-stone to eventual statehood.
But the peace talks repeatedly collapsed, most recently with Netanayahu’s return to power in 2009. Hamas seized power in Gaza from forces loyal to Abbas in 2007, confining his limited authority to major population centers that account for around 40% of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Abbas is deeply unpopular among Palestinians, many of whom view the PA as little more than a subcontractor of the occupation because it cooperates with Israel on security matters. His mandate ended in 2009 but he has refused to hold elections, blaming Israeli restrictions. Hamas won a landslide victory in the last parliamentary elections, in 2006. Although it is considered a terrorist group by Israel and Western countries, Hamas would likely perform well in any free and fair vote. Abbas, unlike his Hamas rivals, recognizes Israel, has renounced armed struggle and is committed to a negotiated solution that would create an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. That goal is shared by the international community. Israel has long criticized the PA over payments it makes to the families of Palestinians who have been killed or imprisoned by Israel, including top militants who killed Israelis. The PA defends such payments as a form of social welfare for families harmed by the decades-old conflict. The dispute has led Israel to suspend some of the taxes and customs duties it collects on behalf of the PA, contributing to years of budget shortfalls. The PA pays the salaries of tens of thousands of teachers, health workers and other civil servants. The United States has called for a reformed PA to expand its writ to postwar Gaza ahead of the eventual creation of a Palestinian state in both territories. Netanyahu has ruled out any role for the PA in Gaza, and his government is opposed to Palestinian statehood. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories to form their future state. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally and considers the entire city — including major holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims — to be its undivided capital. Israel has built scores of settlements across the West Bank, where over 500,000 Jewish settlers live in close proximity to some 3 million Palestinians. Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, but along with Egypt imposed a blockade on the territory when Hamas seized power two years later.Netanyahu has vowed to dismantle Hamas and maintain open-ended security control over Gaza in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.The Palestinian Authority has said it will not return to Gaza on the back of an Israeli tank, and that it would only assume control of the territory as part of a comprehensive solution to the conflict that includes statehood.

Aid efforts intensify for famine-stalked Gaza
AFP/March 14, 2024
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Efforts mounted on Thursday to get more aid into the war-devastated Gaza Strip, where the UN warns of famine and desperate residents have stormed relief convoys. After mediators failed to reach a truce between Israel and Hamas for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started Monday, fighting continued with at least 69 deaths over the previous 24 hours, the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry said. Hamas authorities reported more than 40 air strikes across Gaza, from Beit Hanoun in the north to Rafah in the south, where most of Gaza’s population has sought refuge and Israel is threatening a ground assault. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday doubled down on pledges to invade Rafah, saying: “There is international pressure to prevent us from entering Rafah and completing the job. “I will continue to repel the pressures and we will enter Rafah... and bring complete victory to the people of Israel,” he said during a visit to a field intelligence base. Around 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt in Rafah. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said late Wednesday that a “significant” number of them would need to be moved “to a humanitarian island that we will create with the international community.” The Israeli military said on Thursday it was “raiding Hamas’s hideouts and military strongholds” in southern Gaza’s main city of Khan Yunis. “During a search in the area, the forces located several weapons in a bedroom under a bed, including missiles and explosives. Following the searches in the area, the forces located a rocket launcher and missiles near a school and destroyed it.”
Gaza’s health ministry said seven people were killed when Israeli troops opened fire at an aid distribution point near Gaza City. The army had no immediate comment. In central Israel, police said a Gaza-raised Palestinian had stabbed a soldier in a shopping center, who had shot his attacker dead before later dying from his injuries. The war began on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked Israel, resulting in about 1,160 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. Israel has carried out a relentless campaign of bombardment and ground operations in Gaza, killing at least 31,341 people, most of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry. Hamas militants also seized about 250 Israeli and foreign hostages, dozens of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes about 130 of the captives remain in Gaza and that 32 are dead.
Activists and families of Israeli hostages kept up pressure for their negotiated release, again blocking a Tel Aviv highway in protest on Thursday. And in a sign of mounting US exasperation with the Netanyahu, US Senate leader Chuck Schumer called for a snap election in Israel, describing the veteran hawk as one of a number of “major obstacles” to a two-state solution and peace. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas appointed Mohammed Mustafa, a long-trusted adviser on economic affairs, as prime minister, three weeks after his predecessor resigned. Washington and other powers have called for a reformed Palestinian Authority to take charge of all Palestinian territories after the end of the war. US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators failed to broker a new truce in time for Ramadan, but Netanyahu said Thursday there was now “Qatari pressure on Hamas.”“As of this moment, there has been no real response from Hamas. They are still clinging to unacceptable demands,” he told representatives of hostages’ families.
“As a result of our pressure... and also with your help, we are seeing — for the first time — Qatari pressure on Hamas.”The war has resulted in severe shortages of medical supplies across Gaza, with only a fraction of hospitals partially functioning. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said aid had been delivered to Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza, but said it was “struggling with water, sanitation, hygiene and waste management.”“Two of the hospital’s warehouses are no longer functional and are being used to shelter 7,000 displaced people,” he added.
The Spanish aid vessel Open Arms, pulling about 200 tons of food, was nearing Israel’s coast after departing Cyprus on Tuesday, the Marinetraffic website showed on Thursday. Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said a second, bigger vessel was being readied for the aid corridor which, senior US officials have said, will be complemented by a temporary pier off Gaza to be built by American troops. Daily aid airdrops by multiple countries have been taking place this month, and Germany said it would join the effort. But the air and sea missions are “no alternative” to land deliveries, 25 organizations including Amnesty International and Oxfam said in a statement. Dire shortages have left many scrambling for scraps of aid, among them Mokhles Al-Masry, 27, who was displaced from Beit Hanoun to Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. “There is no food, nothing to feed our children. We can’t even find a bottle of baby milk. We’ve been wandering around since early morning, hoping that a plane would drop parachutes,” he said. “As you can see, these parachutes don’t cover one percent of people’s needs.”Amnesty’s secretary general, Agnes Callamard, said the international community seemed to have accepted that the war will drag on.“Why are you making an investment that is going to take two months?” she asked, referring to the Pentagon’s timeline for setting up the temporary pier which, it said, could enable the provision of more than two million meals a day.

Israel says UN should organize more convoys for north Gaza
AFP/March 14, 2024
KEREM SHALOM, Israel: Israel on Thursday defended its policies on admitting trucks into Gaza, calling on the United Nations to send more convoys of aid to the war-ravaged territory. “If the UN wants to see more aid in north Gaza, it should coordinate more convoys,” said Elad Goren, head of the civil department at COGAT, a defense ministry body governing civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories. Goren also said 99 percent of aid trucks sent to Gaza were “approved,” pushing back on reports by the UN and NGOs that cumbersome Israeli inspections are blocking food and other essentials.
“The trucks that are rejected are sent back for repackaging because they contain... materials that Hamas can use for their terrorist activities,” he told a press conference at the inspection terminal at the Kerem Shalom border crossing. “The issue is not with our inspection, but with the distribution capabilities of the international organizations.” Asked about Goren’s claims, Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), told AFP that “the issue is with the Israeli authorities not allowing enough aid in or commercial supplies.” Touma, whose agency coordinates much of the aid distribution inside Gaza, said Israeli authorities control the number of trucks that go in and the inspection process. Aid workers say slow inspections and opaque rules on which items are allowed to enter Gaza have held up the arrival of aid in the Hamas-run territory, where the health ministry has reported 27 deaths from malnutrition and dehydration in recent weeks, most of them children. Access to the north, where needs are greatest, is further complicated by Israeli checkpoints, they say. Speaking from a parking lot where aid trucks are inspected, Goren pointed to the Gaza side and said aid was piling up there, although reporters were not given access to the Palestinian side to verify his claims. Humanitarian aid entering Gaza by land mostly comes from Egypt, is inspected at the Kerem Shalom or Nitzana checkpoints, then unloaded in Gaza so Palestinian trucks can distribute it. Delays and obstacles at land crossings have prompted countries to pursue other options for aid delivery, including airdrops and a maritime route from Cyprus. Goren on Thursday praised the diversification of avenues to bring aid into Gaza and said his agency had facilitated more than 35 airdrops in the north. He also said that, earlier this week, six trucks were able to enter through a new crossing two kilometers south of Gaza City, known as Gate 96. The first ship bringing aid to Gaza from Cyprus departed this week. Aid groups nonetheless stress that overland delivery is far more efficient than air and sea alternatives.

Israeli Fire Kills Six Gazans Awaiting Aid Trucks, Say Palestinian Health Officials
Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
Israeli fire killed six Palestinians and wounded dozens of others as crowds of residents awaited aid trucks in Gaza City, Gaza health ministry officials said on Thursday. Palestinians were rushing to get aid supplies at the Kuwait roundabout in northern Gaza City late on Wednesday evening when Israeli forces opened fire, residents and health officials said. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident. The conflict in Gaza has displaced most of the enclave's 2.3 million population and there have been chaotic scenes and deadly incidents at aid distributions as desperately hungry people scramble for food. On Feb. 29, Palestinian health authorities said Israeli forces shot dead more than 100 Palestinians as they waited for an aid delivery near Gaza City. Israel blamed the deaths on crowds that surrounded aid trucks, saying victims had been trampled or run over. In Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, an Israeli missile hit a house, killing nine people on Thursday, Palestinian medics said. Residents said Israeli aerial and ground bombardments continued overnight on areas across the enclave including in Rafah in the south, where over a million displaced people are sheltering.
The Gaza health ministry said on Thursday Israeli military strikes across Gaza Strip had killed 69 Palestinians and wounded 110 others in the past 24 hours.
With the war now in its sixth month, the UN has warned that at least 576,000 people in Gaza – one quarter of the population – are on the brink of famine and global pressure has been growing on Israel to allow more access to the enclave.
Israel denies obstructing aid deliveries into Gaza. It has blamed failures by aid agencies for delays and has accused Hamas of diverting aid. Hamas denies this and says Israel uses hunger as a weapon in its military offensive. A ship carrying aid is currently approaching Gaza in a pilot trial of maritime delivery, that is expected to be followed up by a US military effort to set up a dock on Gaza's coast that will enable distribution of up to two million meals a day. While welcoming aid ships, Palestinian and UN officials say maritime deliveries are not a substitute for sending aid through land crossings.

Aid Ship Slowly Heads For Gaza as Calls For Assistance Grow
Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
A first boat loaded with 200 tonnes of food aid was making slow progress towards the Gaza Strip on Thursday as efforts grew to bring more humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian territory besieged by Israel. The main UN aid agency in Gaza said an Israeli strike a day earlier hit one of its warehouses in the southern city of Rafah, killing an employee, although Israel later said a Hamas militant was killed in the rocket strike. Donor nations, aid agencies and charities pushed on with efforts to rush food to the territory of 2.4 million people, where famine looms after more than five months of war. Mediation efforts have so far failed to secure a new truce in the war triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed again that Israeli forces "will reach every location" in their mission to destroy the group. "There is no safe haven for terrorists in Gaza," Gallant said on a tour of the Hamas-ruled territory, according to a video released by his office. In response to the October 7 attack, Israeli forces have carried out a relentless campaign of air strikes and ground operations in Gaza, killing at least 31,272 people, most of them civilians, according to the territory's health ministry.
The Spanish charity vessel Open Arms was on its way to Gaza from Cyprus, towing a barge with 200 tonnes of aid in the first voyage along a planned maritime corridor to Gaza. Once near Gaza, the aid will be delivered onto a pier built for the operation by US charity World Central Kitchen, which will then distribute it. However, airdrops and efforts to open a maritime corridor were "no alternative" to land deliveries because they could only provide a fraction of the aid needed, 25 organizations, including Amnesty International and Oxfam, said in a statement Wednesday. In Gaza City, desperate Palestinians were awaiting the arrival of the Open Arms aid boat, which the charity operating it said could take days. Standing on the shore, resident Eid Ayub told AFP that "the aid coming by sea and dropped by air is not enough". "They send aid, but when this aid arrives, there's no entity to distribute it," he said, complaining of "merchants" who seize supplies and then resell them. Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said on Wednesday a second aid ship "with bigger capacity" was being prepared in Larnaca. Kombos also hosted a virtual meeting on Wednesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and senior ministers and officials from Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the European Union and the United Nations to discuss the maritime corridor. "The ministers agreed that there is no meaningful substitute to land routes via Egypt and Jordan and entry points from Israel into Gaza for aid delivery at scale," they said in a joint statement. They also agreed that opening the Israeli port of Ashdod, north of Gaza, to humanitarian assistance "would be a welcome and significant complement". Senior officials will gather in Cyprus on Monday for "in-depth" briefings on the corridor, the statement said.

Italy arms exports to Israel continued despite block, minister says
ROME (Reuters)March 14, 2024
Italy has continued to export arms to Israel, the Italian defence minister said on Thursday, despite assurances last year that the government was blocking such sales following Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip. However, Guido Crosetto told parliament that only previously signed orders were being honoured after checks had been made to ensure the weaponry would not be used against Gaza civilians. Under Italian law, arms exports are banned to countries that are waging war and those deemed to be violating international human rights. Crosetto announced last year following the explosion of violence in Gaza that the Italian authority which oversees the sale of military goods, known as Uama, had blocked authorisation of the transfer of arms to Israel. However, picking apart data from statistics agency ISTAT, independent media outlet Altreconomia this week reported that Italy had exported 2.1 million euros ($2.30 million) in arms and munitions to Israel in the last three months of 2023. In December alone, Italy exported 1.3 million euros worth of arms, three times the level of the same month in 2022. Crosetto told parliament these were outstanding contracts. "Uama checked them on a case-by-case basis and they did not concern materials that could be used against civilians in Gaza," he said. Francesco Vignarca, head of a national pacifist network for disarmament, said there was little clarity surrounding arms sales and criticised recent moves to reform the export law. "With the (proposed) changes, decisions (on exports) will be more political and transparency will be reduced," he said, adding that all outstanding arms contracts to Israel needed to be suspended. Italy's conservative government offered immediate support to Israel in the wake of the surprise Hamas attack on Oct. 7, but has since criticised the Israeli invasion of Gaza, saying far too many civilians were dying and urging an immediate ceasefire.

China, Russia and Iran put on show of force with Mideast naval drills
Brad Lendon, CNN/March 14, 2024
Warships from China, Russia and Iran have held live-fire exercises in a key Middle Eastern waterway this week as the three partners put on a show of force in the volatile region, according to reports in state-run media. The drills near the Gulf of Oman, involving more than 20 ships from the three countries, are “aimed at strengthening maritime cooperation and safeguarding regional peace and stability,” a statement from the Chinese Defense Ministry said, echoing similar language from Iran and Russia. China’s navy sent a guided-missile destroyer and guided-missile frigate to the exercises, Russia dispatched the cruiser Varyag from its Pacific Fleet, and Iran contributed a range of vessels, including frigates and fast-attack boats, according to state-run media. Scheduled to run through Friday, the exercises are in their sixth incarnation since 2018, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
But they coincide with the most turbulent time the region has seen over those six years, noted Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency. “The joint exercise comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region,” it said, citing the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, “which has threatened to spiral into a wider regional conflict.”The Gaza conflict has already spread to international waters in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, where Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have fired missiles and drones at international military and commercial vessels. Iranian Rear Adm. Amrollah Nozari said the exercises cover 17,000 square kilometers (6,500 square miles) of sea in an area of strategic importance to the whole world. “This area includes three of the world’s five strategic straits, located in the northern Indian Ocean region, which is a crucial hub for energy and trade traffic globally,” Nozari is quoted as saying by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency. The Iranian report also noted that the nation’s navy was introducing new vessels to this year’s exercises, “equipped for extended ocean missions” and armed with advanced domestically developed weaponry, though it did not specify what those weapons were. Iran is a key supporter of both Hamas in Gaza and the Houthi rebels. Many of the munitions used by both groups are believed to come from Tehran. Iranian munitions, including its Shahed aerial drones, have also become an important part of Russia’s arsenal in its war on Ukraine. Meanwhile, ties between China and Russia have deepened following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, sparking deep suspicion in the West, including over concerns about Beijing’s position as Moscow’s key economic lifeline.

Yemen's Houthis Fired Missile in Gulf of Aden, No Damage Reported
Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired one anti-ship ballistic missile from Yemen into the Gulf of Aden, but it caused no damage to any vessels. "The missile did not impact any vessels and there were no injuries or damage reported," CENTCOM added in a statement early on Thursday. "United States Central Command then successfully engaged and destroyed four unmanned aerial systems (UAVs) and one surface-to-air missile in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, it said, adding "it was determined these weapons presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region."Houthi militants have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping in the Gulf of Aden since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's military actions in Gaza.Their Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilize the wider Middle East. The United States and Britain have carried out several strikes against Houthi targets in response.

Report: US Held Indirect Talks with Iran over Red Sea Attacks
Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
Senior US and Iranian diplomats reportedly met secretly in Oman earlier this year as Washington tried to seek Tehran’s help in stopping attacks by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea, The top Middle East official at the White House, Brett McGurk, and the State Department’s Iran envoy, Abram Paley, headed the US delegation that met with an Iranian team, which Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani led, the Financial Times reported Wednesday. According to the newspaper, which cited unnamed US and Iranian officials, the talks were indirect, with Omani officials relaying messages between the two camps. During the indirect talks, American officials also sounded the alarm over Iran’s expanding nuclear program. This first round of talks was held in January, with a second scheduled for February. But those talks never materialized as McGurk is busy trying to broker a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip in return for the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas.

Biden Extends National Emergency with Respect to Iran
Washington: Heba El Koudsy/Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
US President Joe Biden has decided to extend the national emergency with respect to Iran and to maintain in force comprehensive sanctions against the country. In a message to the US Congress on Tuesday, Biden said: “The actions and policies of the Government of Iran continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”“Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957 with respect to Iran and to maintain in force comprehensive sanctions against Iran to respond to this threat,” he added. The national emergency began with an executive order by President Bill Clinton on March 15, 1995 to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the US constituted by the actions and policies of the Iranian government. On May 6, 1995, the President issued another executive order, imposing more comprehensive sanctions on Iran to further respond to this threat. Over the years, additional executive actions have been taken to address various concerns, including Iran's nuclear program and support for terrorist groups.

Sweden Won't Help Citizens Held in ISIS Camps Return, Says FM
Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Wednesday that the country would not offer aid to return Swedes that had joined ISIS and were currently held in camps in northeastern Syria. "The government will not act so that the Swedish citizens and persons with connections to Sweden who are in camps or detention centres in north-eastern Syria are brought to Sweden," Billstrom said in a statement to AFP. "Sweden has no legal obligation to act for these individuals to be brought to Sweden. This applies to women, children and men," he continued. The ISIS fall in 2019 in Syria created the problem of what to do with the families of foreign militants captured or killed there and in Iraq. More than 43,000 Syrians, Iraqis, and foreigners from at least 45 countries are held in the squalid and overcrowded Al-Hol camp in Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria. Billstrom said that the remaining Swedes, had for several years been offered opportunities to return to Sweden, but had "refused again and again."The minister added that Sweden was facing a deteriorating security situation and it could not rule out that returning adults could pose a security threat upon their return. Broadcaster TV4 reported that five children with connections to Sweden remained in camps in Syria. However, Billstrom stressed that "the responsibility for the children lies with their parents, who have chosen to travel to Syria to join IS, one of the world's most cruel terrorist organisations."

Sisi: Rafah Operation Threatens More than 1.5 Million Displaced People
Cairo: Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi renewed a warning against Israel’s plans to launch a ground military operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, saying that this would threaten the lives of more than 1.5 million displaced people who have taken shelter in the area. Sisi was speaking on Wednesday during a joint press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who visited Cairo. According to the Arab World Press, the Egyptian president stressed “the inevitability of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel’s end to its hostilities.”He emphasized that the “practices of the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip constitute a formidable and flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.” “Egypt has repeatedly warned against Israel’s plans to make the Gaza Strip completely uninhabitable. It also cautions against the Israeli plan to launch a ground military operation against the Palestinian city of Rafah, which jeopardies the lives of more than one and a half million already displaced people, whose protection falls on Israel as stipulated in the rules of intentional law,” Sisi told the news conference. He also warned against escalation in the West Bank, saying: “The events unfolding in Gaza, in full view of the world, are taking place in conjunction with policies that obstruct the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank, including unleashing settler violence, carrying out demolition and expulsion operations, conducting military incursions and confiscating land in West Bank cities, in addition to settlement expansions and cementing the occupation.”The Egyptian president reiterated that the “suffering of the Palestinian people in all parts of the occupied Palestinian territories over the past decades will not end except through the recognition of the State of Palestine, enjoying full membership of the United Nations and the implementation of the two-state solution, in accordance with international references.”

Russia Bans 227 US Citizens from Entering the Country
Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
Russia has banned 227 US citizens from entering the country, including US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The ban, announced on its website, also included the deputy ministers of commerce, defense and energy, as well as former US ambassador to Russia John Sullivan. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Moscow has imposed mainly symbolic entry bans on thousands of Western politicians, journalists and others it accuses of "Russophobic" actions and statements.

British Government Publishes Official Definition of Extremism
Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
The British government published an official definition of “extremism” on Thursday, and said groups that get the label will be barred from receiving government funding. The government defined extremism as “the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance” that aims to destroy others’ rights and freedoms or “undermine, overturn or replace the UK’s system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights.” The government did not provide examples of extremist groups, but Communities Secretary Michael Gove pointed to the threat from the extreme right and "Islamist extremists who are seeking to separate Muslims from the rest of society and create division within Muslim communities.”Islamic and civil liberties groups said British Government Publishes Official Definition of Extremism
they worried the definition would be used disproportionately on Muslims. Qari Asim, chairman of the Mosques and Imams Advisory Board, said “this proposed definition may not be applied consistently.”“If it’s left to people to apply any definition of extremism and call anyone extremist at their whim, then that is going to create huge division in our society,” he told the BBC. The announcement comes two weeks after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a rare televised speech outside 10 Downing St. to denounce “a shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality,” which he linked to the Israel-Hamas war. Reports of both antisemitic and anti-Muslim abuse in Britain have soared since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which triggered Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Mass pro-Palestinian protests have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to central London to call for a cease-fire. Gove said the new definition does not criminalize anyone and is “not a restraint on free speech” or aimed at stopping protests.

Egypt calls on Israel to open land crossings for Gaza aid
Reuters/March 14, 2024
Egypt's foreign minister called on Israel on Thursday to open its land crossings to let more aid into the Gaza Strip and said Egypt was continuing efforts to agree a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and a hostage-prisoner exchange. Humanitarian relief has so far mainly been channelled through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza and the nearby, Israeli-controlled crossing of Kerem Shalom, but aid officials say the quantity delivered is far less than needed. Egypt's military has recently taken part in air drops of aid into Gaza as the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave has deteriorated. Aid officials, however, say land transport is the only effective way of scaling up deliveries to meet needs quickly. Much of the aid provided by international donors has been stockpiled at Al Arish in the north of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. "Israel controls six other crossings that it should open," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told a press conference during a visit by his Spanish counterpart to Cairo. "There is a long line of trucks waiting to enter but are subject to the procedures of vetting that must be complied to so that the trucks can enter safely, that the drivers are not targeted, that they are received on the other side," Shoukry said. "We have the capacity to increase the number of trucks but the authorisation has to come," he added. Egypt, which fears the displacement of Palestinians crowded near its border with Gaza, has previously said Israel was blocking aid. Aid officials say their inability to distribute aid within Gaza because of Israel's military campaign is a major impediment. Israel denies obstructing aid deliveries into Gaza. It has blamed failures by aid agencies for delays and has accused the Islamist group Hamas of diverting aid. Hamas denies this and says Israel uses hunger as a weapon in its military offensive.
Gaza health authorities say more than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its offensive in response to an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which left some 1,200 people dead and at least 250 hostages captured.
Egypt alongside Qatar has been trying to mediate between Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners. Attempts to strike a deal ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this week fell through. "We are working to reach a ceasefire, and release hostages and Palestinian prisoners," Shoukry said, declining to give further details. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Spain had the backing of more than 90 countries for an international peace conference to deliver a two-state solution for the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Russians Warned to Flee Border Cities While They Still Can
Shannon Vavra/The Daily Beast/March 14/2024
Anti-Kremlin Russian fighters have begun urging their fellow citizens to abandon their homes in the Belgorod and Kursk regions as part of a militant campaign aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. The group, made up of three different battalions known as the Freedom of Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps, and the Siberian Battalion, issued a statement Wednesday warning that it would be attacking shortly, urging Russians to evacuate. “Putin’s killers are carrying out massive attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities, setting up their positions between your homes, your children’s schools and government institutions. Every day, dozens of ordinary innocent people (mostly women and children) die from shelling from Belgorod,” the statement said. “In this regard, we are forced to inflict fire on military positions located in the cities of Belgorod and Kursk.”“The shelling of Ukraine from the territory of Belgorod must stop,” the groups added. The warning comes after the group vowed to take matters into their own hands in trying to combat Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The pro-Ukraine Russian groups, which Kyiv said are not operating on orders from the Ukrainian government, earlier claimed to have taken over the Kursk village of Tyotkino and reportedly targeted three different locations in Belgorod. Anti-Kremlin Militants With Tanks Fight Russia in Border Region. Moscow has claimed that it successfully fought off the militant groups. Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the incursions in an interview with Russian propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov, accusing Ukraine of directing the attacks as part of an effort to achieve any wins against Russia. “All this is happening against the backdrop of failures on the line of contact, on the front line. They did not achieve any of the goals they set for themselves last year,” Putin said. “Against the backdrop of those failures, they need to show at least something.”Putin added that he suspected the attacks were aimed at disrupting the upcoming presidential elections later this month. “I have no doubt that the main goal is, if not to disrupt the presidential election in Russia, then to somehow interfere with the normal process,” he said. The attacks in Belgorod and Kursk are ongoing. On Wednesday, residents in Kursk were warned of an impending drone attack, Governor Roman Starovoyt said on social media, adding that the village of Tyotkino was also under attack. In Belgorod, a drone struck a regional FSB Directorate building and a house, blowing out its windows upon impact. Another drone damaged a private house in the village of Grafovka before being shot down by air defenses. Local authorities have been advising residents not to go near their windows, warning that a missile could be incoming, according to TASS. Moscow has once again blamed the operations on Ukraine, calling it an “attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack.”The three pro-Kyiv Russian groups shared a video on social media that they claimed showed militants facing off with Russian forces.
“We beat them up,” the social media post accompanying the video on Telegram states. It’s not clear where the video was filmed.

Turkiye’s foreign minister seeks Iraq’s support against Kurdish militant group
AP/March 14, 2024
BAGHDAD: Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was in Baghdad for high-level meetings on Thursday, ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s expected visit next month and a potential Turkish offensive against a Kurdish militant group that maintains bases in Iraq. The talks between the Turkish foreign minister and his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein would focus on “counter-terrorism, security and military cooperation,” according to a statement carried by the state-run Iraqi News Agency. Fidan was accompanied by Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and Ibrahim Kalin, the director of Turkiye’s National Intelligence Organization. Turkiye has been seeking greater cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that has waged an insurgency against Turkiye since the 1980s and is banned there. The PKK is not officially outlawed in Iraq and has a foothold in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, where the central Iraqi government does not have much influence. Erdogan is expected to visit Iraq in April, after Turkish local elections on March 31. The Turkish president has said that his country is determined to end PKK’s presence in Iraq this summer. Turkiye often launches strikes against targets in Syria and Iraq that it believes to be affiliated with the PKK, which Baghdad has complained is a breach of its sovereignty. Those strikes have escalated in recent months, after PKK attacks on Turkish military bases in northern Iraq in December and January left 21 soldiers dead. Local Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria have said that many of the Turkish strikes targeted civilian infrastructure, cutting off electricity and water supplies in wide areas held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Qassim Al-Araji, the adviser for national security affairs to Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, said in a televised interview this week that Iraqi authorities would like to take a similar approach to the PKK as they did to Iranian Kurdish dissident groups based in northern Iraq. The presence of the Iranian dissidents had become a point of tension with Tehran and last summer, Iran and Iraq reached an agreement to disarm the dissident groups and relocate their members from military bases to displacement camps.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 14-16/2024
Jizya: The Return of Muslim Extortion
Raymond Ibrahim/The Stream/March 14/2024
https://stream.org/jizya-the-return-of-muslim-extortion/
Jizya is back in the news, driving Muslims to murder.
Last month, jihadists attacked a passenger bus in Mozambique’s terror-stricken province of Cabo Delgado. The driver was abducted and later executed. Terrorists left two handwritten notes — one in English and the other in Portuguese — at the scene.
The contents of the English note follow (thanks to Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi for locating the original; flawed grammar is its own):
We declare war on all Christians in the world for three things: either to be a Muslim or pay Jizya. If you haven’t pay Jizya it’s a war until final earth, Qiyama. [In other words, war to the ends of the earth until Resurrection Day.] To Muslims we announce peace to all the world. Let’s work together to defend the religion of Allah together. If you [Christians] refuse [to convert to Islam] then you will pay Jizya and if you refuse to pay Jizya you will be killed.
Two days later, the terrorists stopped another bus and forced its Christian passengers to relinquish all their money on pain of death.
But what, exactly, is jizya?
The word jizya appears in Koran 9:29: “Fight those among the People of the Book [Christians and Jews] who do not believe in Allah nor the Last Day, nor forbid what Allah and his Messenger have forbidden, nor embrace the religion of truth [Islam], until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.”
The root meaning of this Arabic word is simply to “repay” or “recompense,” basically to “compensate” for something. According to the standard Arabic-English dictionary, Hans Wehr, jizya is something that “takes the place” of something else, or “serves instead.”
In the hadith, Muhammad regularly calls on Muslims to demand jizya of non-Muslims: “If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay jizya, seek Allah’s help and fight them.”
The second “righteous caliph,” Omar al-Khattab, reportedly said that any conquered “infidel” who refuses to convert to Islam “must pay the jizya out of humiliation and lowliness. If they refuse this, it is the sword without leniency.”
This theme of non-Muslim degradation appears regularly in the commentaries of Islamic authorities. According to the Medieval Islamic Civilization Encyclopedia, Muslim “jurists came to view certain repressive and humiliating aspects of dhimma as de rigueur. Dhimmis [subjugated non-Muslim Christians and Jews] were required to pay the jizya publicly, in broad daylight, with hands turned palm upward, and to receive a smart smack on the forehead or the nape of the neck from the collection officer.”
Some of Islam’s jurists mandated a number of other humiliating rituals at the time of jizya payment, including that the presiding Muslim official slap, choke, and in some cases pull the beard of the paying dhimmi, who might even be required to approach the official on all fours, in bestial fashion.
Simply put, conquered Christians and Jews were to purchase their lives, which were otherwise forfeit to their Muslim conquerors, with money. Instead of taking their lives, the Muslims took their money. As one medieval jurist succinctly put it, “their lives and their possessions are only protected by reason of payment of jizya.”
None other than Eastern Roman Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (1350–1425), who regularly challenged Muslims about their teachings — once notoriously asserting, “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached” — also took the logic of jizya to task.
First he described what Islam imposes on non-Muslims:
[1] They must place themselves under this law [sharia, meaning become Muslims], or [2] pay tribute and, more, be reduced to slavery [an accurate depiction of jizya and dhimmi status], or, in the absence of wither, [3] be struck without hesitation with iron.
In the context of proving that irrational teachings cannot emanate from God, he then argued that these three options are “extremely absurd.” After all, if being a non-Muslim is so bad, why should jizya allow one to “buy the opportunity to lead an impious life?” argued the emperor.
At any rate, past and increasingly present, Muslims profited immensely by exacting jizya from conquered peoples. Moreover, many if not most of today’s Muslims are descendants of Christians and other dhimmis who chose conversion over payment.
Related to the idea of institutionalized jizya is the notion that non-Muslims are fair game to plunder whenever possible. The jizya entry in the Encyclopaedia of Islam states that “with or without doctrinal justification, arbitrary demands [for money] appeared at times.” Even that medieval traveler Marco Polo (1254–1324), whose chronicles appear impartial, made an interesting observation concerning the Muslims in Tauris (modern-day Iraq) in the thirteenth century:
According to their doctrine [Islam], whatever is stolen or plundered from others of a different faith, is properly taken, and the theft is no crime; whilst those who suffer death or injury by the hands of Christians [who defend themselves during the course of a plunder-driven raid], are considered as martyrs … . These principles are common to all Saracens [Muslims].
All this is echoed in modern times by Egyptian cleric Abu Ishaq al-Huwaini (b.1956) concerning what the Muslim world should do to overcome its economic problems:
If only we can conduct a jihadist invasion at least once a year or if possible twice or three times, then many people on earth would become Muslims. And if anyone prevents our dawa [invitation to conversion] or stands in our way, then we must kill or take them as hostage and confiscate their wealth, women and children. Such battles will fill the pockets of the Mujahid [holy warrior] who can return home with 3 or 4 slaves, 3 or 4 women and 3 or 4 children. This can be a profitable business if you multiply each head by 300 or 400 dirham. This can be like a financial shelter whereby a jihadist, in time of financial need, can always sell one of these heads.
And so it was for well over a millennium: Muslim rulers and mobs extorted money from “infidels” under their sway as a legitimate way to profit.
Much of this financial fleecing came to an end thanks to direct European intervention. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, one Muslim region after another abolished the jizya and gave non-Muslims unprecedented rights — originally to appease Western powers, later in emulation of Western governance. The Ottoman Empire’s Hatt-i Humayun decree of 1856 abolished the jizya in many Ottoman-ruled territories. Elsewhere in the Muslim world, the jizya was gradually abolished wherever Western powers were present.
Today, however, as Muslims reclaim their Islamic heritage — often to the approval and encouragement of Western leadership — jizya, whether institutionalized as under the Islamic State and its offshoots in Mozambique and elsewhere, or as a vigilante rationale to plunder infidels, is back.
One of the most memorable examples was voiced in 2013. Then, Anjem Choudary, a British-born Pakistani cleric who was receiving more than 25,000 pounds annually in welfare benefits, referred to British taxpayers as “slaves,” and explained:
We take the jizya, which is our haq [Arabic for “right”], anyway. The normal situation, by the way, is to take money from the kafir [infidel], isn’t it? So this is the normal situation. They give us the money — you work, give us the money, Allahu Akbar! We take the money.

TikTok: China's Instrument of War
Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute./March 14, 2024
If you have TikTok on a device, you are getting what the Communist Party of China (CCP) wants you to see. The Chinese regime has used its algorithm to disseminate pro-Hamas disinformation, Russian narratives about the Ukraine war, and other pro-CCP propaganda. The Party also uses the app to try to destroy America's young, by flooding them with messages promoting illegal drug use, self-harm, and even suicide.
The TikTok bill... does not violate the First Amendment.... Congress is not trying to regulate what appears on the app.... it does not regulate the content of what is posted.
China's Communist Party this month mobilized TikTok's American users, with deceptive messages, to contact their elected representatives to block the House legislation. Users did so in droves. Imagine if TikTok, in different circumstances, were to push China's other political messages, such as urging the abandonment of, say, Taiwan.
China has even weaponized TikTok, turning it into an instrument of war. The CCP wages what it calls "unrestricted warfare" against America.
The Communist Party of China has no constitutional right to attack America.
If you have TikTok on a device, you are getting what the Communist Party of China wants you to see. The Chinese regime has used its algorithm to disseminate pro-Hamas disinformation, Russian narratives about the Ukraine war, and other pro-CCP propaganda. The Party also uses the app to try to destroy America's young, by flooding them with messages promoting illegal drug use, self-harm, and even suicide. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Yesterday, March 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" by a vote of 352 to 65, with one member voting present.
It was a victory for the United States.
The bill, H.R. 7521, requires the "qualified divestiture" — as determined by the president — of any company controlled by a foreign adversary, within 180 days. The proposed act specifically mentions TikTok, a wildly popular video-sharing app, and its Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. as such companies.
The bill also provides that the president may designate social media apps as "subject to the control of a foreign adversary" and therefore covered by the divestiture rule.
If a divestiture does not occur during the 180-day period, the legislation prohibits U.S. app stores and web hosting services from providing a designated app to the public.
Proponents of the legislation want to make sure that TikTok can never again send data of its American users — now numbering 170 million — to China. TikTok CEO Shou Chew has repeatedly denied that his app has ever done so. On January 31, for instance, he told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the app "never provided" data to China, but reporting, including an especially detailed BuzzFeed News piece from June 2022, make it clear that Chew's numerous assurances were false.
As the Wall Street Journal reported this week, opponents of the House bill contend that TikTok had taken steps to ensure that "all U.S. user data is stored in an Oracle cloud, not overseas and that fears about the service are overblown."
The Oracle cloud arrangement, known as "Project Texas," has not been fully implemented and is faulty in conception.
Project Texas deals with only one of two national security threats posed by the most powerful social media platform in history. "Never has the world seen a social media app spread more wildly—or an algorithm that anticipates your desires more precisely—than TikTok," Axios wrote March 2022.
If you have TikTok on a device, you are getting what the Communist Party of China (CCP) wants you to see. The Chinese regime has used its algorithm to disseminate pro-Hamas disinformation, Russian narratives about the Ukraine war, and other pro-CCP propaganda. The Party also uses the app to try to destroy America's young, by flooding them with messages promoting illegal drug use, self-harm, and even suicide. As Australia-based national security analyst Paul Dabrowa tells Gatestone, the TikTok algorithm "exacerbates mental health issues of U.S. teens and makes them hate democracy."
"The Chinese Communist Party employs TikTok as a Trojan Horse to infiltrate, propagandize, and subvert America," Kerry Gershaneck, author of Political Warfare: Strategies for Combating China's Plan to "Win Without Fighting," told me this month.
There's no doubt that TikTok is powerful. China's Communist Party this month mobilized TikTok's American users, with deceptive messages, to contact their elected representatives to block the House legislation. Users did so in droves. Imagine if TikTok, in different circumstances, were to push China's other political messages, such as urging the abandonment of, say, Taiwan.
Beijing has even allowed TikTok to be employed for dirty political tricks. Supporters of Joe Biden, a presidential candidate at the time, used TikTok to disrupt at least one Trump campaign event, in Tulsa in June 2020.
The 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on the 11th of this month, reports that China also used the app to interfere in the 2022 mid-term elections in the U.S. In testimony on the following day, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haynes said that she could not rule out the Chinese Communist Party using TikTok in the upcoming election.
China has even weaponized TikTok, turning it into an instrument of war. The CCP wages what it calls "unrestricted warfare" against America.
"Unrestricted warfare" is apt. Radio Free Asia reported in August 2020 that a People's Liberation Army intelligence unit, working out of China's now-closed Houston consulate, was using big data to identify Americans likely to participate in Black Lives Matter and Antifa protests, and then sent them "tailor-made" videos on how to organize riots. Related reporting reveals the videos were distributed by TikTok.
Fomenting street violence in another country is an act of war. Trying to take down a foreign government is obviously an act of war.
How important is the TikTok algorithm to the Chinese regime? President Donald Trump tried to force a sale of the app to Oracle in 2020. The deal floundered not over price but over control of the algorithm.
Powerful voices have spoken out in opposition to Congressional action on TikTok, notably Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky). On March 8th he signaled that he opposed the TikTok legislation on constitutional grounds, posting "Why not just defend the First Amendment?"
Maria Cantwell (D-Wash), who as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee will consider the House bill, said she would "try to find a path forward that is constitutional and protects civil liberties."
The TikTok bill, however, does not violate the First Amendment.
Of course, people creating and posting videos are entitled to First Amendment protections, but Congress is not trying to regulate what appears on the app. As FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and others have pointed out, the TikTok bill regulates the conduct of ByteDance and TikTok; it does not regulate the content of what is posted. Some have complained that the bill delegates too much power to the president, but the Constitution gives the Commander in Chief broad powers to protect America from foreign adversaries and enemies. Moreover, the proposed act contains safeguards limiting the president's discretionary powers. In short, the Communist Party of China has no constitutional right to attack America. In August 2020, President Trump, to his credit, invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to ban TikTok.
President Biden reversed the ban, and his reelection campaign — "Biden HQ"— joined the Chinese-owned platform last month. The Democratic National Committee signed on to TikTok in March 2022. Now, even Trump does not like the attempt to get rid of the app. The former president signaled opposition in a Truth Social posting on the 7th.
It is time, however, to take TikTok from China.
Let's remember, China's regime has used TikTok maliciously, as in the Radio Free Asia report above.
*Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China and China Is Going to War, a Gatestone Institute distinguished senior fellow, and a member of its Advisory Board.
© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

The Resounding Foundational Tragedy Shrouded in Neglect
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/14 March 2024
Tragedy has hit one country of the Arab Levant after another, and yet a foundational tragedy has been deliberately neglected, despite the fact that many of the others were either linked to it or caused by it.
The prominent position that Arab nationalists and socialists have occupied in Arab political culture promoted this neglect to the rank of "progressive" and "revolutionary" tools used in the fight against colonialism and the effort to hold it solely responsible for all of our disappointments and flaws. If colonialism remains a factor that must be accounted for in Palestine, applying this "analysis" to other cases, both within and without the Arab world, combines gratuitous obfuscation with malicious deliberate neglect.
The foundational tragedy in question is the series of military coups that, in a sense, hollowed out and laid waste to Levantine patriotism. In fact, we could perhaps say that, in many respects, the ordeal of patriotism in the Levant began when the notables lost power (1952 in Egypt, 1958 in Iraq, and in intermittent stages in Syria). Influenced by a blend of fascism and Soviet communism, nations came to be divided, in ideologies that became state doctrine, into two camps: patriots and traitors.
That was an early recipe for more than just the rise of populist leaders, but also for splitting society and priming it for civil war. We cannot present a full account of today’s scene, with its proliferation of militias and rulers killing their people, without a genealogy that traces it back to its great grandfather, the theory of “friends of the people” and “their enemies.”Indeed, because putschists and their putschist regimes were tinged with Arab nationalism, especially after 1956, the conflict over this new identity became another element of dividing national associations. In Egypt, large patriotic communities kept quiet about their opposition to dragging their country toward pan-Arabism. Meanwhile, in Iraq, the dispute between Abdul Karim Qasim and Abdul Salam Arif very clearly reflected this struggle reinforced by sectarian loyalties. Syria was fragmented along geopolitical lines that fed into the Egyptian-Iraqi polarization, which was paralleled by the polarization of Damascus and Aleppo. The repercussions of junta rule were also felt in Lebanon, which had been relatively stable when notables held power in neighboring Arab states. The officers’ hold on power accompanied with the presence of Palestinian revolution on its soil, which lit the fuse of its sectarian contradictions and made their containment nearly impossible. The worst thing the nationalist-leftist alliance (that was brimming with competition) did was develop a notion of patriotism that rendered it synonymous with “fighting imperialism,” instead of being a concept built around a vision of some kind of connection to one’s homeland and its tangible interests.
The hollowing out and laying to waste of patriotism took other forms as well. After modest institutions and political traditions began to be developed or those inherited from the colonial era were adopted- albeit in a flawed and uneven manner - following independence, the putschist Arab regime took on the task of destroying all of these traditions and institutions, using a shortcoming here and corruption or injustice there as pretexts. The truth is that while conservative thought may be excessively beholden to tradition and its role, abolishing traditions is nonetheless extremely dangerous, especially in incohesive and fragmented countries with weak social fabrics like ours.
Since their alliance with the Soviets was organic to these police states run by officers, they became increasingly reliant on security services and arbitrary rule. The floodgates were opened to the influence of ideas that substituted addressing the population’s real concerns with theoretical abstraction, while the “patriotic and progressive” regimes banned any serious empirical study of the societies they ruled over. Meanwhile, parties, unions, the press, cultural life, and civil society were suspended or seized and nationalized.
Moreover, the population's relationship to modernity and contemporaneity was soiled by these regimes’ imposition of modernization from above. They championed an enlightenment divorced from people’s rights and interests, to say nothing about their promotion of a liberation that was, in practice if not in theory, antithetical to freedom. The conflict with Israel and the slogan of liberating Palestine offered these regimes an ideal way out of confronting reality, reinforcing their militarization and tyranny. With the exception of the last two years of Nasser’s life, these police states put hurdles in the way of any settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a matter of policy, turning it into a problem with no solution. If there have been countless episodes that speak to this since the 1960s, none do so more eloquently than those of the 1980s. The Syrian regime brought down the Jordanian-Palestinian peace project, through violence and assassination, after having overturned the May 17 Lebanese-Israeli agreement concluded earlier in the decade. And with their left hand, the police states of the Levant sponsored the translation and dissemination of European anti-Semitic literature, before Khomeinist Iran and its arms in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen inherited it from them. Although this political system was not totalitarian in the strict sense, it is no different from the “onion” Hannah Arendt uses as a metaphor for how Nazi power is structured and organized. The leader is in the center, exercising power and repressing opposition from within, not from above. That sets him apart from his comrades in the circles around him, creating a bulwark protecting him from external shocks and challenges, and allowing him to toy with others by bringing them closer and pushing them further away.
Once this system begins to rot, be it for internal or external reasons, its degeneration is manifested in two forms, both inherent in the putschist regime itself: militias, and the ruler killing his people and destroying his country, like a cruel foreign occupier. Thus, after patriotism is debased, the country is itself sacrificed. Today, nowhere can we see this criminal theory in action more clearly than in Syria.

A new era of Gulf-Central Asian cooperation
Arman Shakkaliyev/Arab News/March 15, 2024
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev last month visited Doha for two days of extensive discussions with the Qatari leadership. During the visit, President Tokayev highlighted Kazakhstan’s readiness to increase exports to Qatar across 60 non-resource commodity items totaling $250 million and proposed increasing mutual trade to $500 million in the near future. This visit, which marked 30 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries, reflected Kazakhstan’s commitment to expanding its relationship with the Gulf states, as well as its evolving position as an active and productive power on the world stage. Against a backdrop of global geopolitical tensions and economic challenges, the partnerships between these regions stand as beacons of resilience and opportunity, showcasing the potential for shared prosperity in a world undergoing transformative changes. In my role as minister of trade and integration, I have made it my mission to ensure that Kazakhstan embraces this responsibility and maintains its status as a competitive global partner for diplomacy, trade and foreign investment. Our country has become a crucial transport and logistics hub, creating new trade routes and collaborating with logistics companies. We plan to systematically increase the cargo flow through the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and bring it to 500,000 containers annually by 2030. Kazakhstan has also committed itself to addressing global food shortages through agro-industrial projects. In this regard, we can effectively use the potential of the Islamic Organization for Food Security.
Kazakhstan has always viewed the Gulf region as a particularly fertile environment for shared prosperity and economic development
In pursuit of such goals, my office has worked closely with counterparts from countries and companies around the world, aiming to form partnerships that can foster growth and progress for all parties involved. Throughout these experiences, Kazakhstan has always viewed the Gulf region as a particularly fertile environment for shared prosperity and economic development. Today, we find ourselves on the cusp of unprecedented levels of collaboration between Kazakhstan and several Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
We have previously emphasized Astana’s commitment to boosting bilateral trade with the UAE, focusing on agriculture, and aiming to achieve $1 billion in annual bilateral trade. We have established a strong foundation to achieve this goal. In 2023, the volume of mutual trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the UAE amounted to $329 million. From 2005 to 2022, the gross inflow of direct investments from the UAE to Kazakhstan totaled $3.2 billion, while investments from Kazakhstan to the UAE exceeded $1 billion.
Overall, the Gulf countries have invested approximately $3.6 billion in Kazakhstan’s economy. Eager to build on these investment ties, our country is undertaking large-scale reforms to diversify the economy and create favorable conditions for foreign investments. The Gulf Cooperation Council states and the Central Asian countries known as the C5 have dedicated substantial efforts to fostering bilateral and multilateral ties between the two regions. Last year’s inaugural leaders’ summit between the GCC and C5 in Jeddah served as a prime example of this flourishing relationship, leading to the unanimous approval of a joint action plan for strategic dialogue and cooperation.
True to its nature as a cooperative and ambitious nation, Kazakhstan has taken full advantage of this comprehensive framework for enhanced cooperation across the fields of trade, security, culture and education. Notably, the GCC countries expressed interest in investing in the region’s energy sector, including renewables. Central Asia boasts more than 30 billion tonnes of explored oil reserves and 20 trillion cubic meters of gas. Since the signing of the action plan last year, our domestic oil companies have formed exclusive joint ventures with leading Gulf transport conglomerates, including the Abu Dhabi Ports Group, to bolster connectivity and provide world-class shipping services to energy companies in the Caspian Sea.
In our increasingly polarized world, the close partnership between the Gulf and Central Asia emerges as a noteworthy case study
Meanwhile, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan and the Saudi Export-Import Bank signed a memorandum of understanding late last year to establish a joint innovation hub and facilitate access for Kazakh startup projects to markets in the Middle East and North Africa. This agreement was signed during the sixth meeting of the Kazakh-Saudi Intergovernmental Joint Committee on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation.
In our increasingly polarized world, the close partnership between the Gulf and Central Asia emerges as a noteworthy case study, illustrating the value of recognizing and capitalizing on opportunities to work together. Significantly, Kazakhstan has provided visa-free access for all Gulf countries and has established direct air communication with their capitals.
Among the primary drivers of success in Central Asia-Gulf cooperation is the regions’ deliberate adoption of a multi-vector foreign policy. This strategic positioning grants our countries the autonomy needed to navigate the complexities of a fragmented world, promoting peace and stability in the international system. Moreover, both Central Asia and the Gulf share a strategic focus on industries of the future. This joint commitment to technological advancement, innovation and sustainable development not only positions our countries as pioneers but also establishes a robust foundation for collaborative ventures. By aligning our priorities with the demands of the future, our regions can transcend traditional geopolitical boundaries and foster a forward-thinking approach.
Additionally, the success of this cooperation hinges on an inherent appetite for global engagement and a coveted status as global conveners. Functioning as bridges between the Global South and Global North, occasions like the GCC and C5 leaders’ summit and the Kazakh-Saudi Intergovernmental Joint Committee have enabled policymakers, including myself, to share ideas and uncover new areas of exchange. Later this year, Kazakhstan will provide yet another platform for high-level dialogue in the form of the Astana International Forum. Motivated by a fundamental belief in the power of diplomacy, Kazakhstan is proud to host this unique event on June 13-14. World leaders, business executives and expert academics will come together to address the challenges and opportunities emerging both in Kazakhstan and across the international landscape.
With our flourishing relationship with the Gulf region as a compelling example, we hope that the forum will serve as a catalyst for continued cross-border diplomacy and economic cooperation. This is particularly significant for nations that continue to uphold an open stance within the international system. Guided by these values, Kazakhstan stands as a testament to the success of such collaboration, enjoying unprecedented levels of growth and development.
The burgeoning partnership between the Gulf and Central Asia, particularly highlighted by Kazakhstan’s role, sets a new standard in international cooperation. This alliance, driven by shared goals in economic diversification, trade enhancement and sustainable development, represents a bridge between diverse cultures and strategic regions. This collaboration stands as a model for regional growth and an emblem of global unity and understanding.
**Arman Shakkaliyev is Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan. X: @A_Shakkaliyev

Franco-German rivalry risks destabilizing the EU
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/March 15, 2024
Tensions between France and Germany, and clearly between President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, are starting to show a historical break from what was the pillar of the European construction: the Franco-German engine. We are now far from the closeness of President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer or President Francois Mitterrand and Chancellor Helmut Kohl. In dangerous geopolitical and military times, these strains are putting at risk the entire stability and security of Europe. In fact, the war in Ukraine is only the tip of the iceberg of conflicting views over the future of Europe.
When it comes to Ukraine, the disagreement over the supply of Taurus missiles and Macron’s suggestion of sending Western troops to the front has strained Franco-German relations even more. This has led to accusations from France that Germany is not contributing enough to supporting Ukraine, while Germany is accusing Macron of taking unilateral decisions. The recent leak of a recording of four senior German military officers indicates that, despite Scholz’s declarations, the prospect of supplying Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles is being considered. The officers were heard saying that the weapons could be used to hit the Kerch Bridge, which links Russia to the peninsula of Crimea. Moreover, a recent French press report indicated that Germany’s increased arms supply to Ukraine has positioned Berlin as the second-largest supplier of arms to Kyiv after the US and this contrasts with or even defies the French accusations. In reality, France lags far behind in 14th place in terms of supplies to Ukraine.
These open dissensions over Ukraine have been a long time coming and are all interlinked with a broader and deeper difference in vision, from the economy and energy to security and defense. Energy is a key element of this confrontation. Although Paris and Berlin finally reached an agreement on the method of setting the price paid per megawatt-hour of electricity at a summit in Hamburg last year, the two countries continue to advocate for two conflicting energy models.
Open dissensions over Ukraine have been a long time coming and are interlinked with a broader and deeper difference in vision
While France has a proven track record of efficiently using nuclear energy as a dependable source, Germany has shut down its nuclear power plants and advocates for an exclusively renewable energy mix. However, it is clear that the German model is not currently working. Indeed, as a result of the war in Ukraine, Berlin has lost its access to cheap natural gas from Moscow. This has been an unprecedented shock for energy-intensive German industries, which have long been the manufacturing powerhouse of Europe. While it continues to try and boost its renewable energy mix, Germany is now focusing on liquefied natural gas, transported by ship, which produces more greenhouse gas emissions and shows how the blind agenda on renewables has put Europe at risk.
With this energy clash, the German model of economic excellence has come undone. This has validated the decade-old comments by French economists that, since the launch of the euro, Germany’s industry has been indirectly subsidized due to the strength of the Deutsche Mark, which allowed it to push its exports and grow its economy at the expense of other members.
Today, while France’s economy is growing, Germany’s is contracting. Yet, on the other hand, Germany has been much more careful when it comes to public debt and fiscal policy. France’s public debt has skyrocketed to more than €3 trillion ($3.28 trillion) — 112.5 percent of gross domestic product, compared with less than 100 percent in 2019. The annual budget deficit is about 5 percent of GDP, way above the 3 percent deficit ceiling set by Brussels.
All of this is more than a mere clash between the flamboyance of Macron and the discretion of Scholz
In contrast, Germany’s public debt, despite also increasing to €2.5 trillion, is only expected to be 63.5 percent of GDP by the end of 2024, far below France’s level. Moreover, Germany’s consolidated fiscal balance recorded a deficit equal to 2.1 percent of its nominal GDP in December, which is in line with Brussels’ ceiling. And while Berlin is looking to force countries to abide by this ceiling, France opposes it. And so, if Germany is the sick man of Europe today, as many journalists are happy to coin it, then France is the bad student looking to benefit from the good student’s ratings. When it comes to defense, Berlin and Paris indirectly accuse each other of searching for extra gains from their industrial partnership. On that note, press reports indicate that Berlin was behind the Italian government’s veto of a planned $1.8 billion acquisition of Italy’s Microtecnica by French group Safran. And, from a more strategic perspective, German officials accuse France of being hesitant toward NATO and not sufficiently committed to its strategic value. However, this statement is in complete contradiction with Germany’s long-time energy policy, which relied on Russia at the same time as NATO was looking to counter Moscow’s interference.
We could also add to the list of Franco-German differences international relations, which are now closely linked to their defense policies. In fact, all of this is more than a mere clash between the flamboyance of Macron and the discretion of Scholz. It goes beyond the accusations of Macron, who is seeking to seize the opportunity created by the end of Angela Merkel’s historical leadership to become the uncontested European leader, while looking to exploit Central and Eastern European countries to counter Germany. At its core, the issue involves a lack of genuine European political decision-making and a clear EU positioning within the transatlantic alliance. In fact, more than Brexit, these growing tensions are putting at risk the future stability of the EU and hence need to be dealt with immediately.
**Khaled Abou Zahr is the founder of SpaceQuest Ventures, a space-focused investment platform. He is the chief executive of EurabiaMedia and editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

US’ Gaza floating port proposal highlights its failures
Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/March 15, 2024
No ceasefire, no humanitarian truce and not enough aid is trickling through to feed the starving Palestinians. The Israeli war on Gaza continues to show no signs of abating, even for a humanitarian pause on the occasion of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The UN and aid groups say only a fraction of the supplies needed for Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been allowed in since Israel placed the narrow Mediterranean Strip under near-total siege following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas inside Israel that left more than 1,200 mainly civilian Israelis dead and saw more than 250 taken hostage. The reprisal war by Israel has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children.
Weeks of talks involving the US, Qatar and Egypt failed to yield a ceasefire, truce or any hostage exchange ahead of the start of Ramadan. And while both sides continue their blame game for the failure to reach a deal, the civilians of Gaza are likely to continue to barely exist. If they survive the relentless Israeli bombardments, they might not survive the lack of food and medicine. The UN and many aid groups say that the supplies reaching Gaza by truck from Egypt or by airdrops make up hardly 20 percent of what Gazans need on a daily basis. One can only hope that the newly announced US humanitarian sea bridge will be able to deliver the vital supplies needed to save lives in Gaza.
One cannot help but read between the lines and see the waning US foreign influence vis a vis one of its closest allies
But I am skeptical. Sadly, I believe that President Joe Biden’s plan for the US military to build a floating port to ferry badly needed aid to Gaza, even if it were to be up and running tomorrow, exposes the limits of American power and its failure to influence one of its closest allies. This is despite Israel having been reliant on the US’ unwavering support for its survival for more than 75 years.
The plan to build a floating harbor is a grand project to prove wrong those who accuse the US administration of disregarding the unfolding human tragedy in Gaza and to show that Biden cares for the plight of Palestinian civilians, exactly like the millions around the world who are protesting and calling for an end to the war. Cynically speaking, however, one cannot also help but read between the lines and see the waning US foreign influence and its limits vis a vis one of its closest allies. In an election year, Biden is unlikely to water down America’s backing for Israel, as many in the Arab and Muslim worlds would wish. This humanitarian sea bridge seems to be a tool to make the Israeli leadership understand that patience is wearing thin, even among its allies.
From the outside, the sea bridge, like the airdrops of humanitarian supplies over Gaza, points to the US army’s long tradition of humanitarian relief operations, such as the one undertaken as early as 1949 known as the Berlin Airlift and the one in Somalia in the summer of 1992 to save Somalis from starvation. But the Gaza sea bridge is a costly choice, taken by a desperate power, especially as the Strip is not far from Israeli ports or Egyptian land access. However, the relentless Israeli military operations in and around Gaza, in addition to the Israeli checks on goods prior to allowing them in and the breakdown of any system to safely distribute the aid inside Gaza, are likely to undermine the efficiency of even the most ambitious plans.
What the US needs is for its ally Israel to heed its calls that enough is enough. Despite the initial outpouring of support from Biden and other Western leaders in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks, as the Israeli war on Gaza has unfolded, leaving thousands of women and children dead, Israel’s allies have slowly started to express their disquiet, initially behind closed doors. And the sea bridge is maybe the clearest manifestation of the breakdown of relations due to Israeli intransigence.
The sea bridge is maybe the clearest manifestation of the breakdown of relations due to Israeli intransigence
There has never been any love that has bound Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Biden. And despite Biden continuously urging Netanyahu to apply restraint, it was never likely that the US president would back up his veiled threats to the Israeli leadership with action. The US administration’s welcome for de facto Israeli deputy prime minister Benny Gantz in Washington last week is likely to have irked Netanyahu. But he knows that America is unlikely to take any bolder steps, such as halting arms shipments or abstaining from using its veto in defense of Israel at the UN Security Council, even if Washington’s “red line” warning against an invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza is flouted.
This red line concerning Rafah, just like the one on Syria’s use of chemical weapons in 2012-2013, is likely to be crossed. This is what has lost Washington many friends in the Middle East and across the globe and is likely to further its position as a superpower whose stature and reputation is being eroded, this time by an ally rather than a foe. Many in the region believe that Washington only has itself to blame for its failure to calibrate an unambiguous stance that reflects the positive role a superpower should play, even within the confines of the thinking that the US is “never going to leave Israel,” as Biden said in an interview this week.
One last word though. Maybe the US is failing as a superpower in Gaza and before that in Syria and possibly elsewhere, but at least it is still a power that makes some efforts, even if they fail. The question is, what are the other ascending powers of this world doing for peace and stability, other than uttering empty rhetoric and enjoying the disruptor or critical observer’s role? Maybe it is time for all of them to call and work for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
• Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years’ experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy. He is also a media consultant and trainer.

World must recommit to the fight against Islamophobia
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 15, 2024
Amid the growing challenges of division and prejudice, International Day to Combat Islamophobia emerges as a vital catalyst for global unity and understanding.
Designated by the UN in 2022, this day, observed worldwide annually on March 15, holds profound significance. It commemorates the anniversary of the Christchurch mosque shootings, a tragic event that claimed the lives of 51 innocent individuals during Friday prayers. As we mark this solemn occasion, it is important to reflect on the devastating consequences of hate and intolerance and recommit ourselves to combating Islamophobia in all its forms.
This important day compels us to confront the harsh reality that Islamophobia is not merely a distant concern but a stark and present threat to individuals and communities around the world. By honoring the victims and survivors of the Christchurch massacre, we ought to acknowledge their suffering and affirm our collective responsibility to stand against bigotry and prejudice.
Islamophobia, like all forms of discrimination, is rooted in ignorance and fear. It thrives on stereotypes, misinformation and dehumanization. In addition, it manifests itself in overt acts of violence, such as the Christchurch shootings, as well as in subtler forms of prejudice and discrimination that permeate our societies. From discriminatory policies and practices to everyday acts of microaggression, Islamophobia perpetuates a climate of hostility and exclusion that undermines the fundamental principles of equality and justice.
In order to combat Islamophobia effectively, we must first recognize it for what it is: a violation of human rights and a threat to social cohesion and peace. It is not only an attack on individuals and communities, it is also an assault on the values of pluralism, diversity and tolerance that lie at the heart of our shared humanity. As such, addressing Islamophobia requires a comprehensive and multifaceted approach that encompasses legal, social and educational measures aimed at challenging stereotypes, promoting understanding and fostering dialogue.
Islamophobia is not merely a distant concern but a stark threat to individuals and communities around the world
To begin with, education plays a crucial role in combating Islamophobia by dispelling myths and fostering empathy and respect for cultural and religious diversity. By integrating comprehensive education about Islam and Muslim communities into school curricula, we can equip future generations with the knowledge and skills they need to navigate an increasingly diverse world with openness and acceptance.
In addition, initiatives that actively foster interfaith dialogue and cooperation play a pivotal role in fostering more inclusive and harmonious societies. By providing platforms for individuals of diverse faiths and beliefs to come together, engage in meaningful conversations and collaborate on shared goals, these initiatives not only bridge divides but also cultivate empathy, mutual understanding and respect.
Through facilitated discussions, joint projects and cultural exchanges, participants have the opportunity to challenge stereotypes, dispel misconceptions and build genuine connections based on shared values and aspirations. Moreover, interfaith initiatives often serve as catalysts for broader social change, inspiring communities to work together toward common objectives such as social justice, environmental sustainability and peace-building.
By embracing the rich diversity of religious traditions and perspectives, these initiatives contribute to the creation of more cohesive and resilient societies, in which all individuals are valued and respected regardless of their faith or background.
Legislation and policy measures are also essential tools in the fight against Islamophobia. Governments must enact and enforce laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion and ensure equal rights and opportunities for all individuals. Authorities must also take swift and decisive action to investigate and prosecute hate crimes and acts of violence motivated by Islamophobia, sending a clear message that such behavior will not be tolerated in any civilized society.
It is an assault on the values of pluralism, diversity and tolerance that lie at the heart of our shared humanity
At the same time, combating Islamophobia requires collective action at the grassroots level. Communities must come together to challenge stereotypes, confront prejudice and promote inclusivity and solidarity. Through local initiatives such as community outreach programs, cultural exchanges and interfaith dialogue, individuals can build bridges across divides and foster a sense of belonging and mutual respect among people of diverse backgrounds.
More fundamentally, combating Islamophobia also necessitates addressing the structural inequalities and systemic injustices that perpetuate discrimination and marginalization. Economic disparities, social exclusion and political marginalization exacerbate the vulnerability of Muslim communities to discrimination and violence. Therefore, efforts to combat Islamophobia must be accompanied by broader efforts to address the root causes of inequality and injustice and to create inclusive societies where all individuals can thrive. Finally, on this International Day to Combat Islamophobia, let us honor the memory of the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings by renewing our commitment to combat hate and intolerance in all its forms. Also, let us stand in solidarity with Muslim communities around the world and reaffirm our shared humanity and commitment to justice and equality. Together, we can build a world where diversity is celebrated, differences are respected and all individuals can live free from fear and discrimination.
In conclusion, International Day to Combat Islamophobia serves as a powerful reminder of the urgent need to confront bigotry and prejudice and to build a world where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect. By commemorating this day, we should recommit ourselves to the fight against Islamophobia in all its manifestations. Through education, legislation, grassroots action and solidarity, we can create a more just and inclusive world for future generations. Therefore, let us seize this opportunity to stand together in solidarity and build a future free from fear and discrimination.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian American political scientist. X: @Dr_Rafizadeh