English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 14/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
It is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been
enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and then have fallen away
Letter to the Hebrews 06/01-09: “Let us go on towards perfection,
leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the
foundation: repentance from dead works and faith towards God, instruction about
baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement.
And we will do this, if God permits. For it is impossible to restore again to
repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly
gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the
word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, since
on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are holding him up to
contempt. Ground that drinks up the rain falling on it repeatedly, and that
produces a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing
from God. But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and on the
verge of being cursed; its end is to be burned over. Even though we speak in
this way, beloved, we are confident of better things in your case, things that
belong to salvation.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on April 13-14/2025
Video & Text/April 13, 1975 – April 13, 2025: From Wounds to Victory,
From Wars to Liberation and Peace/Elias Bejjani/April 13/2025
Palm Sunday ...The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem./Elias Bejjani/April
13, 2025
Lebanon’s Liberation from Hezbollah’s Occupation needs the following steps/Elias
Bejjani/April 12, 2025
50 years after Lebanon's civil war began, a bullet-riddled bus stands as a
reminder/Abby Sewell/The Associated Press/April 13, 2025
Pope Francis Calls for Peace in Lebanon, 50 Years After the Start of the Civil
Wa
From Qlayaa to Tyre, Palm Sunday becomes a show of resilience and unity: A look
at celebrations across Lebanon
Rai on Palm Sunday: 50 Years Since the Civil War, We Must Learn from Past
Mistakes
Macron marks 50 years since Lebanese civil war: Lebanon can move beyond 'wars of
others'
Lebanese army and Hezbollah cooperation on site handovers south of Litani River:
Here’s what we know
Most Hezbollah military sites in south Lebanon ceded to army
Lebanon adopts draft banking law
Resistance without violence: Lebanon’s 'forgotten majority' in the civil war
Lebanon's Nabih Berri: Municipal elections law amendment unlikely, urges on-time
elections
Israeli drone strike targets southern Lebanon town
Weapons and Smuggling: Major Seizure at Tripoli Port
Salam on 50th Anniversary of Civil War: Time to Rebuild a State Protected by Its
Army
Army Seizes Truck Carrying Captagon Manufacturing Equipment in Hermel
A New Approach to Teaching History: Will Lebanon’s Schools Embrace Multiple
Narratives?/Sana Richa Choucair/This is Beirut/April 13/2025
April 13, 1975: "A Day Engraved in Our Memory"/Elie Valluy - correspondant à
Paris//This is Beirut/April 13/2025
Lebanese PM to visit Syria, discuss disappearance of prisoners
Lebanon remembers a war that never truly ended/Dr. Khalil Gebara/Arab News/April
13, 2025
Once on Civil War's Frontline, Lebanon Museum Sees New Life
The Paradox Between Lebanon and Syria/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/13 April
2025
Amine Gemayel to Asharq Al-Awsat: Assad Viewed Lebanon the Same Way
Saddam/Beirut: Ghassan Charbel/Asharq AlAwsat/April 12/2025
Gemayel to Asharq Al-Awsat: Khaddam was Assad’s Stick to Apply Pressure/Beirut :
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq AlAwsat/April 13/2025
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on April 13-14/2025
Trump Says Nuclear Talks with Iran Are Going 'OK'
Iran Says Talks with US to Focus Solely on Nuclear Issue, Lifting Sanctions
US in hurry for nuclear deal, Iran says after high-stakes talks
Yemen’s Houthis say five killed in US strike on Sanaa province
Israel military says missile launched from Yemen was likely intercepted
Gaza hospital damaged in Israeli strike
Israeli Missiles Strike Gaza Hospital, Patients Evacuated
UK FM Calls Israeli Attacks on Gaza Hospital 'Deplorable'
Aid worker missing after deadly attack on colleagues is held by Israel, ICRC
says
Columbia University Activist Mahmoud Khalil Can Be Deported, Immigration Judge
Rules
Frankly Speaking: Four months in, how is the change in Syria being seen?
Armed faction in southern Syria to integrate into government forces
Syria's new leader makes his first visit to the United Arab Emirates
Russian missiles hit Ukrainian city of Sumy during Palm Sunday celebrations,
killing more than 30
Trump is 'fully fit' to serve as commander in chief, his doctor says after
recent physical
Saudi Arabia, US in talks to sign deal on nuclear technology
Titles For
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on April 13-14/2025
Defending Israel and Western Civilization More Urgent than Ever/Guy
Millière/Gatestone Institute/April 13, 2025
Biden’s administration may have suppressed COVID evidence contradicting Chinese
claims/Jonathan Turley, Opinion Contributor/The Hill/April 13/2025
The Current Relationship between NATO, TURKIYE, and the USA/SAL SAYGIN SIMSEK/April
11, 2025)
Trump goes with his gut and the world goes along for the ride/Chris Megerian/WASHINGTON
(AP)/ April 13, 2025
After Two Years of War, Shrinking Funds Mean Aid Money Needs to Go Further in
Sudan/Abdallah Al Dardari/Asharq Al Awsat/13 April 2025
In the home of the Oracle, the future is anyone’s guess/Faisal J. Abbas/Arab
News/April 13, 2025
US must stand with Iraq again/Dalia Al-Aqidi/Arab News/April 13, 2025
The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on April 13-14/2025
Video & Text/April 13, 1975 – April 13,
2025: From Wounds to Victory, From Wars to Liberation and Peace
Elias Bejjani/April 13/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142208/
On this very day, April 13, 1975,
Lebanon entered one of the darkest chapters in its history. What took place was
not merely the start of a civil war—it was the launch of a sinister and
calculated scheme designed to destroy Lebanon’s identity, shatter its national
unity, and transform it into a battlefield for foreign powers and their agendas.
This day marked the beginning of a period of blood and fire. Lebanon was dragged
into long, devastating conflicts that violated its sovereignty, spilled the
blood of its people, and opened the gates to foreign interventions. The state
collapsed, its institutions crumbled, and its independence was hijacked by
occupation plots, regional conspiracies, and internal betrayals.
But the most important truth remains: that dark day in Ain El-Remmaneh area was
not simply the outbreak of civil war—it was the launch of an evil masterplan to
annihilate Lebanon’s very existence, dismantle its society, and erase its unique
identity. The plotters, both domestic and foreign, believed they could engulf
our small nation. But they were met by a people of unwavering resilience and a
sacred land that cannot be desecrated.
The crisis began with the cold-blooded assassination of Lebanese citizen Joseph
Abu Aasi in Ain El-Remmaneh area and the attempted assassination of Sheikh
Pierre Gemayel, head of the Kataeb Party. This was no random incident—it was the
opening move in a deliberate conspiracy led by the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO). Backed by jihadist, leftist, Ba'athist, and Arab nationalist
movements, and aided by certain Arab regimes, the PLO aimed to turn Lebanon into
an alternative homeland for Palestinians at the expense of the Lebanese people.
Yet, the free Lebanese rose up—Christians and sovereign-minded patriots from all
sects united in resistance. Despite massacres, betrayals, and isolation, they
endured. The PLO was expelled. The project of turning Lebanon into a substitute
Palestinian homeland was defeated. And the right to national decision-making was
reclaimed by the Lebanese people. Lebanon proved then, as it does now, that it
is immune to foreign domination and cannot be ruled by the axes of political
Islam—be they Sunni, Shiite, or the demagogic left in all their branches.
With the collapse of the Palestinian scheme, the Syrian Ba'athist regime stepped
in. Under the false banner of the “Arab Deterrent Force,” President Hafez
al-Assad’s Syrian army invaded and occupied Lebanon. It spread terror, imposed a
reign of assassinations, arrests, massacres, and forced displacements. Freedoms
were crushed. The state was suffocated. And Lebanon entered a long, dark tunnel
of Ba'athist tyranny.
But Lebanon is no ordinary land—it is a divine endowment. The Syrian occupation
eventually collapsed under the weight of its crimes. The Cedar Revolution of
2005 forced Assad’s army into a humiliating retreat. Hope was rekindled that
Lebanon could rise again.
Yet that hope was short-lived. In place of the Syrian occupier came a more
insidious and dangerous one: the Iranian occupation, imposed through
Hezbollah—the Khomeinist, jihadist, terrorist militia. Cloaked in the false garb
of “resistance” and “liberating Palestine,” Hezbollah hijacked the state,
usurped the right to war and peace, and bound Lebanon to the Iranian regime’s
expansionist “Wilayat al-Faqih” project.
Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into needless wars, filled the graves of honorable
Shiites with its victims, and shattered the dreams of a generation. It severed
Lebanon’s ties with its Arab brothers and the world. On October 8, 2023, it
opened a reckless war front with Israel under direct orders from Tehran—another
war Lebanon never asked for. Thousands of lives were lost, homes destroyed, and
regions devastated. In the end, Hezbollah suffered a historic and crushing
defeat.
Now, on April 13, 2025, hope is reborn. The era of Hezbollah’s occupation and
Iranization is nearing its end. After its catastrophic failures, Hezbollah has
lost most of its leaders, strongholds, and legitimacy. Across the region, Iran’s
militias in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Gaza are collapsing. The Assad regime has
fallen. The Iranian expansionist project is in ruins. And the clerical regime in
Tehran is now retreating, exposed and disgraced.
The Lebanese have always been a people of dignity and resistance—armed not with
weapons of destruction, but with faith, hope, and a righteous cause. Their land
is sacred. Their history is deeply rooted in the soil. Lebanon is not just a
country; it is a divine inheritance. As the Old Testament says, it is the land
of prophets, saints, and martyrs—protected by God. Those who seek to conquer it
are destined to fall, because divine justice does not sleep.
We proclaim, with pride and certainty, that we have seen this divine justice
with our own eyes. The PLO was expelled. The Syrian Ba’athists were humiliated
and driven out. The Iranian regime and its militias are crumbling. Those who
funded and abetted the occupations—whether in Yemen, Libya, or Somalia—have been
scattered and broken. But Lebanon remains, sustained by its martyrs, its
righteous people, and its unshakable faith.
To Hezbollah—the Persian, jihadist, terrorist militia—we say: your occupation
has failed. Your weapons are a curse upon you. You are not a resistance but a
mercenary militia in the service of a foreign regime. Lebanon is not yours. It
never was, and it never will be.
In conclusion: because Lebanon is a sacred endowment to God, it will be
liberated from the Iranian occupation. The Lebanese people, by God’s will, will
prevail. The future belongs to them—not to any occupier, invader, or internal
traitor. Eternal glory to our righteous martyrs who offered their lives with
faith on the altar of freedom.
Palm
Sunday ...The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
Elias Bejjani/April 13,
2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/107794/
(Psalm118/26): "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of Yahweh!
We have blessed You out of the house of Yahweh".
On the seventh Lantern Sunday, known as the "Palm Sunday", our Maronite Catholic
Church celebrates the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The joyful and
faithful people of this Holy City and their children welcomed Jesus with
innocent spontaneity and declared Him a King. Through His glorious and modest
entry the essence of His Godly royalty that we share with Him in baptism and
anointing of Chrism was revealed. Jesus' Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem, the
"Palm Sunday", marks the Seventh Lantern Sunday, the last one before Easter Day,
(The Resurrection).
During the past six Lantern weeks, we the believers are ought to have renewed
and rekindled our faith and reverence through genuine fasting, contemplation,
penance, prayers, repentance and acts of charity. By now we are expected to have
fully understood the core of love, freedom, and justice that enables us to enter
into a renewed world of worship that encompasses the family, the congregation,
the community and the nation.
Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time to participate in the Jewish Passover
Holiday. He was fully aware that the day of His suffering and death was
approaching and unlike all times, He did not stop the people from declaring Him
a king and accepted to enter the city while they were happily chanting :
"Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of
Israel!”.(John 12/13). Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus,
"Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet,
the stones will cry out." (Luke 19/39-40). Jesus entered Jerusalem to willingly
sacrifice Himself, die on the cross, redeem us and absolve our original sin.
On the Palm Sunday we take our children and grandchildren to celebrate the mass
and the special procession while happily they are carrying candles decorated
with lilies and roses. Men and women hold palm fronds with olive branches, and
actively participate in the Palm Procession with modesty, love and joy crying
out loudly: "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" (Matthew 21/09).
On the Palm Sunday through the procession, prayers, and mass we renew our
confidence and trust in Jesus. We beg Him for peace and commit ourselves to
always tame all kinds of evil hostilities, forgive others and act as peace and
love advocates and defend man's dignity and his basic human rights. "Ephesians
2:14": "For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles
into one people when, in His own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of
hostility that separated us"
The Triumphal Entry of Jesus' story into Jerusalem appears in all four Gospel
accounts (Matthew 21:1-17; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-40; John 12:12-19). The four
accounts shows clearly that the Triumphal Entry was a significant event, not
only to the people of Jesus’ day, but to Christians throughout history.
The Triumphal Entry as it appeared in Saint John's Gospel, (12/12-19), as
follows : "On the next day a great multitude had come to the feast. When they
heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took the branches of the palm
trees, and went out to meet him, and cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!” Jesus, having found a young
donkey, sat on it. As it is written, “Don’t be afraid, daughter of Zion. Behold,
your King comes, sitting on a donkey’s colt. ”His disciples didn’t understand
these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that
these things were written about Him, and that they had done these things to Him.
The multitude therefore that was with Him when He called Lazarus out of the
tomb, and raised him from the dead, was testifying about it. For this cause also
the multitude went and met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.
The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “See how you accomplish nothing.
Behold, the world has gone after him.” Now there were certain Greeks among those
that went up to worship at the feast. These, therefore, came to Philip, who was
from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”
Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn, Andrew came with Philip, and they told
Jesus."
The multitude welcomed Jesus, His disciples and followers while chanting:
"Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of
Israel!”.(John 12/13). His entry was so humble, meek simple and spontaneous. He
did not ride in a chariot pulled by horses as earthly kings and conquerors do,
He did not have armed guards, nor officials escorting him. He did not come to
Jerusalem to fight, rule, judge or settle scores with any one, but to offer
Himself a sacrifice for our salvation.
Before entering Jerusalem, He stopped in the city of Bethany, where Lazarus
(whom he raised from the tomb) with his two sisters Mary and Martha lived. In
Hebrew Bethany means "The House of the Poor". His stop in Bethany before
reaching Jerusalem was a sign of both His acceptance of poverty and His
readiness to offer Himself as a sacrifice. He is the One who accepted poverty
for our own benefit and came to live in poverty with the poor and escort them to
heaven, the Kingdom of His Father.
After His short Stop in Bethany, Jesus entered Jerusalem to fulfill all the
prophecies, purposes and the work of the Lord since the dawn of history. All the
scripture accounts were fulfilled and completed with his suffering, torture,
crucifixion, death and resurrection. On the Cross, He cried with a loud voice:
“It is finished.” He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.(John19/30)
The multitude welcomed Jesus when He entered Jerusalem so one of the Old
Testament prophecies would be fulfilled. (Zechariah 9:9-10): "Rejoice greatly,
Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous
and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I
will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and
the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule
will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth".
The crowd welcomed Jesus for different reasons and numerous expectations. There
were those who came to listen to His message and believed in Him, while others
sought a miraculous cure for their ailments and they got what they came for, but
many others envisaged in Him a mortal King that could liberate their country,
Israel, and free them from the yoke of the Roman occupation. Those were
disappointed when Jesus told them: "My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom" (John
18/36)
Christ came to Jerusalem to die on its soil and fulfill the scriptures. It was
His choice where to die in Jerusalem as He has said previously: "should not be a
prophet perish outside of Jerusalem" (Luke 13/33): "Nevertheless, I must go on
my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet
should perish away from Jerusalem".
He has also warned Jerusalem because in it all the prophets were killed: (Luke
13:34-35): "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones
those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as
a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! "behold,
your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until
the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord".
Explanation of the Palm Sunday Procession Symbols
The crowd chanted, "Hosanna to the Son of David" "Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" (Matthew 21/09), because Jesus was
is a descendant of David. Hosanna in the highest is originated in the Psalm
118/25: "Please, LORD, please save us. Please, LORD, please give us success". It
is a call for help and salvation as also meant by the Psalm 26/11: "But I lead a
blameless life; redeem me and be merciful to me". Hosanna also means: God
enlightened us and will never abandon us, Jesus' is a salvation for the world"
Spreading cloth and trees' branches in front of Jesus to walk on them was an Old
Testament tradition that refers to love, obedience, submission, triumph and
loyalty. (2 Kings 09/13): "They hurried and took their cloaks and spread them
under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, "Jehu is
king!". In the old days Spreading garments before a dignitary was a symbol of
submission.
Zion is a hill in Jerusalem, and the "Daughter of Zion" is Jerusalem. The term
is synonymous with "paradise" and the sky in its religious dimensions.
Carrying palm and olive branches and waving with them expresses joy, peace,
longing for eternity and triumph. Palm branches are a sign of victory and
praise, while Olive branches are a token of joy, peace and durability. The Lord
was coming to Jerusalem to conquer death by death and secure eternity for the
faithful. It is worth mentioning that the olive tree is a symbol for peace and
its oil a means of holiness immortality with which Kings, Saints, children and
the sick were anointed.
The name "King of Israel," symbolizes the kingship of the Jews who were waiting
for Jehovah to liberate them from the Roman occupation.
O, Lord Jesus, strengthen our faith to feel closer to You and to Your mercy when
in trouble;
O, Lord Jesus, empower us with the grace of patience and meekness to endure
persecution, humiliation and rejection and always be Your followers.
O, Lord Let Your eternal peace and gracious love prevail all over the world.
A joyous Palm Sunday to all
Lebanon’s Liberation from Hezbollah’s Occupation needs the following steps
Elias Bejjani/April 12, 2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142221/
Lebanon’s salvation lies in liberating its Shiite community from Hezbollah’s
grip.
Hezbollah has turned Lebanon into a failed, isolated, and impoverished state.
The resistance narrative is fraudulent and has served only Iran’s expansionist
agenda.
The state cannot coexist with a militia that operates above the law and
constitution.
There can be no reform without restoring Lebanese sovereignty and dismantling
Hezbollah’s parallel state.
International intervention under Chapter VII is necessary to enforce UN
Resolutions 1559 and 1701.
The current ruling elite is complicit and benefits from the existing corrupt and
criminal system.
Lebanon’s Shiites are victims of Hezbollah’s destructive ideology and policies.
A new national pact must be founded on state legitimacy, civil peace, and full
independence.
Dialogue is futile when conducted under the intimidation of illegal weapons.
The path forward requires courageous leadership that prioritizes national
interest over sectarian alliances.
The collapse of Hezbollah’s hegemony is the beginning of Lebanon’s rebirth.
50 years after Lebanon's civil war began, a bullet-riddled bus
stands as a reminder
Abby Sewell/The Associated Press/April 13, 2025
BEIRUT — It was an ordinary day in Beirut. In one part of Lebanon's
capital, a church was inaugurated, with the leader of the Christian Phalange
party there. In another, Palestinian factions held a military parade. Phalangists and Palestinians had clashed, again, that morning. What happened
next on April 13, 1975, would change the course of Lebanon, plunging it into 15
years of civil war that would kill about 150,000 people, leave 17,000 missing
and lead to foreign intervention. Beirut became synonymous with snipers,
kidnappings and car bombs. Lebanon has never fully grappled with the war's
legacy, and in many ways it has never fully recovered, 50 years later. The
government on Sunday marked the anniversary with a small ceremony and minute of
silence, a rare official acknowledgement of the legacy of the conflict.
The massacre
Unrest had been brewing. Palestinian militants had begun launching attacks
against Israel from Lebanese territory. Leftist groups and many Muslims in
Lebanon sympathized with the Palestinian cause. Christians and some other groups
saw the Palestinian militants as a threat.
At the time, Mohammad Othman was 16, a Palestinian refugee in the Tel al-Zaatar
camp east of Beirut. Three buses had left camp that morning, carrying students
like him as well as militants from a coalition of hardline factions that had
broken away from the Palestinian Liberation Organization. They passed through
the Ein Rummaneh neighborhood without incident and joined the military parade.
The buses were supposed to return together, but some participants were tired
after marching and wanted to go back early. They hired a small bus from the
street, Othman said. Thirty-three people packed in. They were unaware that
earlier that day, small clashes had broken out between Palestinians and Phalange
Party members guarding the church in Ein Rummaneh. A bodyguard for party leader
Pierre Gemayel had been killed.
Suddenly the road was blocked, and gunmen began shooting at the bus “from all
sides,” Othman recalled. Some passengers had guns they had carried in the
parade, Othman said, but they were unable to draw them quickly in the crowded
bus.
A camp neighbor fell dead on top of him. The man’s 9-year-old son was also
killed. Othman was shot in the shoulder. “The shooting didn’t stop for about 45
minutes until they thought everyone was dead,” he said. Othman said paramedics
who eventually arrived had a confrontation with armed men who tried to stop them
from evacuating him.
Twenty-two people were killed.
Conflicting narratives
Some Lebanese say the men who attacked the bus were responding to an
assassination attempt against Gemayel by Palestinian militants. Others say the
Phalangists had set up an ambush intended to spark a wider conflict.
Marwan Chahine, a Lebanese-French journalist who wrote a book about the events
of April 13, 1975, said he believes both narratives are wrong. Chahine said he
found no evidence of an attempt to kill Gemayel, who had left the church by the
time his bodyguard was shot. And he said the attack on the bus appeared to be
more a matter of trigger-happy young men at a checkpoint than a “planned
operation.”There had been past confrontations, "but I think this one took this
proportion because it arrived after many others and at a point when the
authority of the state was very weak,” Chahine said. The Lebanese army had
largely ceded control to militias, and it did not respond to the events in Ein
Rummaneh that day. The armed Palestinian factions had been increasingly
prominent in Lebanon after the PLO was driven out of Jordan in 1970, and
Lebanese Christians had also increasingly armed themselves.
“The Kataeb would say that the Palestinians were a state within a state,”
Chahine said, using the Phalange Party's Arabic name. “But the reality was, you
had two states in a state. Nobody was following any rules." Selim Sayegh, a
member of parliament with the Kataeb Party who was 14 and living in Ein Rummaneh
when the fighting started, said he believes war had been inevitable since the
Lebanese army backed down from an attempt to take control of Palestinian camps
two years earlier. Sayegh said men at the checkpoint that day saw a bus full of
Palestinians "and thought that is the second wave of the operation” that started
with the killing of Gemayel's bodyguard. The war unfolded quickly from there.
Alliances shifted. New factions formed. Israel and Syria occupied parts of the
country. The United States intervened, and the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks
were targeted by bombings. Beirut was divided between Christian and Muslim
sectors. In response to the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, a Shiite
militant group was formed in the early 1980s with Iranian backing: Hezbollah. It
would grow to be arguably the most powerful armed non-state group in the region.
Hezbollah was the only militant group allowed to keep its weapons after
Lebanon's civil war, given special status as a “resistance force” because Israel
was still in southern Lebanon. After the group was badly weakened last year in a
war with Israel that ended with a ceasefire, there has been increasing pressure
for it to disarm.
The survivors
Othman said he became a fighter after the war started because “there were no
longer schools or anything else to do.” Later he would disarm and became a
pharmacist. He remembers being bewildered when a peace accord in 1989 ushered in
the end of civil war: “All this war and bombing, and in the end they make some
deals and it’s all over.” Of the 10 others who survived the bus attack, he said,
three were killed a year later when Christian militias attacked the Tel al-Zaatar
camp. Another was killed in a 1981 bombing at the Iraqi embassy. A couple died
of natural causes, one lives in Germany, and he has lost track of the others.
The bus has also survived, as a reminder. Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the
attack, it was towed from storage on a farm to the private Nabu Museum in Heri,
north of Beirut. Visitors took photos with it and peered into bullet holes in
its rusted sides. Ghida Margie Fakih, a museum spokesperson, said the bus will
remain on display indefinitely as a “wake-up call” to remind Lebanese not to go
down the path of conflict again. The bus “changed the whole history in Lebanon
and took us somewhere that nobody wanted to go,” she said.
**Abby Sewell, The Associated Press
Pope Francis Calls for Peace in Lebanon, 50 Years After the
Start of the Civil War
This is Beirut/April 13/2025
Pope Francis turned his thoughts to Lebanon during Palm Sunday celebrations.
Speaking briefly from St. Peter’s Square as he recovers from pneumonia, the Pope
issued a powerful appeal for peace across several regions of the world, with a
special mention of Lebanon.
“Let us also remember Lebanon, where the civil war broke out 50 years ago, so
that, with God’s help, it may live in peace and prosperity,” he said while
seated in a wheelchair, visibly in better health as he greeted the crowd and
exchanged words with several of the faithful.
His remarks come as Lebanon marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the civil
war in April 1975, a conflict that left deep scars and continues to shape the
country's political, social and economic landscape. The Pope also spoke about
other ongoing conflicts—in Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza and Israel. He urged warring
parties to “cease violence and return to the path of dialogue,” and called on
the international community to “deliver essential aid to suffering populations.”
From Qlayaa to Tyre, Palm Sunday becomes a show of
resilience and unity: A look at celebrations across Lebanon
LBCI/April 13/2025
In the southern Lebanese village of Qlayaa, where residents refused to leave
despite Israeli threats during the recent war, Palm Sunday was celebrated as an
act of defiance. The community embraced a message of resilience, hope, and
peace, a theme that Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Paolo Borgia continually
emphasized throughout the conflict. Meanwhile, in the Bint Jbeil district,
residents of Yaroun also celebrated Palm Sunday, despite intermittent Israeli
attacks and widespread destruction. Across Lebanon, various Christian
denominations came together in unified processions to mark the holiday. The Forn
El Chebbak area was one of the key sites for Palm Sunday observances. The
procession in Forn El Chebbak gathered believers from Maronite, Eastern
Orthodox, and Melkite Catholic churches. What united them all was a shared
spiritual chant, along with palm and olive branches and the joy of children. In
the coastal town of Chekka, believers from all denominations also gathered for a
joint procession, a departure from previous years. This year, Chekka's
celebration brought together parishes for a unified procession after Mass.
In Tyre, Christian denominations held prayers in a unified procession, with
UNIFIL forces joining the celebration. The scene reflected the message of unity:
"Preserve your unity to start from there toward Lebanese unity."
Rai on Palm Sunday: 50 Years Since the Civil War, We Must
Learn from Past Mistakes
This is Beirut/April 13/2025
On this Palm Sunday, which coincides with the 50th anniversary since the
outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai recalled the
conflict that “tore apart our lives, our childhoods and our youth, and distorted
our relationships with one another.”
“Lebanon has turned the page on the civil war, and today, it is turning the page
on defiance of legitimacy and combating it,” Rai said in his sermon. “However,
turning pages is not enough. It is essential to examine the events that brought
us to this state and to learn from them, for those who do not understand their
mistakes are bound to repeat them. There is no longer time for repetition, as
Lebanon needs a future worthy of its history,” he stressed. “Therefore, it is
necessary to revisit what happened, to reconcile and to engage in honest
dialogue so we can move beyond this stage, just as other nations have succeeded
in doing so. This is called purifying the memory.”
Macron marks 50 years since Lebanese civil war: Lebanon can move beyond 'wars of
others'
LBCI/April 13/2025
On the 50th anniversary of the Lebanese civil war, French President Emmanuel
Macron expressed hope that Lebanon could today move beyond the "wars of others"
and establish lasting peace and harmony under a strong and sovereign state. In a
statement posted on X, Macron paid tribute to the victims of the devastating
conflict, honoring both those who lost their lives and those who remain missing
or were forced to flee the country. He emphasized that Lebanon now has the
opportunity to break free from external conflicts and focus on building a future
defined by peace. Macron reaffirmed France's support for Lebanon and its people
in moving forward on this path.
Lebanese army and Hezbollah cooperation on site handovers south of Litani River:
Here’s what we know
LBCI/April 13/2025
It was notable what Agence France-Presse reported — citing a source described as
close to Hezbollah: most of the group’s military positions south of the Litani
River are now under the control of the Lebanese army. The source said there were
265 military sites formerly operated by Hezbollah in that region, of which about
190 have been handed over. When asked about the report, Hezbollah officials
refer inquiries to a previous statement from the group’s media relations office,
which asserts that Hezbollah does not rely on unofficial sources and that its
positions are expressed exclusively through official statements or remarks by
its leaders. However, an official who spoke to LBCI confirmed that Hezbollah is
fully cooperating with the Lebanese army and that the handover of the sites is a
natural result of that cooperation. He said the army has carried out its
operations south of the Litani area without encountering obstacles. This account
is supported by the committee overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire
agreement, whose sources said the army has addressed 500 sites, including
infrastructure, military positions, weapons depots and locations linked to
Hezbollah and other armed groups. The committee noted that it has not observed
any opposition from Hezbollah to the army’s activities. The Lebanese army also
confirmed that it has taken control of most of Hezbollah’s positions south of
the Litani region. It has carried out 500 operations in coordination with the
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) targeting sites that had been
bombed previously, found to be empty, or that contained military infrastructure,
ammunition, rockets, launchers and other weapons. Military sources said the
missions were documented with photos and videos in the presence of UNIFIL and
shared with the ceasefire monitoring committee. That is the situation south of
the Litani River. Meanwhile, in the region's north, Israel has conducted
numerous airstrikes and attacks — twice reaching the capital, Beirut. The
Lebanese army has not acted on Israeli requests submitted to the ceasefire
monitoring committee, citing differing views on how to address the presence of
weapons north of the Litani River. Hezbollah maintains that its weapons and
military capabilities fall under the national defense strategy — or what the
presidency refers to as the national security strategy — which advocates for
exclusive control of arms and addressing the issue through dialogue with the
group rather than through force. At the same time, the strategy emphasizes the
priority of Israel’s withdrawal from the five occupied points in the south,
along with the 13 remaining disputed points along the border.
Most Hezbollah military sites in south Lebanon ceded to army
Agence France Presse/April 13/2025
Most military sites belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon have been placed
under Lebanese Army control, a source close to the group said. A November 27
ceasefire that ended more than a year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel,
including two months of full-blown war, stipulated that only United Nations
peacekeepers and Lebanon's army should be deployed in the south. The deal
required Hezbollah to dismantle its remaining military infrastructure in the
south and move its fighters north of the Litani River, which is about 30
kilometers (19 miles) from the Israeli border. "Out of 265 Hezbollah military
positions identified south of the Litani, the movement has ceded about 190 to
the army," the source said on condition of anonymity. Under the ceasefire,
Israel was to complete its troop withdrawal from Lebanon by February 18 after
missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops in five places it deems
strategic. Israel has continued to attack what it says is Hezbollah
infrastructure or members of the group in Lebanon. In a speech on Saturday
marking the anniversary of the outbreak of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war,
President Joseph Aoun renewed his appeal for Hezbollah to lay down its weapons.
"Because we all unanimously believe that any bearing of weapons outside of state
authority... would jeopardize the interests of Lebanon... it is time for us all
to say: 'Lebanon can only be protected by the state, the army and the security
forces,'" he said. The United States deputy special envoy for the Middle East,
Morgan Ortagus, discussed disarming Hezbollah with senior Lebanese figures
during a visit to Beirut last weekend, a Lebanese official said. In an interview
with Lebanese television channel LBCI, Ortagus said that "we continue to press
on this government to fully fulfill the cessation of hostilities, and that
includes disarming Hezbollah and all militias."She said it should happen "as
soon as possible."The United States chairs a committee, which also includes
France, tasked with overseeing the ceasefire. Following the attack against
Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza in October 2023, Hezbollah began firing into
northern Israel in support of the Palestinians.
Months of cross-border exchanges with Israeli forces degenerated into full-blown
war last September, leaving Hezbollah severely weakened. According to Lebanese
authorities, more than 4,000 people were killed in the hostilities.
Lebanon adopts draft banking law
Agence France Presse/April 13/2025
Lebanon has adopted a draft law on restructuring its banking sector, a condition
for unlocking international aid to help it emerge from an economic crisis it has
suffered since 2019. "It is the first time a (Lebanese) government has approved
a bill of this kind," Information Minister Paul Morcos said after a cabinet
meeting. "This draft law has been, and remains, a demand of both legal experts
and international institutions keen on helping Lebanon."In February, the
International Monetary Fund said it was open to a new loan agreement with Beirut
following discussions with recently appointed Finance Minister Yassine Jaber.
"In just a few weeks, since adopting the banking secrecy lifting bill, we have
accomplished a series of necessary reforms for Lebanon," Morcos said, adding
that these were "in line with the requirements of the agreement with the
IMF."The Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL)
welcomed Saturday's move. "The two draft banking laws adopted by #Lebanon’s
cabinet are further signs of the Government's commitment to the reform and
strengthening of the State," UNSCOL posted on X. "This positive momentum must
continue in parliament and of course, later, in practice."Morcos said: "A third
step will follow these two measures in the near future: the development of a
bill aimed at addressing the financial deficit." Lebanese officials including
new central bank governor Karim Souaid are due to meet IMF representatives later
this month at a World Bank meeting in Washington. Lebanon's economic crash since
2019 has seen the Lebanese pound lose most of its value against the U.S. dollar
and pushed much of the population into poverty, with ordinary people locked out
of their savings. The international community has long demanded major fiscal
reforms to unlock billions of dollars in international aid to restart the
Lebanese economy in the wake of the crisis, blamed on mismanagement and
corruption.
Resistance without violence: Lebanon’s 'forgotten majority'
in the civil war
LBCI/April 13/2025
As Lebanon remembers the year 1975, images of battles, militias, and checkpoints
come to mind. The country, divided between frontlines and shifting boundaries,
was a landscape of conflict. Amid the chaos, one question remains: did everyone
really take up arms during the Lebanese civil war? While many remember the
fighters, a significant portion of the population chose a different path—one of
silence and survival. This untold story belongs to the people who did not
participate in the war. They were the ones who feared the violence, who sought
refuge from the fighting, and who distanced themselves from the escalating
tensions. In truth, they were the majority. Families shut their doors, mothers
hid their children, and young men avoided the draft. Older adults tried to
protect their homes with words, not weapons. Among them was Uncle Bassam, a
resident of the Barouk area, who spent much of the war in Beirut, staying out of
the fray. And then there was Tarek, a young man who grew up during the conflict.
Surrounded by pressure from his friends, neighborhood, and the prevailing
atmosphere to join the fight, he chose a different path—one of resistance
without violence.
Lebanon's Nabih Berri: Municipal elections law amendment
unlikely, urges on-time elections
LBCI/April 13/2025
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri stated that amending the municipal
elections law is unlikely due to time constraints, warning that any changes
would delay the elections. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Berri
reiterated his commitment to holding the elections on time and opposed any
postponement. He also emphasized the importance of maintaining sectarian balance
in Beirut, proposing the formation of a broad political alliance, involving key
parties and influential families, to support the list most likely to achieve
balance. Berri confirmed that he and his ally, Hezbollah, would actively support
the list, and called for national unity, particularly after the Future
Movement’s decision to abstain from the elections. He stressed the need for a
broad political coalition moving forward.
Israeli drone strike targets southern Lebanon town
LBCI/April 13/2025
The National News Agency reported Sunday that an Israeli drone launched an
airstrike using a guided missile targeting the Debesh area on the eastern
outskirts of the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor al-Shaqif. There were no
immediate reports of casualties or damage.
Weapons and Smuggling: Major Seizure at Tripoli Port
This is Beirut/April 13/2025
A security inspection at the port of Tripoli led to the seizure of 50 crates
containing dismantled military-grade weapons, initially declared as standard
duty-exempt merchandise. According to reports from MTV Lebanon, the shipment had
been inspected and cleared by a customs officer identified as (A.Y.), who
classified the contents as legal goods exempt from taxes. However, as the
container exited the main gate of the port, a security agency inspection
uncovered the prohibited military equipment hidden inside. Authorities promptly
confiscated the shipment and arrested both the customs broker and the customs
inspector responsible for clearing it. Further investigations led to the
discovery of three additional containers filled with smuggled clothing and
footwear, suggesting a broader operation of illegal trade through port routes.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the origin and intended destination of
the seized cargo.
Salam on 50th Anniversary of Civil War: Time to Rebuild a State Protected by Its
Army
This is Beirut/April 13/2025
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who laid a wreath of flowers at the
Martyrs’ Monument in central Beirut on the 50th anniversary of the commemoration
of the Lebanese Civil War on Sunday, said, “We must learn from the tragedies of
the war and it is time to rebuild our state capable of protecting us through its
army.”On the occasion, he emphasized the importance of Lebanese unity,
stressing, “This is the square of the martyrs of all Lebanon, which has always
brought the Lebanese together. It is important for us to restore the trust of
the Lebanese people and contribute to the process of reform.”He added, “This
commemoration has taught us, and we continue to learn from it, not to repeat the
sufferings endured by our people. It is time to build our state and regain trust
in it. This is our responsibility as those in charge of this country.”Regarding
his visit to Syria tomorrow, on Monday, he affirmed that the issue of the
Lebanese who disappeared in Syrian prisons will be among the topics on the
talks’ agenda. “I hope to return with good news about the disappeared in Syria,
and tomorrow I will share more about this matter,” he said. Concerning the
situation in the south, Salam stated that there is no need for Israel to remain
in the locations it is still occupying, noting that “in this era of satellites,
everyone can know what is happening on the ground without setting up or
occupying locations.”He also shared the below post on his X account:
Army Seizes Truck Carrying Captagon Manufacturing Equipment in Hermel
This is Beirut/April 13/2025
An Army unit, in coordination with a patrol from the Intelligence Directorate,
seized a truck carrying equipment used for Captagon production along with raw
materials used in narcotics manufacturing in Sammaka, Hermel on Saturday, April
12. According to a statement issued by the Army Command – Directorate of
Orientation, “the seized items were intended for smuggling from Syrian territory
into Lebanon.” “The seized items were handed over, and an investigation was
started under the supervision of the competent judiciary, while follow-up
continues to arrest those involved,” the statement indicated.
A New Approach to Teaching History: Will Lebanon’s Schools Embrace Multiple
Narratives?
Sana Richa Choucair/This is Beirut/April 13/2025
Lebanon is preparing to overhaul its school curricula, including the history
program, which remains in the drafting stage. While the details of the future
curriculum are still confidential, one central question looms: Could history one
day be taught in Lebanese schools through multiple perspectives—in a country
still deeply divided over its past? In Lebanon, the official history textbook
ends with the withdrawal of French troops in 1946, following the country’s
independence in 1943. Entire chapters of the country’s modern history remain
unaddressed—most notably the 1975–1990 war, which left at least 150,000 dead and
17,000 missing. Even the terminology remains contested: Should it be referred to
as “the events” (al-ahdess)? A civil war? A regional conflict? A proxy war? In
2022, the Center for Educational Research and Development (CERD), under the
supervision of the Ministry of Education, relaunched a plan to overhaul the
curriculum. “We are currently in the drafting phase,” CERD president Hiyam Ishak
told This is Beirut. According to the official timeline, the new programs are
expected to be introduced in schools by 2026. What direction might the new
history curriculum take — and is a single, unified narrative a necessary
starting point for a new textbook?
Teaching About War to Build Peace
On January 25, 2007, history teacher Lamia Hitti was watching TV when scenes of
armed clashes between young men outside a university flashed across the screen.
The moment has stayed with her ever since. “One thought kept coming back: maybe
if we taught the history of the war, we could build peace.”“We’ve clearly fallen
short in education,” she told This is Beirut. “We’re carrying the wounds of the
war and handing them down to younger generations—yet we’ve done almost nothing
to help them understand how to move past the trauma.”
Drawing on her experience as an educator, Hitti observes that while many
Lebanese students are eager to learn about history, they are often exposed to
only fragments of it. “What is needed is an academic framework for teaching
sensitive history,” she explains. “In such cases, we can draw on
multiperspectivity—a pedagogical and historiographical approach rooted in
Western education—which can equip students with tools for critical thinking.”
This approach, she adds, would offer significant educational value, fostering
empathy and encouraging respect for different narratives.
For instance, take April 13, 1975, commemorated as the day the Lebanese Civil
War began, also linked to the massacre of the Ain el-Remmaneh bus. “There isn’t
just one narrative of what happened that day; there are numerous perspectives.
So, we will encourage young people to conduct a historical inquiry, drawing
insights from document analysis,” explains Hitti. These documents could include
testimonies, writings by historians or even excerpts from novels, film sequences
or songs. What really happened on April 13? The answer isn’t straightforward, as
there are still unresolved and murky aspects. “We must accept that there are
still open questions,” says the teacher. Historians are often criticized for
their inability to agree on a single version of events. “The historian is not a
judge, and the history curriculum is not a courtroom,” she asserts. Beyond the
accounts of massacres and battles, the human experience remains the same on both
sides of the so-called demarcation line. “This is also what needs to be
emphasized: the stories of people who advocated for peace, even during war, and
those who helped each other despite holding opposing political views,” Hitti
added.
A Necessary and Thorough Preparation
To implement a multiperspective approach in history education, it is essential
to remain vigilant in order to avoid “the risk of falling into a war of
memories,” according to the educator. The classroom should serve as “a safe
space where historical narratives meet personal stories, within a framework of
mutual respect,” she stresses. This environment would be guided by the teacher,
who must first receive specialized training. “They must learn to manage their
own emotions and memories in order to create space for the students and strike a
balance between memory and history,” she adds. Simultaneously, “proper societal
preparation is essential, as the process of reconciliation must start at the
grassroots level, not be confined to political institutions,” Hitti explains. In
this process, the media plays a crucial role, as do micro-communities.
Individual initiatives and social activities, especially at the municipal level,
contribute to rebuilding the puzzle of collective memory, she notes. However,
this momentum would be insufficient without “a political will capable of uniting
these efforts under an institutional framework,” she warns.
Deferred Reforms: A Curriculum in Perpetual Limbo
The first curriculum established after Lebanon’s independence was created in
1946. It was revised in 1968, 1970 and 1971. A reform initiative was launched in
1994, resulting in new curricula in 1997-1998, followed by evaluation guides in
2000. “The gap between reforms is about 25 years, whereas the legal requirement
is to renew the curriculum every three years, as stated in the 1997 decree,”
explains Ishak. The Taif Agreement (October 22, 1989), which marked the end of
the war that began in 1975, assigned the state the responsibility of revising
school curricula. According to this document, the restructuring of curricula
aims to “strengthen national belonging and integration, as well as spiritual and
cultural openness.” The Lebanese state is expected to carry out, in this spirit,
“the unification of textbooks in the subjects of history and national education”
(Part I, Art. 3.E, Paragraph 5). Subsequent reform initiatives were launched,
but ultimately not completed. The efforts included a competency-based curriculum
in 2008 and preparatory meetings from 2016 to 2020, the outcomes of which were
not incorporated into the official curriculum. Between 1996 and 2000, two
commissions— for Civic Education and History—were tasked with updating the
curriculum. The resulting 90-page work was published in the Official Gazette,
following a ministerial decree unanimously approved by the Council of Ministers,
with support from all educational institutions (Decree No. 3175, June 8, 2000,
Official Gazette No. 27, 06/22/2000, pp. 2114-2195). However, after being
printed, the textbooks were withdrawn from circulation for political reasons.
An Ongoing Initiative
The current action plan for renewing school curricula was launched in 2016,
though it has experienced several interruptions. “The reform project was
relaunched in 2022,” explains Ishak. “The CRDP formed committees, enlisting both
Lebanese and French experts, particularly in history and civic education.”
Following the development of a national curriculum framework that defines core
principles, 11 educational policies were introduced. A pilot phase was then
carried out to test and assess these policies in a controlled environment.
Currently, the curricula for each subject are under development. This phase will
be followed by the creation of textbooks and digital resources, leading to their
implementation in schools. The details of the new curriculum, particularly for
history, remain confidential for the time being. What changes can we expect?
At the same time, some history teachers are already adopting innovative methods
that have proven effective in the field of education. In 2019, hundreds of
students gathered in front of the Ministry of Education to protest an “outdated”
history textbook, symbolically burning a copy in protest. Will the long-awaited
new official curriculum live up to the expectations of the entire Lebanese
population? The Center for Educational Research and Development (CRDP) was
established in 1971 under the Ministry of Education and Higher Education's
supervision. This public institution is responsible for overseeing educational
projects in the school system. It defines curricula, manages official exams and
conducts various educational research, publishing periodic bulletins for this
purpose. Additionally, it is tasked with training teachers in the public school
sector.
April 13, 1975: "A Day Engraved in Our Memory"
Elie Valluy - correspondant à Paris//This is Beirut/April 13/2025
Fifty years ago, on April 13, 1975, Lebanon plunged into one of the darkest
chapters of its history. For nearly fifteen years, the country was torn by a
brutal civil war, fueled in part by direct foreign intervention. The human cost
was staggering: around 150,000 people killed, thousands missing, and waves of
people forced to flee. The economic fallout was just as severe, with losses
estimated at $20 billion. This is Beirut revisits this painful era through the
voices of Lebanese who had left the country and started over in France.
François Boustani remembers Sunday, April 13, 1975 — the day the Lebanese civil
war began — with vivid clarity. “That day is etched in our memory,” recalls the
cardiologist, who was in Zahleh, eastern Lebanon, at the time. “The phone rang
that afternoon. My parents had friends over for lunch. It was my uncle, calling
to warn my father that something serious was happening in Beirut.”Kamal Tarabey
was 27 then, a student at the Faculty of Arts at the Lebanese University in West
Beirut. Now president of the Collectif libanais de France (CLF), he recalls: “We
heard gunfire, and that Palestinians passing through Ain el-Remanneh — a
Christian neighborhood — had been killed or wounded. But details were scarce.
What struck me most was how quickly the streets emptied, as I made my way back
home, to East Beirut.” Tarabey describes those years — from 1975 to 1978 — as a
relentless cycle of violence: waves of fighting followed by ceasefires, fragile
at best, before clashes erupted again. Mona, a retired pharmacist, recalls that
in 1975, when the fighting broke out, she was in her final year of secondary
school, boarding at the Saints-Cœurs. Her parents were living in Côte d’Ivoire
at the time. “When the schools closed, I had no choice but to leave Lebanon and
finish my studies there,” she says.
Leaving Lebanon: A Painful Necessity
In 1975, François was a fresh graduate. “I was preparing for the entrance exam
to the Jesuits’ Faculty of Medicine,” he recalls. But the war disrupted his
plans, as the exam dates were repeatedly postponed due to the fighting. Faced
with this uncertainty, and already enrolled in Montpellier for safety reasons,
he decided to leave for France. His departure in October 1975 was marked by
escalating security tensions. He remembers: “When fighting resumed in Beirut, I
had no choice but to fly to Paris via Damascus. At that time, the Air France
flight went from Damascus to Beirut to Paris. My father accompanied me to the
airport in the Syrian capital, and we were part of a small group boarding the
plane. During the stopover in Beirut, the plane filled with Beirut’s jet-set and
foreigners fleeing Lebanon.”
France was also Mona’s destination. After completing her baccalaureate in Côte
d’Ivoire, she decided to pursue pharmacy studies. French was a language she
spoke fluently, having learned it from an early age.
In Lebanon, the war did not prevent Kamal from finding work as a journalist. He
recalls: “I was hired by a newspaper. Since I lived in (Christian) East Beirut
and had to cross the demarcation line every day, it became increasingly
dangerous. So, we rented rooms in a hotel in Hamra, where we stayed.” He admits
to having spent a year there, after which he says, “my situation became
unbearable… I was often asked for my ID, which mentioned my religious
denomination.” Kamal explains that he had to obtain a “pass from the PLO
(Palestine Liberation Organization), which I had to hide when crossing into the
eastern part of the capital.”
At the time, Kamal identified with the political left and supported “the
political program of the Lebanese National Movement (a coalition of left-wing
parties).” “But I soon realized it was taking on a more sectarian tone, and
that’s when I distanced myself. I decided to return home, to the eastern part,
and head for the mountains. The Palestinians helped me cross from the (Moslem)
West to the (Christian) East, with an Armenian driver who shuttled between the
two regions.” Kamal notes that “at that time, Armenians were perceived as
neutral.”
After moving to the eastern part, Kamal recalls that “the presence of the Kataëb
grew increasingly oppressive.” “At one point, I heard they were recruiting young
people into the militia... to defend the Christian society.” “The Kataëb entered
the hotel district (in downtown) Beirut and gained the upper hand militarily.
That’s when I realized I had to leave the country. I could no longer identify
with this war, which was taking a sectarian turn,” Kamal added.
Settled in France, Never Looking Away from Lebanon
Settling in Montpellier wasn’t easy for François. “Everything felt smaller,
gloomier. It was exile — made even harder by the constant images of destruction
coming from Beirut. As we used to say, Lebanon was in flames. We saw familiar
places burning on TV,” he recalls. But exile soon gave way to refuge. “My fellow
Lebanese students and I were met with genuine warmth and solidarity from the
people of Montpellier.”Unlike many who had left Lebanon, François continued to
visit regularly during the war. These trips, he says, offered a vivid glimpse
for the Lebanese diaspora. “We’d go to Larnaca to catch the boat to Jounieh. On
board were Lebanese from all over the world. Though we came from the same
village, the same neighborhood, the same school, year after year we began to
change—shaped by the countries we had moved to. The one working in Saudi Arabia
wore gold jewelry, the one from Paris was a little snobbish, and the one living
in Canada wore a parka,” he recalls. Mona arrived in France in 1977 to continue
her studies. “Back then, there was no internet or mobile phones. We had to send
letters by post from Côte d’Ivoire to French universities, which only accepted
about ten foreign students each year. So, I wrote to every faculty across the
country,” she recalls. She eventually secured a spot at a university in eastern
France, where she settled with the help of a cousin studying medicine.
Before the era of mobile phones, she explains, “we called our families from
public phone booths. To reach Lebanon, we had to go through an operator who
connected us.” Her early days in France were challenging. “I had to learn to
live on my own. Speaking French was an asset, but I still had to adapt to the
culture, understand the French way of life and figure out how to use public
transport,” she says. “We thought about Lebanon often, but over time, I became
more focused on settling into life in France.”
After earning her pharmacy degree, but lacking a Lebanese high school diploma,
Mona found herself “between a rock and a hard place.” “In Lebanon, I couldn’t
get my diploma validated because I had completed my baccalaureate abroad. Since
my high school diploma wasn’t valid in Lebanon, my degree wasn’t either.
Furthermore, in France, I couldn’t work as a pharmacist unless I was a French
citizen.” Mona applied for French citizenship, found a job in the pharmaceutical
industry, and was naturalized after three years.
"I Left Lebanon, But Lebanon Never Left Me"
Despite being well integrated into life in France, Lebanon remained at the heart
of François' concerns. "We were always familiar with what was happening in
Lebanon," he explains. “What had initially seemed like a temporary stay
gradually became permanent. I never imagined I would stay in France. I was a
Lebanese student in France. But by the mid-1980s, I realized that the Lebanon I
had known was no longer there. From that point, I became French, though still
Lebanese at heart." Now a cardiologist and president of the French-Lebanese
Association for Cardiovascular Pathology, François remains deeply connected to
his heritage. "I left Lebanon, but Lebanon never left me," he says, quoting a
sentiment frequently expressed by fellow Lebanese. François Boustani is also the
author of several books, including Liban: Genèse d’une Nation Singulière (Éditions
Erick Bonnier, 2020), and was awarded the Grand Medal of Francophony by the
French Academy in 2017. Mona spent seven years away from Lebanon, from 1977 to
around 1985, as traveling to the country was difficult at the time. “To get to
Lebanon, you had to pass through Cyprus. I had my grandparents, uncles, aunts,
and cousins there… and, of course, I stayed in touch with them,” she recalls.
Meanwhile, Kamal initially considered moving to Australia, where his brother was
already living. “The Australian embassy informed me that immigration was
temporarily suspended,” he recalls. However, in the meantime, he received a call
from Radio Monte-Carlo in Paris (now Monte-Carlo Doualiya, MCD). “They told me
there would be work for me in Paris.” In 1979, Kamal Tarabey left Lebanon, moved
to Paris, and began working at Radio Monte-Carlo, where he built his entire
career and eventually became editor-in-chief. “Our generation went through a
lot. We faced many setbacks and witnessed the collapse of our dreams and
ideals,” he adds.
A Lebanese Society Driven by Appearances
Since the end of the war, officially concluded with the Taëf Accords in October
1989, Lebanon has managed to recover. However, it has since endured years of
economic and political crises, a "revolution" in October 2019, and two direct
wars between Hezbollah and Israel, in 2006 and 2024. The year 2020 brought
further challenges with the Covid-19 pandemic and the disastrous explosion at
the Beirut port. But fifty years after the outbreak of the war, how can we
define Lebanese society today?
François believes that "despite outward appearances, the Lebanese share much in
common. They all come from an Oriental foundation, where countless ways of
living and dying have crystallized over the ages. The vast majority embrace a
society that is liberal, family-oriented, and patriarchal, with a strong
emphasis on piety. However, the issue lies in the narratives each community
constructs about itself and its relationship with others. These narratives often
perpetuate ancient fears, distrust, resentments, misunderstandings, and tribal
rivalries." He notes, however, that "paradoxically," the war "brought
communities close in many ways," and that the Lebanese have "learned and matured
through 50 years of suffering." He describes the younger generation as
“interesting,” adding, "They have an incredible vitality and drive to succeed."
Nevertheless, he remains critical of Lebanese society, describing it as marked
by "a harsh materialism and profound superficiality."
In 1998, eight years after the war ended, Mona decided to return to Lebanon and
settle there with her children, hoping to instill Lebanese traditions in them.
However, she stayed only two years before returning to France. "The insecurity
in the region, combined with the differences in how the labor market functioned,
led me to prioritize my children's future in France, a country governed by the
rule of law," she explains.
Mona describes Lebanon as a "magical country" renowned for its hospitality and
the ease with which social connections are formed. "The sunny climate and the
joy of driving along the coast every morning to work were truly a pleasure.
Lebanon is abounding with creative energy and remarkable resilience, and I
deeply admire the courage and adaptability of the Lebanese people," she says.
However, she observes that today's Lebanese society is "largely focused on
appearances," with each community living in isolation and failing to truly
understand one another.
Even after nearly five decades in France, where she has fully integrated, Mona
still feels like a "stranger" due to cultural and behavioral differences. She
experiences a similar sense of alienation when visiting Lebanon, where she
points to "the disregard for human rights, the plight of the elderly, and the
requirement to pay upfront for medical treatment." She further explains that she
does not feel secure in Lebanon, "since I can only rely on myself, with no
strong state to ensure the protection of human rights." She observes that these
harsh realities sharply contrast with "the beauty and magic of the country."
Lebanese PM to visit Syria, discuss disappearance of prisoners
Arab News/April 13, 2025 18:23
LONDON: Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is scheduled to visit the Syrian
Arab Republic on Monday to discuss common interests with the new leadership in
Damascus. It will be Salam’s first visit to Syria since he formed a government
in February, and he is scheduled to discuss the issue of Lebanese citizens who
disappeared in Syrian prisons during the Bashar Assad regime that collapsed in
December. It has been reported that 622 Lebanese nationals remain forcibly
disappeared in Syrian prisons. “I hope to return with good news about those
missing in Syria, and I will update the Lebanese people on this issue tomorrow,”
Salam said, according to the National News Agency. Salam laid a wreath at the
Martyrs’ Monument in Beirut on Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of April
13, the date when Lebanon’s Civil War began in 1975. Salam wrote on X: “We pause
not to reopen wounds, but to recall lessons that must never be forgotten. All
victories were false, and all parties (from the war) emerged as losers.” He
added: “There can be no true state unless legitimate armed forces have the
exclusive right to bear arms.”
Lebanon remembers a war that never truly ended
Dr. Khalil Gebara/Arab News/April 13, 2025
On April 13, the Lebanese marked the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the
civil war — a conflict that profoundly reshaped the nation’s modern history.
While the infamous Ain El-Remmaneh bus incident served as the spark that ignited
the violence, like many civil wars, there were deeper and more complex causes
rooted in a web of overlapping local, regional, and international dynamics and
domestic economic, demographic, and sectarian imbalances. Though the incident
resulted in a dozen deaths, it set off a 15-year war that brought immense
destruction, loss of life, and mass displacement. ,000 people were killed and
around 300,000 wounded, while 18,000 people disappeared, and one million
Lebanese were forced to migrate. An analysis by the International Monetary Fund
estimated that the cumulative economic loss caused by the war between 1975 and
1993 was equivalent to at least 24 times Lebanon’s real gross domestic product
in 1993. Throughout the conflict, Palestinian factions, as well as the Syrian
and Israeli armies, became deeply entangled in the fighting. Beirut became the
first Arab capital to be occupied by the Israeli military, and state
institutions, including the Lebanese armed forces, fractured along sectarian
lines. Half a century later, the wounds remain unhealed. Even though the
Lebanese have yet to fully confront, debate, or come to terms with the legacy of
its civil war, they ended up grappling with the aftermath of yet another
conflict. The recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon have caused more than 4,100
deaths, displaced around 1.2 million people, and inflicted over $14 billion in
damage and economic loss, according to World Bank estimates. This is not the
first Israeli conflict since the end of the civil war — it is the fourth.
Lebanon also experienced internal armed conflict in May 2008, when Hezbollah and
its allies took over parts of Beirut in response to decisions made by the
government at the time, led by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
The April 13 remembrance is an opportunity for the Lebanese and Lebanon’s
friends to reflect on a difficult question: Why is Lebanon so prone to violence?
Why does this country remain trapped in a cycle of crises and missed
opportunities? And what would it take for Lebanon to finally enjoy sustainable
peace, inclusive prosperity, and a functioning, accountable state?
The Lebanese civil war exposed the country’s vulnerable position in a deeply
fractured regional context. Lebanon was one of the first casualties of the
strategic divergence between Syria and Egypt following the 1973 war and, later,
one of the first recipients of the exportation of the Iranian revolution in
1979. The war did not officially end until October 1990, only after the
geopolitical balance shifted with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Efforts to
mediate a resolution to the war began just months after it started. In October
1976, Saudi Arabia hosted the Riyadh Conference to secure a ceasefire, reaffirm
Lebanon’s sovereignty, reject partition, and regulate the Palestinian presence.
Unfortunately, the ceasefire was short-lived. In the following years, the
Kingdom and other Arab and international actors encouraged Lebanese leaders to
meet in Geneva (1983) and Lausanne (1984) in search of national reconciliation,
but without lasting success.
The Lebanese people have the right to live in peace, dignity, and stability.
By 1989, Lebanon was on the brink of institutional collapse, with rival
governments claiming legitimacy and the conflict showing no signs of resolution.
At its Casablanca summit that May, the Arab League established a Tripartite High
Committee — comprising Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco — tasked with
mediating an end to the war. The final diplomatic breakthrough came in the Saudi
city of Taif, where the Kingdom hosted the 62 surviving members of Lebanon’s
1972 parliament for intensive negotiations. On Oct. 22, 1989, they signed the
Document of National Accord, widely known as the Taif Agreement. This was
ratified by the parliament on Nov. 5, 1989, and its provisions incorporated into
the constitution in 1990.
Today, one may ask whether Lebanon is once again standing at a “post-Taif”
crossroads. The country is emerging from yet another devastating war, while its
institutions have crumbled under the weight of prolonged paralysis,
fragmentation, and political vacuum. As in the aftermath of the Taif Agreement,
a central and unequivocal demand has resurfaced: the disbandment and disarmament
of Hezbollah and all Lebanese and non-Lebanese armed groups operating outside
the authority of the state — a prerequisite for restoring credibility,
stability, trust, and the prospect of renewed economic support. For the past 50
years, the Lebanese have often invoked the phrase “tenzakar wa ma ten’ad” — “let
it be remembered but never repeated” — as a collective expression of sorrow,
regret, and hope. But for this hope to translate into reality, the Lebanese
government, and perhaps the Lebanese people, must deliver on its own
commitments, including those it pledged to in its ministerial statement. This
means reclaiming the state’s monopoly over the use of force, and asserting
exclusive authority over decisions of war and peace.
Another key commitment is the enforcement of a comprehensive plan to rebuild an
economy devastated by the recent war and one of the worst financial collapses in
modern history. The World Bank has characterized Lebanon’s economic crisis as
one of the most severe globally since the 19th century. Since October 2019, more
than $80 billion in deposits have been wiped out, erasing the savings of
residents, nonresidents, and foreign depositors alike. The Lebanese people have
the right to live in peace, dignity, and stability. That right has long been
denied — by their own political elites, by competing regional and international
agendas, and because of Lebanon’s geopolitical position. On the 50th anniversary
of the civil war, the Lebanese are not only remembering the past — they are
asserting their right to a present and a future that breaks the cycle.
* Dr. Khalil Gebara is a Lebanese academic and public policy expert. X: @gebarak
Once on Civil War's Frontline, Lebanon Museum Sees New Life
Asharq AlAwsat/April 12/2025
When Lebanon's civil war erupted 50 years ago this month, its national museum
became a flashpoint of its capital's deadly frontline, with militants barricaded
among ancient sarcophagi and sniping through historic mosaics. Now, students and
tourists roam through its artefacts - some still blackened by indoor campfires
lit by those fighters - and into a new pavilion opened during Lebanon's most
recent war last year, when Israel and armed group Hezbollah traded heavy fire.
For its admirers, the building not only houses the country's heritage, but also
symbolizes its resilience. "I hope these young people I see here also know what
happened in the museum in 1975, because what happened here is something worthy
of respect," said Lebanon's culture minister Ghassan Salameh, speaking to
Reuters in the main museum hall. "There is a right to forget. The Lebanese who
want to forget the civil war – it's their right to do so. But there is also a
duty to remember, so that we do not repeat it again, and again, and again." The
war erupted on April 13, 1975, after Christian gunmen fired on a bus carrying
Palestinian fighters in Beirut - just a few kilometers from the museum, which
first opened in 1942. A frontline running directly adjacent to the museum split
east Beirut from the west. After militants took up the museum as a barracks, the
director of antiquities at the time, Maurice Chehab, ferried small artefacts to
vaults at Lebanon's central bank and encased the larger pieces in reinforced
concrete to protect them from shelling. At least four major pieces were damaged,
Salameh said. They are visible in the museum today, including a football-sized
hole in a floor-to-ceiling 5th century mosaic used by snipers to target rival
militants near the front. The war lasted 15 years, leaving more than 100,000
dead and displacing hundreds of thousands more. Halfway through it, Israeli
troops invaded all the way to Beirut and Hezbollah was founded the same year,
vowing to push Israel out. In 2023, a new war erupted between the old foes, when
Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel, triggering a year of tit-for-tat strikes
until Israel escalated its air and ground campaign, leaving Hezbollah badly
weakened by the end of 2024.
Even as that conflict was raging, the museum worked to open a new wing for
rotating exhibitions. As construction was under way, archaeologists uncovered
dozens of artefacts that Chehab had buried in the museum's backyard to protect
them, said Sarkis Khoury, Lebanon's current director of antiquities. He spoke to
Reuters while standing in front of an outer wall damaged during the civil war
that museum authorities had decided to preserve as a testament to its
resilience. "The things we left visible are a lesson for the future, because we
are a country that should be a country of peace, a country of coexistence,
because this is our history," said Sarkis Khoury, Lebanon's current director of
antiquities.
"Its face is full of wounds and wrinkles, but this is a beautiful face for
Lebanon," Khoury told Reuters, gesturing at the pockmarked wall. Keeping the
wall is a rare example of memory preservation in Lebanon, where other landmarks
of the civil war have remained abandoned or were covered up by the rapid
construction of high-rises once the conflict ended. The post-war administration
agreed a general amnesty for all political crimes perpetrated before the war's
end, and most school curriculums opt not to teach its history. Asked whether
Lebanon should one day establish a museum dedicated solely to the civil war,
Salameh, the minister, said no - because it had only "produced destruction." But
he remained hopeful about his country's future. "This country has been declared
dead dozens, even hundreds of times... but this part of the Mediterranean has
remained standing, with its specificities and its problems."
"It never ceases to be."
The Paradox Between Lebanon and Syria
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/13 April 2025
As the United States and Arabs are trying to convince Lebanon on the importance
of state - and not Hezbollah – control over weapons and without imposing
sanctions, the party continues to procrastinate with flimsy excuses, despite the
ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
In contrast, the new Syria is trying to lift the sanctions originally imposed on
the fallen regime that committed crimes against Syrians for fourteen years. It
is calling on the international community to cooperate in revealing the chemical
weapons of Assad’s regime, without anyone heeding in Washington. The paradox is
that Lebanon, despite all the support it receives, remains stuck in Hezbollah’s
maneuvering. The party claims it is ready to hand over its arms if Israel
withdraws from several points in Lebanese territories. But this is hard to
believe due to the party’s lies and the government's claim that disarmament
requires a national dialogue. We all know that the idea of national dialogue has
been around for years without any tangible results. It is always followed by
more crises, not to mention that the concept of dialogue in Lebanon is merely a
way to escape solutions. However, in the new Syria, which has existed for less
than five months since Assad’s fall, a constitutional declaration has been
issued, and a government has been formed, despite the ongoing unjustified
sanctions and the blatant internal and external sabotage efforts.
On top of all this, the new Syria continues to suffer while trying to open up to
its surroundings and the international community. It faces incitement from
certain so-called “elites” in Lebanon and Iraq under the pretense of protecting
minorities, with some in the West, especially in Washington, echoing the same
rhetoric. I say “rhetoric” because, despite the overwhelming dominance of
Hezbollah’s weapons, the West continues to court Lebanon, sending delegation
after delegation. In Iraq, there are around 50,000 Iran-backed fighters, yet the
relationship remains normal with no talk of minorities or majorities, just like
in Lebanon.
But Syria faces one obstacle after another. For example, Hezbollah says handing
over its arms hinges on Israeli withdrawal, while Syria says it is exhausted and
wants no wars. Yet Israeli attacks on Syria continue without any international
stance.
Syria is being asked to remove foreigners from key positions, especially
fighters, which is a demand of the Syrians themselves, but in Lebanon, support
continues without anyone confirming that institutions are truly under state
control and not secretly under Hezbollah, or its shadow operatives. Is this an
incitement against Lebanon? Absolutely not. It is rather a question: why are we
wasting time trying to convince a side that refuses to acknowledge the changing
realities, while ignoring another that is striving for change, seeking to bring
back its displaced citizens, who were victims of Assad’s and Hezbollah’s crimes
- backed by Iran- and whose stability could be key to undermining the Iranian
project? Why are we ignoring Syria that says, “I’m exhausted by war; I want
peace and stability,” and dismissing a Syrian leadership that tells you it has
changed and is seeking reform? And here, the issue should not be judged by words
but by actions. Why is someone who wants to build a state being ignored, while a
sectarian quota system, one that only brought misfortune to Iraq and Lebanon, is
being imposed on him? And why engage with those who still believe they can
outrun reality? Another question: what kind of model is really being pursued for
the region after the so-called “arm-breaking” strategy?
Is there an answer?!
Amine Gemayel to Asharq Al-Awsat: Assad Viewed Lebanon the
Same Way Saddam
Beirut: Ghassan Charbel/Asharq AlAwsat/April 12/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142275/
Former Lebanese President Amine Gemayel said that the late Syrian President
Hafez al-Assad viewed Lebanon the same way the late Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein viewed Kuwait. He added that Assad “considered Lebanon a historic
mistake that could be corrected by bringing it back into the Syrian fold.” He
emphasized that Assad wanted “nothing more, nothing less than to annex Lebanon,”
noting that he upheld his constitutional oath during 14 summit meetings with the
Syrian president.
Gemayel made these comments in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, where he
discussed Lebanon’s experience during the long “Assad era” and other key
moments.
In the 1970s, Pierre Gemayel, leader of the Kataeb Party, received an invitation
from Assad to visit Damascus. He brought along his sons Amine and Bashir. The
Syrian president warmly welcomed them into his home, but the honeymoon did not
last long.
Reminiscing stirred up painful memories for Gemayel, who carries two deep
wounds: the assassination of his son, MP and Minister Pierre Gemayel, in 2006
amid a wave of killings that followed the assassination of former Prime Minister
Rafik al-Hariri, and the assassination of his brother, President-elect Bashir
Gemayel, in 1982. Amine Gemayel assumed the presidency that same year, following
two political earthquakes: the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and his brother’s
assassination.
Hafez al-Assad and the ‘Lebanese mistake’
Asked what Hafez al-Assad wanted from Lebanon, Gemayel said: “You’re asking a
foregone question, as the French saying goes. He wanted to annex Lebanon—nothing
more, nothing less. Syrian politicians, even before Assad, couldn’t accept
Lebanon’s existence. They saw it as an artificial country that should be part of
Syria. They believed Lebanon was wrongly separated due to the Sykes-Picot
Agreement. Beirut’s port is closer to Damascus than Tartus, so they believed
Lebanon was an inseparable part of Syria.”
“Assad also held this view. He couldn’t digest the idea of Lebanon as a stable,
independent country. His ultimate goal was annexation. Every agreement or
relationship Syria pursued was aimed at eventually achieving this annexation,”
he revealed.
“Assad told me plainly, in a one-on-one meeting: ‘Don’t forget that Lebanon is
part of Syria. We’re one country. Colonial powers divided us, and it’s in your
interest as Lebanese to return to the Syrian fold. No matter how circumstances
change, Lebanon must return to Syria.’”“He was that blunt. He even tried to
soften it by comparing it to European unity. ‘Europe united, why can’t we do the
same?’ He argued that the countries had shared interests: political, security,
economic. So why not unite?”
Asked whether Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait reminded him of Assad’s attempt to
annex Lebanon, Gemayel said: “Yes. To Saddam, Kuwait was what Lebanon was to
Hafez al-Assad.” He noted that Iraqi leaders claimed colonial powers had stolen
Kuwait from Iraq—just as Syrian leaders believed colonialism had stolen Lebanon
from Syria.
Still, Gemayel clarified: “Despite all this, I maintained a normal relationship
with Assad. Even affection, you could say. We respected each other. He
understood my position and would say, privately, that if he were in my place,
he’d do the same. And I understood his views, though our ideologies were
completely opposed.”
“Assad would get infuriated by my rejections at times. He thought Lebanon was
ripe for the picking—and there I was, blocking him. But he respected me for it.
He knew that, in my place, he might have acted the same way. Still, he believed
it was in Syria’s interest to ‘unite’ with Lebanon.” “The Syrian army was
already in Lebanon and had co-opted many Lebanese leaders who were
‘pilgrimaging’ to Syria. Assad thought the moment was right. He also mobilized
pro-Syrian Palestinian factions,” recalled Gemayel. “I stood in the way of this
dream, which led to fierce political clashes between us—an intellectual
struggle, if you will, between his push for unity and my defense of Lebanese
independence. We had mutual respect. I met Assad 14 times during my presidency.”
Telling Assad ‘no’ required extraordinary courage’
“I debated, resisted, and stood firm. Facing Assad—his weight, his stature in
Syria and the Arab world was no easy task. I had no army, no stable
institutions, and Lebanese political leaders were scattered. The situation in
Lebanon was dire,” Gemayel told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“Eventually, even my own allies turned on me. Assad had even co-opted a faction
of the Lebanese Forces. He thought I’d cave and sign the papers. But I didn’t.
That moment was one of the hardest. Saying ‘no’ to Assad under those conditions
required extraordinary courage.”Asked whether the May 17 Lebanese-Israeli
Agreement was the most difficult point in his relationship with Assad, Gemayel
said: “No. The hardest point was the Tripartite Agreement between Amal, the
Progressive Socialist Party, and the Lebanese Forces. With that agreement, Assad
fully controlled the Lebanese scene—especially after winning over leaders like
Elie Hobeika and Samir Geagea.”
“Assad believed Lebanon was in his grasp. Only I stood in the way. He didn’t
care much about my position but needed my signature. As president, I had taken
an oath to preserve the constitution and sovereignty.”
“Despite enormous internal and external pressure—even from within the Christian
camp—I stood alone. But I was committed to the Lebanese cause. Ultimately, we
won. The public, especially the Christian community, rallied around me. The
other leaders who had sold out were exposed. That moment saved Lebanon’s
sovereignty and its democratic system.”
Asked by Asharq Al-Awsat, if Assad resented him for sabotaging the Tripartite
Agreement, Gemayel replied: “Assad thought he had Lebanon in the bag and was
just waiting for congratulations. The day of the signing, King Hussein of Jordan
was set to visit Syria. They delayed his visit to finalize the agreement. That’s
how important it was to them.”
“Assad was frustrated, maybe even bitter. He couldn’t believe that I—stripped of
power—dared to say no. But he respected me for it,” added Gemayel. “After the
deal collapsed, I was in Morocco. Syria’s ambassador, a close Alawite to Assad,
visited me and conveyed Assad’s respect. It was a message to reopen
communication. Assad may have been furious, but he still respected how I stood
firm as a young leader facing such odds.”
The bomb on the presidential plane
Asked whether he feared assassination like Kamal Jumblatt, Gemayel replied: “All
kinds of pressure were used to make me sign. One story Assad told
me—casually—was about how Sadat informed him he was going to Jerusalem. Assad
opposed it strongly. After Sadat left the room, Assad’s people asked if they
should stop him, maybe even blow up his plane.”
“Assad said he thought about it, but his conscience stopped him. The way he told
me the story, it felt like a warning. Like he wouldn’t make the same ‘mistake’
again,” said Gemayel.
“There were several attempts to assassinate me. The most serious one was when I
was flying to Yemen. My plane had been rigged with a bomb. The pilot, a
meticulous man named Makawiy, noticed a minor issue with the radio and refused
to fly. They discovered a wire under the cockpit leading to a bomb.”“Syrian
intelligence was at the airport and immediately seized the bomb and equipment to
block any investigation. Who else could rig a presidential plane under heavy
guard? Clearly, only they had that kind of access.”
Syrian intelligence behind Bashir’s assassination
Asked whether he believed Syrian intelligence was behind his brother Bashir’s
assassination, Gemayel said: “That’s a fact. The killer was from the Syrian
Social Nationalist Party, which was under direct Syrian intelligence control
under Assad Hardan. The bomb was planted in Bashir’s office by Habib Chartouni,
who had access to the building.”“After the Syrian army ousted Michel Aoun from
the presidential palace under President Elias Hrawi, they sent one unit to the
palace and another to Roumieh Prison to free Chartouni. He walked free and gave
a speech thanking Syria. That says everything.” “Chartouni was initially too
afraid to detonate the bomb, but party leaders pressured him. The operation was
directly linked to Syrian intelligence,” added Gemayel.
Final meeting with Assad
Gemayel recounted his last meeting with Assad, two days before the end of his
term: “We were trying to reach a deal: electing Michel al-Daher as president in
exchange for certain guarantees. While I was with Assad explaining the plan, he
received a note about a meeting in Lebanon between Geagea and Army Commander
Michel Aoun.” “He saw it as a coup attempt and ended the meeting abruptly. I
returned to Beirut, but we couldn’t resolve the situation. Despite this,
Assad—though ill—insisted on accompanying me to the airport, saying: ‘We are
brothers no matter what.’”
Gemayel to Asharq Al-Awsat: Khaddam was Assad’s Stick to
Apply Pressure
Beirut : Ghassan Charbel/Asharq AlAwsat/April 13/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/04/142275/
Late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad was a masterful negotiator, fiercely
protective of his image and reputation. He was known for exhausting his guests
with lengthy detours into history before addressing the substance of any talks.
Assad had an exceptional ability to restrain his anger, circling around an issue
before striking again — often with calculated patience. He avoided coarse
language, allowing resentments to speak for themselves, but he never forgave
those he believed had tried to derail his vision. Among them, according to
accounts, were Yasser Arafat, Kamal Jumblatt, Bashir Gemayel, Amine Gemayel, and
Samir Geagea. In dealing with rivals and pressuring opponents, Assad often
relied on a trusted enforcer: Abdel Halim Khaddam, his long-time foreign
minister and later vice president. In the second part of his interview with
Asharq Al-Awsat, former Lebanese President Amine Gemayel said Khaddam was
Assad’s “stick,” used to assert control. Many Lebanese politicians believed
Khaddam’s bluntness was not personal, but rather a reflection of an official
mandate from his mentor. Assad rarely issued direct threats. Instead, he
preferred subtle intimidation — as when he told Gemayel that his aides had once
suggested blowing up President Anwar Sadat’s plane to prevent him from reaching
Jerusalem.
Khaddam, the late Syrian strongman’s long-serving envoy, was known for
humiliating both allies and foes who dared defy Damascus’ directives. His
tactics were often unsettling — deliberately designed to leave visitors unnerved
and pliant by the time they reached Assad’s office. In a conversation in Paris
during his retirement, Khaddam defended his hardline methods, saying they were
not meant to insult but to prevent potentially dangerous confrontations. “The
aim was to avoid escalation that could lead to security agencies taking over,
which might have resulted in worse outcomes,” he said.
In the same meeting, Khaddam accused former Lebanese President Amine Gemayel of
obstructing a political solution in Lebanon, calling him “hesitant and
suspicious.”He also acknowledged Assad was caught off guard when the Tripartite
Agreement collapsed. The Syrian leader, Khaddam said, had not believed anyone in
Lebanon would openly defy Syria — or the other Lebanese factions who had signed
the accord. “President Assad had many cards to play. President Sarkis had none,”
recalled former Lebanese Foreign Minister Fouad Boutros, reflecting on the stark
imbalance between Syria and Lebanon during Elias Sarkis’s presidency. Assad, he
said, had the power to topple or paralyze the Lebanese government before Sarkis
even returned to Beirut. “Sarkis had no leverage over Assad,” Boutros noted.
“But while Sarkis often showed flexibility, he would stand firm when asked to
compromise Lebanon’s core principles.”Boutros, who played a key role in
Lebanon’s diplomacy during the civil war, said he had to exercise utmost
restraint to keep Khaddam — Syria’s often abrasive envoy — from derailing talks
with personal attacks or inflammatory language. The dynamic, he suggested, was
not unique to Sarkis. It also echoed the later, uneasy relationship between
Gemayel and Assad. Gemayel recalled a cold and confrontational relationship with
Khaddam, describing him as “the stick and the poison” used by Assad to pressure
Beirut into submission.
“There was no warmth between us from the beginning,” Gemayel told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“Khaddam used underhanded tactics to undermine the presidency and sow division
within my team. While President Assad treated me with respect and politeness, he
needed someone to apply pressure — and that was Khaddam,” he added.
Gemayel said Khaddam was behind all the pressure campaigns Syria waged against
him — all with Assad’s full knowledge. “Assad played the courteous statesman.
Khaddam handled the dirty work. Syria wanted me to sign agreements harmful to
Lebanon’s interests, and Khaddam was the one tasked with forcing my
hand.”Despite Khaddam’s harsh demeanor, Gemayel said he never allowed him to
overstep. “I kept him in check. He didn’t dare cross the line with me. We were
once in a meeting with President Assad, and Khaddam had been spreading
ridiculous rumors beforehand. When he spoke up, I turned to Assad and said: ‘Mr.
President, we have a problem with Khaddam. Please ask him to stop acting like a
spy when dealing with us.’”
Khaddam, Gemayel said, tried to intimidate many Lebanese politicians — but not
him. “He was rude, even insolent to the point of absurdity. But he knew that if
he said anything out of line with me, I would respond immediately.”
Assad’s Subtle Control and the Language of Minorities. Assad understood early on
the fragility of Lebanon’s sectarian makeup. To him, the country was a meeting
place for minorities — one that always needed an external patron to manage its
wars and truces. He allowed for limited victories, but never total defeat,
ensuring that no side could do without Syria’s oversight.
Assad sought to rule Syria indefinitely, with Lebanon as a backyard extension of
his regime. Yet unlike his brother Rifaat, he avoided openly sectarian rhetoric
or calls for partition. Rifaat, according to Gemayel, once suggested dividing
both Syria and Lebanon along sectarian lines during a conversation with Lebanese
leaders Walid Jumblatt and Marwan Hamadeh. When asked whether he ever felt his
dialogue with Assad was, at its core, a conversation between an Alawite and a
Maronite, Gemayel replied: “No — that was Rifaat’s language. He used to say
minorities must come together and show solidarity. But that narrative was never
pushed by President Assad or his inner circle. It was always tailored to serve
their own agenda.”
Assad’s political strategy was built on gathering leverage — and minority groups
were central to that plan. His ties with Lebanon’s Druze community, and his
clash with Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt, fit squarely within this framework.
Assad relied on Syria’s own Druze population, as well as the Christian minority,
to tighten his grip on the country’s diverse communities and align them under
the banner of his regime.
“Assad had a firm hold on the minorities,” Gemayel said, adding that “he brought
them all together to make them part of the Syrian system.”
Tensions between Syria’s Alawite leadership and the country’s Sunni majority
were well known, Gemayel added, particularly through the candid rhetoric of
Assad’s brother, Rifaat.
“Rifaat was open about the hostility between Alawites and Sunnis,” Gemayel said.
“In his conversations with us, it was clear. But with President Assad, there was
no visible sign of that. What lay beneath the surface, only God knows — but in
our dealings with him, we never felt it.” Gemayel Dismisses Reports of a
Syria-Lebanon Confederation Proposal.
Asked about longstanding claims that former Lebanese President Camille Chamoun
had once proposed a confederation between Lebanon and Syria to Hafez al-Assad,
Gemayel was quick to reject the idea.
“That’s absolutely not true,” he said. “President Chamoun would never have made
such a proposal. A lot of things were said at the time. There were even reports
that US envoy Dean Brown had suggested relocating Lebanon’s Christians to
California — all of it nonsense, poetic talk with no grounding in reality.”
Gemayel also addressed one of the most controversial moments in US diplomacy
during Lebanon’s 1988 presidential crisis: the phrase reportedly used by US
envoy Richard Murphy — “Mikhael Daher or chaos.”
Daher, a Christian MP close to Damascus, had been floated as the only candidate
acceptable to both Syria and the United States.
But Washington later distanced itself from the deal. The episode, Gemayel said,
underscored a period in which American pressure aligned more with Syrian — and
by extension, Israeli — interests, leaving Lebanon’s sovereignty hanging in the
balance.
Gemayel confirmed that US envoy Richard Murphy did indeed issue the stark
ultimatum in 1988. The phrase, which became emblematic of foreign interference
in Lebanon’s presidential crisis, reflected what Gemayel described as
Washington’s unwillingness to confront Damascus — despite acknowledging its
destabilizing role in Lebanon.
“Yes, Murphy said it,” Gemayel affirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat.
“The Americans had a problem — they wanted Syria, and they didn’t. They knew
Syria was playing a destructive role in Lebanon, but they didn’t want to
challenge it. They kept trying to find common ground with Syria, not with us.”
According to Gemayel, the US saw Daher — a respected Christian parliamentarian
close to Damascus — as a palatable compromise. “They thought Daher was a
respectable figure who might be acceptable to the Lebanese, so they went along
with Syria’s choice,” he said.
Washington, he added, had consistently prioritized pragmatism over principle in
Lebanon, often aligning with whichever side could deliver results — even if it
came at Beirut’s expense. “It was the same with the May 17 Agreement with
Israel,” Gemayel said, referring to the short-lived 1983 accord. “The US
couldn't pressure Israel, so Lebanon had to pay. And they couldn’t pressure
Syria either — Syria was stubborn, had resources, and they didn’t want a
confrontation. So they kept trying to sell us solutions that weren’t in
Lebanon’s interest.”“The Americans were always looking for the quickest deal,”
he added. “They wanted to please both Syria and Israel. With Syria, it was clear
— they didn’t want to upset Assad, because they knew who held the real power in
Lebanon.”
Gemayel said that while he personally held the reins in decision-making and
negotiations with Syria during his time in office, several close advisers and
intermediaries played essential roles in laying the groundwork for dialogue with
Damascus.
“The relationship and final decisions were in my hands,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“I was the one doing the actual negotiating. But when it came to preparation,
the late Jean Obeid played a very valuable role. He was intelligent, committed
to Lebanon’s interests, and had close ties with the Syrians. He couldn’t get
everything done, but he managed to ease certain issues,” said Gemayel.
Gemayel also credited Eli Salem, another aide, for navigating delicate talks
with Syrian officials — particularly with Khaddam.
“Salem had a knack for getting through on specific points,” Gemayel said. “He
had good chemistry with Khaddam, and that helped, especially since Khaddam and I
didn’t get along.”One figure who unexpectedly played a constructive role,
according to Gemayel, was Brigadier General Jamil al-Sayyed, then an
intelligence officer stationed in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. “You may be
surprised,” he said, “but Jamil al-Sayyed was very helpful. Whenever I was
heading to Damascus, I would stop in the Bekaa to meet him. He gave me very
precise insights into what was happening at the Syrian presidential palace and
the broader picture in Damascus. He was well-informed, sincere, and provided
intelligence that wasn’t widely available — information that truly benefited
Lebanon.”
Asked whether Syria was uneasy about the role of veteran journalist and diplomat
Ghassan Tueni in his administration, Gemayel said the Syrians had little
affection for him.
“There was never any warmth toward Ghassan,” he said. “He came with me to Syria
just once, and it was clear there was tension. Whenever he was present, things
got heated. Ghassan and Khaddam were like a ping-pong match — constantly hitting
the ball back and forth.”The friction, Gemayel explained, stemmed in large part
from Tueni’s association with An-Nahar, the Beirut daily he helped lead, which
often published sharp criticism of Syria.
“Syria never appreciated An-Nahar,” Gemayel said. “Even if Ghassan tried to
distance himself from specific articles, the content was out there for everyone
to see — and the Syrians didn’t forget it.”
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on April 13-14/2025
Trump Says Nuclear Talks with Iran Are Going 'OK'
Asharq Al Awsat/April 13/2025
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that talks with Iran over its nuclear
program were going 'OK.'"I think they're going OK," Trump told reporters aboard
Air Force One. "Nothing matters until you get it done, so I don't like talking
about it. But it's going OK. The Iran situation is going pretty good, I think."
Iran and the US said they held "positive" and "constructive" talks in Oman on
Saturday and agreed to reconvene next week in a dialogue meant to address
Tehran's escalating nuclear program, with Trump threatening military action if
there is no deal. "I think we are very close to a basis for negotiations and if
we can conclude this basis next week, we’ll have gone a long way and will be
able to start real discussions based on that,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas
Araqchi told state television. Araqchi said the talks - the first between Iran
and a Trump administration, including his 2017-2021 first term - took place in a
"productive, calm and positive atmosphere". "Both sides have agreed to continue
the talks ... probably next Saturday," Araqchi added. "Iran and the U.S. side
want an agreement in the short term. We do not want talks for (the sake of)
talks."The White House called the talks involving Trump's Middle East envoy
Steven Witkoff, US Ambassador to Oman Ana Escrogima and Araqchi "very positive
and constructive.""These issues are very complicated, and Special Envoy
Witkoff’s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually
beneficial outcome," it said in a statement. "The sides agreed to meet again
next Saturday."
Iran Says Talks with US to Focus Solely on Nuclear Issue,
Lifting Sanctions
Asharq Al Awsat/13 April 2025
Iran's foreign ministry said Sunday that talks with the United States slated for
next weekend will remain "indirect" with Omani mediation, and focused solely on
the nuclear issue and lifting of sanctions. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas
Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held talks Saturday in Muscat,
marking the highest-level Iran-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of a
2015 accord. They agreed to meet again in seven days. "Negotiations will
continue to be indirect. Oman will remain the mediator, but we are discussing
the location of future negotiations," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei
said in an interview with state TV. He said the talks would only focus on "the
nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions," and that Iran "will not have any
talks with the American side on any other issue." Analysts had said the US would
push to include on the agenda discussions over Iran's ballistic missile program
along with Tehran's support for the "axis of resistance" -- a network of
militant groups opposed to Israel, AFP reported. Tehran has, however, maintained
it will talk only about its nuclear program. Donald Trump in 2018 pulled out of
the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers during his first term as US
president. He reimposed sweeping economic sanctions against Iran, which
continued to adhere to the agreement for a year after Washington's pullout but
later began rolling back its own commitments. Iran has consistently denied
seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
On Sunday, Iranian media largely welcomed the rare talks as a "decisive turning
point" in relations between the longtime foes. Iran's conservative Javan daily
praised the US for "not seeking to expand the negotiations to non-nuclear
issues". The government-sponsored newspaper, Iran, described the discussions as
"constructive and respectful," quoting Araghchi. Meanwhile, the reformist Shargh
newspaper said it was a "decisive turning point" in Iran-US relations. The
hardline Kayhan newspaper, which was largely sceptical in the days leading up to
the talks, lamented that Iran does not have a "plan B" while there was "no clear
prospect for an agreement with Donald Trump."It, however, lauded the fact that
the American side did not bring up "the dismantling of nuclear facilities" and
"the possibility of a military attack" during the discussions.
US in hurry for nuclear
deal, Iran says after high-stakes talks
Agence France Presse/April 13/2025
The United States wants a nuclear agreement "as soon as possible", Iran said
after rare talks on Saturday, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens military
action if they fail to reach a deal. The long-term adversaries, who have not had
diplomatic relations for more than 40 years, are seeking a new nuclear deal
after Trump pulled out of an earlier agreement during his first term in 2018.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, a seasoned diplomat and key architect of the
2015 deal, and Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff led the delegations in the
highest-level Iran-US nuclear talks since the previous accord's collapse.
Araghchi, who briefly spoke face-to-face with Witkoff, a real estate magnate,
during the otherwise indirect meeting in Oman, said the talks would resume next
Saturday. "The American side also said that a positive agreement was one that
can be reached as soon as possible but that will not be easy and will require a
willingness on both sides," Araghchi told Iranian state television. "I think we
came very close to a basis for negotiation... Neither we nor the other party
want fruitless negotiations, discussions for discussions' sake, time wasting or
talks that drag on forever," he added. The White House called the discussions
"very positive and constructive"."Special Envoy Witkoff's direct communication
today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome," it said in
a statement. Asked about the talks, Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One:
"I think they're going OK. Nothing matters until you get it done."Oman's foreign
minister acted as an intermediary in the talks in Muscat, Iran said. The
Americans had called for the meetings to be face-to-face. However, the
negotiators also spoke directly for "a few minutes", Iran's foreign ministry
said. It said the talks were held "in a constructive and mutually respectful
atmosphere". The two parties were in "separate halls" and "conveying their views
and positions to each other through the Omani foreign minister", Iran's foreign
ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X. The process took place in a
"friendly atmosphere", Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said.
Witkoff open to 'compromise'
Iran, weakened by Israel's pummeling of its allies Hezbollah in Lebanon and
Hamas in Gaza, is seeking relief from wide-ranging sanctions hobbling its
economy. Tehran has agreed to the meetings despite baulking at Trump's "maximum
pressure" campaign of ramping up sanctions and repeated military threats.
Meanwhile the United States, hand-in-glove with Iran's arch-enemy Israel, wants
to stop Tehran from ever getting close to developing a nuclear bomb. There were
no visible signs of the high-level meeting at a luxury hotel in Muscat, the same
venue where the 2015 agreement was struck when Barack Obama was U.S. president.
Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal earlier that the U.S. position starts with
demanding that Iran completely dismantle its nuclear program -- a view held by
hardliners around Trump that few expect Iran to accept. "That doesn't mean, by
the way, that at the margin we're not going to find other ways to find
compromise between the two countries," Witkoff told the newspaper. "Where our
red line will be, there can't be weaponization of your nuclear capability," he
added. The talks were revealed in a surprise announcement by Trump during a
White House appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Hours before the talks began, Trump told reporters: "I want Iran to be a
wonderful, great, happy country. But they can't have a nuclear weapon."Supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's adviser Ali Shamkhani said Iran sought "a real
and fair agreement".Saturday's meetings followed repeated threats of military
action by both the United States and Israel. "If it requires military, we're
going to have military," Trump said Wednesday when asked what would happen if
the talks fail.
'Survival of the regime'
The 2015 deal that Trump abandoned aimed to make it practically impossible for
Iran to build an atomic weapon, while at the same time allowing it to pursue a
civil nuclear program. Iran, which insists its nuclear program is only for
civilian purposes, stepped up its activities after Trump withdrew from the
agreement. The latest International Atomic Energy Agency report said Iran had an
estimated 274.8 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent, nearing the weapons
grade of 90 percent. Karim Bitar, a Middle East Studies lecturer at Sciences Po
university in Paris, said the Iranian government's very survival could be at
stake. "The one and only priority is the survival of the regime, and ideally, to
get some oxygen, some sanctions relief, to get their economy going again,
because the regime has become quite unpopular," he told AFP.
Yemen’s Houthis say five
killed in US strike on Sanaa province
AFP/April 13, 2025 20:17
SANAA: Yemen’s Houthi group said on Sunday that a US strike in Sanaa province
had killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others. “The death toll
from the US aggression on the Al-Sawari factory in the Matna area of Bani Matar
has risen to 18, including five martyrs and 13 wounded, in a preliminary toll,”
the Iran-backed group said in a statement. Houthi media also reported that US
strikes targeted various other areas in the country Sunday, including in the
Saada and Hodeida provinces. The rebels added that US strikes targeted various
other areas in the country on Sunday, including in the Saada and Hodeida
provinces. Rebel-held areas of Yemen have seen near-daily strikes blamed on the
United States since Washington launched an air campaign against the Houthis on
March 15 to force them to stop threatening vessels in key maritime routes. Since
then, the Houthis have also launched attacks targeting US military ships and
Israel, claiming to be acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The
rebels began targeting ships transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as
Israeli territory, after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, pausing
the attacks during a January ceasefire. Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza at
the start of March, and resumed its offensive on the Palestinian territory on
March 18, ending the short-lived truce. The new US campaign followed Houthi
threats to resume attacks on vessels over Israel’s blockade on Gaza. The Houthi
attacks had crippled the vital Red Sea route, which normally carries about 12
percent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies to make a much longer
detour around the tip of southern Africa.
Israel military says missile
launched from Yemen was likely intercepted
Reuters/Sun, April 13, 2025
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli military said on Sunday an attempt to
intercept an incoming missile launched from Yemen was likely successful after
air raid sirens sounded across Israel. There was no immediate claim of
responsibility.
Sirens could be heard in Jerusalem around 1816 local time (1516 GMT). The
military had initially said two missiles were believed to have been launched
from Yemen but shortly afterwards said only one had been fired. Yemen's
Iranian-backed Houthi movement has launched missiles and drones at Israel since
the current war in Gaza began in 2023, saying it was acting in support of
Palestinians. The Houthis had paused their attacks during a ceasefire between
Israel and Hamas in Gaza that began in January. Israel broke the ceasefire in
March, resuming its campaign in Gaza. The war began in October 2023 when Hamas
led an assault on southern Israeli communities near Gaza, killing 1,200 people
and taking 251 captive, according to Israeli officials. Israel's retaliatory
assault has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health
officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave. Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, while
the other 192 were either released during ceasefires or rescued by Israeli
forces.
Gaza hospital damaged in
Israeli strike
Agence France Presse/13 April 2025
Gaza's civil defense agency said an Israeli airstrike destroyed parts of a
hospital early Sunday after Israel seized a corridor in the war-battered
Palestinian territory and said it planned to expand its military offensive.
There were no reports of casualties in the strike and the Israeli military told
AFP they were looking into the incident. The civil defense agency in the
Hamas-run territory said Israel's air force targeted a building of the Al-Ahli
hospital, also known as the Baptist or Ahli Arab hospital, in Gaza City after
midnight. The airstrike came "minutes after the (Israeli) army's warning to
evacuate this building of patients, the injured and their companions", the
agency said in a statement. "The bombing led to the destruction of the surgery
building and the oxygen generation station for the intensive care units," it
added. Hospitals, protected under international humanitarian law, have
repeatedly been hit by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip since the start of the
war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023. The
Israeli military accuses Hamas of having tunnels under hospitals and using the
medical facilities as command centers to plan and carry out attacks against the
army and Israel, a charge denied by the Palestinian group. Al-Ahli hospital was
heavily damaged by an explosion in its car park on October 17, 2023, leaving
scores of people dead. Militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad accused Israel,
which denied responsibility and blamed a misfired rocket by Islamic Jihad for
that blast -- a claim backed by the United States. Hamas's press office said
Sunday that Israeli forces had targeted Gaza's hospitals, including Al-Ahli,
with "bombing, arson (and) destruction", or otherwise rendered them
"non-operational", since the start of the war. On March 28, the World Health
Organization said 22 of Gaza's 36 hospitals were partially functional. The Gaza
war broke out after Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel which resulted in the
deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on
Israeli official figures. Gaza's health ministry said Saturday at least 1,563
Palestinians had been killed since March 18 when a ceasefire collapsed, taking
the overall death toll since the war began to 50,933.
Israeli Missiles Strike
Gaza Hospital, Patients Evacuated
Asharq Al Awsat/13 April 2025
Two Israeli missiles hit a building inside a main Gaza hospital on Sunday,
destroying the emergency and reception department and damaging other structures,
medics said. Health officials at the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital evacuated the
patients from the building after one person said he received a call from someone
who identified himself with the Israeli security shortly before the attack took
place. No casualties were reported, according to the civil emergency service.
The Israeli military was looking into the report, a spokesperson said. Images
circulating on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed
dozens of people leaving the premises, with some appearing to be dragging sick
relatives on hospital beds. The Hamas-run government media office condemned the
attack and said in a statement that Israel was deliberately destroying Gaza's
healthcare system.
UK FM Calls Israeli Attacks
on Gaza Hospital 'Deplorable'
Asharq Al Awsat/Sun, April 13, 2025
British foreign minister David Lammy condemned Israel's attacks on medical
facilities in Gaza on Sunday after two Israeli missiles hit a building inside a
Gaza hospital. "Israel's attacks on medical facilities have comprehensively
degraded access to healthcare in Gaza," Lammy said in a short post on social
media, Reuters reported. "Al-Ahli Hospital has been attacked repeatedly since
the conflict began. These deplorable attacks must end. Diplomacy, not more
bloodshed, is how we will achieve a lasting peace."
Aid worker missing after deadly attack on colleagues is held by Israel, ICRC
says
Reuters/Nidal al-Mughrabi/April 13,
2025
CAIRO (Reuters) - A Palestinian Red Crescent staff member who went missing in
late March when 15 humanitarian workers were killed by Israeli fire is being
detained by Israeli authorities, the rescue service and the Red Cross said on
Sunday. Hisham Mhana, the spokesperson for the ICRC in Gaza, confirmed to
Reuters that it had received information that the Palestine Red Crescent Society
paramedic Assad Al-Nsasrah was being held in an Israeli place of detention. "As
per standard practice, we informed the families immediately. In this case, we
also informed the Palestine Red Crescent Society as they have special standing
as a partner of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement," he
said.The Israeli army did not immediately comment. Mhana said the ICRC has not
been granted access to Nsasrah, who until Sunday had been declared missing, and
also has not been able to visit any of the Palestinian detainees and prisoners
in Israeli jails since October 7, 2023. In a post on X, The PRCS demanded the
immediate release of Nsasrah, who it said was "forcibly abducted" while carrying
out humanitarian duties. It added that Nsasrah and his colleagues came under
heavy gunfire, which led to the killing of eight of them in a "grave violation"
of international humanitarian law. The bodies of 15 emergency and aid workers
from the Red Crescent, the Civil Emergency Service and the U.N. were found
buried in a mass grave in southern Gaza in March. The U.N. and the Red Crescent
accused Israeli forces of killing them after they were dispatched to respond to
reports of injuries from Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli military referred
Reuters to its statement from Monday, in which it said that a thorough inquiry
into the incident was still underway and that it would provide further details
only once the investigation is complete. It said that a preliminary inquiry
indicated that "the troops opened fire due to a perceived threat following a
previous encounter in the area, and that six of the individuals killed in the
incident were identified as Hamas terrorists". The Israeli military has provided
no evidence of how it determined that the six were Hamas militants, and the
Islamist faction has rejected the accusation. The only known survivor of the
incident, PRCS paramedic Munther Abed, said soldiers had opened fire on clearly
marked emergency response vehicles.
Columbia University
Activist Mahmoud Khalil Can Be Deported, Immigration Judge Rules
Asharq AlAwsat/April 13/2025
Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil can be forced out of the
country as a national security risk, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled
Friday after lawyers argued the legality of deporting the activist who
participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The government’s contention that
Khalil’s presence in the US posed "potentially serious foreign policy
consequences" satisfied requirements for deportation, Immigration Judge Jamee E.
Comans said at a hearing in Jena. Comans said the government had "established by
clear and convincing evidence that he is removable."After the immigration court
hearing, Khalil attorney Marc Van Der Hout told a New Jersey federal judge that
Khalil will appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals within weeks. "So nothing
is going to happen quickly," he said. Addressing the judge at the end of the
immigration hearing, Khalil recalled her saying at a hearing earlier in the week
that "there's nothing more important to this court than due process rights and
fundamental fairness.""Clearly what we witnessed today, neither of these
principles were present today or in this whole process," he added. "This is
exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to the court, 1,000 miles away
from my family."
Van Der Hout also criticized the hearing's fairness.
"Today, we saw our worst fears play out: Mahmoud was subject to a charade of due
process, a flagrant violation of his right to a fair hearing, and a
weaponization of immigration law to suppress dissent," Van Der Hout said in a
statement. Khalil, a legal US resident, was detained by federal immigration
agents March 8 in the lobby of his university-owned apartment, the first arrest
under President Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on students who joined campus
protests against the war in Gaza. Within a day, he was flown across the country
to an immigration detention center in Jena, far from his attorneys and wife, a
US citizen due to give birth soon. Khalil’s lawyers have challenged the legality
of his detention, saying the Trump administration is trying to block free speech
protected by the First Amendment. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has cited a
rarely used statute to justify Khalil’s deportation, which gives him power to
deport those who pose "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences
for the United States." At Friday’s hearing, Van Der Hout told the judge that
the government’s submissions to the court prove the attempt to deport his client
"has nothing to do with foreign policy" and said the government is trying to
deport him for protected speech. Khalil, a Palestinian born and raised in Syria
after his grandparents were forcibly removed from their ancestral home in
Tiberias, isn’t accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia.
The government, however, has said noncitizens who participate in such
demonstrations should be expelled from the country for expressing views that the
administration considers to be antisemitic and "pro-Hamas," referring to the
Palestinian armed group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Khalil, a
30-year-old international affairs graduate student, had served as a negotiator
and spokesperson for student activists at Columbia University who took over a
campus lawn last spring to protest Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The
university summoned police to dismantle the encampment after a small group of
protesters seized an administration building. Khalil is not accused of
participating in the building occupation and wasn’t among those arrested. But
images of his maskless face at protests and his willingness to share his name
with reporters have drawn scorn from those who viewed the protesters and their
demands as antisemitic. The White House accused Khalil of "siding with
terrorists" but has yet to cite any support for the claim. Federal judges in New
York and New Jersey have ordered the government not to deport Khalil while his
case plays out in multiple courts. The Trump administration has said it is
taking at least $400 million in federal funding away from research programs at
Columbia and its medical center to punish it for not adequately fighting what it
considers to be antisemitism on campus. Some Jewish students and faculty
complained about being harassed during the demonstrations or ostracized because
of their faith or their support of Israel. Immigration authorities have cracked
down on other critics of Israel on college campuses, arresting a Georgetown
University scholar who had spoken out on social media about the Israel-Gaza war,
canceling the student visas of some protesters and deporting a Brown University
professor who they said had attended the Lebanon funeral of a leader of
Hezbollah, another armed group that has fought with Israel.
Frankly Speaking: Four months in, how is the change in
Syria being seen?
Arab News/April 13, 2025
RIYADH: As Syria navigates a precarious path away from the decades-long rule of
the Assad dynasty, Ghassan Ibrahim, a London-based Syria analyst, says cautious
optimism defines the moment. Speaking on the latest episode of “Frankly
Speaking,” the Arab News current affairs show that dives deep into regional
developments with leading policymakers and analysts, Ibrahim discussed the
challenges and opportunities facing the new transitional government of President
Ahmad Al-Sharaa.
“Yes, I’m optimistic, but cautiously optimistic,” he said. “The situation in
Syria is not that easy. President Bashar Assad, when he left, literally made
sure that all the institutions in Syria were not functioning. He stayed in power
until the last day. And after that, when he left, literally, he left the country
on its knees.”Four months into a new political chapter, Syria’s fledgling
government faces enormous hurdles: institutional collapse, brain drain, poverty,
insecurity and a sanctions regime that continues to paralyze the economy.
“There is big hope,” Ibrahim told “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen, “but the
question is: Where will they bring all these resources from, to make them
function as in any other government around the world?”The economic picture is
bleak. Over 90 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line, and basic
infrastructure has either collapsed or is running at a fraction of capacity.
Ibrahim said the country’s rich natural resources — oil, gas, and minerals —
remain largely idle. And a mass exodus of skilled professionals and
entrepreneurs over the last 14 years has left a human capital vacuum.
“Literally, there is not any good environment to tell to the people come back —
especially the talented ones, especially the investors, and as well, the people
who can participate in the new reform,” he said. All Syrians are looking at
their country as a hub for stability and development —a Syria open for
normalization with every normal country, including Israel, London-based analyst
Ghassan Ibrahim told “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen. (AN Photo) Yet
Ibrahim insists that the absence of large-scale sectarian violence after Assad’s
fall is in itself a major achievement. “No one was thinking that Syria will end
up after Assad leaves without a huge sectarian war,” he said. Though there have
been some flare-ups — most notably a wave of killings in the western coastal
region in early March — Ibrahim said the response has so far avoided mass
escalation. “If we look at the full picture, it’s something promising, but
requires a lot of work,” he added. President Al-Sharaa’s first foreign visit to
Saudi Arabia was not just symbolic — it was strategic, according to Ibrahim.
“He is trying to relocate Syria within a new alliance — an alliance of
modernity, stability and open-minded policies,” he said, noting the president’s
praise for Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Al-Sharaa’s ongoing visit to the UAE, he
added, could prove essential to Syria’s reintegration with the region. “Syria
needs now friends and brothers to help them, to lead, to guide them,” Ibrahim
said. “The UAE is capable, through its wide network internationally, of opening
the door, to reintroduce the new Syria to the world.”
He also said the visits send a reassuring message that Syria does not wish to
destabilize the region. “Syria will be productive and active and be part of this
kind of alliance between the regional powers,” he added. On the horizon is a
visit to Turkiye, a former adversary now positioned as a “typical friend,” in
Ibrahim’s words. But the relationship is more complicated. While ties with
Ankara could help stabilize Syria’s north and resolve Kurdish tensions, Ibrahim
warned that Turkish involvement risks aggravating fears in Israel and
reintroducing regional rivalries into Syrian soil. “We’ve noticed the
involvement of Turkiye has caused two troubles somehow: With the Kurdish
internally and with Israel,” he said.
The prospect of renewed conflict with Israel looms large. Southern Syria has
seen a spike in Israeli airstrikes targeting what it says are weapons depots and
military infrastructure. But Ibrahim said the new Syrian leadership is avoiding
provocation.
“They are trying to, well, calculate the risk. They don’t want to behave like a
militia. They want to be a state,” he said. “We’d rather leave some — there is
some, I think, second-track diplomacy open now between Syria and Israel.”
According to Ibrahim, there is growing recognition in Damascus that stability
with Israel is preferable to brinkmanship. “Israel, in the end of the day, will
understand it’s not to their advantage to partition the country,” he added.
Iran, by contrast, remains a destabilizing force, he warned. “They invested the
most in this war and they lost the biggest loss in this war. So, they won’t
leave Syria to be a stable state without working on destabilizing it,” Ibrahim
said. He accused Tehran of supporting militias in Syria’s coastal regions and
pushing for partition along sectarian lines, but added that its influence is
waning. “They did not leave any good legacy behind them in Syria to let the
Syrians feel they are welcome,” he said. As Damascus distances itself from
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Ibrahim said the new government is
signaling that it wants a reset. “Why don’t they stop exporting their
revolution? Then the Syrians may consider normalization with Iran,” he added.
But without the lifting of US and European sanctions, Syria’s future remains
hostage to its past. “The sanctions at this moment are out of context,” said
Ibrahim. While once meant to isolate the Assad regime, they now, in his view,
cripple the new administration’s ability to govern. “So, the sanctions now are
literally just hurting ordinary Syrian people,” he said. “If the West wants to
see Syria a normal state running in a normal manner without showing any kind of
hostility, they have to help. And the way to help is literally lift the
sanctions.”
He said that unless sanctions are lifted, growing popular frustration may spark
unrest. “If they don’t see improvements soon, they will go to the streets and we
will end up with another crisis this year,” he said. The killings in Latakia and
Tartous — reportedly sparked by loyalists of the former regime — exposed how
fragile the situation remains.
“It was unjustified, it was some kind of war crime, it was not acceptable,”
Ibrahim said. He defended President Al-Sharaa’s early policy of clemency toward
Assad loyalists, but acknowledged that it may have inadvertently fueled revenge
killings.
“There was an intention that if all Syrians want to close that chapter, they
don’t want to go back to that moment of sectarian war,” he said. But the
strategy also allowed hostile elements to regroup.
Even the composition of the new cabinet has drawn criticism, with some ethnic
and religious minorities saying they were not consulted. Ibrahim said President
Al-Sharaa is trying to walk a tightrope.“Is it wrong to choose loyalists from
different backgrounds as much as possible? Probably, this is not the ideal
transitional government,” he said. “He wants a kind of unity in his
government.”Asked about reports that Turkiye is negotiating a defense pact that
would place air defense systems in Syria, Ibrahim said Damascus has voiced its
concerns directly.
“The Syrians don’t want to let their country be in a box — like a mailbox, with
both sides sending messages through the Syrians,” he said. According to Ibrahim,
Syria is attempting to broker peace between Turkiye and the Kurdish-led Syrian
Democratic Forces. A deal may even be in the works, potentially sponsored by the
US. “He does not want to enter in a proxy war on behalf of Turkiye to fight with
the Syrian Democratic Forces,” Ibrahim said of Al-Sharaa. “And we may hear in
the coming months some kind of like de-escalation agreement.” While Syria seeks
Western engagement, it is not abandoning ties with Moscow. Ibrahim called Russia
a pragmatic partner that has kept channels open to both the former regime and
the opposition.
“Probably, Russia may play a very vital role in striking a deal with Israel
because the Russians have good relations with the Israelis,” he added. Finally,
Ibrahim addressed remarks by a former provincial governor in Syria to a Wall
Street Journal reporter, warning that continued Israeli aggression could attract
“holy warriors” from around the world. “It’s probably the message was taken out
of its context,” Ibrahim said. “There is a clear message from Damascus to around
the world: Syria will not be a hub to attack any country, including
Israel.”Ibrahim pointed to Al-Sharaa’s use of the term “Israeli state” — a break
from the Assad-era lexicon — as a sign of a new posture. “The Syrians look at
normalization with Israel as an advantage for Syria and advantage for everyone,”
he said.
Looking to the future, Ibrahim said: “All Syrians are looking at their country
as a hub for stability and development — free trade, a Syria open for
normalization with every normal country or normal state around the world,
including Israel.”
Armed faction in southern
Syria to integrate into government forces
AFP/April 13, 2025 22:27
DAMASCUS: A powerful armed faction in southern Syrian Arab Republic led by
defected military officer Ahmed Al-Awdeh announced on Sunday that it was
dissolving itself and integrating into the government’s armed forces. The Eighth
Brigade, the most prominent armed faction in southern Syria, announced its
dissolution and placed its weapons and personnel at the disposal of the Syrian
Defense Ministry, according to a statement read by the official spokesman on
Sunday in a video recording. “We, members, soldiers and officers of what was
previously known as the Eighth Brigade, officially announce the dissolution of
this formation and handing over all its military and human capacities to the
Defense Ministry,” said Col. Mohamed Al-Hourani. “This decision stems from our
commitment to national unity and enhancing security and stability and adherence
to state sovereignty,” said Hourani.
The Eighth Brigade is part of the Southern Operations Room, a coalition of armed
groups, also led by Awdeh, from the southern province of Daraa formed on Dec. 6
to help topple Bashar Assad. Assad was toppled two days later following a
lightning offensive by rebels led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS. Ahmad Al-Sharaa,
who led HTS, has since been named Syria’s interim president and appointed a
cabinet last month. The SOR was notably absent from a Dec. 25 meeting during
which other militant factions agreed to disband and join a future army. Awdeh’s
forces, including the Eighth Brigade, held on to their weapons and maintained
their presence on the ground. Sunday’s announcement comes after two days of
unrest between the forces of the Eighth Brigade and those of the new
authorities.
Syria's new leader makes his
first visit to the United Arab Emirates
The Associated Press/April 13, 2025
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa made his first visit Sunday to
the United Arab Emirates, whose leaders have been circumspect about the new
leadership in Damascus in the four months since the fall of former President
Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive. The state-run Emirates News Agency,
or WAM, reported that the UAE's president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
met with Sharaa in Abu Dhabi and “wished him success in leading Syria through
the coming period and in fulfilling the Syrian people’s hopes for development,
security, and stability.”The statement said the “two leaders discussed a number
of issues of mutual interest and exchanged views on regional and international
developments.” Like many other Arab countries, the UAE cut off relations with
Assad’s government after its brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in
2011 that escalated into a civil war. However, the UAE was one of the first to
restore ties, reopening its embassy in Damascus in December 2018. In 2022, Assad
visited the UAE in his first visit to an Arab country after the war erupted.
Other Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, were quick to welcome
Syria’s new rulers led by al-Sharaa, an Islamist former insurgent who led the
charge that unseated Assad. But the UAE, which has historically been anxious
about Islamist political movements, has taken a more cautious approach to the
new authorities in Damascus. Syria’s new rulers have sought to bolster their
regional ties as they struggle to rebuild the country's economy and
infrastructure after nearly 14 years of war, consolidate control over the
territory and bring together a patchwork of armed groups with their own
leadership into a national army. They are also facing challenges from Israel,
which has launched a campaign of airstrikes and moved ground troops in to seize
a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory since the fall of Assad. The
zone was set up under a 1974 ceasefire agreement. Syria’s new authorities and
U.N. officials have said Israel is violating the agreement and called for it to
withdraw. Israeli officials say they are protecting their borders and plan to
stay indefinitely. The UAE, as one of a handful of Arab countries that has
normalized ties with Israel, could play a role in mediating between the two
countries.
Russian missiles hit Ukrainian city of Sumy during Palm Sunday celebrations,
killing more than 30
The Associated Press/April 13, 2025
Russian missiles struck the heart of the Ukrainian city of Sumy as people
gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, killing at least 34 people, officials said,
in the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week.
The two ballistic missiles hit around 10:15 a.m., officials said. Images from
the scene showed lines of black body bags on the side of the road, while more
bodies were seen wrapped in foil blankets among the debris. Video footage also
showed fire crews fighting to extinguish the shells of burned-out cars among the
rubble from damaged buildings. The dead included two children, the State
Emergency Service of Ukraine said in a statement. A further 117 people were
wounded, including 15 children, it said. “Only filthy scum can act like this —
taking the lives of ordinary people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
said. In a statement on social media, he said the first strike hit buildings
belonging to a city university, while the second exploded above street level.
The head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, said the strike
also used cluster munitions in an attempt to kill as many people as possible.
The Associated Press was unable to verify the claim. The attack on Sumy followed
a deadly April 4 missile strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih that
killed some 20 people, including nine children. Zelenskyy called for a global
response to the attack. “Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and aerial
bombs. What’s needed is an attitude toward Russia that a terrorist deserves,” he
said. Other world leaders also condemned the attack, with French President
Emmanuel Macron saying that it undermined Washington-led peace talks between the
two sides. “Everyone knows: This war was initiated by Russia alone. And today,
it is clear that Russia alone chooses to continue it — with blatant disregard
for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts" of U.S. President
Trump, he wrote in a statement. Elsewhere in Ukraine, two women, ages 62 and 68,
and a 48-year-old man were killed in Russian attacks on the Kherson region,
local Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said. Another person was killed during Russian
shelling on Ukraine's Donetsk region, Gov. Vadym Filashkin said. The mayor of
the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said a Russian strike hit one of
the city’s kindergartens, shattering windows and damaging the building’s facade.
No casualties were reported.
Spring offensive fears despite peace talks
The strikes come a day after Russia and Ukraine’s senior diplomats accused each
other of violating a tentative U.S.-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy
infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the
three-year war. The two countries’ foreign ministers spoke at separate events at
the annual Antalya Diplomacy Forum a day after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with
Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss peace prospects. “The Ukrainians
have been attacking us from the very beginning, every passing day, maybe with
two or three exceptions,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding
that Moscow would provide the U.S., Turkey and international bodies with a list
of Kyiv’s attacks during the past three weeks. His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii
Sybiha, contested that claim, saying Saturday that Russia had launched almost 70
missiles, over 2,200 exploding drones and more than 6,000 guided aerial bombs at
Ukraine, "mostly at civilians" since agreeing to the limited pause on strikes.
Russian forces hold the advantage in Ukraine, and Kyiv has warned that Moscow is
planning a fresh spring offensive to ramp up pressure on its foe and improve its
negotiating position. Ukraine has endorsed a broader U.S. ceasefire proposal,
but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions.
European governments have accused Putin of dragging his feet. Retired Lt. Gen.
Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said the Sumy attack
crossed “any line of decency” and that the White House remained committed to
ending the conflict. “There are scores of civilian dead and wounded. As a former
military leader, I understand targeting, and this is wrong," he said. U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the attack “horrifying” and said it
offered “a tragic reminder" of why the administration was trying to end the war
in favor of “a just and durable peace.”
Trump is 'fully fit' to serve as commander in chief, his doctor says after
recent physical
Darlene Superville/The Associated
Press/April 13, 2025
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump’s doctor says the oldest man elected
president is “fully fit” to serve as commander in chief as the White House
released results Sunday of Trump's recent physical exam. The 78-year-old Trump
is 20 pounds lighter since his checkup as president in 2020 showed him bordering
on obesity.
His physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, cited an “active lifestyle” that
”continues to contribute significantly” to the Republican president's
well-being. Trump turns 79 on June 14. In a three-page summary of the
comprehensive exam from Friday, the doctor said Trump is “fully fit to execute
the duties of Commander-in-Chief and Head of State.” Trump weighed 224 at the
checkup, down from 244 at that physical more than four years ago. His BMI, or
body mass index, which is a measure of one's weight relative to height, is down
to 28.0, which drops Trump to the category of overweight. The president's BMI
came in at 30.5 in 2020, which pushed him just over the edge into the category
of obesity. The summary noted that Trump previously had cataract surgery on both
eyes, but gave no date or dates. A common procedure among aging people, the
surgery typically involves removing a cloudy eye lens and replacing it with an
artificial lens to help clear up vision. In July 2024, according to the report,
then-candidate Trump had a colonoscopy that found a benign polyp and the
condition called diverticulosis. It’s a common condition in which the walls of
the intestine weaken with age. It can lead to inflammation, though most people
with it never experience any problems.
Trump again passed a Montreal Cognitive Assessment test, a short screening test
to assess different brain functions, Barbabella wrote. The test includes
remembering a list of spoken words and listening to a list of random numbers and
repeating them backward, among other questions. Known as MoCA, it’s the same
test Trump took in 2018 and later recounted in an interview in which he
described reciting a list of words in order: “Person. Woman. Man. Camera.
TV.”The president also was screened Friday for depression and anxiety, and had
normal scores on questionnaires for those conditions, according to the report.
Asked about the exam afterward, Trump said, “I think I did very well." The
president went directly from the hospital to Air Force One to fly to Florida for
the weekend. He spoke to reporters midflight and said doctors had offered him “a
little bit” of advice on lifestyle changes that could improve his health. He
didn't elaborate.
”Overall, I felt I was in very good shape. A good heart, a good soul, a very
good soul," Trump said. He also noted that he took a cognitive test. “I don’t
know what to tell you other than I got every answer right,” Trump said. Trump
may be the oldest person elected to the nation's highest office, but he is four
years younger than Democrat Joe Biden, who was 82 when his presidential term
ended in January. Despite raising persistent questions about Biden's physical
and mental capacity and repeatedly asserting that Biden did not know what he was
doing, Trump has routinely kept basic details about his health shrouded in
secrecy, in contrast to the traditional transparency on medical issues that
presidents of both political parties have shown. Presidents have the right to
keep their medical information private. Releasing the results of modern annual
physicals, though, often helps reassure the public about their president's
health. In his memo, Barbabella wrote that Trump remains in “excellent health”
with “robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and general physical function."The
doctor said Trump’s days are filled with multiple meetings, public appearances,
media availabilities and “frequent victories in golf events.” Trump is an avid
golfer who said he recently won tournaments played at clubs he owns in Florida.
Trump’s cholesterol levels have improved over time, helped by the medications
rosuvastatin and ezetimibe. At his physical in January 2018, his total
cholesterol was 223. In early 2019, the reading came in at 196 and it stood at
167 in 2020. Today it is 140. Ideally, total cholesterol should be less than
200. His blood pressure was 128 over 74. That is considered elevated, and people
in that situation are likely to develop high blood pressure unless steps are
taken to control the condition. Trump has a resting heart rate of 62 beats per
minute, in line with previous tests. A normal resting heart rate for adults
ranges from 60 beats to 100 beats per minute, and generally, a lower rate
implies better cardiovascular fitness.
Trump also takes aspirin, which can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The exam found minor sun damage to Trump's skin and a few benign lesions, but no
concerning lesions or growth. It also confirmed scarring on Trump's right ear
from a gunshot wound during an assassination attempt at a Butler, Pennsylvania,
campaign rally in July 2024. Barbabella performed and supervised the medical
examination of Trump at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in
Bethesda, Maryland, and said it included diagnostic and laboratory testing in
addition to consultations with 14 specialists. Barbabella is a decorated Navy
physician who specializes in emergency and tactical medicine and served several
tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has a Purple Heart and a Legion of
Merit award, two of the military's highest honors. Barbabella is also the third
consecutive osteopathic doctor to serve as physician to the president, following
Biden's doctor and one of the doctors who cared for Trump in his first term.
Barbabella ran a naval health clinic in Havelock, North Carolina, before Trump
tapped him for the job.
Saudi Arabia, US in talks
to sign deal on nuclear technology
Reina Takla/Arab News/April 13, 2025
RIYADH: The US and Saudi Arabia will sign a preliminary agreement on energy
cooperation and civilian nuclear technology, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told
a press conference in the Saudi capital on Sunday. The US official said that
details on nuclear cooperation between the two countries would come later this
year. He said the cooperation will focus on building a commercial nuclear power
industry in the Kingdom “with meaning developments expected this year.”“There
will definitely be a 123 nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia,” Wright said. He
said Washington expects long-term cooperation with Riyadh to develop civilian
nuclear industry in the Kingdom. Responding to a question by Arab News, the top
US official said the two sides will cooperate across major energy sectors with
“US technologies and partnerships playing a key role.”He said Saudi Arabia has
excellent solar resources and room for technological improvement. Wright also
praised the Kingdom’s approach to efficient energy development and said it
applied to all energy sources. Commenting on the bilateral ties between the two
countries, the energy secretary said: “I believe Saudi Arabia will be one of the
leading countries investing in the US, which is a win for both nations.”Wright
extended his gratitude to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Energy Minister
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman for their warm hospitality, as he and his delegation
arrived to strengthen bilateral ties and explore shared interests. Wright said
the talks with Saudi officials spanned a broad range of issues, including energy
cooperation, critical minerals mining and processing, industrial development,
and climate change. “We discussed the core of what drives progress—human lives
and how to improve them,” he noted. “Our conversations also addressed the
challenges both our nations have faced in recent years, particularly in the
energy sector.”
“We talked across the energy spectrum. I think Saudi Arabia has clearly been a
nation built on efficient and thoughtful development of energy resources.”
Wright told Arab News. Commenting on US tariffs, Wright outlined President
Trump’s broader economic agenda, emphasizing that tariffs are just one component
of a larger strategy. He said the US has long welcomed imports from countries
around the world, benefiting both those nations and American consumers.
“However, the president is strongly focused on ensuring that our trading
partners offer the same level of openness to American goods.”
Wright added that the administration’s goal is to expand the flow of US exports
while maintaining robust imports and international economic engagement. “So,
that is a way you could describe this, fair trade, not restricted trade, just
fair trade, reciprocal trade,” the official said. Wright said that another key
part of his agenda addresses the outsourcing of many energy-intensive industries
over the past two decades. These are sectors where the US once led in technology
and production, but which have increasingly moved overseas, he added. Wright
further noted that many Americans have watched job opportunities shift overseas,
leading to diminished economic prospects and reduced security for their
families.
“He ran on a platform to bring those jobs back to America,” he said. “Tariffs
are one way to provide a nudge — encouraging investment in the United States,
supporting domestic manufacturing, and ultimately expanding economic opportunity
and prosperity for Americans.” Wright also expressed optimism about Saudi
Arabia’s role in this evolving landscape, predicting it will become one of the
leading countries investing in the US. “I think that’s a win for the Kingdom, a
win for the United States, and most importantly, a win for the American working
class,” he said. “It means better job opportunities and lower costs of goods for
American citizens.”Discussing current oil prices, he expressed confidence in a
shift under potential future leadership. “Under President Trump’s leadership, in
the next four years, we are almost certain to see lower average energy prices
than we saw during the last four years of the current administration,” he said.
He noted that many Americans have grown increasingly frustrated with rising
energy costs, particularly in the absence of significant growth in electricity
production. “They were frustrated to see the cost of powering their cars go up,
their home heating bills rise, and their electricity bills increase—all without
meaningful expansion in energy output,” he said. “President Trump was elected on
a platform to grow energy production. If you grow supply, you increase access
and, at the margin, push prices down.”He added that while he could not comment
specifically on current oil prices or predict future levels, he believes the
right policy environment could help ease costs. “I do think we will see lower
oil prices in the next four years than we’ve seen recently,” he said. “If you
reduce barriers to investment and ease restrictions on infrastructure
development, you lower the cost of supplying energy—and that benefits
everyone.”Corporations and nations alike can achieve greater profitability and
energy reliability at a lower cost by removing barriers, eliminating
inefficiencies, and challenging the growing pessimism around global energy
demand, according to Wright.
“There is so much political force trying to say that energy consumption is bad,”
he said. “The implication is that the seven billion people who don’t live like
we do maybe never should—and that we should do everything possible to suppress
global energy demand.”
“That approach is the opposite of what I believe to be sound policy, and it’s
also contrary to what I see here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he added.
“There’s clear agreement that the way to build a better world is through more
energy, not less; more prosperity, not less; and stronger international
partnerships.”Wright also noted Saudi Arabia’s growing interest in expanding its
energy production capabilities—particularly through commercial nuclear power.
“The technology for commercial nuclear power was developed in the United
States,” he said. “We are continuing our dialogue on how the US and Saudi Arabia
can cooperate to ultimately build a commercial nuclear power industry here in
the Kingdom.”
Saudi Arabia has long prioritized energy diversification, with commercial
nuclear energy emerging as a key area of strategic interest. As the Kingdom
seeks to broaden its energy mix, it continues to leverage its deep-rooted
expertise in the energy sector. “This has been an ambition in Saudi Arabia for
some time, and for good reason,” Wright said. “Energy has been a central
industry here—certainly not the only one—but one in which the country has
achieved great success.”He highlighted the Kingdom’s mineral resources,
including uranium, as a natural advantage in pursuing nuclear power development.
In addressing the future of global energy, Wright emphasized the importance of
long-term planning and sustained investment over short-term price fluctuations
or political cycles. “It’s clear that the world needs far more energy,” he said.
“But energy development isn’t something that happens over weeks or months—it
requires planning over decades.” He stressed that ongoing US-Saudi cooperation,
along with shifts in Washington’s energy policy, could lead to accelerated
economic growth in both nations and globally. “That’s not just good for our
economies—it’s good for humanity,” he said. “But to make that future a reality,
we need significant investments across the full spectrum of energy and the
infrastructure to support it.”
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on April 13-14/2025
Defending Israel and Western Civilization More Urgent than Ever
Guy Millière/Gatestone
Institute/April 13, 2025
[A]ll Hamas needs to do to prevent this destruction is return all the hostages
it should not have kidnapped in the first place. Amnesty International has
served up a remarkable inversion of facts.
"What's shocking is that people in the Cease-Fire Now crowd don't appear to have
much interest in making any demands of Hamas equivalent to those they make of
Israel. They want Israel to stop firing. But do you often hear them insisting
that Hamas return the favor? They want Israel to provide Gaza with humanitarian
relief in the form of electricity, fuel and other goods. But I haven't seen
those protesters in the street demanding that Hamas provide Israel with
humanitarian relief in the form of immediately freeing all hostages.... For
Israelis, what 'Cease-Fire Now' means is 'Surrender Now.' No wonder they decline
to heed the call.... Whatever else one thinks of Israel, no country can be
expected to sign its own death warrant by indulging those who, if given the
chance, would annihilate it." — Bret Stephens, New York Times, November 21,
2023.
Clearly a massive dark-money problem obscenely exists within far too many
universities and cities both in the US and Europe.
It is also important to highlight the unabashedly toxic role of the United
Nations.... [T]he United Nations quickly became the world's leading organization
for, among other unsavory practices, propagating hatred of Israel and a general
hatred of Jews.
The Palestinian Authority to this day pays its citizens to murder Jews -- the
more Jews, the larger the payments.
In Europe, organizations that fight anti-Semitism.... Often left-wing, they
primarily denounce far-right anti-Semitism, but never far-left anti-Semitism,
and never ever Islamic anti-Semitism -- currently the only form of anti-Semitism
in Europe that attacks and kills Jews. Most Jewish organizations in Europe
support Israel, but more often than not advocate for dialogue between Israel and
the Palestinians and still support the mirage of a "two-state solution."
The vast majority of Israelis seem finally to have understood that the goal of
Palestinian organizations is not to create a state living in peace alongside
Israel, but to destroy Israel.
The vast majority of Israelis seem finally to have understood that the goal of
Palestinian organizations is not to create a state living in peace alongside
Israel, but to destroy Israel. The West, wrote the columnist Melanie Phillips,
needs "to take off its blinders, join up the dots and fight like Israel to
survive."
In the mainstream European and American media, the unspeakable October 7, 2023
Hamas massacre in Israel seems largely forgotten. The media rarely describe
Hamas as a terrorist organization with genocidal aims. When the word "genocide"
is used, even by self-described "human rights organizations," it is to accuse
the victim of the attacks, Israel.
Israel forcibly removed every Jew from Gaza in 2005 – long before the October 7,
2023 massacre. Nevertheless, one of Amnesty International's current campaigns,
"End Israel's Genocide against Palestinians in Gaza," continues to refer to the
"occupied Gaza Strip." Gaza has not been occupied for twenty years; it is not
occupied now. Gaza is the theater from where Palestinians are still firing
rockets and missiles at civilian targets in Israel.
Apparently Hamas had been planning the Ocotber 7 attacks on Israel years before
2023. October 7, 2023. On that day, Hamas bulldozed Israel's fences to slaughter
and torture to death 1,200 Israelis, including roasting an infant to death in an
oven, among other savageries. atrocities. The terrorist group then kidnapped
another 251 people and brought them to Gaza, where 59 are still being held, only
24 of whom are thought still to be alive. Many of these horrors were
triumphantly photographed by the Palestinians on Iphones,
In the Amnesty report, the October 7, massacre is cited only once and in
extremely sweetened way as a "Hamas led attack".
The problem, it seems, was that Israel had the check to retaliate and had the
check ask for its tortured hostages back. For this lack of courtesy, Amnesty
International excoriated it with ferocity:
"Israel's brutal onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza has killed tens of
thousands of people, wiped out entire families, flattened residential
neighborhoods, destroyed critical infrastructure and forcibly displaced 1.9
million Palestinians, over 90% of the population of the Gaza Strip, causing an
unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe..."
"Israel committed acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention and did so with
the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza. These acts include
killings, inflicting serious physical or mental harm to members of the protected
group and deliberately creating conditions of life calculated to bring about the
physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza."
In reality, of course, all Hamas needs to do to prevent this destruction is
return all the hostages it should not have kidnapped in the first place. Amnesty
International has served up a remarkable inversion of facts.
Amnesty's report, which basically reads like incitement to hatred of Israel,
appears based on accusations that are breathtakingly unfounded. Israel has never
sought the destruction of the Gazans. Several American millionaires in 2005 had
even pooled together $14 million to ensure that when the Jews left Gaza, the
Palestinians could use their greenhouses. Within days after the Jews withdrew,
every greenhouse had been looted and destroyed. Israel, has always done
everything possible to avoid killing civilians, and had reportedly been hoping
that Hamas would create a Singapore on the Mediterranean. Instead, Hamas, by
using its own civilians as human shields, invites civilian deaths –- as many as
possible precisely so that organizations such as Amnesty International will
falsely accuse Israel of as many deaths as it can. That Hamas tradition,
however, Amnesty International does not report.
Another self-described "human rights organization", Human Rights Watch, in
December, released another, highly inaccurate, defamatory report on Israel and
Gaza: "Extermination and Acts of Genocide". Apart from the word "extermination"
– apparently a tip of the hat to Hitler's extermination camps –the report
deceptively states that Israel is "deliberately depriving Palestinians in Gaza
of water" and adds that "Israeli authorities' actions have deprived the majority
of the more than 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza of access even to that
bare minimum amount of water, which has contributed to death and widespread
disease." Everything written in this libelous "report" is, disappointingly,
false.
The pro-Hamas propaganda that flooded American university campuses in the
aftermath of October 7, 2023 – and before it -- and which, with staged
demonstrations, have continued to flow for months -- often openly pro-Hamas,
anti-American and slamming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not
releasing the ho stages, as if he were hiding them in the Knesset, has been
particularly repugnant. The American entrepreneur Elon Musk has written that he
would like to know who are the "puppet masters" organizing everything. As New
York Times, columnist Bret Stephens noted as early as November 2023:
"It [Hamas] could get a real and lasting cease-fire for the people of Gaza — and
probably safe passage out of the territory for many of its members — in exchange
for releasing all the hostages, surrendering its arms and renouncing its rule in
favor of some other Arab power.
"That Hamas has done none of these things isn't shocking: It's a terrorist death
cult. What's shocking is that people in the Cease-Fire Now crowd don't appear to
have much interest in making any demands of Hamas equivalent to those they make
of Israel.
"They want Israel to stop firing. But do you often hear them insisting that
Hamas return the favor? They want Israel to provide Gaza with humanitarian
relief in the form of electricity, fuel and other goods. But I haven't seen
those protesters in the street demanding that Hamas provide Israel with
humanitarian relief in the form of immediately freeing all hostages. They claim
to want a 'free Palestine' for all its people. But I never hear them criticize
Hamas's dictatorship, or its contempt for the civil and human rights of its own
people, or its members' avowedly antisemitic boasts of slaughtering Jews......
"Yet that compliment is rarely accompanied with even a gesture of respect for
Israel's grief, or the legitimacy of its grievance with Hamas, or its need to
keep its citizens safe, or even its right to exist as a sovereign state. Even
when Israel's notional right to self-defense is briefly acknowledged, every
exercise of it is immediately deemed a war crime, whatever the evidence.
"For Israelis, what 'Cease-Fire Now' means is 'Surrender Now.' No wonder they
decline to heed the call....
'Whatever else one thinks of Israel, no country can be expected to sign its own
death warrant by indulging those who, if given the chance, would annihilate it."
Students paying a fortune to be at university to learn are, it increasingly
appears, get railroaded by not-for-profit organizations with political agendas
into supporting the worst anti-Semitic massacre since the 1940s. Slogans were
displayed backing some of the worst terrorist organizations of modern times to
endorse its intention to wipe out the State of Israel in a massive bloodbath.
Clearly a massive dark-money problem obscenely exists within far too many
universities and cities both in the US and Europe.
The problem is not limited just to what is taught in these universities. The
hatred of Israel by millions of people who know nothing of the country except
the racist propaganda demonizing it, quickly became accompanied by a surge in
anti-Semitic acts throughout the West.
It is also important to highlight the unabashedly toxic role of the United
Nations. While the founding charter of the United Nations states that its
initial purpose was to establish an organization reaffirming "faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the
equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small," the United
Nations quickly became the world's leading organization for, among other
unsavory practices (such as here and here), propagating hatred of Israel and a
general hatred of Jews.
The estrangement began in the 1960s, spurred on by the former Soviet Union.
After the Six-Day War in June 1967, the USSR evidently concluded that Israel --
which both many Israelis and Russians Union had thought of as a socialist state
and therefore as a perfect ally -- instead preferred to align with the West,
began demonizing Israel as a punishment. The USSR began disseminating the idea
that "Zionism = Racism", presumably to strengthen its relations with the
oil-rich Arab world. The adoption on November 10, 1975 by the General Assembly
of Resolution 3379, which declared Zionism to be "a form of racism and racial
discrimination" was the result.
During the same period, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR)
transformed itself into an anti-Israel lawfare organization and became filled
with an obsessive hatred of Israel that culminated in the organization of the
World Conference against Racism (WCAR) in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. Billed
as a conference against racism, it has instead been carefully prepared by the
United Nations, Secretary Mary Robinson and a massive group of Jew-hating NGOs
to demonize Israel. The UNCHR was replaced in 2006 by the United Nations Human
Rights Council (UNHRC), but the name change was hardly accompanied by a change
in policy. If anything, the UNHRC consisted of many of the world's leading
abusers of human rights in charge of the "henhouse".
Animated by a hateful anti-Israel obsession, the UNHCR, since its birth, has
been drenched in anti-Semitism. The recent report by the "Commission of Inquiry
on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel",
is only the most recent example of what discharges from this corrupt
institution. "Israel," states the report, "has increasingly employed sexual,
reproductive, and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians as
part of a broader effort to undermine their right to self-determination and
carried out genocidal acts." Writing that after the atrocities committed by
Hamas in October 2023 constitutes a monstrous inversion of reality. Israelis are
being accused of crimes without the slightest basis.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin declared that the UNHRC had "once again chosen
to attack the State of Israel with false accusations, including baseless charges
of sexual violence" and described the UNHCR as "an anti-Semitic, corrupt,
terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body." Earlier instances of defamatory
charges from the UN include the infamous Goldstone Report which unjustly
vilified Israel and Goldstone was eventually forced to withdraw. More recently,
in 2022, unlimited funding was allocated for a seemingly eternal "Commission of
Inquiry" of Israel. According to Anne Bayefsky, a Canadian law professor and a
member of the International Law Association Committee on International Human
Rights Law and Practice, the UN "hit a new low":
"Two and a half hours ago the UN General Assembly's budget committee (a
committee of the whole, i.e. composed of all 193 member states) decided to fund
a new 'Commission of Inquiry' established by the UN Human Rights Council that is
intended to emasculate the state of Israel.
Without exaggeration, it is the most hostile and dangerous anti-Israel body the
UN has ever created. It will decide Israel is guilty of apartheid, validate and
unleash criminal prosecutions of Israelis, significantly magnify pressure on
'third states"' and 'business enterprises' to engage in BDS, and insist on an
arms embargo against Israel.
"It is permanent in duration. It will have 18 permanent UN staff funded by the
regular budget – which means 22% of it will come from American taxpayers,
creating an in-house legal bureau to seek criminal charges against members of
the IDF and the highest echelons of the Israeli government ('command
responsibility'). The three members of the 'Inquiry' have been appointed – and
all have public records of extreme anti-Israel hostility."
UNESCO is arguably as bad or worse. Its initial goal was to promote "world peace
and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences, and
culture." Its goal, since the State of Palestine, which does not exist,
supposedly became a "member" on October 31, 2011, has appeared to pile on
through "lawfare" a negationist erasure of Jewish history. The holiest sites in
Judaism are now referred to by UNESCO as "Palestinian sites." Rachel's Tomb
became the Bilal ibn Rabah Mosque for UNESCO, the Tomb of the Patriarchs became
the Ibrahimi Mosque, the Western Wall Plaza became the Buraq Plaza, and the
Temple Mount became the Haram al-Sharif. In October 2017, because of its
anti-Israel bias, both the United States and Israel withdrew from UNESCO.
The non-existent "State of Palestine" also managed to become a "member" of the
International Criminal Court (ICC) on April 1, 2015. Since then, the ICC has
become a tool to demonize Israel. On November 21, 2024, international arrest
warrants were issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Baseless allegations falsely accused of
Israel of "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes
against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts."
The Palestinian Authority is a political group that finances and supports
anti-Israeli terrorism, and backed the October 7, 2023, massacre, yet this
totally fictitious entity is recognized as the "State of Palestine" by 146 of
the 193 member states of the United Nations, including thirteen European
countries. The Palestinian Authority to this day pays its citizens to murder
Jews –- the more Jews, the larger the payments. The Palestinian Authority is the
only group of terrorists in history to have been granted statehood by so many
states around the world, including by several European democracies.
There was a time when hatred of Israel was almost non-existent in the United
States, and support for Israel was shared by both the Democratic and Republican
parties. That time is long over. The Democratic Party now includes boastful
anti-Israel and anti-Semitic representatives in its ranks. Surveys show that
while most Republican voters clearly support Israel, the percentage of
Democratic voters who support Israel is in decline. A recent poll shows that 83%
of Republican voters support Israel, compared to only 33% of Democratic voters.
What has changed in the United States and Europe is the penetration of
Soviet-inspired Palestinian propaganda into left-wing movements, where it is now
widespread. Far-left movements, long hostile to what they call
American imperialism," have become resolutely hostile to Israel, which they
incorrectly define as an "imperialist state". Israel in fact, is
anti-colonialist: countless Jewish lives were lost fighting for independence
from the British.
What has also changed is the increased presence of Muslims – who vote in the US
and Europe -- and of Islam. For many Muslims and Jew-haters worldwide, the
"Palestinian cause" has become a rallying cry. The message is often accompanied
by the idea that Israel, Jews and all "infidels" must be destroyed, and that
murdering Jews and Christians is a legitimate. even necessary, undertaking.
Far-left movements and Islamists share, in addition to hating Israel, a
rejection of Western civilization. In the last decade, or so, an unhealthy,
harmful synergy has been created between them that has become extremely
dangerous – not only for Israel, but also for the West. Islamists not only
regard Israel as illegitimate, bit also the West as illegitimate it was created
by mankind, not by Allah. Many on the left, often Marxists, appear eager to
destroy Israel as part of the West. They openly declare that they want tear down
the West, capitalism, whiteness, historical figures, and restart "civilization"
with -- themselves!
The "left" in Israel also seems to have become more extreme in recent years, and
not fully to understand what is at stake. Since Netanyahu formed his government
in December 2022, Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid consistently voiced vehement
criticism against it. "The government being formed here, he stated in December
19, 2022, "is dangerous, extremist, irresponsible. This will end badly". Former
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak urged Israelis to engage in "civil
disobedience". From December 2022 until the massacres of October 7, 2023,
demonstrations, sometimes turning into riots, ostensibly denouncing the threat
to democracy posed by the Netanyahu government, took place in Israel each week.
In reality, Netanyahu's government has never threatened Israeli democracy; it
has actually tried to restore it. All the same, reservist soldiers, including
Air Force pilots, threatened to boycott their duty as reservists, unfortunately
weakening the perception by Israel's enemies of the strength of Israel's
commitment to defending the state. This view most likely reinforced the belief
by Hamas's leaders that the time had come to attack. The statements of Lapid and
Barak, protesters, rioters, and reservists and a generally hostile media were
widely quoted by anti-Israel activists around the world and contributed to a
worldwide orgy of Israel-bashing.
In the United States, organizations that support Israel and fight anti-Semitism
cling to political correctness. They do not seem to understand what is at stake,
either. The Anti-Defamation League, which claims to combat anti-Semitism,
refuses to identify what has been the main source of anti-Semitic protests in
the US , especially after October 7: paid agents, leftists and radical
Islamists. Instead, the ADL refers to "extremism," "white supremacists" and
"far-right influencers" rather than supporters of Hamas.
In Europe, organizations that fight anti-Semitism do seem to understand what is
at stake. Often left-wing, they primarily denounce far-right anti-Semitism, but
never far-left anti-Semitism, and never ever Islamic anti-Semitism -- currently
the only form of anti-Semitism in Europe that attacks and kills Jews. Most
Jewish organizations in Europe support Israel, but more often than not advocate
for dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians and still support the mirage of
a "two-state solution."
The vast majority of Israelis seem finally to have understood that the goal of
Palestinian organizations is not to create a state living in peace alongside
Israel, but to destroy Israel.
Most right-wing political movements defending Western civilization in Europe
manage to denounce Islamic antisemitism and support Israel, but the media keep
them at arm's length.
Although the Israeli army profoundly damaged Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran's
defense systems, Israel is not out of danger. Iran does not look even slightly
eager to give up its nuclear weapons and missile programs. US President Donald
J. Trump, to his great credit, has issued unambiguous warnings to the regime,
which they appear convinced he will never enact. Perhaps they assume that they
can negotiate long enough to outlast his term.
The fight must not stop. Israel is still in danger, but far more is in danger
than just Israel. Douglas Murray recently wrote:
"We now know that on the day of October 7, pro-terror groups in the US were
organizing to attack Israel — to demonize it and to lie about it.... on October
8, some of these terrorist supporters gathered in Times Square — to support the
massacres as they were still going on.... This group declares in its own mission
statements that it is 'fighting for the total eradication of Western
civilization.'"
The West, wrote the columnist Melanie Phillips, needs "to take off its blinders,
join up the dots and fight like Israel to survive."
*Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27
books on France and Europe.
© 2025 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.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21548/defending-israe-western-civilization
Opinion - Biden’s administration
may have suppressed COVID evidence contradicting Chinese claims
Jonathan Turley, Opinion Contributor/The Hill/April 13/2025
Imagine a world war that left more than seven million dead, hundreds of millions
became ill, wrecked the global economy, and left a generation with lasting
psychological and developmental injuries. We have seen such wars in history.
What is different in this circumstance, however, is that all of that happened,
and yet, years later, we still have no agreement on the original cause or
possible culprits behind a pandemic that ravaged the world. Worse yet, many
politicians, experts and journalists do not seem inclined to find the answers.
This is like fighting World War II and then shrugging off the question of what
actually started it. New questions are being raised over long-withheld evidence
on the origins of COVID, information that contradicted the accounts of not just
the Biden administration but also allies in academia and the media. The Chinese
first reported the outbreak in December 2019 and insisted that it came from a
wet market in Wuhan — a natural or “zoonotic” transfer from bats sold at the
market. Others were skeptical and pointed to the nearby Wuhan government virus
lab, known to have conducted coronavirus studies with bats. This lab had a
history of safety and contamination concerns.
The “lab-leak theory,” which was always the most obvious explanation, was
further reinforced by scientists who saw evidence of possible manipulation of
the virus’s genetic code, particularly the “spike protein” that enables the
virus to enter the human body in a “gain of function” operation.
There was (and still is) a serious controversy over the origins of the virus,
but any debate was quickly scuttled in favor of the natural theory.
The Chinese immediately moved to crush any speculation of a lab-leak. Wuhan
scientists were gagged and the Chinese refused to allow international
investigators access to them or the lab in question. The Chinese also used their
considerable influence over the World Health Organization and other groups to
dismiss or downplay the lab theory..
Now, a long-withheld military report has finally been released by the Trump
administration. It appears to confirm what was once denied by the Biden
administration: U.S. military service members contracted COVID-19-like symptoms
after participating in the World Military Games in October 2019 in Wuhan.
That contradicts China’s timeline. It suggests a longer cover-up in that
country, which allowed the virus to spread not only to the U.S. but to countries
around the world. Other nations also reported that their military personnel had
fallen ill after attending the same games, suggesting that the virus was not
only spreading but already raging in the area at that time. The most disturbing
aspect of this report is not the alleged conduct of the Chinese government, but
that of our own.
Rumors of U.S. military personnel coming down with the virus had long been out
there. Republicans in Congress repeatedly asked the Biden administration about
any report on the outbreak.
Then-Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told The Washington Post in June 2021 that
the military had “no knowledge” of COVID-19 infections among the troops
participating in those games.
Even as the illness associated with the games became known, the Biden
administration repeatedly refused to confirm the U.S. cases, and a 2022 report
was withheld from both Congress and the public. If true, the level of duplicity
and dishonesty is shocking. In the U.S. alone, more than 1.2 million died and
more than 111 million were made sick by this virus. Yet the Biden administration
is accused of withholding this information from the world. Why? This disclosure
follows an equally troubling disclosure that scientists in the Biden
administration actually found support for the lab theory but were silenced by
their superiors.
Last December, the Wall Street Journal released an alarming report on how these
scientists supported the lab theory on the origin of the COVID-19 virus. Not
only were the FBI and its top experts excluded from a critical briefing of
Biden, but government scientists were reportedly warned that they were “off the
reservation” in supporting the lab theory.
As scientists were being attacked publicly and blacklisted for supporting the
lab theory, experts at both the FBI and the Energy Department found the lab
theory credible. Although no theory could be proven conclusively, it was deemed
a more likely scenario than the natural-origin theory. The CIA also found the
lab theory credible.
What the public was hearing was entirely different. They were hearing the same
narrative laid out by the Chinese government in December 2019.
The Chinese relied upon western scientists to form a mob against anyone raising
the lab-leak theory as a possible explanation. Many were enlisted to sign
letters or publish statements denouncing the idea. It became an article of faith
— a required virtue signal among university scientists.
The western media were equally primed to quash the theory.
After President Trump embraced the lab theory, the Chinese had the perfect
setup. The media was on a hair-trigger in opposition and denounced his comments
as not only unfounded but also racist. MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace mocked Trump and
others for spreading “conspiracy theories.” MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt insisted that “we
know it’s been debunked that this virus was manmade or modified.”
MSNBC’s Joy Reid called the lab leak theory “debunked bunkum.” Over at CNN,
reporter Drew Griffin criticized the “widely debunked” theory and host Fareed
Zakaria told viewers that “the far right has now found its own virus conspiracy
theory” in the lab leak.
The Washington Post was particularly dogmatic. After Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)
raised the lab-leak theory, he was chastised for “repeat[ing] a fringe theory
suggesting that the ongoing spread of a coronavirus is connected to research in
the disease-ravaged epicenter of Wuhan, China.”
The Post’s “fact checker” Glenn Kessler mocked Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for
entertaining the theory. “I fear @tedcruz missed the scientific animation in the
video that shows how it is virtually impossible for this virus to jump from the
lab,” he posted. “Or the many interviews with actual scientists. We deal in
facts, and viewers can judge for themselves.”
Even in 2021 when countervailing evidence was surfacing, the unrelenting attacks
continued. New York Times science and health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli urged
journalists not to mention the “racist” lab theory.
Social media companies also enforced the narrative and, with the coordination of
the Biden Administration, experts raising the lab theory were targeted,
censored, and blacklisted.
It now appears that the COVID outbreak may have occurred months before the
alleged wet market release — months that could have been used to contain the
virus. Instead, China is accused of suppressing the news and allowing the virus
to spread worldwide. Our military personnel alone went home from the Wuhan games
to 25 states, potentially carrying it with them.
When information on these infections connected to the games was reported around
the world, China even suggested that the U.S. used the games to release the
weaponized virus.
In 2020, I wrote a column on why China seemed poised to avoid any liability for
what might be the greatest act of negligence in history. The sheer size of the
disaster somehow seemed to insulate China. As Joseph Stalin had once said, “a
single death is a tragedy” and “a million deaths is a statistic.”Try more than
seven million, and you have a statistic that was not worth confronting the
Chinese over. What was done was done.
Congress and the Trump administration are now working to reconstruct this
record. There is much that we still do not know. However, the public has already
paid dearly for the answers. We have more than a million questions, and not one
of them is a statistic to those who loved them.
**Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George
Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in
an Age of Rage.”
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Current Relationship between NATO, TURKIYE, and the
USA
SAL SAYGIN SIMSEK (April 11, 2025)
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has faced challenges in recent
years, including debates over its relevance, funding, and the commitment of
member states. Some critics argue that shifting global dynamics and internal
disagreements have weakened the alliance.
The United States is the backbone of NATO, wielding unparalleled influence
within the alliance. It contributes the largest share of NATO’s budget and
possesses the most advanced military capabilities, including nuclear deterrence,
cutting-edge technology, and global reach. The U.S. military’s presence in
Europe, with bases and troops stationed across the continent, reinforces NATO’s
collective defense strategy. Beyond its military strength, the U.S. plays a
pivotal role in shaping NATO’s policies and strategic direction.
Turkiye holds significant power within NATO due to its strategic location,
military strength, and diplomatic influence. As a member since 1952, Turkiye has
NATO’s second-largest army, providing substantial manpower for defense and
operations. Its geographical position at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the
Middle East makes it a critical player in regional security and global
geopolitics.
Turkiye’s defense industry has grown considerably, producing effective equipment
like the Bayraktar TB2 drones, which have proven valuable in modern warfare.
Additionally, Turkiye controls key waterways, such as the Bosphorus Strait,
under the Montreux Convention, which impacts naval movements in the Black Sea.
Over the past decade, Turkiye and the United States have experienced a complex
and evolving relationship, marked by cooperation and occasional tensions. Here
are some key highlights:
Strategic Partnership: Turkiye remains a vital NATO ally, contributing to
regional security and counterterrorism efforts. The U.S. has relied on Turkiye’s
strategic location, particularly the Incirlik Air Base, for operations in the
Middle East.
Challenges: The relationship has faced strains due to issues like Turkiye’s
purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems, which led to U.S. sanctions and
Turkiye’s removal from the F-35 fighter jet program. Additionally, disagreements
over U.S. support for Kurdish groups in Syria have caused friction.
Diplomatic Engagements: Despite challenges, both nations have worked together on
critical issues, including the fight against ISIS and addressing regional
instability. The U.S. has emphasized the importance of keeping Turkiye anchored
to the Euro-Atlantic community.
Recent Developments: The relationship saw a more constructive tone in recent
years, with increased coordination on Ukraine and defense cooperation. However,
mutual mistrust remains evident in negotiations on Sweden’s NATO accession and
Turkiye’s purchase of F-35 and F-16 fighter aircraft.
Recent developments have brought both challenges and opportunities to Turkey-US
relations:
Defense Cooperation: Turkiye’s acquisition of upgraded F-16 fighter jets has
restored some trust between the two nations. This move reflects a renewed focus
on defense collaboration, despite past tensions over Turkiye’s purchase of
Russian S-400 missile systems.
Sweden’s NATO Accession: Turkiye’s approval of Sweden’s NATO membership marked a
significant diplomatic step, showcasing Turkiye’s willingness to align with
broader NATO goals.
Diplomatic Engagements: High-level meetings, such as Turkish Foreign Minister
Hakan Fidan’s visit to the U.S., have emphasized a mutual desire to strengthen
ties, particularly in defense and regional security.
Geopolitical Dynamics: The evolving global landscape, including the war in
Ukraine, has prompted closer coordination between Turkiye and the U.S. on
regional stability and defense strategies
Turkiye and the United States share a multifaceted financial relationship,
shaped by trade, investment, and economic cooperation. Here are some key
aspects:
Trade: The U.S. is one of Turkiye’s major trading partners, with bilateral trade
covering goods like machinery, vehicles, and agricultural products. Turkiye
exports textiles, steel, and electronics to the U.S., while importing advanced
technology and defense equipment.
Investment: American companies have invested in various sectors in Turkiye,
including energy, technology, and manufacturing. Turkiye’s strategic location
and growing economy make it an attractive destination for U.S. investors.
Economic Challenges: The relationship has faced hurdles, such as tariffs and
sanctions imposed during political disputes. These measures have occasionally
strained economic ties but have also led to negotiations and resolutions.
Regional Cooperation: Both countries collaborate on economic initiatives in the
Middle East and beyond, leveraging Turkiye’s position as a bridge between Europe
and Asia.
Turkiye and the United States have a growing interest in rare minerals,
particularly due to their importance in technology, defense, and clean energy.
Here are some key points:
Turkiye’s Rare Mineral Reserves: Turkiye has discovered one of the world’s
largest rare earth element reserves, located in Eskişehir. This deposit includes
minerals like thorium, fluorite, and barite, which are critical for nuclear
technology and advanced manufacturing.
Strategic Partnerships: Turkiye recently joined the Minerals Security
Partnership (MSP), a U.S.-led initiative aimed at diversifying global supply
chains for rare earth minerals. This collaboration positions Turkiye as a key
player in reducing reliance on China’s dominance in the rare earth market.
Production Goals: Turkiye aims to produce significant quantities of rare earth
oxides annually, which could benefit U.S. industries, including defense and
clean energy.
Geopolitical Implications: Turkiye’s involvement in rare earth production aligns
with broader U.S. efforts to secure critical minerals and strengthen supply
chains amid global competition
Turkiye has played a significant role in the Syrian conflict, particularly in
opposition to Bashar al-Assad’s regime. In December 2024, Assad’s government
fell to Syrian opposition forces, marking a major shift in the region. Turkiye’s
involvement included backing rebel groups and maintaining a military presence in
northern Syria, which helped shape the outcome. This aligns with Turkiye’s
long-standing goal of countering Kurdish forces near its border and influencing
Syria’s future.
The fall of Assad has increased Turkiye’s regional influence but also presents
strategic challenges, such as managing relations with various opposition
factions and addressing the concerns of Syrian refugees.
Protecting minorities in Syria remains a critical challenge, especially in the
aftermath of the Syrian Civil War and the recent fall of Bashar al-Assad’s
regime. Here are some key developments:
Violence Against Minorities: Recent clashes have resulted in significant
casualties among minority groups, including Christians and Alawites. These
communities have faced targeted violence, highlighting the ongoing risks they
endure.
International Condemnation: The United States and other nations have condemned
attacks on Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities. They have called for
accountability and measures to protect these vulnerable groups.
Interim Government’s Promises: Syria’s interim leadership has pledged to respect
all communities and affiliations. However, the recent violence raises concerns
about the government’s ability to ensure safety and stability for minorities
Protecting minorities in Syria requires a multifaceted approach, addressing both
immediate safety concerns and long-term stability. Here are some strategies:
International Oversight: Establishing international monitoring bodies to oversee
the treatment of minorities and ensure accountability for human rights
violations.
Legal Protections: Enacting and enforcing laws that guarantee equal rights and
protections for all ethnic and religious groups, regardless of the ruling
government.
Decentralization: Advocating for a federal system, as some experts suggest, to
allow diverse regions to govern themselves while respecting minority rights.
Community Engagement: Encouraging dialogue and cooperation between different
communities to rebuild trust and promote coexistence.
Humanitarian Aid: Providing targeted support to minority communities, including
access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities.
Global Support: Leveraging international partnerships to pressure local
authorities and extremist groups to respect minority rights.
Secular democracy is needed in Syria for long term peace and protecting ethnic
and religious minorities. However, promoting secular democracy in Syria is a
complex challenge, especially given its diverse population and history of
authoritarian rule. Here are some strategies that could help:
Inclusive Governance: Establishing a political system that represents all ethnic
and religious groups, ensuring minority rights and preventing sectarianism.
Education Reform: Promoting secular education to foster critical thinking and
reduce the influence of extremist ideologies.
International Support: Leveraging global partnerships to provide financial aid,
expertise, and diplomatic backing for democratic reforms.
Civil Society Empowerment: Strengthening local organizations and activists who
advocate for democracy and human rights.
Legal Frameworks: Implementing constitutional reforms that guarantee freedoms,
equality, and separation of religion from state affairs.
Secularism has seen a notable rise in parts of the Middle East, challenging
traditional norms and religious dominance. This shift is driven by several
factors:
Changing Social Attitudes: Surveys indicate growing secular identities,
especially among younger generations in countries like Tunisia, Lebanon, and
Egypt. For example, Tunisia has seen a significant increase in nonreligious
individuals.
Urbanization and Modernization: As cities expand and societies modernize,
secular values often gain traction, influencing education, governance, and
cultural practices.
Disillusionment with Islamism: In some regions, the failure of Islamist
movements to deliver on promises has led to a decline in their appeal, paving
the way for secular ideologies.
Legal and Cultural Challenges: Despite the rise, secularism faces resistance,
with anti-atheist legislation and cultural taboos still prevalent in many areas
Turkiye’s diplomatic and strategic relationships have evolved significantly,
reflecting its growing influence on both European and transatlantic stages. At
institutions like Chatham House, Turkiye’s role in regional stability, economic
reforms, and its position within NATO are frequently analyzed. These discussions
emphasize Turkiye’s importance in addressing challenges like the Syrian crisis
and its ambitions in multilateral institutions.
On the transatlantic front, Turkiye’s alignment with the White House has
strengthened through initiatives like NATO’s Strategic Concept and defense
collaborations. Turkiye’s approval of Sweden’s NATO membership and its
participation in U.S.-led initiatives, such as the Minerals Security
Partnership, highlight its increasing integration into Western priorities.
American Mideast Coalition for Democracy
American Iranian Coalition for Democracy (AICD)
Middle East Christian Committee
World Council for the Cedars Revolution
Trump goes with his gut and the world goes along for the
ride
Chris Megerian/WASHINGTON (AP)/ April 13, 2025
After President Donald Trump reversed course on his tariffs and announced he
would pursue trade negotiations, he had a simple explanation for how he would
make decisions in the coming weeks.
“Instinctively, more than anything else,” he told reporters this past week. “You
almost can’t take a pencil to paper, it’s really more of an instinct than
anything else.”
It was the latest example of how Trump loves to keep everyone on edge for his
next move. Trump has not only expansively flexed the powers of the presidency by
declaring emergencies and shredding political norms, he has eschewed traditional
deliberative procedures for making decisions. The result is that more of life
around the country and the world is subject to the president’s desires, moods
and grievances than ever before.
“We have a democratic leader who seems to have the authority to act as
whimsically as a 19th century European autocrat,” said Tim Naftali, a historian
and senior research scholar at Columbia University. “He sneezes and everyone
catches a cold.”
The White House rejects criticism that Trump is overstepping his authority or
improperly consolidating power. Administration officials frequently emphasize
that the Republican president won a clear election victory and is now pursuing
the agenda that he campaigned on. In this view, resisting his will, such as when
courts block his executive orders, is the real threat to democracy. “Trust in
President Trump," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday while
answering questions about economic policy. "He knows what he’s doing.”
The presidency has been accumulating power for years, long before Trump ran for
office, and it is not unusual for administrations to veer in various directions
based on political and policy priorities. But Trump's new term has been
different in the early months, and he seems to recognize it. “The second term is
just more powerful,” Trump marveled recently. “When I say ‘do it,’ they do
it.”Although international trade offers the most extensive example of Trump’s
inclination to act unilaterally since he returned to office in January the same
approach has been evident elsewhere.
He installed himself as chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts to overhaul programming at Washington’s premier cultural institution. He
issued an order to purge “improper ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution's
network of museums. He punished law firms associated with his opponents. He
directed the Justice Department to investigate former officials who crossed him
during his first term.
When Trump decided to remove regulations on household water efficiency — he
wants more water flowing in showers — his executive order said the normal public
comment period "is unnecessary because I am ordering the repeal."
“What the president ends up having is what he wants, which is everyone’s
attention all of the time,” Naftali said. Trump’s ambitions stretch beyond the
United States, such as his goal of annexing Greenland. Vice President JD Vance
visited the island last month to talk about its strategic location in the
Arctic, where Russia and China want to expand their influence, but also its
importance to Trump himself. “We can’t just ignore the president’s desires,”
Vance said. Trump has spent decades trying to turn his impulses into reality,
whether it's skyscrapers in Manhattan or casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
He once sued a journalist for allegedly underestimating his net worth. During a
deposition, Trump said "it goes up and down with the markets and with attitudes
and with feelings, even my own feelings.”
A lawyer for the journalist appeared puzzled. "You said your net worth goes up
and down based upon your own feelings?”Trump said yes. “I would say it’s my
general attitude at the time that the question may be asked.”
He took a similar approach into the White House for his first term. While
talking about the economy with The Washington Post, Trump said “my gut tells me
more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.”
Leon Panetta, who was White House chief of staff under Democratic President Bill
Clinton and later served in national security roles for Democratic President
Barack Obama, said there normally is a more deliberative process for critical
issues.
“If you throw all of that out of the window and operate based on gut instincts,
what you’re doing is making every decision a huge gamble,” Panetta said.
“Because you just haven’t done the homework to really understand all of the
implications.”
“When you roll dice,” he added, “sometimes it’s going to come up snake eyes.”
Because Trump does not have a clear process for making decisions, Panetta said
“that means everybody has to kowtow to him because that’s the only way you’re
going to have any impact.”
Trump has seemed to enjoy that aspect of the ongoing controversy over tariffs.
During a Republican dinner this past week, he said foreign leaders were “kissing
my ass” to talk him out of his trade agenda.
The saga began on April 2 when Trump declared that trade deficits — when the
U.S. buys more products from some countries than it sells — represented a
national emergency, enabling him to enact tariffs without congressional
approval.
The stock market collapsed and then the bond market began to slide. On
Wednesday, Trump backed off his plans.
Although high taxes have been left in place on imports from China, many of the
other targeted tariffs have been paused for 90 days to allow time for
negotiations with individual countries. “Americans should trust in that
process," said Leavitt, the press secretary.
Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the conservative Cato
Institute, expressed concern that the course of international trade was becoming
dependent on the “whims of a single dude in the Oval Office."
Lincicome said the White House timeline to reach trade deals was “not credible"
given the complexity of the issues. A more likely scenario, he said, is that the
resulting agreements will be nothing more than “superficial nothingburgers” and
Trump will ”declare a great victory and all this stuff settles down.” Peter
Navarro, Trump's trade adviser, said in an interview with Fox Business Network
that there's “a whole portion of our White House working day and night” on
negotiations. “We’re going to run 90 deals in 90 days,” he said. "It’s
possible.”
After Two Years of War, Shrinking Funds Mean Aid Money
Needs to Go Further in Sudan
Abdallah Al Dardari/Asharq Al Awsat/13 April 2025
Two years into the war, Sudan remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis,
with 25 million people struggling to get enough to eat and over 12 million
displaced. Nearly everyone has a tale of horror to tell, whether suffered
themselves or experienced by a family member or friend. But horror is not in
short supply around the world, and the response of the humanitarian community to
a growing number of crises is severely hampered by the bleakest funding
situation since the Second World War. Globally, the UN has appealed for US$45
billion to support humanitarian needs of 185 million people in 2025. It has
received only 5 percent of this. In Sudan, this threatens lives as food supplies
dwindle and health facilities shut. Perhaps last week you could feed your
children in an emergency kitchen set up to provide basic meals, but this week
the gates are locked. If your local clinic is still open (around 75% of health
facilities have shut), there are fewer medicines on the shelf for preventable
but deadly diseases like Tuberculosis and diarrhoea. We must find ways to
minimize this suffering and make funding go further. This includes by supporting
the Sudanese to help themselves, moving beyond humanitarian aid and by using
donor money to kickstart engagement with the private sector. It’s what civil
society and business leaders called for in my meetings with them in Sudan, which
echoed my same thoughts when war came to my own country, Syria some 15 years
ago. We didn’t want handouts then. Like the Sudanese – like everyone – we wanted
to maintain our ability to support ourselves, as the best preparation for the
“day after”. The military situation on the ground is fluid, but in many areas,
security has improved, and people are moving home, crammed into small busses or
carrying their possessions across hundreds of kilometers of ruined countryside.
Leading the way back home in many instances are the women, who in Sudan like
most other conflicts had borne the major brunt of war. And often unnoticed, have
been the critical glue that kept families and household together through the
hardship.
In every case, the return journey is one of anxiety as well as hope. What’s left
of my house and my farm? Has my shop been looted? Have my tools been stolen? For
many, the joy of seeing a familiar horizon and childhood landmarks is tempered
by the reality of empty shelves and the difficulty of starting again with no
tools or seeds or stock.
Enabling farmers to do just that can be as simple as providing basic tools,
drought-resistant seeds and cost-effective solutions like solar-powered water
pumps that can open up new land and operate even where power has been cut off.
UNDP has tried this approach in Kessala, Gedaref and River Nile governorates,
where we helped farmers boost yields and set up kitchen gardens on unused land.
This helped feed families, increased the food supply and boosted the local
economy. Profits were then re-invested to expand production, making it possible
for us to move on to support other communities. Another approach is to
leverage funds for greater impact by bringing in the private sector. I saw this
during my time in Afghanistan, where the UNDP used US$2 million of funding to
make possible US$20 million of loans for small businesses. With these loans,
farmers and entrepreneurs were able to expand operations. Increased profits
allowed them to repay the loans and reduced the need for outside support. In
Sudan, we have just piloted a similar scheme to make US$5 million of loans
available for people who would normally be cut off from financial services. As
their businesses grow, so will the ability of communities to buy food, medicine
and other essentials. These two approaches call for a change in mindset so that
sustainable development can go hand-in-hand with emergency aid.
We all hope for a rapid and lasting peace in Sudan – and the number of people
returning home is a vote of confidence in the country’s future by the country’s
people. But even if peace were declared today, there would still be a long road
ahead to repair the damage of war. It is vital that we support families and
communities to withstand current shocks, so they are ready to make the most of
peace whenever it comes.
In the home of the Oracle, the future is anyone’s guess
Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/April 13, 2025
Since taking office last January, US President Donald Trump has left world
leaders, economists, and political analysts struggling to predict the future.
After all, the case was — and very much still is — that when America sneezes,
the world catches a cold. One only has to imagine how friends and foes alike are
rushing to think tanks, analysts, and lobbyists to try to decipher the
announcements and executive orders coming out of Washington on a daily basis.
It is, therefore, perhaps fitting that a large number of the global elite
gathered at a mountain town believed by ancient Greeks to be the home of the
Oracle. Legend has it that Delphi was an ancient religious sanctuary dedicated
to the mythical Greek figure Apollo. Developed in the eighth century B.C., the
sanctuary was home to the Oracle of Delphi, known throughout the ancient world
for predicting the future. Opening the Delphi Economic Forum, Greek President
Konstantinos Tasoulas did not mince his words, saying that his country “supports
transatlantic ties, while it contributes to efforts for its strategic autonomy,
and the de-escalation of the trade war that is harmful to everyone, always
advocating for a unified European policy.”
All things considered, you don’t need the Oracle to tell you that all roads lead
to Riyadh
As he noted, “in an era in which global upheavals and radical changes are
already apparent in both geopolitics and geoeconomics, with a pre-war-style
imposition of intense protectionism that is disrupting and worsening the
post-war global free economic system, our country is called upon to walk on
familiar and tried-and-tested paths.”Many questions were raised about Ukraine,
whether it would be abandoned, and in the absence of the Russian narrative, most
people were left wondering what comes next. Well, the answer might emerge soon
from Saudi Arabia if the peace talks succeed.
In fact, Saudi Arabia was the only other topic that competed with Trump, and not
just in the context of Ukraine. When it comes to stabilizing energy prices and
ending the war in Gaza, all hopes are on the solutions that may come out of
Riyadh.
This is thanks to the Kingdom’s foreign policy, which has pursued a fine
balancing act, staying close to the US and the West, while at the same time
strengthening its relations with China and Russia, and trying to minimize or
eradicate conflicts and disputes with countries such as Iran. Let us also not
forget that Riyadh enjoys an excellent relationship with Trump due to the trust
and respect built during his first administration. Trump has left world leaders,
economists, and political analysts struggling to predict the future.
When you combine such a web of relationships with the religious clout and
economic might that the Kingdom enjoys, one can only begin to imagine the sphere
of influence it has which was and is being used to help resolve regional and
international conflicts. However, there is an added element, too, for
Saudi-Greek bilateral ties, which have grown tremendously in the past eight
years.
Early this year, the relationship was strengthened by the visit of Prime
Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Saudi Arabia. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
received him in AlUla and he also visited the historic UNESCO World Heritage
Site at Hegra. They discussed relations between the two countries as well as
ways to increase cooperation in various fields. The crown prince and Mitsotakis
also chaired the Saudi-Greek Strategic Partnership Council, which oversees areas
of current and future cooperation. Among Saudis, including yours truly, Greece
is not only known for its history and heritage as a tourist destination, but we
will never forget that when US President Joe Biden withdrew the Patriot
anti-aircraft missiles in the middle of the war on the Houthis, it was Greece
that decided to send the Patriot missile system to Saudi Arabia on loan. This
gesture was highly applauded and appreciated in the Kingdom and provided a
unique bond in the relationship between Athens and Riyadh. As a firm believer in
this relationship and what it could mean in terms of benefits for both
countries, the region, and for Europe, the uncertainty the world is going
through means Athens should push full speed ahead, especially to enhance its
economic standing. That would also give the country an edge that could
potentially end the need for a general strike, which is what happened on day one
of the conference, stopping many delegates from attending. Kudos to the
organizers for making it a success regardless.
With the world divided, Saudi Arabia is playing the role of pacifier. The idea
is to quench the fires of division and provide a healing touch to humanity. All
things considered, you don’t need the Oracle to tell you that all roads lead to
Riyadh.
*Faisal J. Abbas is the editor-in-chief of Arab News. X: @FaisalJAbbas
US must stand with Iraq again
Dalia Al-Aqidi/Arab News/April 13, 2025
In an unprecedented spirit of bipartisan action, Republican Rep. Joe Wilson from
South Carolina and Democrat Rep. Jimmy Panetta from California have introduced
the Free Iraq from Iran Act, a piece of legislation that reflects what Iraqis
and regional experts have called for in recent years: a determined confrontation
with Iran’s malign influence over Iraq’s independence. This bill is long
overdue.
For nearly two decades, Iran has intensified its grip on Iraq, making it
stronger, more violent, and more entrenched. It has utilized the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps and a web of its allied militias to transform its
neighbor into a launching platform for regional aggression, as well as an
ideological playground of subjugation. The demand of the bill for suspending US
assistance to Iraq if the government fails to take substantial actions toward
disarming and disbanding these militias is not only warranted but essential.
Iran has skillfully taken advantage of the post-Saddam vacuum of power since
2003. Using its Quds Force and proxies such as Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl Al-Haq,
and the Badr Organization, the IRGC has successfully entrenched itself in Iraq’s
security, economic, and political fabric. The militias do not report to Baghdad.
They report to Tehran. Their allegiance is not to the Iraqi constitution.
What started out as so-called resistance movements have evolved into a parallel
state, one that assassinates journalists for sport, blackmails political
opposition, embezzles public funds, and attacks US personnel with impunity.
While some of these militias are nominally part of Iraq’s security forces, they
function, in fact, as state-sponsored terror groups. Beneath the illusion of
national unity lies a fractured state, where loyalty is divided and foreign
powers pull the strings.
The Free Iraq from Iran Act accurately identifies the root of Iraq’s
instability: the intentional interference by its neighbor in the sovereignty of
Iraq. It also outlines an actionable path forward, cutting off aid until the
federal government takes verifiable efforts to root out these militias, and
aiding Iraqi civil society as a force for countering extremism and corruption.
Iran’s presence in Iraq is not simply ideological; it is parasitic. The militias
control critical border crossings, manipulate elections, siphon off
reconstruction funds, and even run their own detention centers where torture and
extrajudicial killings are routine.
The results speak for themselves. Iraq’s political system is paralyzed. Reforms
are constantly obstructed by militia-aligned parties that owe their loyalty to
foreign powers. Prominent activists who dare challenge this status quo are
kidnapped or assassinated. Iraq’s youth, who led one of the most inspiring
protest movements in the Arab world in 2019, have been silenced through a
campaign of bullets, fear, and disillusionment.
To continue sending US aid to a government that fails to confront, and in many
cases accommodates, these militias is not diplomacy; it is complicity.
Opponents of the bill will inevitably threaten that suspending aid could
destabilize Iraq. Let us be clear: Iraq is already destabilized by foreign
interference. US aid must no longer be a blank check. Conditionality is not
punishment; it is accountability.
What Iraq needs from the US is not passive support, but assertive partnership.
The Free Iraq from Iran Act rightly proposes increasing US strategic
communication capabilities to expose militia abuses and support civil society.
What Iraq needs from the US is not passive support, but assertive partnership.
This is where American soft power can be most effective by empowering the
millions of Iraqis who reject sectarianism, foreign occupation, and violent
coercion.
Washington should also re-engage diplomatically with leaders who remain
committed to a sovereign and democratic Iraq. The international community must
stop treating militia dominance as an unchangeable reality. It is not. It is the
product of sustained neglect and appeasement, and can be reversed.
If the status quo remains, there will be devastating repercussions. We already
have militias from Iraq spreading their influence throughout the region,
attacking US bases in Syria, firing drones at US allies, and copying the
region-wide destabilizing agenda of Hezbollah and the Houthis.
These militias are not merely an Iraqi challenge, but are part of a regional
IRGC network to export disorder and weaken US influence and interests.
Moreover, failure to confront them risks pushing Iraq further into
authoritarianism. A generation of Iraqis is losing faith in democracy, reform,
and Western support.
Each activist assassinated, each election rigged, and each militia figure
elevated to public office erodes hope that Iraq will be a sovereign, pluralistic
country.
The Free Iraq from Iran Act sends a strong message: The US will no longer
underwrite a regime that enriches democracy’s adversaries.
This is not a question of sect or party, but of freedom from foreign control.
Iraq stands at a crossroads: One path leads to sovereignty, justice, and
national dignity, the other to domination by foreign-led militias. The rule of
the gun is strangling the rule of law.
The US must stop wavering. It must stand unequivocally with the Iraqi people,
not with the violent proxies of their occupiers. Anything less is a betrayal.
The people of Iraq have not forgotten who helped topple their dictator, but many
now believe that Washington substituted one tyrant for another. Their trust has
been shattered, and their faith has collapsed. They see the US silence as
complicity and aid as appeasement.
Washington must make its position unmistakably clear: We did not liberate Iraq
to see it enslaved by foreign-backed militias.
The Free Iraq from Iran Act needs to be the first move toward shifting course
and standing firm, once and for all, with the free people of Iraq.
*Dalia Al-Aqidi is executive director at the American Center for Counter
Extremism.