English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 07/2024
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that
they may be one, as we are one,
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 17/20-26/:’‘I
ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in
me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I
am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have
sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be
one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely
one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even
as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me,
may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you
loved me before the foundation of the world. ‘Righteous Father, the world does
not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your
name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you
have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on November 06-07/2024
Our Maronite Patriarch and Bishops Live in Another World, Drowning in
Dhimmitude, and Blinded to Hezbollah’s Occupation and its Crime of Usurping
Sovereignty/Elias Bejjani/November 6, 2024
Israel’s recent kidnapping of Imad Amhaz, Hezbollah’s top maritime operative, is
not a violation of Lebanese sovereignty/Elias Bejjani / November 06, 2024
Hezbollah is an occupier, Iranian, terrorist, jihadist, and an enemy of Lebanon
and the Lebanese people./Elias Bejjani/November 05/2024
Lebanon Following President Trump’s Re-election/Colonel Charbel Barakat –
November 6, 2024
Woman discovers footage of Israel soldier playing her piano in bombed-out home
in southern Lebanon
Hezbollah says attacked Israel naval base with drones, missiles
Israeli army expands its assaults to the south, Bekaa, and Beirut’s southern
suburbs
Hezbollah Says it Fired Missiles at Military Base Near Ben Gurion Airport
Israel Strikes on Lebanon Kill 38 People around Baalbek, Governor Says
Israel strikes Beirut's southern suburbs after Hezbollah chief speech
30 killed in Israeli strike on Barja
Maronite Bishops Call On International Community to Implement Diplomatic
Solution
Israel's new Defense Minister vows to defeat Hezbollah
Govt. approves recruitment of 1,500 soldiers for Lebanese Army
Qassem says only 'battlefield' can stop war, renews support for Berri's
'political resistance'
Lebanon Files UN Complaint against Israel over Pager Attacks
Is Lebanon Threatened by Civil War?/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
Naim Qassem is finally the bride/David Daoud/MENASource/November 06/2024
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on November 06-07/2024
Donald Trump Elected US President in Stunning Comeback
Donald Trump Has Sweeping Plans for 2nd Administration. Here's What He's
Proposed
Israel’s Rightist Government Celebrates as Trump Claims Victory
Starmer meets with King of Jordan at Downing Street
Opinion - Sinwar is finished. Netanyahu’s end still awaits.
Opinion: Joe Biden Is Old Enough to Know Better. Donald Trump’s Win Is on Him
Democrats hoped Harris would rescue them. On Wednesday, she called Trump to
concede
Saudi Arabia leads Arab world in congratulating Trump
Netanyahu hails Trump’s ‘historic return’ to the White House
Iran Plays Down Importance of US Election, Says Ready for Confrontation
Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 11 People in Northern Gaza
IAEA Chief Says Might Visit Iran in the Coming Days
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on November 06-07/2024
Egypt’s Contempt for Christians: Coptic Funeral Held in Alleyway/Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic
Solidarity/November 6, 2024
Trump victory provides “room for optimism”/Yossi Aloni/Israel Today/November 6,
2024
An Apparent Moral Demise/Nils A. Haug/Gatestone Institute/November 6, 2024
A verdict that may prove transformational for the US and the world/Amal
Mudallali/Arab News/November 06, 2024
Our Region and the Day After/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published
on November 06-07/2024
Our Maronite
Patriarch and Bishops Live in Another World, Drowning in Dhimmitude, and Blinded
to Hezbollah’s Occupation and its Crime of Usurping Sovereignty
Elias Bejjani/November 6, 2024
Matthew 5:37 / “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this
comes from the evil one.”
To the shepherd who has abandoned his flock, and to the Maronite
bishops who participated in the misguided and sinful homage at the Mleeta
Museum: Enough with the dhimmitude and blindness to the reality of occupation,
its crimes, its wars, and its shameful arrogance. Your statement today is
alienated from Lebanon, its state, its people, and their suffering; it is
undoubtedly a grave mistake and a sin.
Know that the abduction of Imad Amhaz and Israel's war against Hezbollah in
Lebanon are by no means violations of Lebanese sovereignty, as you have falsely
claimed in your “lamentable” statement. Sovereignty, you dear Bishops who are
supposed to be guardians of sovereignty, has long been absent, usurped,
confiscated and controlled by Hezbollah and its Persian masters.
Fear God, or resign, for your presence has become a disaster, and your absence
would indeed be a relief and a blessing.
Israel’s recent kidnapping of Imad
Amhaz, Hezbollah’s top maritime operative, is not a violation of Lebanese
sovereignty
Elias Bejjani / November 06, 2024
"Hezbollah's Occupation and Israel's Response: A Battle Over Sovereignty"
Israel’s recent kidnapping of Imad Amhaz, Hezbollah’s top maritime operative, is
not a violation of Lebanese sovereignty, as Hezbollah itself occupies Lebanon
and has effectively seized its, independence, decision making process, the ware
peace decision, and sovereignty. In this context the military actions Israel is
carrying out in Lebanon amid its war with Hezbollah do not infringe on Lebanese
sovereignty because that sovereignty has been suspended, seized, and rendered
nonexistent by Hezbollah’s dominance. Under its control, Hezbollah occupies
Lebanon, dictating decision-making mechanisms and institutions.
Since 2005, Lebanon has been under Hezbollah’s occupation—a terrorist armed
jihadist Iranian proxy that serves Iran’s regional schemes ambitions, not
Lebanese interests. The ongoing divesting ongoing war between Israel and
Hezbollah is therefore not a Lebanese war but a proxy war, waged by Hezbollah on
Lebanese soil to advance Iran’s broader regional strategy. This is a war fought
not by the Lebanese state nor in service of Lebanese people, but in submission
to Hezbollah's—and by extension, Iran’s—control over Lebanon’s political and
military apparatus.
Hezbollah’s influence permeates the Lebanese government and military, rendering
them tools in its hands. The recent kidnapping of Imad Amhaz by Israeli
commandos from the coastal town of Batroun illustrates the extent to which
Hezbollah has transformed Lebanon into a battleground for its proxy wars.
Israel’s operations, including this and other targeted actions against
Hezbollah’s infrastructure and leadership, underscore that Israel’s conflict is
with Hezbollah—not the Lebanese state or its people.
When Hezbollah and its affiliates decry these actions as violations of Lebanese
sovereignty, they ignore a fundamental truth: Lebanon’s sovereignty was already
compromised by Hezbollah itself. Israel’s strikes are intended to dismantle
Hezbollah’s Iranian-backed military and financial network, which has eroded
Lebanon’s independence and drawn it into foreign conflicts.
Those opposed to Hezbollah’s occupation are not bound to condemn Israel’s
actions against Hezbollah. For many Lebanese, it is consistent to oppose
Hezbollah’s authoritarian rule and stranglehold over the state while
understanding Israel’s targeted actions as assaults on Hezbollah’s illegitimate
power—not on Lebanon itself. Recognizing this distinction allows Lebanese to
grasp the complex realities facing their country and to advocate for true
Lebanese sovereignty, free from foreign interference and armed militias.
In the struggle for Lebanon’s future, it is essential to underscore that
Hezbollah’s presence and control are the real threats to the country’s identity,
stability, and independence. Only with an end to Hezbollah’s occupation can
Lebanon’s sovereignty and neutrality truly be restored.
Hezbollah
is an occupier, Iranian, terrorist, jihadist, and an enemy of Lebanon and the
Lebanese people.
Elias Bejjani/November 05/2024
Every politician, party leader, or religious figure who has claimed—and still
claims—that Hezbollah is Lebanese, liberated the south, resistance and and
embodies its community should be tried for treason.
As for those who consider Hezbollah’s fallen as equal to our own martyrs, they
should be exiled and excommunicated.
Lebanon Following President Trump’s Re-election
Colonel Charbel Barakat – November 6, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/11/136570/
(Freely translated from Arabic and quoted by Elias Bejjani, editor and publisher
of the LCCC website)
Colonel Charbel Barakat, a retired Lebanese Army officer, historian, terrorism
expert, and author of numerous works on Lebanon, the Iranian regime’s schemes,
and jihadist, has testified multiple times before the U.S. Congress on critical
issues, including Iranian and Syrian terrorism, the Syrian occupation of
Lebanon, jihadist, and the pursuit of Middle East peace.
In the following analysis, published today, Barakat addresses President Trump’s
recent victory and its potential to foster peace in the Middle East,
particularly in Iranian-occupied Lebanon. He presents a detailed rescue plan
through which Lebanon could restore its sovereignty, independence, and
decision-making process, as well as reclaim its role as a peaceful and free
nation.
Colonel Charbel Barakat stated that Hezbollah’s control over the Lebanese state,
backed by Iran’s ruling clerics, has driven a destructive wedge between
Lebanon’s national interests and the agenda of the Iranian regime. Barakat
emphasized that Hezbollah’s commitment to exporting Iran’s revolutionary model
throughout the region has come at the expense of Lebanese sovereignty and
stability, exploiting Lebanon as a pawn in Tehran’s expansive ambitions.
Barakat pointed out that Hezbollah has persistently justified its regional
interference by using the Palestinian cause as a pretext, intervening in Syria,
displacing millions, and destabilizing various Arab nations—from Iraq and
Bahrain to Yemen and Saudi Arabia. He noted that Hezbollah has flooded the
region with narcotics, explosives, and terror, forcing Lebanon into wars that
serve neither its people nor its interests.
Barakat asserted that, over the past year, Hezbollah has engaged in relentless
provocations against Israel under the pretense of supporting Gaza, disregarding
international calls for de-escalation. This aggression led to the displacement
of thousands of Israeli civilians, with catastrophic repercussions for Lebanon’s
southern residents, who bear the brunt of Hezbollah’s militant policies. Barakat
clarified that Hezbollah has turned the south into a fortified arsenal, placing
devastating weapons beneath civilian homes and preparing for hostilities that
prioritize Iranian directives over Lebanese lives.
He remarked that Israel’s retaliatory measures have been severe, decimating
Hezbollah’s weapons caches, command structures, and influence. Barakat stressed
that Lebanon’s response should not involve shielding Hezbollah but instead
confronting the tragic legacy of destruction it has inflicted upon its own
people.
In presenting a solution, Barakat proposed a decisive intervention. He urged the
United Nations to recognize Lebanon as a failed state, calling for an
international administration under UN Article 07 to oversee Lebanon’s recovery
from Hezbollah’s grasp. Barakat emphasized that the plan involves mobilizing
UNIFIL forces alongside the Lebanese Army to dismantle Hezbollah’s military
capabilities, implementing UN resolutions related to Lebanon, especially
Resolution 1559, and re-establishing Lebanon’s neutrality.
Barakat suggested that after securing control over Lebanon’s borders and
internal security, Israel should withdraw to the 2006 UN-demarcated Blue Line,
allowing Lebanon to maintain security and prevent the propagation of
hostilities. He advocated for free parliamentary and presidential elections to
establish a government capable of securing Lebanon’s future and forging peace
agreements with Israel and Syria, thereby stabilizing the region.
Barakat concluded by affirming that President Trump’s re-election signals a rare
opportunity for Lebanon’s revival. He urged all Lebanese, particularly
Hezbollah’s supporters, to logically confront, accept and cope with the failure
and defeat of Hezbollah’s militant agenda, which has devastated Lebanon’s Shiite
community and strained Iran itself.
In his vision, Barakat called upon Lebanon to join the regional “train of peace”
initiated through the Abraham Accords, transforming Lebanon into a nation
grounded in partnership, stability, and progress, liberated from the
expansionist ambitions of Iran’s regime.
Woman discovers footage of Israel soldier playing her piano
in bombed-out home in southern Lebanon
CBC/November 6, 2024
A video circulating on social media captured an unsettling coincidence for a
young Lebanese woman who came upon footage on Instagram of IDF soldiers playing
her old piano and walking around in the bombed-out wreckage of her family home.
When Julia Ali, who lives in London, U.K., came across the clip a few days ago,
she recognized the unique interior of her family home in the town of Khiam in
southern Lebanon and the piano she had fond memories of playing there. The piano
room, with its nearly floor-to-ceiling arched window that once filled the space
with light, had the windows and doors blown out and now appeared dull and grey,
with much of its interior reduced to rubble. Shocked and heartbroken, Ali dug up
a year-old video of herself in that same room at that same piano playing a
composition from The Pianist and posted it along with the footage of the
soldiers in a grim before and after post on her own Instagram account. The post
has been viewed more than a million times. "Watching the place I called home
turn to rubble is a pain too deep for words," Ali wrote in the post. "This
wasn't just walls and a roof; this was years of my family's dreams, sacrifices
and love built into a sanctuary. Now, to see invaders wandering through it,
mocking it, touching the piano where I once poured my heart into every note ...
it feels like they're trampling on pieces of my soul."
Footage posted by Palestinian journalist
The video of the soldiers inside the home was reposted on the Instagram and X
accounts of a Palestinian journalist known as Tamer. Tamer lives outside Gaza
and asked CBC to use only his first name or X handle, Tamerqdh, for fear that it
could compromise the safety of his family still inside Gaza. He told CBC News he
found the video last Friday posted as an Instagram story on the account of an
IDF soldier. Tamer shared the original post with CBC, but the account is no
longer active. In the video, one of the soldiers is seen lying on top of the
piano swinging his feet absentmindedly and aiming a gun out the blown-out window
as another leans against the piano also pointing a gun and a third soldier plays
the piano. Two other soldiers walk through the house, with one of them skipping
to the music. Lebanon's state news agency said Tuesday it estimates 40,000
housing units in the country's border region have been destroyed in Israeli
airstrikes. Khiam, which is roughly six kilometres from the border with Israel
and is home to one of the largest Shi'ite communities in southern Lebanon, has
been targeted by airstrikes for several weeks now. Last Thursday, Hezbollah said
it had launched several rocket and artillery attacks against Israeli forces near
Khiam. The Israeli military and the militant group Hezbollah have been
exchanging fire across the border for more than a year in the wake of the Oct.
7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, but hostilities have escalated over the
last six weeks.
More than 3,000 people have been killed over the last year, the vast majority of
them in the past six weeks, and more than 1.2 million people displaced as a
result of the fighting according to Lebanese health authorities.
'I have hope that we will rise from this'
It's not clear when Ali and her family were last in the house. CBC News reached
out to Ali but did not receive a response in time for publication. In her
Instagram post, she expressed hope that she and others who have been uprooted by
the recent violence would eventually be able to return and rebuild their lives.
"I have hope that we will rise from this, rebuilding not just a house, but a new
chapter filled with resilience, strength, and the memories of all that was
lost," she wrote. In a statement to CBC News Tuesday, the Israel Defence Forces
(IDF) did not confirm the video was posted by one of its soldiers but said it
"acts to address exceptional incidents that deviate from the orders and expected
values of IDF soldiers." The IDF said it examines reports of videos posted on
social media and "handles them with command and disciplinary measures." "In some
of the examined cases, it was concluded that the expression or behaviour of the
soldiers in the video was inappropriate, and it was handled accordingly," the
statement said. The social media posts of Israeli soldiers deployed in Gaza and
Lebanon have been scrutinized in the past by media outlets, including the New
York Times, Al Jazeera and the Times of Israel, which have reported on images
and videos showing cavalier ransacking of homes and buildings, the mocking of
local populations and other inappropriate behaviour during military operations.
The IDF has condemned such behaviour, telling the New York Times, for example,
that such posts violate IDF regulations that forbid the sharing of content that
"affects the image of the IDF and its perception in the eyes of the public" and
shows behaviour that "harms human dignity."CBC News found similarities in both
screengrabs from the two videos shared to indicate that they were captured in
the same location.
CBC News analyzed the videos posted by Ali and Tamer and found similarities in
the footage that suggest they were filmed in the same location, including:
The large chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
The unique, floor-to-ceiling, arched window frame and curtains.
The location and size of a smaller window to the right of the larger one.
The molding on one of the supporting columns in the room.
The small couch to the right of the piano that has been moved but looks to be
the same shape and size.
The piano shape, size and position, although its orientation has changed
slightly.
The design and size of the piano bench.
Hezbollah says attacked Israel naval base with drones,
missiles
AFP/November 06, 2024
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah group claimed a slew of attacks on Wednesday,
including two that targeted naval bases near the Israeli city of Haifa and two
near Tel Aviv. Hezbollah fighters “targeted the Stella Maris naval base
northwest of Haifa with a salvo of high-quality missiles and a squadron of
attack drones,” the group said in a statement. It was the fourth attack on the
base in as many weeks. Later Wednesday, Hezbollah said it launched “attack
drones on the Haifa naval base in Haifa Bay, for the first time.” In the
evening, it said it targeted a base south of Tel Aviv, also for the first time.
Earlier, Hezbollah said it attacked a base near the country’s main international
airport close to Tel Aviv. The Israel Airports Authority said operations at the
airport were not affected by the attack. Hezbollah began low-intensity
cross-border attacks on Israel in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas
following its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. More than a year of clashes that
escalated into war in September have killed at least 3,050 people in Lebanon,
according to health ministry figures.
Israeli army expands its assaults to the south, Bekaa,
and Beirut’s southern suburbs
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/November 06/2024
Number of casualties from the airstrike targeting a building in Barja on Tuesday
night rose to 30
Naim Qassem: The battlefield alone can halt the war, and we do not rely on the
American elections
BEIRUT: Israeli military operations against Lebanon escalated on Wednesday. The
Israeli military resumed airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut after a
week-long pause. The number of casualties from the airstrike targeting a
building in Barja on Tuesday night rose to 30, including children and women.
Additionally, an airstrike on Wednesday resulted in the deaths of eight
civilians in the town of Al-Ain in the Baalbek region. The airstrikes also
affected the cities of Baalbek and Hermel, causing significant destruction,
particularly in the areas of Zahrani and Nabatieh.
A devastating airstrike on a residential building in Al-Shahabiya claimed five
lives, while emergency teams recovered seven bodies from rubble in Byout Al-Saiyad
following an overnight bombardment. Civil defense crews continue searching for
survivors for a second day. In Al-Burghliyeh, a two-phase attack on a building
and vehicle left three dead and seven wounded, with three additional fatalities
reported near Al-Abbasiyeh. Breaches of the sound barrier were recorded in the
southern regions, extending to the southern suburbs of Beirut. Reconnaissance
aircraft flew at low altitudes over Lebanese airspace, particularly concentrated
above the Port of Beirut. This left the population with a sense of being under
constant surveillance and that they might be potential targets. An Israeli hot
air balloon flew for the first time, accompanied by drones in the skies over the
villages of Baalbek District toward the eastern mountain range of Lebanon. The
caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, during a session of the Council of
Ministers, strongly condemned the “ongoing Israeli war on Lebanese territory and
its escalation, which has turned into crimes against humanity.” He said that
“Israel disregards all international efforts to establish a ceasefire.”
“Israel continues to destroy towns, villages and essential facilities, including
hospitals and places of worship,” Mikati said. “It also continues to kill
civilians, assassinate members of the Lebanese army and target UNIFIL forces,
and medical and relief personnel, in a clear violation of international law.
Lebanon adheres to its right to preserve its dignity and national sovereignty,
and will not hesitate to confront any Israeli violation or aggression.”
Mikati congratulated the American people on their “exercise of democracy
following the preliminary results of the US presidential elections.” He said
that “the primary pathway to any acceptable solution for Lebanon was the
complete cessation of Israeli aggression, the implementation of Resolution 1701,
and the election of a president, which would facilitate the restoration of
stability and the activation of national institutions.”
Meanwhile, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said that the
party “does not rely on the American elections, whether Harris succeeds or Trump
prevails; this holds no significance for us,” emphasizing that Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “cannot win.”
In his second televised appearance since he was appointed as Hezbollah’s
secretary-general, Qassem said: “This Israeli war of aggression can only be
stopped by one thing; the battlefield. This is not a war Israel will win, and
Israel must know that all resistance fighters are prepared for martyrdom.” He
added: “We are not counting on the general political movement or Netanyahu
gaining some advantages; we are counting on the battlefield.”
Qassem said: “The Israeli aggression on Lebanon has lasted for a month and ten
days, and it no longer matters how it started or what pretexts were used.
“Israel has exceptional air capabilities, therefore, it controls the skies,
along with the communications network, giving it significant power, especially
since this capability is also backed by the endless support of America, ‘The
Greatest Satan.’”
However, he said that “Hezbollah’s resources are available, whether in storage,
places of positioning or by various means.”On Wednesday, Saudi Ambassador to
Lebanon Walid Bukhari conveyed to Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun “the
Kingdom’s support for the military institution.”
Meanwhile, internal political tensions escalated as Lebanese leaders voiced
opposition to Iranian influence. MP Camille Chamoun, addressing the Sovereign
Front, linked Lebanon’s current crisis to years of Iranian intervention.
“Lebanon is not a battlefield for others,” Chamoun said, making a pointed appeal
to the Shiite community to prioritize national interests. “We want to rebuild
this country without foreign intervention and elect a president, ” he said.
The Maronite Bishops Council, meeting under Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi, expressed
dismay at “the magnitude of catastrophe that has befallen Lebanon, resulting in
numerous casualties and widespread destruction across villages, towns, and
cities in the southern suburbs, South Lebanon, Bekaa, and other Lebanese
regions.” The Maronite bishops demanded immediate diplomatic action to end the
Hezbollah-Israel conflict and implement UN Resolution 1701. They condemned
recent Israeli operations, including a naval raid in Batroun that resulted in
the abduction of a Lebanese citizen. The council emphasized the urgent need for
a ceasefire, pointing to the critical conditions faced by displaced residents
who lacked adequate protection from harsh weather conditions.
Hezbollah Says it Fired Missiles at Military Base Near
Ben Gurion Airport
Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
Hezbollah said on Wednesday that it fired missiles at a military base near Ben
Gurion Airport, Israel's main international gateway. Israeli media reported on
Wednesday that a rocket had landed near the airport. The airports authority said
the airport was continuing to operate as usual.
Israeli forces and Hezbollah have been clashing for more than a year, since
Hezbollah started firing rockets across the border soon after the deadly Hamas-led
attack on southern Israel sparked the ongoing war in Gaza in October last year.
The war on the Lebanese front has substantially escalated since mid-September,
with Israel launching a massive aerial bombardment and ground invasion.
Israel Strikes on Lebanon Kill 38 People around Baalbek,
Governor Says
Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least 38 people around the eastern city of
Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley on Wednesday, according to the regional governor,
and at dusk more strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs. Israel and Iran-backed
Hezbollah have exchanged fire for over a year in parallel with the Gaza war but
fighting has escalated since late September, with Israeli troops intensifying
bombing on swathes of Lebanon's south and east and making ground incursions into
border villages. Around 40 Israeli strikes on the Baalbek-Hermel governorate
killed 38 people and wounded 54, governor Bachir Khodr said on X. The Israeli
military did not comment. Israeli strikes have also battered Hezbollah
strongholds in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut. At least four strikes
targeted the area on Wednesday after the Israeli military ordered residents to
evacuate from several locations. There was no immediate report on casualties or
details on what was hit. The attack happened shortly after Hezbollah
Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said he did not believe that "political
action" would bring about an end to hostilities. He said there could be a road
to indirect negotiations if Israel stopped its attacks. "When the enemy decides
to stop the aggression, there is a path for negotiations that we have clearly
defined - indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and Speaker (of
parliament Nabih) Berri," Qassem said. US diplomatic efforts to halt fighting
between Israel and Hezbollah, which included a 60-day ceasefire proposal,
faltered last week ahead of the US election on Tuesday in which former President
Donald Trump recaptured the White House.
RESCUERS DIG FOR SURVIVORS
Israeli attacks in Lebanon killed at least 37 people and wounded 105 on Tuesday,
bringing the total to 3,050 deaths and 13,658 injuries since October 2023, the
Lebanese health ministry said on Wednesday. Lebanese rescuers scoured a
destroyed apartment building in the town of Barja south of Beirut for bodies or
any survivors after an Israeli strike on Tuesday evening that killed 20 people
there, Lebanon's health ministry said. Moussa Zahran, who lived on one of the
upper floors of the building, returned to sift through the ruins of his home.
His burned feet were wrapped in gauze and his son and wife were in hospital
after being wounded in the strike. "These rocks that you see here weigh 100
kilos, they fell on a 13-kilo kid," he said, referring to his son and the
apartment wall that had collapsed onto him during the strike. It was not clear
if the strike targeted a member of Hezbollah. There was no evacuation warning
ahead of the air raid. Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had fired missiles at an
Israeli military base near Ben Gurion Airport. Israeli media reported a rocket
had landed near the airport. Later, the Israeli military said dozens of
"projectiles" had crossed into Israel from Lebanon, some of which were
intercepted. Efforts to bring a diplomatic end to the conflict have stalled.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday appointed Israel Katz as
his new defense minister, who vowed to defeat Hezbollah so that people displaced
from northern Israel could return home. Berri - a Hezbollah ally and diplomatic
interlocutor - met the US and Saudi ambassadors to Lebanon on Wednesday to
discuss political developments, his office said, without providing further
details. Lebanon's caretaker prime minister meanwhile congratulated the
"president elect" in the US, without naming Donald Trump. Netanyahu hailed
Trump's election, while senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Trump would be
tested on his statements that he can stop the Gaza war in hours as president.
Israel strikes Beirut's southern suburbs after Hezbollah
chief speech
Agence France Presse/November 06/2024
Strikes hit south Beirut on Wednesday about an hour after Israel issued
evacuation warnings for three areas of the main Hezbollah bastion, AFPTV footage
showed. One of the strikes triggered a loud explosion which was heard across
much of the capital, witnesses said. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee
had warned residents to evacuate the southern suburbs of Burj al-Barajneh,
Laylaki and Haret Hreik in a post on X. "You are located near facilities and
interests affiliated with Hezbollah, against which the (military) will act in
the near future," Adraee said, as a speech by Hezbollah's new leader Naim Qassem
was being broadcast. Earlier Wednesday, Lebanon's official National News Agency
reported Israeli air strikes on the Bekaa Valley in the east and the southern
city of Nabatiyeh. An AFP correspondent in the eastern city of Baalbek reported
intense strikes in and around the city. Israel's army had issued evacuation
warnings for Nabatiyeh but not for the Bekaa Vally. The Israeli army said
Hezbollah had fired about 120 projectiles across the border.
30 killed in Israeli strike on Barja
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/November 06/2024
Lebanese rescuers pulled 30 bodies out of the rubble after a late night Israeli
strike on an apartment building in the town of Barja, Lebanon's Civil Defense
service said Wednesday as the Mideast wars press on with no signs of abating. It
remained unclear if there were any survivors or bodies still trapped under the
rubble following the Tuesday night airstrike, which came without warning. There
was no statement from the Israeli military and the strike's intended target also
was unknown. Barja, a town just north of the port city of Sidon in central
Lebanon, has not been regularly targeted so far in the conflict. "Something
pulled me hard, and then the explosion happened," said Moussa Zahran, who was at
home with his wife and son when the building was hit. He said he couldn't see
but started digging through the rubble until he found his wife and son — alive
but injured — and pulled them out. Both are still in the hospital, he said.
Another building resident, Muhyiddin Al- Qalaaji, said he was at work when the
strike happened and heard the news from his wife who called him frantically.
"There are many dead and injured," he said as he carried out what he could
salvage of the family's belongings on Wednesday morning.
Civil defense official Mostafa Danaj said some of the neighbors have reported
there are still people missing. Israeli forces and Hezbollah have been clashing
for more than a year, since Hezbollah started firing rockets across the border
soon after the deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel sparked the ongoing
war in Gaza in October last year. The war on the Lebanese front has
substantially escalated since mid-September, with Israel launching a massive
aerial bombardment and ground invasion. Since the conflict between Israel and
Hezbollah erupted in 2023, at least 3,000 people have been killed and some
13,500 have been wounded in Lebanon, about a quarter of them women and children,
the Health Ministry reported. A report by Lebanon's crisis response unit said
that 361,300 Syrians and over 177,800 Lebanese have crossed into Syria between
Sept. 23 and Nov. 1, to escape the fighting.
Maronite Bishops Call On International Community to Implement Diplomatic
Solution
This is Beirut/November 06/2024
The Maronite bishops held deliberations at their regular monthly meeting in
Bkerke, chaired by Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai. They called on the
international community to work toward “a diplomatic solution to the war between
Hezbollah and Israel, through the establishment of an immediate ceasefire and
the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.”They also stressed
“the need to prevent altercations between hosts and displaced persons by forming
coordination committees in cooperation with the mohafazat, municipalities, NGOs,
and military and security institutions that are ready to help in this respect.”
In a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting, the Maronite bishops urged
the international community to “work for a ceasefire and the implementation of
Resolution 1701, to enable the displaced to return to their towns and
villages.”They also called for “an end to Israeli aggressions that violate
Lebanon's sovereignty in defiance of its citizens, the latest being the commando
operation that resulted in the abduction of a Lebanese man from his home.”Last
Saturday in Batroun, the Israeli army kidnapped Imad Amhaz, a senior officer in
the Lebanese navy, who, according to Israel, is affiliated with Hezbollah. The
Maronite bishops welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron's initiative of
inviting the international community to a conference in Paris on October 24 in
support of Lebanon's people and sovereignty. They also welcomed the position
that "Lebanon must be rescued from its critical situation, through financial aid
as well as support for the army, by financing, arming, training, and equipping
it to assume its sovereign responsibilities over the whole of Lebanese
territory.”
In addition, the bishops called on “those in charge of the education sector to
cooperate positively,” hoping that “the Ministry of Education will set up a
specialized central committee representing private and public schools to develop
a clear mechanism of action to save the school year for all pupils.”
Israel's new Defense Minister vows to defeat Hezbollah
Agence France Presse/November 06/2024
Israel's newly appointed Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed on Tuesday to defeat
Israel's enemies and achieve the goals of the wars with Hamas and Hezbollah. "We
will work together to lead the defense establishment to victory over our enemies
and to achieve the goals of the war: the return of all hostages... the
destruction of Hamas in Gaza, the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the
containment of Iranian aggression and the safe return of the residents of the
north and south to their homes," Katz said on X.
Govt. approves recruitment of 1,500 soldiers for Lebanese
Army
Naharnet /November 06/2024
The caretaker Cabinet on Wednesday approved granting the Defense Ministry a
treasury loan to recruit 1,500 soldiers for the Lebanese Army. Caretaker Prime
Minister Najib Mikati had announced at the Oct. 24 Paris conference that his
government had decided to recruit more troops and could deploy 8,000 soldiers in
the south as part of a plan to implement a ceasefire and U.N. Security Council
Resolution 1701. He added that war-hit Lebanon would need international
financial support to equip and train the army. The European Union’s foreign
policy chief, Josep Borrell, told reporters in Paris that the 27-nation bloc
would give the Lebanese Army 20 million euros ($21.59m) this year and 40 million
euros ($43.18m) next year.
Qassem says only 'battlefield' can stop war, renews support
for Berri's 'political resistance'
Naharnet/November 06/2024
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qasem said Wednesday his group has tens of thousands
of combatants ready to fight Israel, in a speech marking 40 days since his
predecessor Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike. "We have
tens of thousands of trained resistance combatants" ready to fight, he said,
adding that nowhere in Israel was "off-limits" to the group’s attacks.
“Hezbollah resists and works to build the country … The resistance shall remain
and get bigger,” Qassem added. Noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjami
Netanyahu “has said that he wants to change the face of the Middle East,”
Hezbollah’s leader warned that “Netanyahu aims to occupy Lebanon and end
Hezbollah's presence.”“We are now in a defensive state to confront the
aggression and its expansionist goals,” Qassem said, adding that “the Israeli
army wanted to reach the Litani River but faced a firm resistance.”“We believe
that only one thing can stop this aggressive war, which is the battlefield --
both on the border and inside Israel,” Qassem stressed. “We will not beg for
halting the aggression and we will make the enemy ask for it,” he said, adding
that Hezbollah is “not counting on the U.S. election or the general political
efforts.”
“Our only choice is to prevent Israel from achieving its goals,” Qassem added,
emphasizing that Hezbollah “cannot be defeated” while “right” is on its side and
the land is its land. He added: “Lebanon is strong although it is in pain, but
it is also inflicting pain on the enemy.” As for the U.S.-led diplomatic
efforts, Qassem said the basis of any negotiations should be “halting the
aggression and protecting sovereignty,” noting that Speaker Nabih Berri is
“carrying the banner of political resistance.” As for the abduction of a
Lebanese sea captain from Batroun, Qassem called on the Lebanese Army to “inform
us of its stance on the incident,” while wondering about “the role of UNIFIL,”
especially its German naval contingent.
Lebanon Files UN Complaint against Israel over Pager
Attacks
Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
Lebanon said Wednesday that it had filed a complaint with the United Nations'
labor agency over deadly attacks on communication devices across the country in
September, which it blames on Israel. Lebanese Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram
called the attack an "egregious war against humanity, against technology,
against work", saying his country had filed the complaint with the International
Labor Organization in Geneva. "It's a very dangerous precedent," he told
journalists in the Swiss city at an event organized by the UN correspondents'
association ACANU.
The move comes after Israel escalated its air raids on Hezbollah strongholds in
south Lebanon, Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley on September 23, after nearly
a year of cross-border fire, and a week later sent ground troops into southern
Lebanon, according to AFP.
The escalation kicked off with sabotage attacks on pagers and walkie-talkies
used by Hezbollah, which killed dozens of people and injured thousands more
across Lebanon. Israel has not officially taken responsibility for those
attacks, but Bayram said it was "widely accepted internationally... that Israel
was behind this heinous act". "In a few minutes, more than 4,000 civilians fell,
between martyrs and injured and maimed," he said, speaking through a translator.
Among the victims not killed, he said many people had "lost their fingers; some
have totally lost their eyesight". "We are in a situation where ordinary
objects, objects you use in daily life, become dangerous and lethal," he said.
"If left unchecked, this crime could become normalized," he said, adding that
filing the complaint was meant "to prevent such crimes from happening in the
future". "I consider it a moral obligation to my country and to the world."
'Myriad of complaints' -
Asked why Lebanon had chose to file the complaint with the ILO, Bayram pointed
to all the workers who were on the job when pagers and walkie-talkies -- tools
they used to do their work -- suddenly exploded. "We deemed it necessary to
point out that this runs contrary to work environment, security and safety,
contrary to decent work principles... defended by the ILO," he said. He added
that Lebanese authorities could still file complaints over the pager attacks in
other international forums, including the World Trade Organization. "In more
general terms, the Lebanese government wants to... present a myriad of
complaints" against Israel over its operations in the country, he said, since
"the amount of crimes is huge". More than 3,000 people have been killed in
Lebanon since clashes between Hezbollah and Israel began in October 2023,
according to the health ministry, including at least 1,964 since September 23,
according to an AFP tally of official figures. The war has also pushed more than
a million people to flee their homes.
Is Lebanon Threatened by Civil War?
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
"Civil war in Lebanon"... Is now on the lips of Lebanon’s politicians and
journalists, and Arab and foreign diplomats are warning against it. This major
and grave threat should not be taken lightly, though exaggeration that leads to
panic should also be avoided.
On the one hand, there are a few somewhat reassuring factors. No armed faction
in Lebanon is fighting alongside the Israelis today and Israel has no political
project for Lebanon, in contrast to 1982, for example. Additionally, no foreign
actor is inciting or funding a civil war. The specialists are not equipped to
undertake this task right now: Assad's Syria is busy with its extraordinary
circumstances, while Saddam's Iraq and Gaddafi's Libya are dead and gone. As for
Khomeinist Iran, its military export routes to Lebanon have been cut off or, at
the very least, are being monitored and impeded. It should also be safe to
assume that no one in Lebanon, after this ongoing catastrophe, is going to be
willing or able to fight a civil war. Added to Hezbollah’s unarmed opponents,
much of its rank and file, and everyone - albeit to varying degrees - are
overwhelmed by pain, sorrow, and exhaustion.
On the other hand, we do nonetheless have a duty to be cautious. The full
picture, which has yet to emerge, could shatter prior expectations. The
likelihood of an extended Israel-Hezbollah conflict, even if it takes different
forms, seems higher than that of a swift cessation of hostilities. In any case,
it is essential that we avoid underestimating the potential implications of
strong, worrying trends that, unfortunately, have the potential to grow.
Regardless of the solidarity with the displaced, both genuine and folkloric,
there are real tensions among Lebanon’s sects, with or without their political
and partisan forces. Bad blood taints the past, and two fundamentally opposed
visions for Lebanon are competing in the present. Several impending flashpoints
could, under the current tense climate, become explosive, like the question of
whether to give primacy to the election of a new president or a ceasefire...
The question of displacement is immense in every sense, and it has massive
explosive potential, especially given the scarcity of resources, the current
trajectory toward even greater scarcity, and the diminishing economic and
financial capabilities of the state. We must also account for Israel’s capacity
to manipulate security fears and, through air raids and other acts of brutal
aggression against the Shiite community and its regions, sharpen and stir mutual
wariness among different segments of the population. Another major question
laden with destructive potential, is whether Hezbollah will agree to turn into
an unarmed political party like all the others. Since it will probably refuse to
do so, we cannot rule out its opponents - somewhat recklessly and vengefully -
expanding their hostility for the party to the Shiite community as a whole,
leaving the political dimension of the dispute overwhelmed by its sectarian
dimension. In this regard, honesty compels us to acknowledge that continued
expressions of solidarity with the party are negatively impacting those who
express them and inter-sectarian relations overall.
The longer the war goes on and new realities are denied, the shorter the path to
conflict and the worse the crisis of communication among the Lebanese become,
especially since those who speak for Hezbollah and its allies have not abandoned
their haughty and high-handed rhetoric, continuing to threaten, intimidate, and
accuse of treason anyone who does not share their views. To say nothing about
recent signs that point to a growing push to tarnish the image of the army and
any role it could play in preventing the outbreak of civil strife, despite the
army being the only body capable of doing so. On top of that, three sticky
situations intersect when matters are left in a political vacuum, at a point
where decay meets explosive potential:
- The opportunism and cynicism of Israel’s policies for the "day after" in
Lebanon, as well as the Gaza Strip
- The cowardice of the politicians running Lebanon, who, despite their denials,
are keenly aware of their limited legitimacy, which prevents them from taking
initiatives independently of Hezbollah. - The failures of foreign diplomatic
intervention, given the degree to which foreign powers have appeased Israel and
its violations of international law, as well as their total lack of confidence
that the Lebanese would effectively and decisively engage with such efforts.
This state of affairs is part of a broader and more concerning climate brimming
with major shifts that, like all major shifts, are likely to incite violence and
spur preparations for war: On the one hand, the inter-sectarian balance of power
and inter-sectarian relationships will change substantially because the war has
weakened the Shiite community on multiple levels. On the other hand, the ongoing
war will further erode citizens’ confidence in the principle of coexistence - a
trajectory whose manifestations had begun to appear and proliferate before the
war. Finally, many episodes of Lebanon's modern history warn that every time
Lebanese were directly embroiled in war for reasons that transcend our national
borders - whether they are labeled nationalistic, religious, or anything else -
we end up with a destructive civil war in which each of us becomes the enemy of
the other.
Naim Qassem is finally the bride
David Daoud/MENASource/November 06/2024
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/naim-qassem-hezbollah-lebanon/
Hezbollah has a new secretary-general, though far from the obvious choice. On
October 29, the group announced that its demure and soft-spoken Naim Qassem,
rumored to be hiding in Iran, had succeeded Hassan Nasrallah, who was
assassinated on September 27, to Hezbollah’s top local post. Though entirely
ideologically aligned, there is a vast contrast between the two men’s
personalities and skillset, which could impact Hezbollah’s image and
organizational effectiveness.
Qassem was born in 1953 in the village of Kfar Kila in south Lebanon. He became
an early member of Hezbollah and one of its founders, joining the intellectual
current that would later transform into the organization in 1979. However, his
political career began earlier as a member of Imam Musa al-Sadr’s Amal Party,
demonstrating a longstanding preference for the activist current within Shi’ism—if
not the Khomeinist variant specifically. Qassem’s biography even claims that he
helped Sadr found his activist Movement of the Dispossessed during the 1970s.
During this time, he also pursued a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from
Lebanese University – Hadath Campus (1971-1977) and his higher religious studies
under Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. Qassem was also politically active
on campus, helping found the Lebanese Union of Muslim Students, a body that
sought to encourage religious observance and disseminate Fadlallah’s teachings.
While still a university student, he also assumed the leadership of the
Association for Islamic Religious Education from 1974-1988, the umbrella
organization that would later head Hezbollah’s Mustafa Schools system and
maintain a supervisory role over the schools since then. After graduation,
Qassem turned to pedagogy, working as a high school teacher for six years.
Qassem’s intellectual orientation dictated the course of his career in
Hezbollah. The extent to which he engaged in any military activities during the
organization’s early days—or if he has any military experience at all—remains
unknown. Qassem instead made a name for himself as Hezbollah’s chief
intellectual and the chief articulator of its ideology. He is a prolific author
and has written over a dozen books that map Hezbollah’s ideology to religious
and political topics.
His magnum opus is, perhaps, Hezbollah: Methodology, Experience, and Future, now
several editions old and translated into English among six other languages, as
well as Hezbollah: The Story from Within. This book recounts Hezbollah’s
founding and history through the group’s particular ideological lens. Qassem
also regularly gave long, intellectually-oriented interviews, primarily to
Hezbollah’s media outlets, outlining the group’s beliefs and objectives. This
contrasted with Nasrallah, who only periodically gave such long but heavily
propaganda-laden interviews.
Qassem’s always held significant roles within Hezbollah. He is a member of the
group’s Shura Council and oversees its parliamentary, political, and
governmental activities. But he was never meant to be Nasrallah’s successor—a
dubious honor earmarked for Nasrallah’s maternal cousin Hashem Safieddine.
Saffiedine was recently confirmed to have been killed on October 4—and
Hezbollah’s options have only been shrinking since then under continued Israeli
military pressure. Qassem was instead Hezbollah’s perpetual bridesmaid—having
been elected as deputy-secretary general on May 22, 1991, during Hezbollah’s
second conclave, under then-Secretary-General Abbas al-Musawi. When the Israelis
assassinated Musawi on February 16, 1992, Qassem maintained his post as the
younger Nasrallah assumed the secretary-general role—and there he remained and
was intended to remain. He also never publicly expressed a desire to assume his
current position.
Hezbollah’s and Qassem’s claims notwithstanding, Israel’s rapid spate of
assassinations has thrown the group’s chain of succession into disarray. After
Saffiedine’s death, the lack of options thrust Qassem to the top of a very short
list of Nasrallah’s potential successors.
Now heading Hezbollah, it remains an open question whether Qassem can
effectively lead the multifaceted group. While he certainly possesses some
organizational skills, they pale compared to Nasrallah’s or Saffiedine’s. While
Qassem was penning books, both Nasrallah and Saffiedine presided over
Hezbollah’s Executive Council, the body responsible for managing the group’s
non-military activities, which act as its engine for recruitment and growth,
prior to assuming the post of secretary-general. Qassem also seems to lack any
understanding of military matters, having—as far as can be known—never fought in
Hezbollah’s ranks like Nasrallah nor sat on its Jihad Council like Saffiedine.
Now, the thinker is being asked to descend from his ivory tower to manage these
complex functions during what is arguably Hezbollah’s most existential war to
date.
There’s also a question of whether Qassem can fill the void left by Nasrallah’s
cult of personality. Hassan Nasrallah became Hezbollah’s second
secretary-general in 1993, when the organization was still relatively new, and
led it for the bulk of its forty-two-year existence.
He was also a natural orator, a skill that helped him hold his audience’s
attention and influence their feelings. His hand gestures, his status as a
sayyed and alleged descent from the Islamic Prophet Mohammad, his proletarian
turns of phrase, his ability to seamlessly transition from classical Arabic to
south Lebanese village dialect, and even his letter “R” speech defect—all
captured the affection of Hezbollah’s supporters. Even his name, “Nasrallah,”
Divine Victory, added to the cultish hold of Hezbollah’s long-serving
secretary-general. “Labayka Ya Qassem” (At Your Command, Qassem) simply doesn’t
have the same ring to it—if it has any ring to it at all.
Nasrallah’s personality and longevity all left their imprint on Hezbollah’s
“brand,” such that it is difficult to identify where the man ended and the
organization began. Saffiedine possessed enough of his maternal cousin’s
intangible traits to be an effective successor. But the cerebral,
university-educated, Francophone, and, dare one say, worldly Qassem has none of
that and none of Nasrallah’s populism, which so endeared him to the group’s
base.
None of this suggests that Qassem is any less committed to Hezbollah’s ideology,
worldview, or ultimate objectives than Nasrallah. He is an ardent proponent of
Velayat-e Faqih, insisting in a series of 2016 interviews with Al-Mayadeen that
Hezbollah—as Islamists, in his words—still aspires to convince Lebanese of all
sects to adopt Iran’s theocratic system of government as the only way to
establish a truly just society. He shares Nasrallah’s hatred of the “Great
Satan,” the United States, believing it to be the chief purveyor of a decadent
and corrupt “capitalist” cultural model inherently at odds with Hezbollah’s and
Iran’s. Qassem also has an unyielding desire to see Israel destroyed and for
Hezbollah to contribute to that destruction.
In short, Hezbollah will not moderate or shift its primary loyalties to Lebanon
under its new soft-spoken secretary-general. However, Qassem’s cerebral nature
may affect how Hezbollah pursues its ideological objectives, while his seeming
lack of qualifications for the leadership position may make the organization
less competent. Hezbollah’s lack of effective leadership could also see Iran’s
Islamic Revolution step in to help resuscitate and manage Hezbollah, harking
back to the group’s embryonic stages.But this whole discussion of Qassem’s
leadership may end up being theoretical. Shortly after Qassem’s appointment,
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant threatened “Temporary appointment—the
countdown [to the new secretary-general’s assassination] has begun.” Considering
the fate of Qassem’s predecessors, this may be no idle threat.
*David Daoud is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD),
focusing on Hezbollah, Israel, and Lebanon issues. Follow him on X: @DavidADaoud.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on November 06-07/2024
Donald Trump Elected US President in
Stunning Comeback
Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
Donald Trump was elected president, capping a remarkable comeback four years
after he was voted out of the White House and ushering in a new American
leadership likely to test democratic institutions at home and relations abroad.
Trump, 78, recaptured the White House on Wednesday by securing more than the 270
Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency, Edison Research projected,
following a campaign of dark rhetoric that deepened the polarization in the
country. The former president's victory in the swing state of Wisconsin pushed
him over the threshold. As of 5:45 a.m. ET (1045 GMT) Trump had won 279
electoral votes to Harris' 223 with several states yet to be counted. He also
led Harris by about 5 million votes in the popular count. "America has given us
an unprecedented and powerful mandate," Trump said early on Wednesday to a
roaring crowd of supporters at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in
Florida. Trump’s political career had appeared to be over after his false claims
of election fraud led a mob of supporters to storm the US Capitol on Jan. 6,
2021, in a failed bid to overturn his 2020 defeat. But he swept away challengers
inside his Republican Party and then beat Democratic candidate Kamala Harris by
capitalizing on voter concerns about high prices and what Trump claimed, without
evidence, was a rise in crime due to illegal immigration. Harris did not speak
to supporters who had gathered at her alma mater Howard University. Her campaign
co-chair, Cedric Richmond, briefly addressed the crowd after midnight, saying
Harris would speak publicly later on Wednesday. "We still have votes to count,"
he said. Republicans won a US Senate majority, but neither party appeared to
have an edge in the fight for control of the House of Representatives where
Republicans currently hold a narrow majority.
JOBS AND ECONOMY
Voters identified jobs and the economy as the country's most pressing problem,
according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls. Many Americans remained frustrated by
higher prices even amid record-high stock markets, fast-growing wages and low
unemployment. With the administration of President Joe Biden taking much of the
blame, a majority of voters said they trusted Trump more than Harris to address
the issue. Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and lower-income
households hit hardest by inflation helped fuel Trump's election victory. His
loyal base of rural, white and non-college educated voters again showed up in
force. Trump prevailed despite persistently low approval ratings. Impeached
twice, he has been criminally indicted four times and found civilly liable for
sexual abuse and defamation. In May, Trump was convicted by a New York jury of
falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star. His
victory will have major implications for US trade and climate change policies,
the war in Ukraine, Americans' taxes and immigration.His tariff proposals could
spark a fiercer trade war with China and US allies, while his pledges to reduce
corporate taxes and implement a spate of new cuts could balloon US debt,
economists say. Trump has promised to launch a mass deportation campaign
targeting immigrants in the country illegally. He has said he wants the
authority to fire civil servants he views as disloyal. His opponents fear he
will turn the Justice Department and other federal law enforcement agencies into
political weapons to investigate perceived enemies. A second Trump presidency
could drive a bigger wedge between Democrats and Republicans on issues such as
race, gender, what and how children are taught, and reproductive rights.
HARRIS FALLS SHORT
Vice President Harris fell short in her 15-week sprint as a candidate, failing
to galvanize enough support to defeat Trump, who occupied the White House from
2017-2021, or to allay voters' concerns about the economy and immigration.
Harris had warned that Trump wanted unchecked presidential power and posed a
danger to democracy. Nearly three-quarters of voters say American democracy is
under threat, according to Edison Research exit polls, underscoring the
polarization in a nation where divisions have only grown starker during a
fiercely competitive race.Trump ran a campaign characterized by apocalyptic
language. He called the United States a "garbage can" for immigrants, pledged to
save the economy from "obliteration" and cast some rivals as the "enemy
within."His diatribes were often aimed at migrants, who he said were "poisoning
the blood of the country," or Harris, whom he frequently derided as
unintelligent. Despite legal woes and controversies, Trump is only the second
former president to win a second term after leaving the White House. The first
was Grover Cleveland, who served two four-year terms starting in 1885 and 1893.
UNPRECEDENTED CAMPAIGN
In May, Trump was convicted by a New York jury of falsifying business records to
cover up hush money payments to a porn star. Two months later, a would-be
assassin's bullet grazed his right ear during a campaign rally, exacerbating
fears about political violence. Another assassination attempt was thwarted in
September at his Florida golf course. Trump blamed both attempts on what he
claimed was the heated rhetoric of Democrats including Harris. Barely eight days
after the July shooting, Biden, 81, dropped out of the race, finally bowing to
weeks of pressure from his fellow Democrats after a poor performance during his
debate with Trump called into question his mental acuity and the viability of
his reelection bid. Biden's decision to step aside turned the contest into a
sprint, as Harris raced to mount her own campaign in a matter of weeks, rather
than the typical months. Her rise to the top of the ticket reenergized
despondent Democrats, and she raised more than $1 billion in less than three
months while erasing what had been a solid Trump lead in opinion polls. Harris'
financial advantage was partly countered by the intervention of the world's
richest man, Elon Musk, who poured more than $100 million into a super PAC
mobilizing Trump voters and used his social media site X to amplify pro-Trump
messaging. As the campaign drew to a close, Harris increasingly focused on
warning Americans about the perils of reelecting Trump and offered an olive
branch to disaffected Republicans. She highlighted remarks from several former
Trump officials, including his former chief of staff and retired Marine Corps
General John Kelly, who described Trump as a "fascist."Trump's victory will
broaden the fissures in American society, given his false claims of election
fraud, anti-immigrant rhetoric and demonization of his political opponents, said
Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University who studies
voter behavior and party politics.
A TRUMP SECOND TERM
Trump has vowed to reshape the executive branch, including firing civil servants
he views as disloyal and using federal law enforcement agencies to investigate
his political enemies, violating what has been a longstanding policy of keeping
such agencies independent. During his first term, Trump's most extreme demands
were sometimes stymied by his own cabinet members, most notably when Vice
President Mike Pence refused to block Congress from accepting the 2020 election
results. Once the 2024 vote is certified by Congress on Jan. 6, 2025, Trump and
his vice president, US Senator JD Vance, are due to take office on Inauguration
Day, Jan. 20. Throughout his two-year-long campaign, Trump has signaled he will
prioritize personal fealty in staffing his administration. He promised roles in
his administration to Musk and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy
Jr., both avid supporters.
Donald Trump Has Sweeping Plans for 2nd Administration.
Here's What He's Proposed
Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
Donald Trump has promised sweeping action in a second administration.
The former president and now president-elect often skipped over details but
through more than a year of policy pronouncements and written statements
outlined a wide-ranging agenda that blends traditional conservative approaches
to taxes, regulation and cultural issues with a more populist bent on trade and
a shift in America's international role. Trump's agenda also would scale back
federal government efforts on civil rights and expand presidential powers. A
look at what Trump has proposed, according to The Associated Press:
Immigration “Build the wall!” from his 2016 campaign has become creating “the
largest mass deportation program in history.” Trump has called for using the
National Guard and empowering domestic police forces in the effort. Still, Trump
has been scant on details of what the program would look like and how he would
ensure that it targeted only people in the US illegally. He’s pitched
“ideological screening” for would-be entrants, ending birth-right citizenship
(which almost certainly would require a constitutional change), and said he’d
reinstitute first-term policies such as “Remain in Mexico,” limiting migrants on
public health grounds and severely limiting or banning entrants from certain
majority-Muslim nations. Altogether, the approach would not just crack down on
illegal migration, but curtail immigration overall.
Abortion Trump played down abortion as a second-term priority, even as he took
credit for the Supreme Court ending a woman’s federal right to terminate a
pregnancy and returning abortion regulation to state governments. At Trump’s
insistence, the GOP platform, for the first time in decades, did not call for a
national ban on abortion. Trump maintains that overturning Roe v. Wade is enough
on the federal level. Still, Trump has not said explicitly that he would veto
national abortion restrictions if they reached his desk. And in an example of
how the conservative movement might proceed with or without Trump, anti-abortion
activists note that the GOP platform still asserts that a fetus should have due
process protections under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. That
constitutional argument is a roadmap for conservatives to seek a national
abortion ban through federal courts.
Taxes Trump’s tax policies broadly tilt toward corporations and wealthier
Americans. That’s mostly due to his promise to extend his 2017 tax overhaul,
with a few notable changes that include lowering the corporate income tax rate
to 15% from the current 21%. That also involves rolling back Democratic
President Joe Biden’s income tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans and scrapping
Inflation Reduction Act levies that finance energy measures intended to combat
climate change.
Those policies notwithstanding, Trump has put more emphasis on new proposals
aimed at working- and middle class Americans: exempting earned tips, Social
Security wages and overtime wages from income taxes. It’s noteworthy, however,
that his proposal on tips, depending on how Congress might write it, could give
a back-door tax break to top wage earners by allowing them to reclassify some of
their pay as tip income — a prospect that at its most extreme could see
hedge-fund managers or top-flight attorneys taking advantage of a policy that
Trump frames as being designed for restaurant servers, bartenders and other
service workers.
Tariffs and trade Trump’s posture on international trade is to distrust world
markets as harmful to American interests. He proposes tariffs of 10% to 20% on
foreign goods — and in some speeches has mentioned even higher percentages. He
promises to reinstitute an August 2020 executive order requiring that the Food
and Drug Administration buy “essential” medications only from U.S. companies. He
pledges to block purchases of “any vital infrastructure” in the US by Chinese
buyers.
DEI, LGBTQ and civil rights Trump has called for rolling back societal emphasis
on diversity and for legal protections for LGBTQ citizens. Trump has called for
ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government institutions,
using federal funding as leverage.
On transgender rights, Trump promises generally to end “boys in girls’ sports,”
a practice he insists, without evidence, is widespread. But his policies go well
beyond standard applause lines from his rally speeches. Among other ideas, Trump
would roll back the Biden administration’s policy of extending Title IX civil
rights protections to transgender students, and he would ask Congress to require
that only two genders can be recognized at birth.
Regulation, federal bureaucracy and presidential power The president-elect seeks
to reduce the role of federal bureaucrats and regulations across economic
sectors. Trump frames all regulatory cuts as an economic magic wand. He pledges
precipitous drops in US households’ utility bills by removing obstacles to
fossil fuel production, including opening all federal lands for exploration —
even though U.S energy production is already at record highs. Trump promises to
unleash housing construction by cutting regulations — though most construction
rules come from state and local government. He also says he would end “frivolous
litigation from the environmental extremists.”The approach would in many ways
strengthen executive branch influence. That power would come more directly from
the White House.
He would make it easier to fire federal workers by classifying thousands of them
as being outside civil service protections. That could weaken the government’s
power to enforce statutes and rules by reducing the number of employees engaging
in the work and, potentially, impose a chilling effect on those who remain.
Trump also claims that presidents have exclusive power to control federal
spending even after Congress has appropriated money. Trump argues that
lawmakers’ budget actions “set a ceiling” on spending but not a floor — meaning
the president’s constitutional duty to “faithfully execute the laws” includes
discretion on whether to spend the money. This interpretation could set up a
court battle with Congress.
As a candidate, he also suggested that the Federal Reserve, an independent
entity that sets interest rates, should be subject to more presidential power.
Though he has not offered details, any such move would represent a momentous
change to how the US economic and monetary systems work.
Education The federal Department of Education would be targeted for elimination
in a second Trump administration. That does not mean that Trump wants Washington
out of classrooms. He still proposes, among other maneuvers, using federal
funding as leverage to pressure K-12 school systems to abolish tenure and adopt
merit pay for teachers and to scrap diversity programs at all levels of
education. He calls for pulling federal funding “for any school or program
pushing Critical Race Theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial,
sexual, or political content on our children.”
In higher education, Trump proposes taking over accreditation processes for
colleges, a move he describes as his “secret weapon” against the “Marxist
Maniacs and lunatics” he says control higher education. Trump takes aim at
higher education endowments, saying he will collect “billions and billions of
dollars” from schools via “taxing, fining and suing excessively large private
university endowments” at schools that do not comply with his edicts. That
almost certainly would end up in protracted legal fights.
As in other policy areas, Trump isn’t actually proposing limiting federal power
in higher education but strengthening it. He calls for redirecting the
confiscated endowment money into an online “American Academy” offering college
credentials to all Americans without a tuition charges. “It will be strictly
non-political, and there will be no wokeness allowed,” Trump said on Nov. 1,
2023.
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid Trump insists he would protect Social
Security and Medicare, popular programs geared toward older Americans and among
the biggest pieces of the federal spending pie each year. There are questions
about how his proposal not to tax tip and overtime wages might affect Social
Security and Medicare. If such plans eventually involved only income taxes, the
entitlement programs would not be affected. But exempting those wages from
payroll taxes would reduce the funding stream for Social Security and Medicare
outlays. Trump has talked little about Medicaid but his first administration, in
general, defaulted to approving state requests for waivers of various federal
rules and it broadly endorsed state-level work requirements for recipients.
Affordable Care Act and Health Care As he has since 2015, Trump calls for
repealing the Affordable Care Act and its subsidized health insurance
marketplaces. But he still has not proposed a replacement: In a September
debate, he insisted he had the “concepts of a plan.” In the latter stages of the
campaign, Trump played up his alliance with former presidential candidate Robert
F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines and of pesticides used in US
agriculture. Trump repeatedly told rally crowds that he would put Kennedy in
charge of “making America healthy again."
Climate and energy Trump, who claims falsely that climate change is a “hoax,”
blasts Biden-era spending on cleaner energy designed to reduce US reliance on
fossil fuels. He proposes an energy policy – and transportation infrastructure
spending – anchored to fossil fuels: roads, bridges and combustion-engine
vehicles. “Drill, baby, drill!” was a regular chant at Trump rallies. Trump says
he does not oppose electric vehicles but promises to end all Biden incentives to
encourage EV market development. Trump also pledges to roll back Biden-era fuel
efficiency standards.
Workers’ rights Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance framed their ticket as
favoring America’s workers. But Trump could make it harder for workers to
unionize. In discussing auto workers, Trump focused almost exclusively on
Biden’s push toward electric vehicles. When he mentioned unions, it was often to
lump “the union bosses and CEOs” together as complicit in “this disastrous
electric car scheme.” In an Oct. 23, 2023, statement, Trump said of United Auto
Workers, “I’m telling you, you shouldn’t pay those dues.”
National defense and America’s role in the world Trump’s rhetoric and policy
approach in world affairs is more isolationist diplomatically,
non-interventionist militarily and protectionist economically than the US has
been since World War II. But the details are more complicated. He pledges
expansion of the military, promises to protect Pentagon spending from austerity
efforts and proposes a new missile defense shield — an old idea from the Reagan
era during the Cold War. Trump insists he can end Russia’s war in Ukraine and
the Israel-Hamas war, without explaining how. Trump summarizes his approach
through another Reagan phrase: “peace through strength.” But he remains critical
of NATO and top US military brass. “I don’t consider them leaders,” Trump said
of Pentagon officials that Americans “see on television.” He repeatedly praised
authoritarians like Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Israel’s Rightist Government Celebrates as Trump Claims
Victory
Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters celebrated the
prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House next year, hailing what a
leader of the settler movement called an ally who would support them "unconditionally".Congratulating
Trump, Netanyahu said the former president was set for "history's greatest
comeback". "Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for
America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and
America," he said in a statement, which was echoed by the leaders of the
hard-right nationalist religious parties in his coalition. The Palestinian armed
group Hamas, which has been fighting Israel for more than a year in Gaza, said
the election was a matter for the American people, but it called for an end to
the "blind support" for Israel from the United States. "We urge Trump to learn
from (President Joe) Biden's mistakes," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told
Reuters. The outcome is a relief for Netanyahu's coalition, which has clashed
with Biden's Democratic administration over the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon
that have fueled protests worldwide and left Israel increasingly isolated
internationally. The first Trump administration delivered major wins to
Netanyahu, when it went against most of the world in recognizing Jerusalem as
Israel's capital and accepting Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Israel's settler leaders also welcomed the election results after Biden's
administration imposed sanctions and asset freezes on settler groups and
individuals involved in violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied
West Bank. "We expect to have an ally standing unconditionally beside us as we
fight the battles that are a war on the entire West," Israel Ganz, chairman of
the main Yesha settler council, said in a statement to Reuters. Underscoring the
tensions, around 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel on Wednesday
targeting locations including the coastal city of Tel Aviv with no injuries, the
Israeli military said. Television footage showed part of a rocket that appeared
to have been shot down by air defense systems smashing a car in the Israeli city
of Raanana, close to Tel Aviv. Nearly two thirds of Israelis believe Trump would
be better for Israel than his Democratic Party rival Kamala Harris, according to
a survey from the Israel Democracy Institute. "I think it's good for Israel,"
said Jerusalem resident Nissim Attias. "He proved the last time he was the
president, he moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and everything that
he said, he did."
Starmer meets with King of Jordan at Downing Street
Helen Corbett, PA Political Correspondent/November 6, 2024
The Prime Minister has welcomed King Abdullah II of Jordan to Downing Street,
where the two leaders discussed the Middle East.The Jordanian king was visiting
No 10 for the second time since Sir Keir Starmer was elected in July. Sir Keir
and King Abdullah reflected on the situation in the Middle East in recent days
and reiterated the need for ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza, a Downing Street
spokesperson said. The Prime Minister reiterated the importance of Israel
allowing UNRWA, the main provider of aid in Gaza, to continue operating. Israel
passed a law last month to sever ties with the UNRWA agency and prevent it from
operating in Israel. The leaders expressed concern about the situation in the
West Bank, including increased settler violence and the expansion of
settlements. They also agreed on the need to support a political solution to
“end the bloodshed” in Lebanon. The Prime Minister updated the king on the UK’s
recent delivery of ration packs and battlefield medical kits to Lebanese Armed
Forces. Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militant group have been clashing for
more than a year, since Hezbollah started firing rockets across the border with
Lebanon. That was soon after a deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that
sparked the ongoing war in Gaza in October last year. The war on the Lebanese
front has substantially escalated since mid-September, with Israel launching a
massive aerial bombardment and ground invasion.
Opinion - Sinwar is finished. Netanyahu’s end still awaits.
Mahyar Amouzegar, opinion contributor/The Hill/November 6, 2024
Sinwar’s bloody legacy, which left over 1,000 Israeli civilians dead, has
inflicted even greater devastation on his own people in Gaza. Over 44,000 Gazans
have died as a consequence of the cycle of violence he perpetuated, with
thousands more enduring the grief and hardship left in its wake. What crossed
his mind as he orchestrated the deadly Oct. 7 attack? Given his years studying
Israeli security tactics, surely he anticipated Israel’s overwhelming
retaliation. Perhaps he assumed Israel would pull back after killing a few
thousand innocents, justifying the loss as “inevitable collateral damage.” Or
perhaps Sinwar overestimated the “success” of the massacre, much as al Qaeda did
before 9/11. This time, though, a likely retaliatory strike would directly
target Hamas strongholds. With his experience, Sinwar must have anticipated this
level of response. Yet he seems to have disregarded the suffering and sacrifice
of his people, viewing them as expendable as long as Hamas achieved its aims. In
the end, Sinwar may have not anticipated his own death, as it often is with
leaders who view others as mere pawns. Justice, though, found him in the end.
But what about his counterpart across the border? When does Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s reckoning come?
Netanyahu’s policies toward Gaza reflect his longstanding commitment to blocking
a two-state solution, a goal for which he was willing to forge deals with
extremists. He allowed Qatari funds to flow directly to Hamas, bolstering the
group’s financial and operational resources. As the New York Times reported,
“For years, Israeli intelligence officers even escorted a Qatari official into
Gaza, where he doled out money from suitcases filled with millions of dollars.”
These are calculated moves, yet Netanyahu’s motives reveal a politician placing
his own political survival above Israel’s stability. Netanyahu has been facing
charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery — allegations that have cast a
dark shadow over his time in office. The sole barrier between him and a jail
sentence is his position as prime minister. With his political future tied to a
controversial judicial overhaul, Netanyahu’s attempt to insulate himself from
prosecution has further divided his country. His strategy, which prioritizes
self-preservation over national security, has rendered Israel vulnerable at a
critical juncture. This fixation on power, paired with his overconfidence in
Israel’s military prowess, led Netanyahu to overlook the vulnerabilities in his
nation’s defenses. Israel’s devastating failure to prevent the Oct. 7 attack was
partly due to Netanyahu’s blindness to the warning signs. By leaving his
citizens defenseless, he has caused immeasurable suffering and loss.
When Israel’s intelligence services failed, Netanyahu’s initial response was a
shameful deflection of responsibility. Rather than accepting his government’s
accountability, he delayed any investigations that could expose the security
breaches behind this tragedy.
Netanyahu’s response to the massacre did find some initial global support, with
world leaders backing Israel’s right to defend itself. But they also understood,
implicitly, the tragic reality: Given Hamas’s embedded operations within Gaza’s
densely populated urban areas, significant civilian deaths would be inevitable.
By December, the Israeli military had killed over 14,000 Palestinians, with
almost half of them children — a staggering 12-to-1 ratio of Palestinian to
Israeli deaths. That ratio has now swelled to an unconscionable 37-to-1.
Netanyahu, though not directly pulling the trigger, has played a pivotal role in
this escalation. As leader of a democratic nation, he is culpable for the
security lapses that left Israel exposed to a deadly incursion. Israel’s
judicial system is capable of, and obligated to, hold him accountable for the
decisions that prioritized his personal and political survival over his duty to
protect Israeli lives.
But Netanyahu’s campaign has also had brutal consequences beyond Israel’s
borders. As part of a wider regional offensive, he has escalated attacks on
Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, indiscriminately targeting communication devices
like pagers and walkie-talkies. Such attacks reveal a troubling disregard for
civilian lives. Two young children were killed, and multiple civilians injured,
because of these scattershot tactics. Sinwar led a terrorist organization and
met a predictable fate on the battlefield. Netanyahu, however, is a
democratically elected national leader whose actions reveal a profound betrayal
of the trust placed in him by the Israeli people. As Israel grapples with this
violent conflict, Netanyahu’s leadership has come under well-deserved scrutiny
for his failure to protect his people and for his role in the tragic collateral
damage inflicted upon innocents in Gaza and Lebanon. There are no sympathetic
characters here. Sinwar wielded terror without remorse, using his own people as
sacrificial pawns. Netanyahu has not shown the moral authority expected of a
leader tasked with defending a democratic nation. His own agenda, tied to
survival rather than to justice, has cost both Israeli and Palestinian lives.
Justice found Sinwar. But Netanyahu’s accountability is long overdue. If
Israel’s democracy is to hold true, he must face the consequences of his
actions. As the leader of a nation with a robust judicial system, Netanyahu
deserves a fair trial.
I wish him a long life — not in office, but in an Israeli prison, where he may
come to reckon with the suffering he has wrought upon his own people and those
across the border.
Mahyar Amouzegar is president of New Mexico Tech and a writer. He formerly was a
senior analyst at RAND Corporation, researching military policy issues. His
latest novel is “The Hubris of an Empty Hand.”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Opinion: Joe Biden Is Old Enough to Know Better. Donald
Trump’s Win Is on Him
Michael Daly/The Daily Beast/November 6, 2024
No matter how dimmed he may be by age, he has to know that he should have just
stepped down after one good term. The Democrats then could have then selected
somebody the usual way, with primaries. Maybe Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s
governor, would have been a candidate.
Maybe it would have been Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan’s governor. The result could
have actually been the first woman president. Whoever it was, he or she would
have been the party’s choice.
And the duly chosen candidate would have been in a better position than Vice
President Kamala Harris was to call Donald Trump a threat to democracy. The
candidate also would have been obliged to defend whatever Biden had and had not
done, particularly in terms of the southern border. One thing Trump was right
about was that Harris had become the Democratic candidate without a single vote.
Too much else of what Trump said was dangerously false.
But he is going to the White House nonetheless. He will again be our
commander-in-chief, and he now regains the mantle having spoken of using the
military to secure the southern border, quell domestic protests, and fight crime
in our cities. Among the troops he will command are three young soldiers who
were manning an information table outside the U.S. Army Force Recruiting Station
in Times Square last week.
They had American flags on the right shoulder of their fatigues and name tags on
the chest. Ahmed said she is from Ethiopia. Yilmaz is from Turkey. Stupuris is
from Lithuania.
“What’s wonderful for me about the United States is, all the nations, all the
cultures, like you can find every single culture, every single race in here and
people are united here,” Stupuris said. “That I just love about it. That’s
what’s beautiful to me about the United States.”
He said he is 20 and enlisted on March 11, 2024. He had graduated high school
and had done some college, then decided he went to join the military. “I’m gonna
admit it, I didn’t join to serve the United States first,” he said. “But after I
got my uniform, after training, after I met people who say thank you for your
service, now it’s turning into I want to actually serve this country because how
amazing it is.”He stood bright eyed at the recruiting station where America
famously celebrated its victory in World War II. He said hopes to become a Green
Beret and seemed exactly the kind of person we want to defend us. But thanks to
Biden, we will now have a commander-in-chief who talks about sending troops
against what he calls the enemy within. And Biden is 81.
That does not absolve him.
Democrats hoped Harris would rescue them. On Wednesday, she
called Trump to concede
CHRIS MEGERIAN/Associated Press/November 6, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris called President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday
to concede the election and congratulate him on his victory, according to a
senior adviser to the vice president. The aide, who declined to be identified
discussing a private conversation, said Harris talked about the need for a
peaceful transfer of power. Harris, once viewed as a potential savior for the
Democratic Party after Joe Biden 's reelection campaign stalled, is reckoning
with a profound rejection by American voters in this year's presidential
election. She trailed in every battleground state to Trump, a man she described
as an existential danger to the country's foundational institutions. And Trump
appeared on track to win the popular vote for the first time in his three
campaigns for the White House — even after two impeachments, felony convictions
and his attempt to overturn his previous election loss.
Harris planned to deliver a concession speech Wednesday at 4 p.m., her office
announced. She'll speak at Howard University, her alma mater in Washington,
where her supporters watched returns Tuesday night before being sent home after
midnight as Trump pulled ahead in battleground states.
Biden plans to address the election results on Thursday. The White House said he
spoke with Harris and Trump on Wednesday, and he invited the president-elect to
meet with him soon.
David Plouffe, a top Harris adviser, said campaign staffers “left it all on the
field for their country.”
“We dug out of a deep hole but not enough,” he said. “A devastating loss.
In a bitter footnote for Harris, as the sitting vice president she is expected
to oversee Congress' ceremonial certification of the election. It's the same
role that Mike Pence played four years ago, when Trump directed his supporters
to march on the U.S. Capitol. Although critics said the violent insurrection
crystallized Trump's threat to American democracy, that ultimately did not
dissuade voters from electing him again. Harris became the Democratic candidate
after Biden, who was already struggling to convince voters that he could serve
as president until he was 86 years old, stumbled badly in his June 27 debate
with Trump. He dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed his vice
president, who swiftly unified the Democratic Party around her candidacy. It was
a remarkable twist of fate for Harris. Four years earlier, her own presidential
campaign flamed out and revealed the political limitations of someone once
dubbed “the female Barack Obama.” Even though Biden chose Harris as his running
mate, she languished in the role after taking office as the first woman, Black
person or person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. Some
Democrats started writing her off when they pondered the party's future after
Biden. But Harris found fresh purpose after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned
Roe v. Wade in 2022, and she became the White House's leading advocate for
abortion rights. Harris also made a more concerted effort to network with local
politicians, business leaders and cultural figures, forging connections that
could serve her down the road. The moment arrived sooner than she anticipated,
and she was catapulted into the presidential race with Biden's departure only a
month before the Democratic National Convention. Harris instantly reset the
terms of the contest with Trump. She was 18 years younger and a former courtroom
prosecutor going up against the first major presidential candidate convicted of
crimes. Her candidacy energized Democrats who feared they were destined for
defeat with Biden at the top of the ticket. But she also faced steep odds from
the beginning. She inherited Biden's political operation with just 107 days
until the end of the election, and she faced a restless electorate that was
eager for change. Although Harris pitched “a new way forward," she struggled to
meaningfully differentiate herself from the unpopular sitting president. In
addition, she had limited time to introduce herself to skeptical voters, who
never cast a ballot for her in a presidential primary. Democrats now face the
prospect of picking up the pieces during a second Trump presidency, and it's
unclear what role Harris will play in her party's future. “The work of
protecting America from the impacts of a Trump Presidency starts now," wrote Jen
O’malley Dillon, Harris' campaign chair, in a letter to staff. "I know the Vice
President isn’t finished in this fight, and I know the very people on this email
are also going to be leaders in this collective mission.”
Saudi Arabia leads Arab world in congratulating Trump
ARAB NEWS/November 06, 2024
RIYADH: Arab leaders congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday after his
comprehensive victory in the US presidential election. Saudi Arabia’s King
Salman sent a cable of congratulations to Trump, wishing him success and the
“American people further progress and prosperity.”
The king praised the strong historical ties between the two nations,
“emphasizing the shared desire to further strengthen these bonds in all areas.”
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also sent a cable to congratulate Trump. In a
phone call later on Wednesday, the crown prince expressed the Kingdom’s
aspiration to strengthen Saudi-US relations. He wished the American people
progress and prosperity under Trump’s leadership. The Republican made Saudi
Arabia his first foreign visit after he took office for his first term as
president in 2017. The visit underlined the importance of the historic US-Saudi
partnership and cemented relations with Gulf allies. Those countries
congratulated Trump after he declared victory in a sweeping election win over
Democrat Kamala Harris. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan offered
“sincere congratulations to Trump and his running mate JD Vance.”
Skeikh Mohamed added: “The UAE and US are united by our enduring partnership
based on shared ambitions for progress. “The UAE looks forward to continuing to
work with our partners in the US towards a future of opportunity, prosperity and
stability for all.”
During Trump’s first term, his administration brokered the 2020 Abraham Accords
deal under which Israel opened full relations with the UAE and a number of other
Arab countries. However, the devastating war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza
and its expansion into Lebanon has drawn widespread condemnation of Israel from
regional leaders and dominated foreign policy discussion throughout the election
campaign, with Trump promising to bring fighting to an end. Egypt’s President
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said he hoped Trump’s return to the White House would help
bring peace to the Middle East. “I wish him all the success and I look forward
to reaching peace together, upholding regional stability and strengthening the
strategic partnership between Egypt and the United States,” El-Sisi said.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II also invoked the need for the next US president to
work toward peace. “Warmest congratulations to President Donald Trump on winning
the US presidential election,” he said. “Looking forward to working with you
again to bolster Jordan’s longstanding partnership with the United States, in
service of regional and global peace and stability for all.” Sheikh Tamim bin
Hamad Al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, which is a key mediator in the Gaza conflict
and hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, said he looked
forward to “working together again in promoting security and stability both in
the region and globally.”
Netanyahu hails Trump’s ‘historic return’ to the White
House
Israel Today//November 06, 2024
Trump’s projected victory “offers a new beginning for America and a powerful
recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday morning congratulated Donald Trump
after Fox News declared the Republican the victor in the 2024 US presidential
election. “Dear Donald and Melania Trump, Congratulations on history’s greatest
comeback!” the premier tweeted. “Your historic return to the White House offers
a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance
between Israel and America. This is a huge victory! In true friendship, yours,
Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu,” he continued. The post was accompanied by a recent
picture of Netanyahu and his wife with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate and resort
in Palm Beach, Florida. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich weighed in early Wednesday morning on the US
presidential election, with the former declaring explicit support for Trump.
Ben-Gvir retweeted his own post from July 14 stating, “God Bless Trump,” with
the fresh caption “Yessss,” accompanied by images of the Israeli and American
flags. Smotrich tweeted on Wednesday: “God bless Israel, God bless
America.”Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch tweeted: “Welcome back Mr.
President.”Added Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar: “Congratulations to US
President-elect Donald Trump. We’re already looking forward to the next four
years.”
Iran Plays Down Importance of US Election, Says Ready
for Confrontation
Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
Iranians' livelihoods will not be affected by the US elections, government
spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani was reported as saying on Wednesday after Donald
Trump claimed victory in the presidential vote. Arab and Western officials have
told Reuters Trump may reimpose his "maximum pressure policy" through heightened
sanctions on Iran's oil industry and empower Israel to strike its nuclear sites
and conduct assassinations. "The US elections are not really our business. Our
policies are steady and don't change based on individuals. We made the necessary
predictions before and there will not be change in people's livelihoods,"
Mohajerani said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. The
Revolutionary Guards did not directly react to Trump's claimed electoral victory
but said Tehran and its allied armed groups in the region are ready for
confrontation with Israel, Reuters reported. "The Zionists do not have the power
to confront us and they must wait for our response... our depots have enough
weapons for that," the Guards' deputy chief Ali Fadavi said on Wednesday, as
Tehran is expected to respond to Israel's Oct. 25 strikes on its territory which
killed four soldiers. He added Tehran does not rule out a potential US-Israel
pre-emptive strike to prevent it from retaliating against Israel. In his first
term, Trump re-applied sanctions on Iran after he withdrew from a 2015 nuclear
pact between Iran and world powers that had curtailed Tehran's nuclear program
in exchange for economic benefits. The reinstatement of US sanctions in 2018 hit
Iran's oil exports, slashing government revenues and forcing it to take
unpopular steps, such as increasing taxes and running big budget deficits,
policies that have kept annual inflation close to 40%. Iran's national currency
has weakened at the prospect of a Trump presidency, reaching an all-time low of
700,000 rials to the US dollar on the free market, according to Iranian currency
tracking website Bonbast.com.
Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 11 People in Northern Gaza
Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
Palestinian medical officials say Israeli strikes have killed at least 11 people
in the northern Gaza Strip. A strike hit a house in the northern town of Beit
Lahia, killing at least six people from the same family, according to the Gaza
Health Ministry’s emergency service. The dead include a mother and her three
children, as well as the children’s grandmother and uncle, according to a list
provided by the service. In the urban refugee camp of Jabalia, al-Awda Hospital
said it received the bodies of five men killed in an Israeli strike. The
military says it only targets fighters and tries to avoid harming civilians. It
rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.
Israel has been waging a major offensive over the past month in northern Gaza,
the most heavily destroyed and isolated part of the territory, where it says
Hamas has regrouped.
IAEA Chief Says Might Visit Iran in the Coming Days
Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Wednesday said he might visit the
Iranian capital Tehran in the coming days, and he expected to work cooperatively
with the newly elected US President Donald Trump. "Maybe in a few days, we still
have to confirm the moment but it will be done," Grossi told a news conference
in Rome after a nuclear energy event, when asked about a trip to the Iranian
capital, Reuters reported. Asked about what might change in dealing with Iran
after Trump's victory, he said a new administration means "adjustments,
different approaches.""I have already worked with the Trump administration and
we have worked cooperatively. I expect to continue in the same form."
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on November 06-07/2024
Egypt’s Contempt for Christians: Coptic Funeral Held
in Alleyway
Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/November 6, 2024
In what reports described as a “sad scene,” on October 12, two Coptic Christian
clergymen officiated over the funeral of their father, who was also a clergyman.
What made the scene particularly sad, however, was that the funeral service and
prayers over the dead man were conducted in the middle of a public street—not in
the Copts’ church, which Egyptian authorities had sealed off since 2006.
According to one report,
The priests had no choice but to lie down in the street in front of their house
and pray over their father’s body, in the presence of more than 40 priests and
hundreds of people, amid great sadness as the church had still not opened, even
though they had received many promises over the past years that it would reopen,
to no avail…. The two priests expressed their sadness over the death of their
father, as well as the lack of response to open the church to honor him inside,
instead of praying in the open street, in a scene described as not in line with
the principles of citizenship and the president’s [Sisi’s] directives, the most
important of which is the presence of a church for Copts in areas where there
are no churches.
The village where this sorry spectacle took place is Samita, in Samalout, Egypt.
It holds more than 150 Christian families (which probably translates into some
800-1,000 Copts). Although they have a perfectly suitable church building
standing in their village, the authorities have barred them from holding
services in it. Instead, they must either congregate in their homes (in very
small numbers, because it’s “illegal” to pray without authorization), or travel
(on foot) several miles to the next nearest church.
After noting that there are several other closed churches in the villages of
just Samalout, the report adds, “Despite promises made over the past years to
open the churches, nothing has been achieved, leaving the Copts in these
villages to continue to suffer, searching for a place to exercise their
constitutional rights to pray, and suffering from moving to other villages,
especially in the changing weather.”
And why have the authorities shut down and sealed off many churches all
throughout Egypt? Because they pose a “security risk.” This pretext is based on
a familiar and well-entrenched dynamic: first, some Muslims of this or that
village rise up and riot against a church (not due to anything it had done but
because it simply exists and is an affront to extremist Muslim sensibilities);
then the authorities swoop in, and, to achieve piece, seal off the church,
thereby appeasing the Muslim protesters. At that point, the church is presented
as a “security risk” that must remain inoperative.
Another Coptic funeral, 2018, Dimshau Hashim
As of now, there are reportedly more than 50 churches throughout Egypt that have
been shut down on this dubious claim that they pose security threats — that is,
because some Muslims riot over their existence.
From here one understands why, if the Christian funeral that occurred a couple
of weeks ago in the streets of Egypt strikes some as callous of the Egyptian
government, so too is it just one of many examples.
Six years ago, a 2018 report noted that “Coptic Christians in various parts of
Egypt have been left with no choice but to hold funeral services in the streets
because of the closure of their churches.” As one example, it told of how,
denied a church and attacked for trying to use a home as one, the funeral of a
68-year-old Christian man was held in the streets of Dimshau Hashim—and under
tight security (video here).
A few days before that, in the village of Qasr Haidar, the funeral of another
Christian man was also held in the streets after the village church was closed
due to the usual Muslim rioting. In yet another instance, the “funeral service
of a Coptic man was held outside St. Moses Church in the town of Dairout. The
church was closed 20 years ago and since then the Christian community has not
been able to receive a permit for its re-opening.”
Nor are funerals the only Christian rituals unceremoniously pushed out to the
streets of Egypt. In 2015, a church congregation was forced to celebrate Easter
in an alley. After waiting for 44 years, the Christians of Nag Shenouda, in
Sohag City, had finally received a permit to build a new church. On learning of
this, some Muslims rioted and even burned down the tent the Christians had
erected to worship under. Denied, the Christians of Nag Shenouda celebrated
Easter in the street (picture here). And when one of them tried to hold worship
service in his home, he and his household were attacked by a Muslim mob.
Easter 2015, Nag Shenouda
In every one of these cases, the authorities rewarded the perpetrators and
punished the victims.
Such is the contempt that the Egyptian government has for its Christian
“citizens”: even the burial of their dead must be treated with disrespect and
humiliation—all while Sisi prattles on about the “equal rights” of Copts.
Trump victory provides “room for optimism”
Yossi Aloni/Israel Today/November 6, 2024
Netanyahu will have to navigate quite turbulent waters over the next two months,
with the goal of reaching January 20 unscathed.
“There is room for optimism,” said one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
advisors early in the morning after a sleepless night tracking the US election
results.
It’s safe to say that Netanyahu bet everything on a Trump victory. This was his
preferred outcome, despite his sometimes fraught history with Donald Trump and
the uncomfortable things he has said about him. But Netanyahu believes he can
handle Trump. He is confident that the people who influence Trump are on the
right side, and he believes Trump is the right choice for Israel compared to the
Democratic administration, which he felt despised him and wanted him ousted.
What does this mean for Israel?
Firstly, Israel is entering a critical phase. From now until Trump’s
inauguration on January 20, Joe Biden remains president, with full powers to do
as he pleases. Israel must be aware that Biden could use this period to settle
scores with Netanyahu. The greatest concern is a repeat of the December 23, 2016
UN Security Council decision, when then-President Barack Obama, less than a
month before Trump’s first entry into the White House, abstained from using the
American veto, allowing a resolution against Jewish settlements to pass. This
move complicated Israel’s legal situation and potentially paved the way for
lawsuits in international courts. That was Obama’s revenge against Netanyahu,
and Bibi should be wary of a similar scenario. In general, it seems likely that
Biden will use the last two months of his term to ramp up pressure for a deal to
release the hostages and push Netanyahu for concessions, such as a withdrawal
from the Philadelphi Corridor or similar measures. Biden will do everything in
his power to advance a diplomatic settlement between Israel and Lebanon.
Netanyahu will have to navigate quite turbulent waters over the next two months,
with the goal of reaching January 20 unscathed.
But no one is under the illusion that life with Trump will be a “bed of roses.”
Trump also wants to end the wars in Lebanon and Gaza. He has stated this
repeatedly and genuinely believes these conflicts should be resolved. Thus,
Netanyahu will need to achieve maximum alignment on how to reach this goal with
the greatest successes for Israel and the least concessions.
He will soon have to decide on his ambassador to Washington: it is likely he
will not extend Mike Herzog’s term and will appoint a new ambassador. If he had
Bibi way, he would bring Ron Dermer back to Washington, but Dermer has refused
to return, so Netanyahu must seek a new candidate. One possible candidate for
the position is Netanyahu’s foreign policy advisor, Ophir Falk, though Netanyahu
would prefer an ambassador who is an American native.
Israel anxiously awaits a decision from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on a potential arms embargo against Israel,
following their infamous letter urging Israel to improve humanitarian aid,
refrain from legislation against UNRWA, and allow Red Cross visits to detained
terrorists. The Americans have already indicated that Israel has not
sufficiently met these demands, so an embargo remains a possibility. Trump’s
victory improves Israel’s position in that such an embargo, even if imposed,
would likely be lifted by Trump on his first day in office.
An important question is who will be advising Trump. In Israel, there is hope
for someone like Mike Pompeo as Defense Secretary. David Friedman could also
rise to a senior position, which would please residents of the biblical
heartland, as Friedman has released a political plan for Israel’s future that
includes extending Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. Overall, Trump’s
victory will revive the right-wing dream of extending Israeli sovereignty over
the settlements. Trump’s victory could also significantly advance the
normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The likelihood that
Biden will push the normalization agreement in the remaining two months is low,
as it would require an end to the war, and Netanyahu would probably prefer to
let Trump claim that success.
It’s also conceivable that Trump’s victory will prompt Iran to reconsider any
attack on Israel. On one hand, Iran risks a severe response from Biden, who is
under no political constraints. On the other, Iran would not want to antagonize
the incoming US president. Iran might decide it’s better to refrain from
retaliating or to moderate its response.
In the two months remaining until Trump’s inauguration, Netanyahu will aim to
secure maximum agreement with Trump and his team on all fronts—Lebanon, Gaza,
Iran, and hostages—on the strategy for the period ahead. He is also likely to be
invited to the White House shortly after Trump takes office.
Another key point: Trump’s victory reduces the likelihood that the International
Criminal Court in The Hague will issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and ousted
Defense Minister Yoav Galant. Such warrants would trigger US sanctions against
the ICC, which the Biden administration has so far prevented. Allegations of
sexual harassment against Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, which raise questions
about his motives, also do little for credibility.
It’s no surprise that Netanyahu was one of the first world leaders to
congratulate Trump on his victory, in contrast to the last election, when he was
criticized for delaying his congratulations to Biden.
Surprisingly, Trump did not mention Jews or Israel in his victory speech, though
he did mention American Muslims and Arabs. This could signal his frustration
with the Jewish electorate, which, as usual, overwhelmingly supported the
Democrats. According to polls, Kamala Harris received around 67 percent of the
Jewish vote, similar to Biden’s 69 percent in 2020. Trump’s support remained at
31 percent, as in previous years. During the campaign, Trump remarked that any
Jew voting for Harris needed “a head examination.”
Trump’s first statement after his victory was that he intends to end wars, not
start them. This message was directed not only at Ukraine but also at Israel. As
he has announced, Trump intends to bring the wars in the north and south to a
close.
An Apparent Moral Demise
Nils A. Haug/Gatestone Institute/November 6, 2024
"Jewish people brought morality to the world thousands of years ago, and some
people are still mad about it." — Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle, ynetnews.com,
January 27, 2024.
Pope Francis, spiritual head of Roman Catholics globally, and Justin Welby,
Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England, for instance, have
seemingly denied the "connection of Jewish people to their Holy Land" by
apparently endorsing "replacement theology." Many in the Church believe that
they are the true inheritors of certain biblical promises made to the Jews.
"Archbishop Welby should know that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel before
anyone heard of Britain." — Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Chief Rabbi of South Africa,
jns.org, August 27, 2024.
The dirty little non-secret is that anti-Zionism actually is an expression of
anti-Semitism. To deny that Jews have no right to a state -- especially in light
of four countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mauritania and Iran, highlighting
"Islamic Republic" in their names -- would appear on the face of it
fundamentally biased. This list does not even include the other 53 members of
the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), that declare themselves Islamic,
even if their names do not herald it.
Pope Francis, spiritual head of Roman Catholics globally, and Justin Welby,
Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England, for instance, have
seemingly denied the "connection of Jewish people to their Holy Land" by
apparently endorsing "replacement theology." Many in the Church believe that
they are the true inheritors of certain biblical promises made to the Jews.
Genuine Bible-based faith has long been under threat of marginalization or, in
some instances, elimination. The main problem might be identified as the gradual
secularization of society –the view that G-d is no longer required in the public
square. Blame might also be directed at the creeping influence of other faiths,
some religious, others not.
In Western culture, suggests David Bonagura Jr., a professor at St. Joseph's
Seminary in New York, various ideologies such as "Marxism, progressivism,
multiculturalism and now wokeism" have emerged to compete with the traditional
Judeo-Christian moral ethos of society. Once principles of morality have been
removed from the public arena, then associated precepts of truth, justice,
freedom, democracy -- and the equality and dignity of all persons --become
compromised and sidelined in favor of whatever is the fashionable
wisdom-of-the-month.
Although Aristotle (384–322 BCE) and his circle of philosophers argued that one
can have moral virtues without religion, the French author Alexis de Tocqueville
(1805–1859), believed the "safeguard of morality is religion, and morality is
the best security of law and the surest pledge of freedom." De Tocqueville was
referring here to principles derived from Judeo-Christianity; principles which
constitute the basis of Western civilization. Moreover, the foundational
documents of the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence firmly reflect
such ethos.
In the present era, there seems to have been a turning away from traditional
moral values based on religious tenets -- a trend which may have led to
rejecting established social norms. As Safra Catz, the CEO of US technology
giant Oracle, remarked, the "Jewish people brought morality to the world
thousands of years ago, and some people are still mad about it." As a
consequence of social secularization, religious moral standards are no longer
deemed relevant in the post-modern setting.
Pope Francis, spiritual head of Roman Catholics globally, and Justin Welby,
Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England, for instance, have
seemingly denied the "connection of Jewish people to their Holy Land" by
apparently endorsing "replacement theology." Many in the Church believe that
they are the true inheritors of certain biblical promises made to the Jews. The
Pope and Archbishop appear to deny the biblical covenant that the promised land
was made exclusively with the Jewish nation, through their forefathers Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob.
The United Nation's International Court of Justice recently ruled Israel's
presence, in the so-called "occupied Palestinian territories," to be unlawful.
In South Africa, Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein disagreed with the ruling:
"Archbishop Welby should know that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel before
anyone heard of Britain" he said. Goldstein added that the two gentlemen have
"abandoned their most sacred duty to protect and defend the values of the
Bible." It might therefore be claimed the two Church leaders were apparently
repeating a heresy prevalent among certain Christian denominations for
centuries.
The dirty little non-secret is that anti-Zionism actually is an expression of
anti-Semitism. To deny that Jews have no right to a state -- especially in light
of four countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mauritania and Iran, highlighting
"Islamic Republic" in their names -- would appear on the face of it
fundamentally biased. This list does not even include the other 53 members of
the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), that declare themselves Islamic,
even if their names do not herald it.
This is a sad state of affairs, indicative of the increasing irrelevance of
Christendom in the public arena, in favor of fashionable ideologies and other,
competing, faiths. It is also indicative of the moral decline of certain major
Christian denominations. A compromise on core biblical principles, such as
Israel's right to its land, reflects a decline in moral clarity.
It is for good reason that ancient Hebrew prophets and scribes were entrusted
with the Holy Scriptures, for they faithfully preserved humanitarian values
through the eons despite horrific persecution by both Christians and
non-Christians. The foundation of the great Western civilization is derived from
core Jewish values. The world owes them much gratitude.
***Nils A. Haug is an author and columnist. A Lawyer by profession, he is member
of the International Bar Association, the National Association of Scholars, the
Academy of Philosophy and Letters. Retired from law, Dr. Haug holds a Ph.D. in
Theology (Apologetics). He is author of 'Politics, Law, and Disorder in the
Garden of Eden – the Quest for Identity'; and 'Enemies of the Innocent – Life,
Truth, and Meaning in a Dark Age.' His work has appeared in First Things
Journal, The American Mind, Quadrant, Minding the Campus, Gatestone Institute,
Anglican Mainstream, Jewish News Syndicate, and others.
© 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.
A verdict that may prove transformational for the US and
the world
Amal Mudallali/Arab News/November 06, 2024
Donald Trump, the elected 47th president of the US, is back and the world has
taken notice. He is returning as the self-described peace candidate, and US
foreign policy will never be the same. President Trump has promised to bring
peace to the Middle East and Ukraine after inheriting a legacy of two bloody
wars without any serious attempt to resolve either. The White House seemed
either incapable, or worse, too weak to be taken seriously by the parties to the
two conflicts. In the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had
stopped listening to US President Joe Biden.
The president-elect seized on this reluctance among American leadership and
proclaimed on every occasion that these conflicts would not have happened had he
been president. He vowed in interviews before the elections that he would solve
these conflicts even before he took office.
Now, following his victory, the eyes of the world are on President-Elect Trump
and his new version of America First policy, how he will deal with the conflicts
in Europe and the Middle East, manage the relationship with NATO and Europe,
direct the competition with China and project power around the world.
Trump’s win is a return to “peace through strength,” his doctrine and organizing
principle for how he will deal with the world and its powers.
He told the UN in 2020 that the US is fulfilling its destiny as peacemaker, but
it is with “peace through strength.” At the UN there is concern today that
President Trump will repeat the US’ withdrawal from key UN agencies like he did
in his first term in office.
The Trump administration withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, withdrew
from UNESCO, the UN Human Rights Council and threatened to withdraw from the
WHO.
But it is not only the UN that is worried today. Europe and the US’ NATO allies
reached out to Trump very early, congratulating him and vowing to work together,
but their nice messages also masked anxieties over his criticism of European
defense spending. Trump has always complained that the US pays too much for the
defense of Europe.
China will be worried because of his threat during the campaign to slap trade
tariffs on Chinese goods. But Trump, nonetheless, had good words for Chinese
President Xi Jinping, describing him as “brilliant guy” who he gets along with,
offering hope for a more stable relationship of competition without tension.
Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin placed him under
constant attacks from the Biden-Harris administration, but those ties will come
in handy now when he tries to fulfill his promise to end the conflict in
Ukraine.
The Republicans clinched a big win in Congress by winning back the Senate. If
they also manage to control the House, the president will have a very strong
hand in foreign as well as domestic policy.
The president-elect, who said he was respected by the leaders of Russia and
Ukraine, vowed to end the war before his inauguration. “That is a war that’s
dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become president,” he
said.
Moscow is undoubtedly happy to see Trump elected but this is not the case in
Kyiv, with President Volodymyr Zelensky committing a grave mistake during the
campaign by visiting Pennsylvania with the Democratic governor, criticizing
vice-presidential candidate JD Vance as “too radical” and publicly doubting that
Trump can solve the conflict.
The president-elect did not hide how he feels about Zelensky, describing him as
“maybe the greatest salesman of any politician that’s ever lived,” adding:
“Every time he come to our country he walks away with $60 billion.” The American
faucet will be closed by Trump now as the US is expected to try find a solution
with Putin, even if not to the liking of Zelensky and the Europeans.
Trump won Michigan partly aided by the votes of Arab Americans who are angry at
the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza and Lebanon. He was
the only candidate to visit Dearborn, the Arab American-majority city, where he
promised voters to bring peace to the Middle East. However, he has a close
relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Arab Americans,
even those who voted for him, are worried that the promises of the campaign
might remain only promises. They point to Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as
the capital of Israel and the moving of the US Embassy to the holy city. Trump
also recognized Israel’s annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights. In his
statements in Michigan, though, he promised to bring a “lasting peace” in Gaza
and Lebanon, but without giving any details on how he will achieve this. He
promised to expand the Abraham Accords and add new countries to the arrangement,
even Iran.
The only country in the region that needs to worry about Trump’s policy is Iran.
During the campaign, he discussed the possibility of targeting Iran’s nuclear
sites, arguing that the US should have “hit them first and worried later” about
the consequences. In a second Trump administration there will be a hardline
policy toward Iran, its proxies and its nuclear program. But Trump also hinted
in the Al Arabiya interview that Tehran could take a different path, when he
said that Iran could be part of the Abraham Accords, without explaining how that
is possible.
The Republicans clinched a big win in Congress by winning back the Senate. If
they also manage to control the House, the president will have a very strong
hand in foreign as well as domestic policy. This is good news for Saudi Arabia,
which had a “great” (in capital letters) relationship with Trump, especially as
the Kingdom and US are working on cementing their relationship through a new
security and military agreement. President Trump will not find it difficult to
pass such an agreement in Congress if Republicans control both houses.
These elections ushered in a new era for the US that could be transformational
and bring fundamental change not only for America, but also for the world. The
world should buckle up.
Our Region and the Day After
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq AlAwst/November 06/2024
Since the Israeli war on Gaza following the October 7, 2023 operation carried
out by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, "the day after" has been on
everyone’s lips, whether in Gaza or now in Lebanon, after Israel launched its
war against Hezbollah.
Although this phrase has been repeated throughout the year, nothing tangible has
happened. We don’t have a clearer picture of what "the day after" means. We have
seen only ideas about it, whether in Gaza or Lebanon. However, the entire region
now finds itself on the cusp of the "day after," which will be defined by the
results of the US presidential elections. The world may have already learned who
has won the White House, Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, by the time this article
is published. Or we may not know for days, or a month or two, as happened in the
race of 2000 between Democrat Al Gore and former President Bush Jr., who won
those elections, as is well known.
One certainty, which has yet to be made public and may not exist as a plan yet,
is the fate and outcomes of these crises in our region. Is there a day after the
war in Gaza or Lebanon? Is there a vision for dealing with the escalation
between Israel and Iran?
Does either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority have a clear plan to deal with
the new US president, whoever it may be? Is there a plan or vision in Lebanon
for how to deal with Israel’s war on Hezbollah and its repercussions on the
state and communities of Lebanon?
Does Iran have a vision for dealing with the next US president? Or is everyone
planning to "wait and see?” Does Tehran have secret back channels with the
presidential candidates, as it did at the time of the American hostage crisis in
Tehran before the elections that brought Reagan to the presidency?
Unfortunately, and especially in the cases of Gaza and Lebanon, it is Israel,
specifically Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has a vision for the "day
after." Netanyahu will work on two different but interconnected tracks.
If he finds a "personal ally" in the White House, Netanyahu knows exactly what
to do: perpetuate his war and prepare the ground to implement his pre-set plans;
indeed, as is publicly known, he has been in contact with former president
Trump.
If Harris wins, Netanyahu's plan for that "next day" would certainly entail
immediate escalation to impose a new reality that she cannot ignore after her
inauguration in January.
Netanyahu would be in a stronger position, regardless of who wins the White
House, if Iran actually retaliates to Israel’s retaliation and launches a
military attack against Israel, whether from Iran itself or, as is currently
rumored, from Iraq.
In that case, the "day after" would certainly go according to plan for
Netanyahu, regardless of who wins the race. Moreover, if it occurs, such an
attack would cement Netanyahu’s position within Israel itself, compelling the
next US president, whoever it may be, to support him.
Accordingly, we are now in a critical phase with dangerous repercussions for the
entire region.