English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For January 15/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

#elias_bejjani_news
 

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Bible Quotations For today

Jesus said to His Desciples: Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10/13-16/:”‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 14-15/2021

MoPH: 5196 new coronavirus cases, 41 deaths
At Virus Tipping Point, Lebanon Imposes All-Day Curfew
Lebanon Begins All-Day Curfew as Virus Spins Out of Control
Lebanon Caretaker Health Minister Hospitalized with COVID-19
Hospital Says Hassan Doing Well as Lebanon Sees Record Virus Deaths
Abiad Warns: The Lockdown Should Not Fail
ISF Reports 94% Compliance on 1st Day of Full Lockdown
Fears of Sectarian Tensions Stirred after Land Dispute Erupting in Byblos District, Lebanon
Lebanese Security Forces Enter Tufail Village Bordering Syria
Lebanon Issues Charges over Greece-Held Ship Carrying Ammonium Nitrate, Arms
French Judges Question Ziad Takieddine in Beirut
Lebanon Files UN Complaint over Israel’s Abduction of Shepherd
Report: Government Formation an ‘Open-Ended’ Crisis
Report: Heightened Anger in Center House after Aoun’s ‘Insults’
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling price at LBP 3900
Lebanese mother dies after drowning nearby Melbourne’s coast
Berri tackles overall situation with his interlocutors
Ghosn hid part of Nissan salary, fearing being sacked by Renault, Tokyo court told
Governance and Anti-corruption Reforms in MENA are Indispensable to Spur a Strong, Inclusive Recovery/Jihad Azour/Asharq Al Awsat/January 14/2021
Lebanon a country of exceptions that needs a new vision/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/January 14/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 14-15/2021

Iran denies reports that Israeli strikes on Syria led to deaths: Fars
Iran fires cruise missiles as part of drill in Gulf of Oman: State media
Turkey says turning back on S-400 purchase ‘problematic’, willing to work with US
Kuwaiti preacher pushes bigoted discourse about the UAE
US sanctions key leader of Iraqi PMF, Hezbollah Brigades
Kata'ib Hezbollah leader makes strange offer to train pro-Trump 'liberation movements'
War Looms Between Sudan, Ethiopia
Wary of sanctions, Turkey hopes to reopen talks with US
Fearing Famine, U.N. Calls on U.S. to Reverse Huthi 'Terrorists' Label
Israel Reaches 2 Million Vaccinated Milestone
WHO team arrives in China's Wuhan to investigate COVID-19 origins
Pope Francis, Ex-pope Benedict Get Virus Vaccines, Says Vatican
Greece wants EU pressure on Turkey to take back migrants

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 14-15/2021

Turkey-Israel Reconciliation?/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/January 14/2021
Restart, Reset or Renew? The Strategy against Iranian Nuclear Ambition/Peter Schweizer/Gatestone Institute/January 14/2021
The Double Standards and Hypocrisy of Social Media Giants/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/January 14/2021
Erase and Criminalize/Chris Farrell/Gatestone Institute/January 14/2021
Iranian Redeployment in Iraq Behind Israel's Alleged Syria Strike, Sources Say/Yaniv Kubovich/Haaretz/January 14/2021
Does Telling Muslims ‘How to Behave’ Prompt Hatred and Terror?/Raymond Ibrahim/January 14/2021
America and the Challenge of Post-Trump ‘Trumpism’/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/January 14/2021
Biden and the Pentagon Can Declare War on Climate Change/James Stavridis/Bloomberg/January 14/2021
What Do ISIS and the Iranian Regime Have in Common?/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/January 14/2021
Iran regime ups pressure on Biden to return to nuclear deal/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 14/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 14-15/2021

MoPH: 5196 new coronavirus cases, 41 deaths
NNA/Thursday, 14 January, 2021
5196 new coronavirus cases and 41 deaths have been recorded during the last 24 hours in Lebanon, the Ministry of Public Health reported Thursday.

At Virus Tipping Point, Lebanon Imposes All-Day Curfew
Associated Press/Thursday, 14 January, 2021
It was a choice between containing a spiraling virus outbreak and resuscitating a dying economy in a country that has been in steady financial and economic meltdown over the past year. Authorities in Lebanon chose the latter. Now, virus patients struggling to breathe wait outside hospitals -- hoping for a bed or even a chair to open up. Ordinary people share contact lists of oxygen suppliers on social media as the the critical gas becomes scarce, and the sound of ambulances ferrying the ill echoes through Beirut. Around 500 of Lebanon's 14,000 doctors have left the crisis-ridden country in recent months, according to the Order of Physicians, putting a further strain on existing hospital staff. On Thursday, Lebanese authorities swung the other way: They began enforcing an 11-day nationwide shutdown and round-the-clock curfew, hoping to blunt the spread of coronavirus infections spinning out of control after the holiday period.
The curfew is the strictest measure Lebanon has taken since the start of the pandemic. Previous shutdowns had laxer rules and were poorly enforced. Now, residents cannot leave their homes, except for a defined set of reasons, including going to the bakery, pharmacy, doctor's office, hospital or airport -- and for the first time they must request a permit before doing these things. Even supermarkets can only open for delivery. While Lebanon still somehow managed to keep cases to an average of fewer than 100 per day until August, it now leads the Arab world in number of cases per million people. Today, the number of daily COVID-19 deaths is more than 13 times what it was in July. On Jan. 9, over 5,400 infections were reported, a record for the small country.
While its neighbors begin vaccinating their populations -- including Israel whose campaign promises to be among the world's speediest -- Lebanon has yet to secure a first batch of shots. Once a leader in the health sector among Middle Eastern countries, Lebanon has been stymied in its effort to get vaccines by repeated bureaucratic delays partly due to the fact that it has a caretaker government. Parliament is expected to meet Friday to vote on a draft law to allow importing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, with the first deliveries expected to arrive next month. "This is the result of deliberate decisions made by irresponsible and immoral politicians," said Sami Hanna, a 42-year-old businessman who was waiting for his turn to enter a pharmacy earlier this week, looking for pain relievers, anti-depressants and blood pressure medicine for his elderly parents. "This is how we spend our days now, begging," he said, adding that his next mission was to look for bread, which was out of stock because of panic-buying before the curfew set in. "It is too little too late." The surge in coronavirus cases began in late August, a few weeks after the massive explosion at the Beirut port that destroyed parts of the capital, including several hospitals with virus patients. The explosion was caused by a fire that detonated nearly three tons of poorly stored ammonium nitrate that had been sitting in a port warehouse for years -- the kind of mismanagement that is typical of a corrupt political class that fails to provide even basic services for its people.
The virus surged in the chaos of inundated hospitals, funerals and protests that followed.
Further complicating efforts to rein in the virus, politicians have been unable to agree on a new government since the old one resigned in the wake of the port explosion, effectively ensuring the country's continued unraveling. But in December, as most governments around the world tightened lockdowns, Lebanon went the other way, allowing restaurants and nightclubs to reopen with barely any restrictions in place. An estimated 80,000 expats flowed to the country to celebrate Christmas and New Year with loved ones -- many of them Lebanese who skipped visiting in the summer because of the devastation wrought by the explosion. "The holiday season should have been the time for lockdown. The season of crowds, shopping and parties," said Hanna Azar, owner of a money transfer and telephones shop. "They opened it to allow dollars into the country and now they want to close. Especially in this economic crisis, people don't have money to eat." Many hospitals have now reached maximum capacity for coronavirus patients. Some have run out of beds, oxygen tanks and ventilators. Others have halted elective surgeries. Last week, Lebanon imposed a 25-day nationwide lockdown and a nighttime curfew to limit the spread of the virus, but many sectors were exempted and enforcement was lax, as in the past. Many businesses, including hair salons, welcomed customers behind shuttered storefronts. In some areas of north and south Lebanon, it was business as usual. With hospitals on the brink of collapse, the government then ordered an 11-day nationwide curfew starting Thursday, triggering three days of mayhem as crowds of shoppers emptied shelves in supermarkets and bakeries. On Thursday, police manned checkpoints around the country, checking motorists' permission to be on the road. Halim Shebaya, a political analyst, said the government still has no clear strategy and cautioned that it would be difficult to bring the numbers down this late in the game. "The main issue now is the absence of trust in the government and authorities and managing a pandemic necessitates the presence of public trust in measures taken by the authorities," he said. Still, Rabih Torbay, who heads Project HOPE, an international global health and humanitarian organization, said time is of essence and urged authorities to take any step that might help curb infections.
"Every day that goes by the country is sliding further into the abyss," he said.

Lebanon Begins All-Day Curfew as Virus Spins Out of Control
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 14 January, 2021
Lebanese authorities began enforcing an 11-day nationwide shutdown and round the clock curfew Thursday, hoping to limit the spread of coronavirus infections spinning out of control after the holiday period. For the first time, residents were required to request a one-hour permit to be allowed to leave the house for “emergencies,” including going to the bakery, pharmacist, doctor, hospital or airport. Authorities came under pressure to take a tougher approach after the country's hospitals ran out of beds with daily infections reaching an all-time high of 5,440 cases last week in the country of nearly 6 million people. Even before the coronavirus, Lebanon was going through an unprecedented economic and financial crisis that has seen its national currency and bank sector collapse and locked depositors out of the savings. Hospitals, long considered among the best in the Middle East, struggled to pay staff, keep equipment running and secure necessary medical supplies as dollars grew scarce. Amid the surge, many hospitals have now reached maximum capacity for coronavirus patients. Some have halted elective surgeries as they run out of beds, oxygen tanks and ventilators. Furthermore, the country has been without a government since the old one resigned in the wake of the catastrophic Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut port, which put a further strain on hospitals, inundating them with injured. At least three hospitals were destroyed. The massive explosion caused by the detonation of a stockpile of poorly stored ammonium nitrate ravaged the city, killing over 200 people and injuring thousands, The Associated Press reported. On Thursday, police manned checkpoints around the country, checking motorists' permits to be on the road. The curfew is the strictest since the start of the pandemic. For the first time, even supermarkets were told to close their doors and open for delivery only. Lebanon had only just announced a nationwide lockdown last week. But many, including the health minister and officials on a government committee, considered it to be too lenient because it exempted many sectors. In some areas of the country, it was business as usual, leading to more calls for a complete shutdown and curfew.

Lebanon Caretaker Health Minister Hospitalized with COVID-19
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 14 January, 2021
Lebanese caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan, who is one of the main people leading the fight against coronavirus in the country, has been infected with the coronavirus. The St. Georges Hadath Hospital said in a statement Wednesday that Hassan is undergoing treatment, adding that he is in good conditions. Lebanon's hospitals are running out of capacity to treat critically ill patients as COVID-19 infections surge after the Christmas and New Year holiday period. Hassan was widely criticized last week when a photo of him circulated having lunch with several other people on the same table during a visit to his hometown of Baalbek in northeast Lebanon. Hassan said he wore a mask most of the time and that in accordance with rural traditions in Lebanon a person cannot reject an invitation for lunch. An 11-day curfew began Thursday morning in the country, an attempt by the government to limit the spread of the virus. Lebanon, a nation of six million, has registered nearly 232,000 cases and 1,740 deaths. The pandemic hit Lebanon as it was in the middle of a devastating financial crisis that has crashed the currency, paralyzed banks, and frozen savers out of their deposits.
Medical supplies have dwindled as dollars have grown scarce.

Hospital Says Hassan Doing Well as Lebanon Sees Record Virus Deaths
Naharnet/Thursday, 14 January, 2021
Covid-infected caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan is in a good health condition and is practicing his work from his hospital room, the St. Georges Hadath Hospital said on Thursday. The Health Ministry’s press office meanwhile announced that Hassan “looked into transactions and signed the ministry’s mail.” Lebanon meanwhile reported a record high of 41 daily deaths in addition to 5,196 infections. Lebanese authorities began enforcing an 11-day nationwide shutdown and round the clock curfew Thursday, hoping to limit the spread of coronavirus infections spinning out of control after the holiday period. For the first time, residents were required to request a one-hour permit to be allowed to leave the house for "emergencies," including going to the bakery, pharmacist, doctor, hospital or airport. Authorities came under pressure to take a tougher approach after the country's hospitals ran out of beds with daily infections reaching an all-time high of 5,440 cases last week in the country of nearly 6 million people. The dramatic surge in infections began in late December. As most governments around the world tightened lockdowns, Lebanon relaxed health measures over the holidays, allowing restaurants and nightclubs to reopen with barely any restrictions in place. An estimated 80,000 expats flowed back into the country to celebrate Christmas and New Years with loved ones, many of them expats who skipped visiting in the summer due to the devastating Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut port.

Abiad Warns: The Lockdown Should Not Fail
Naharnet/Thursday, 14 January, 2021  
Dr. Firass Abiad, the Manager and CEO of state-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital, warned Thursday that an 11-day strict lockdown that has been imposed to curb a huge spike in Covid-19 cases “should not fail.”“In the last 24 hours alone, four Covid positive patients presented in cardiac arrest to our emergency room,” Abiad tweeted. He noted that “one of them was a 19 years old patient.” “This is serious. The lockdown should not fail. The lockdown can not fail,” Abiad cautioned. Lebanese authorities began enforcing an 11-day nationwide shutdown and round the clock curfew Thursday, hoping to limit the spread of coronavirus infections spinning out of control after the holiday period. For the first time, residents were required to request a one-hour permit to be allowed to leave the house for "emergencies," including going to the bakery, pharmacist, doctor, hospital or airport. Authorities came under pressure to take a tougher approach after the country's hospitals ran out of beds with daily infections reaching an all-time high of 5,440 cases last week in the country of nearly 6 million people. The dramatic surge in infections began in late December. As most governments around the world tightened lockdowns, Lebanon relaxed health measures over the holidays, allowing restaurants and nightclubs to reopen with barely any restrictions in place. An estimated 80,000 expats flowed back into the country to celebrate Christmas and New Years with loved ones, many of them expats who skipped visiting in the summer due to the devastating Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut port.

ISF Reports 94% Compliance on 1st Day of Full Lockdown
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 14 January, 2021
A full lockdown started in Lebanon Thursday, with residents barred even from grocery shopping and dependent on food deliveries, in a bid to slow a surge in novel coronavirus cases. The new restrictions were only loosely respected in some areas of the country, however, after mass protests in recent years against a political elite held responsible for a deepening economic crisis. The lockdown, ordered after some hospitals started to run out of intensive care beds, includes a 24-hour curfew until January 25. Non-essential workers are barred from leaving their homes, and supermarkets are supposed to operate delivery services only. Those wishing to request an emergency exemption -- to see a doctor for example -- can do so by sending a mobile phone text message to 1120 or by filling in a form online on covid.pcm.gov.lb In the capital, roads were quieter than usual, while non-essential shops remained shuttered. Security forces stopped drivers at several checkpoints in the center of the city. Security forces said compliance with the new measures stood at 94 percent. But in some areas, some people ventured out to buy groceries from local shops.
Hearts attacks
Recent days have seen Lebanon register record daily Covid-19 caseloads in one of the steepest increases in transmission worldwide. In Geitawi Hospital in Beirut on Thursday, director Pierre Yared said the emergencies department was brimming with more than 30 people suffering from Covid-19 the previous day. "The ER was filled with corona patients, there were no other patients," he said. The strict lockdown -- complete with the ban on grocery shopping -- came into effect after caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan was admitted to hospital with Covid-19 late Wednesday, state media said. Its announcement on Monday raised fears of food shortages in impoverished and remote regions where deliveries are not readily available. For several days, Lebanese have flooded supermarkets and chemists in a desperate bid to stock up. Some are worried the new restrictions will pile additional suffering on the country's poorest. Lebanon, a country of more than six million, was already grappling with its worst economic downturn in decades when the pandemic hit. Previous lockdowns have forced businesses to close and deprived some -- including many who earned money casually from day to day -- of an income in a country where around half the population lives in poverty.
- Vaccines? -
The World Bank Group on Tuesday approved a $246 million aid package to help 786,000 vulnerable Lebanese, but it is unclear when that assistance will arrive. In total, Lebanon has announced 231,936 cases since February last year, including 1,740 deaths. Cases skyrocketed after authorities loosened restrictions during the holiday season, allowing restaurants and nightclubs to remain open until 3:00 am, despite warnings from health professionals. A partial lockdown in place since January 7 has failed to halt the spread of the virus. Parliament is expected to convene Friday to examine a bill to allow the import and use of Covid-19 vaccines, which authorities have previously said will arrive in Lebanon by February. A caretaker administration is overseeing the country's Covid-19 response. The government resigned after a massive explosion of ammonium nitrate fertilizer at Beirut port last summer killed 200 people, wounded thousands and ravaged large parts of the capital including several major hospitals. But a deeply divided political class has been unable to agree on a new cabinet to launch urgently needed reforms.

Fears of Sectarian Tensions Stirred after Land Dispute Erupting in Byblos District, Lebanon
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 14 January, 2021
A land dispute that erupted Tuesday in the Lebanese Afqa municipality in the Byblos District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate spurred fears of renewed sectarian tensions breaking out between Maronite Christians and Shiite Muslims in the area. The threat of violence erupting prompted one of the area’s prominent Shiite clerics to urge the head of the Maronite Church, Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, to issue an official stance to quell sectarian tensions. It is worth noting that the Byblos District includes a mix of Maronite and Shiite locals. Towns in this district often witness spats between landowners of the two sects. The situation is made more complex by Shiite farmers who claim rights to lands that overlap with real estate owned by the Maronite Church. Lebanese army and security forces frequently intervene to defuse recurring problems that are often taken to court for a final resolution. After Tuesday’s dispute, Shiite Mufti Abbas Zoughaib released a strongly worded statement that defended the sects position on backing coexistence between Christians and Muslims, but also rejected any infringement against the properties of Shiites in Byblos. “We were, are, and will always defend Muslim-Christian coexistence in Lebanon. We refuse for church property to be attacked. But, at the same time, we will not accept attacks on the property of our people in Byblos and we will not accept that the army and security forces deal with them in a negative way,” said Zoughaib. Lebanese law maker Simon Abi Ramia confirmed, via Twitter, that he had contacted the Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun, the head of Byblos District intelligence, and the commander of the Qurtaba platoon after the incident. “Do not tolerate aggressors over property, and conflict, if any exists, it is resolved by the judiciary,” he said he told them, reaffirming that the “the use of weapons is forbidden and that the rule of law should be upheld.”Ramia also reaffirmed trust in the army and said that removing tension is a priority.

Lebanese Security Forces Enter Tufail Village Bordering Syria
Bekaa (eastern Lebanon) - Hussein Darwish/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 14 January, 2021
Lebanese authorities complied with the appeals of the residents of the border town of Tufail, deploying some 30 military vehicles to the area after security tensions in the past week. Last Tuesday, armed gunmen opened fire from the Syrian side of the border at a number of houses and the water and electricity stations in Tufail in the eastern Bekaa Valley. The army intervened and deployed in the village, but the gunmen managed to flee towards Syrian territory through illegal crossings. Residents fear there are attempts to displace them from the area, accusing Lebanese businessman Hussein Dako of standing behind the attack. Dako refutes the accusations, saying he is being blackmailed. On Tuesday, Mufti of Baalbek and al-Hermel Sheikh Bakr al-Rifai intervened to calm the situation. A delegation of residents also visited Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian for the same purpose. Accordingly, a decision was taken to allow members from the State Security, the General Security and the Lebanese army to deploy in Tufail and establish a post there. Also, members of the Lebanese army land border regiment positioned on the outskirts of the border with Syria, worked on opening the road to Tufail from Lebanese territories and by fixing the electricity and water stations that were damaged following last week’s clashes, residents told Asharq Al-Awsat. The town is located at the end of the eastern mountain belt's plains, in an area that is 22 kilometers away from the last Lebanese village in eastern Bekaa. Tufail is surrounded by Syria to its north, east and south, and by the Lebanese villages of Ham, Maarboun and Brital to its west. The majority of its residents are Lebanese, but several hold the Syrian nationality.

Lebanon Issues Charges over Greece-Held Ship Carrying Ammonium Nitrate, Arms
Naharnet/Thursday, 14 January, 2021
Lebanese investigative judge Samaranda Nassar on Thursday issued an indictment in the case of a ship seized carrying ammonium nitrate, hunting rifles, explosives and detonation cables, the National News Agency said. The Lebanon- and Africa-bound, Togo-flagged ship that sailed from Turkey’s Mersin was intercepted by Greek authorities west of the island of Crete on February 27, 2016, the indictment said. It was owned by Tripoli-based Lebanese nationals Kamal K. and Mohammed A. It was carrying 6,400 hunting rifles, 10 tons of ammonium nitrate, 151 boxes of the Yavex explosive (a mix of ammonium nitrate and fuel), 5,000 pieces of detonation cables and 5,000 pieces of detonation filaments. “The hunting rifles were shipped using the name of the Yassine Middle East Company for Trading and Industry without its knowledge with the aim of achieving financial gain,” the indictment said, identifying Lebanese nationals Mohammed A., Kamal K. and Talal D. as culprits in the falsification scheme. The indictment noted that the shipment did not enter any Lebanese port and that Greek authorities are still holding the hunting rifles container and that they sought to send the ammonium nitrate container to “its main destination, Congo, in 2020.” The development comes days after an al-Jadeed TV report suggested that three pro-regime Syrian businessmen were behind another ammonium nitrate shipment that exploded at Beirut’s port on August 4, 2020. The Aug. 4 explosion, one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history, killed around 200 people, wounded over 6,000 and devastated swathes of the Lebanese capital, which made it the country’s worst peacetime disaster.
 

French Judges Question Ziad Takieddine in Beirut
Naharnet/January 14/2021 
A French judicial team on Thursday questioned Lebanese-French businessman Ziad Takieddine in Beirut in the case of the suspected Libyan financing of ex-French president Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign. Takieddine has been under house arrest in Lebanon since early December. The 70-year-old businessman fled to Beirut after a French court in June condemned him to five years in jail in a separate case involving millions of euros in kickbacks from arms sales to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed in 1994. Lebanon’s National News Agency said the French team interrogated Takieddine on Thursday over the Sarkozy case. The session was held at the Court of Cassation at Beirut’s Justice Palace in the presence of Attorney General Judge Imad Qabalan and Takieddine’s lawyer Sharif al-Husseini. A French judicial source has recently said he was skeptical of the possibility of extradition to France. "France and Lebanon have not concluded an extradition agreement and Lebanon does not extradite its nationals. The proceedings could very quickly end there," the source said. Takieddine was once the main accuser in the inquiry into the Sarkozy case. He was investigated in late 2016 after he told the media he had delivered millions of euros in cash from Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi. Sarkozy caught a break in November when Takieddine suddenly retracted his claim. A Lebanese legal source who asked to remain anonymous has also said that Takieddine was being pursued in a number of financial cases in Lebanon, including on charges of slander, fraud and forgery.

Lebanon Files UN Complaint over Israel’s Abduction of Shepherd
Naharnet/January 14/2021 
Lebanon filed a complaint with the Security Council over Israel’s nabbing of a Lebanese shepherd, Hassan Zahra, two days ago in the border area of Kfarshouba, LBCI reported Thursday. Lebanon filed the complaint through its permanent ambassador to the UN Amal Mudallali over Israel’s constant violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty. Mudallali submitted the complaint to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and to Tarek Ladeb the Permanent Representative of Tunisia and President of the Security Council for the month of January. The complaint condemned the Israeli aggression and called for the immediate release of the Zahra. On Tuesday, Israel alleged that a Lebanese shepherd nabbed by Israeli forces in the border area of Kfarshouba was collecting information for Hizbullah.Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee tweeted that the shepherd was “arrested in an ambush” after he “deliberately” crossed the frontier  into Israeli-controlled territory. UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti had said that the commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force, Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col, was carrying out contacts with the Israeli and Lebanese armies to secure the release of the shepherd. He added that UNIFIL will launch a probe to unveil the circumstances of the incident, including the specific location from which the shepherd was nabbed. The Lebanese Army identified the shepherd as Hassan Qasem Zahra and said he was guarding livestock when he was detained.Israel frequently abducts shepherds from that area. They are usually released after hours of interrogation.

Report: Government Formation an ‘Open-Ended’ Crisis
Naharnet/January 14/2021 
President Michel Aoun and PM-designate have “no choice but to reach consensus on the government formation” process, otherwise “everyone” else in Lebanon and the “nation” itself are going to “pay a hefty price,” al-Joumhouria daily reported Thursday. Lebanon is going to turn to an “unknown” fate if the two leaders do not put conflicts aside and “reach consensus” to form a government for the sake of their country, a source told the daily on condition of anonymity. He said the latest tension between the two leaders against the backdrop of a leaked video of Aoun accusing Hariri of “lying,” has entered the country in an “open-ended crisis.” The sources voiced fears of a chaotic situation at all levels if a solution is not reached. On reports about Hariri stepping back from his task, the source said it was unlikely, “it has not been suggested, and it is not possible because the repercussions will be immense, placing the country in an endless political and sectarian tunnel. “The sources concluded and blamed both leaders for “aggravating” the conflict, saying each leader has embarked on blaming the other for the delay, while “both are responsible for the tense atmospheres and for blocking the horizon on any formation process.”
 

Report: Heightened Anger in Center House after Aoun’s ‘Insults’
Naharnet/January 14/2021 
Tension heightened at the Center House after the “insulting” remarks of President Michel Aoun about PM-designate Saad Hariri in a leaked video that circulated on social media outlets, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday. Center House sources of the PM-designate said the leaked video of Aoun “blew a great insult at Hariri and at his political team and at his environment,” they told the daily. The “insult shall not pass,” they added. “The content of the video reflects an approach long adopted (by Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement) even before Hariri’s designation to form a government,” Center House sources said on condition of anonymity. “Their approach has long sought to place obstacles not only to disrupt the formation of the government process, but also targeting Hariri personally in an attempt to push him to withdraw from his task so that they are able to designate someone obedient to (head of the FPM and son-in-law of Aoun) MP Jebran Bassil,” added the sources. A war of words had recently erupted between Hariri and Aoun’s camp after the president was caught on camera accusing the PM-designate of “lying.”Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat had on Wednesday expressed his “categorical rejection” of what he called the “campaign” against the premiership post. Jumblat condemned “the personal insults that have targeted PM-designate Hariri” despite some “temporary political differences” between him and the premier, a PSP statement said.

US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling price at LBP 3900
NNA/January 14/2021
The Money Changers Syndicate announced in a statement addressed to money changing companies and institutions Thursday’s USD exchange rate against the Lebanese pound as follows:
Buying price at a minimum of LBP 3850
Selling price at a maximum of LBP 3900

Lebanese mother dies after drowning nearby Melbourne’s coast
NNA/January 14/2021
Lebanese Aida Ibrahim Hamad, 45, lost her life after drowning while she was walking on rocks in an area close to the coast in Australia’s Melbourne.
Hamad, a mother of four, is from Baal Mohsen/Tripoli.

Berri tackles overall situation with his interlocutors
NNA/January 14/2021
House Speaker Nabih Berri, on Thursday received at his Ain El-Tineh residence the Secretary General of the Tashnag Party, Head of Armenian Parliamentary Bloc, MP Hagop Pakradounian, with whom he discussed the general situation and most recent developments on the local arena. On emerging, MP Pakradounian urged all political sides to place the nation's supreme interest above all other narrow considerations, amid the country’s simmering conditions. Later, Speaker Berri met with Vice Speaker Elie Ferzli, who said on emerging that the visit was an occasion to discuss the ongoing crisis in the country and issues of national interest. This afternoon, Berri received Bishop Boulos Matar. On the other hand, Berri cabled his Egyptian counterpart, Hanafi al-Jibali, congratulating him on his election as head of parliament.

Ghosn hid part of Nissan salary, fearing being sacked by Renault, Tokyo court told
Reuters, Tokyo/Thursday 14 January 2021
Carlos Ghosn hid part of his compensation at Nissan because he feared the French government would force him out of Renault if it discovered how much he earned, an executive at the Japanese carmaker told a Tokyo court on Thursday. Hari Nada, a former Nissan vice president in charge of legal affairs, is a key whistleblower in the case brought by Japanese prosecutors against former Nissan and Renault boss Ghosn, who was arrested in 2018. Nada was testifying at the trial of former Nissan executive Greg Kelly who is charged with helping Ghosn hide 9.3 billion yen ($89 million) in compensation over eight years through deferred payments after Japan introduced new rules requiring executives to disclose payments above 1 billion yen. Kelly has pleaded not guilty. He has been on bail in Japan since his release from jail in 2018 and is facing trial without Ghosn because his co-accused fled to Lebanon in December 2019. Ghosn, who was one of the world’s most prominent auto bosses as head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, has denied wrongdoing. He says he is the victim of a boardroom coup by former Nissan colleagues worried he would push through a merger between Nissan and Renault, its largest shareholder. Nada told the court that Ghosn had concealed his true compensation because he feared the repercussions in France. He said Kelly had given him this information. “He didn’t want to be fired. If he paid himself what he wanted and that was disclosed, the French state would have felt obliged to fire him,” said Nada, who agreed to cooperate with Japanese prosecutors in return for immunity from prosecution. France’s economy ministry declined to comment. Nada was demoted following Ghosn’s arrest. Ghosn, who is also charged with enriching himself through $5 million in payments to a Middle East car dealership, and for a breach of trust for temporarily transferring personal financial losses to his employer’s books, also denies any wrongdoing. Kelly’s trial could take about a year. If found guilty he could face up to 10 years in prison and a 10 million yen fine.

Governance and Anti-corruption Reforms in MENA are Indispensable to Spur a Strong, Inclusive Recovery
Jihad Azour/Asharq Al Awsat/January 14/2021
*Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund
The COVID-19 health and economic crisis underscores, as few other major events in modern history have, the vital role of public institutions. When emergencies strike, it is the state’s responsibility to respond, especially when millions of lives and livelihoods are at stake. That is why ensuring that institutions are operating effectively and above all trusted by the people they serve is the cornerstone for building stable, safer and more inclusive economies. The time for action has never been more opportune.
A newly released IMF report, which examines how countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia have grappled with governance issues in recent years, confirms that governance and anti-corruption reforms would be indispensable to build back better and spur a strong and sustainable recovery.
This report confirms once more the importance of improving governance and reducing corruption in boosting growth: they lead to better economic outcomes and sustained macroeconomic stability by making the use of public resources and the provision of government services more effective, and by fostering investor confidence and competitiveness. What’s more, effective governing and fiscal institutions can strengthen social cohesion, and ensure that growth benefits are better shared throughout society.
So, given the importance of these reforms, how are countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) faring?
The good news is that progress has been made.
For instance, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq have made gains in recent years in expanding access to budget information, while Tunisia has provided a good model on how to engage citizens in the budget process by offering feedback on how public comments are used during legislative proceedings. Several countries have sought to improve procurement processes, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Morocco. Jordan, likewise, has improved its transparency by regularly publishing reports on anti-corruption activities and stepping up enforcement of its access to information law. Many MENA countries have started streamlining business regulations, including through one-stop shops in Tunisia.
While there are encouraging signs throughout the region, much work remains to address weak governance and corruption. Addressing remaining weaknesses in fiscal and financial governance, notably in terms of transparency and accountability, can bring large dividends—improvements that are already being demanded by the public in these countries. This is a long-term endeavor that requires a full commitment from society, strong leadership, and continued focus and action on multiple fronts.
While recognizing that countries’ reform priorities will vary according to national circumstances, there are some key areas of reforms that we have identified for the region:
• Improving transparency and accountability. This includes expanding access to information—including budget and central bank information—, designing open and transparent procurement processes with publication of contracts and beneficial ownership of awarded entities, establishing strong internal controls and external oversight of public finances that includes independent audit, strengthening accountability of SOEs—given the dominant role they play in many countries in the region—, and enhancing asset declaration regimes.
• Streamlining rules and enforcing them fairly. Fiscal institutions' operations and related rules and regulations, such as tax codes, could be further simplified, modernized and better enforced, thereby increasing their efficiency and fairness. Streamlining business procedures would help reduce red tape -and vulnerabilities to corruption- and improve investment climate as would enhancing financial supervisory frameworks.
• Beefing up anti-corruption frameworks. This would involve adopting laws and regulations, drawing on international conventions and good practices, putting in place effective institutions to enforce them, continuing to strengthen AML/CFT frameworks, and facilitating information-sharing at the domestic and international levels.
Reform efforts could be supported by further leveraging technology. For example, e-government services can be used among other things to provide full access to information, file and pay taxes, procure goods and services, and channel transfers using biometric technology and digital payments.
Each country will have to establish its own road map to reform. The IMF will continue to actively support MENA countries’ governance reform efforts through policy advice and capacity development, with a focus on fiscal governance, central banking, financial supervision, AML/CFT and statistics. By working together with a collective commitment to building stronger, more open, and more accountable institutions, we can all emerge from the trials of this past year on a path toward a better, more inclusive future.

Lebanon a country of exceptions that needs a new vision
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/January 14/2021
خالد أبو زهر: لبنان بلد الإستثناءات هو بحاجة إلى رؤية جديدة
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/94926/khaled-abou-zahr-lebanon-a-country-of-exceptions-that-needs-a-new-vision%d8%ae%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af-%d8%a3%d8%a8%d9%88-%d8%b2%d9%87%d8%b1-%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a8%d9%84%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84/
News relating to last week’s lockdown decision in Beirut quickly made the rounds on social media. The official dispatch stated that “30 arrest warrants had been issued in Achrafieh, that there was a 90 percent compliance with the decision in Beirut, and that the army requested shops that had opened in the Dahyeh suburb to comply with the closure decision.”
The reason the dispatch was shared on social media was that the use of “arrest warrants” in one area of the city contrasted with the “request to comply” in the other. In a single simple sentence, and in a grave and dangerous moment, a sovereign decision to close non-essential businesses — whether right or wrong — was applied with force in one part of the city but could not be enforced in another. This is Lebanon today. It is a good summary of the political, social, health and security situation in Lebanon. This selective state authority is what is bringing the country down. The fact that the authorities declared a state of emergency but the army could not enforce the lockdown or extend its full authority to Hezbollah-controlled areas is the reason for the demise of Lebanon. To restate the obvious, it is through its military arsenal, which threatens the state and the well-being of its citizens, that Hezbollah encourages disobedience to everything sovereign.
This is exactly where corruption starts and is even permitted. Hezbollah then extends this permission to those close clan leaders who can also extricate themselves from state decisions. Lebanon is, in short, a country of exceptions. If it is the exception that proves the rule, according to the well-known saying, in Lebanon it has become “the rule justifies the exception.” Today, it is Hezbollah’s exception that trickles down and destroys the state’s sovereignty.
State sovereignty and citizens’ well-being are continuously eroded by these exceptions. The other exception that led the country to collapse was the banking sector — although banking cartel would be a more appropriate description. It is now clear that, beyond Lebanon’s health and sanitation crises, the financial crisis will also deepen. Next in line are US-denominated deposits, which are about to go through the expected “haircut,” but it is still unclear who will bear the biggest burden and how it will be applied. This day will come soon, as the peg to the dollar is expected to end, especially if an agreement with the International Monetary Fund is to be reached. This unpegging measure, which in fact would not be a bad move in the long term, will increase import costs and squeeze the most fragile parts of the population into greater poverty. Without supporting measures, which do not currently seem to be planned, it will have catastrophic humanitarian consequences.
This means that Lebanon’s situation will get even worse and that the black-market economy will grow in parallel with bigger security incidents. One can expect the state’s authority to continue to be eroded, especially as it will not be able to meet its commitments. Chaos might ensue, but in the meantime one can only expect the control of Hezbollah and its criminal organizations to grow. We will eventually see a return to a geographical sectarian division of the country, with each group protecting their own.
Between the collapse of the economy and the pandemic’s spread, the youth that revolted in an attempt to bring change in October 2019 has been crushed. They have been reduced to slogans and virtual opposition on social media. Their last slogan, which stated that Lebanon is ruled by a religious militia and a corrupt political class, does not even describe the country properly. This slogan exonerates Hezbollah, as it shares the blame with the corrupt political class, when in fact the latter is an obedient subordinate. This slogan should only be that the country is occupied by an Iranian militia. Understanding that this is a foreign occupation might be futile at this stage, but it is still important.
The simple action of publicly analyzing and presenting solutions shines a light on government opacity and mismanagement.
As the situation worsens, many brilliant Lebanese from all over the world are presenting — just for the love of their country — some smart and sharp ideas on how to create new initiatives to save Lebanon. These unsolicited concepts range from the implementation of renewable energies to practical solutions to exit the financial crisis. They all share the desire to make processes in the country more efficient and transparent. This is exactly what the current regime does not want to see, as it thrives on opacity and division and so will never take them into consideration. However, the simple action of publicly analyzing and presenting solutions shines a light on this opacity and mismanagement. Even if small, this is a net positive.
It is time for Lebanese from all over the world to take this one step further and start building a concrete framework for a new Lebanon. This might sound unrealistic, but it is how one can start to build a new vision. The youth that revolted in 2019 lacked this framework and political vision, and as a result were crushed.
A political vision with a strong governance framework, even if only on paper, is something real to aim for and develop. This should be a collaborative work that integrates the knowledge of Lebanese minds: Including lawmakers to write a new constitution, economic and business experts to implement economic and social policies, designers and architects to give meaning and depth to this vision, and those who are suffering to say what they need.
A plan and a vision would also be the best way to gain support and create momentum for people to rally around. There is an urgent need for this new road map to be created, even if it is only a distant dream. I am a strong believer that, sooner or later, a free, sovereign and independent Lebanon will emerge — one that respects and protects all its citizens, no matter their beliefs, and where all citizens respect and protect their civic duties. The Lebanese need to believe it too. Stranger things happened in 2020, so why not this at the beginning of 2021?
*Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 14-15/2021

Iran denies reports that Israeli strikes on Syria led to deaths: Fars
AFP, Tehran Thursday 14 January 2021
An Iranian Revolutionary Guards official denied Thursday that recent Israeli strikes on eastern Syria led to any deaths, the Fars news agency reported. “This attack caused no human losses,” Ahad Karimkhani, deputy political head of the Guards’ foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, was quoted as saying.
The “attacks that (Israeli forces) carry out under different pretexts are blind and with no strategic goals”, Karimkhani said. He vowed that attacks on “resistance axis positions in Syria will certainly face a serious and severe response”. Syria’s state news agency SANA said Wednesday that the “Israeli enemy carried out an aerial assault on the town of Deir Ezzor and the Albu Kamal region,” without giving further details. A Britain-based war monitoring group said the air strikes killed 57 people, including Iran-backed fighters. The overnight raids targeted arms depots and military positions and were the deadliest such strikes since the start of the Syrian conflict, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Iran has been a staunch supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war that has ravaged the country since 2011. Israel has carried out hundreds of air and missile strikes on Syria since the war broke out, most of them against what it says are Iranian-linked targets. The conflict has killed more than 387,000 people and displaced more than half of Syria’s pre-war population.

Iran fires cruise missiles as part of drill in Gulf of Oman: State media
The Associated Press, Tehran Thursday 14 January 2021
Iran fired cruise missiles Thursday as part of a naval drill in the Gulf of Oman, state media reported, amid heightened tensions with the US. Various kinds of surface-to-surface cruise missiles successfully hit their targets in the gulf and northern part of the Indian Ocean, the report said. “Enemies should know that any violation and invasion of Iranian marine borders will be targeted by the cruise missiles from both coast and sea,” said Adm. Hamzeh Ali Kaviani, spokesman for the exercise. Images released by the navy showed the missiles being launched and hitting their targets. The two-day drill began Wednesday when the country’s navy inaugurated its largest military vessel. The exercise takes place amid heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and a US pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic. In recent weeks, Iran has increased its military drills. On Saturday, the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard held a naval parade in the Persian Gulf and a week earlier Iran held a massive drone maneuver across half the country. President Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the US from Iran’s nuclear deal, in which Tehran had agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump cited Iran’s ballistic missile program among other issues in withdrawing. Following the US’s re-imposition of sanctions on Iran, Tehran gradually and publicly abandoned the deal’s limits on its nuclear development as a series of escalating incidents pushed the two countries to the brink of war at the beginning of the year.

Turkey says turning back on S-400 purchase ‘problematic’, willing to work with US
Reuters, Ankara Thursday 14 January 2021
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said it would be “very problematic” for Ankara to turn back on its purchase of Russian S-400 defense systems but expressed hope that a dispute with the United States on the issue could be resolved through dialogue. Akar also reiterated that Turkey was in talks with Russia on obtaining a second consignment of the S400 defence systems. Washington slapped sanctions on NATO ally Turkey’s Defence Industry Directorate (SSB), its chief Ismail Demir and three other employees last month following its acquisition of the S-400s. “It is a very problematic situation to turn back from the point we have come to. We invite (the United States) to distance themselves from threatening language such as sanctions,” Akar told journalists in Ankara. “We want the solution of problems through dialogue. If the US side wants a solution, a solution could be found with work on the technical level,” he said. The sanctions were imposed at a challenging time in the fraught relationship between Ankara and Washington. President-elect Joe Biden is set to take office on Jan. 20, replacing Donald Trump. Biden has been critical of President Tayyip Erdogan’s policies in the past.
 

Kuwaiti preacher pushes bigoted discourse about the UAE
The Arab Weekly/January 14/2021
ABU DHABI – Statements by Kuwaiti preacher Othman al-Khamis condemning an interfaith centre in the UAE have sparked widespread controversy on social media.
The Kuwaiti preacher condemned the promotion of the Abrahamic Family House, a three-in-one religious complex that hosts a church, a mosque and a synagogue, claiming it to be an act of “infidelity.”He denounced placing what he called the “distorted Bible and Torah” next to the Quran and questioned the project’s motives.
Khamis also criticised the erection of a Buddha statue in Abu Dhabi as an “act of Satan,” warning that Buddha could become an object of worship over time.
In response to the Kuwaiti preacher’s controversial statements, Emiratis launched the hashtag “#Othman_khamis_excommunicates_ UAE” on Twitter and condemned the preacher for meddling in their country’s affairs.
A popular Twitter account under the name “Bin Thani” described the sheikh as”an idiot” and accused him of hypocritically searching “for bars (pubs) when he visits the UAE.”Other Emirati Twitter users explained the unifying purpose of the Abrahamic Family House. “The Abrahamic Family House is made up of three buildings. Each building is dedicated to one of the Abrahamic religions, and each religion performs its rituals separately from the other .. You see, it is like a Nescafe 3 by 1 instant coffee,” Twitter user @Sha3rT_Yaas, write. “Many of the hard-liners do not understand what the Abrahamic Family House is,” wrote Twitter user @bastaki1976. “To put it simply, three places of worship are set in one place where the rites of each religion are held in its own building, as a symbol of tolerance and human coexistence, and as a message of peace from the heart of the Islamic world. It is not, in any case, a fusion of three religions into one as hardliners believe.”Link: https://twitter.com/bastaki1976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1348847229583433728%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Falarab.co.uk%2FD8B9D8ABD985D8A7D986-D8A7D984D8AED985D98AD8B3-D8AFD8A7D8B9D98AD8A9-D983D988D98AD8AAD98A-D98AD8AAD8B7D988D8B9-D984D8A5D8ABD8A7D8B1D8A9-D981D8AAD986D8A9
Some Emiratis said that the Kuwaiti preacher understands the true intentions of the Abrahamic Family House, but is simply looking for a way to criticise the UAE.
They claimed that Khamis has been “instructed to lead a campaign of incitement against the UAE, using religion to deceive the public.”Twitter user @BelalAlsbah mocked the preacher’s statements, saying the campaign was “produced by Qatar, directed in Kuwait, and sponsored by Rolex.” Emirati preacher Wasim Yousef, imam of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, said “Khamis excommunicated a whole complex. He excommunicated the Abrahamic Family House… I challenge him if he really read about the Abrahamic Family House or the idea behind ​​the project. To cut it short, he wants to grab the spotlights by excommunicating people.”Though most of the preacher’s statements on his YouTube channel deal with issues of jurisprudence, in which he relays approved fatwas, some include opinions that were prominent during the era of “awakening,”, a Muslim-brotherhood inspired movement that flourished in Saudi Arabia following 1979 but that has since faded. In one of his lectures, Khamis says, “If you do not have to salute the flag of your country, then do not, and do not hesitate to insult the religious symbols of your country’s citizens, if they are not from your religion.”
Like Saudi religious scholars he knew during his studies at the branch of Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in the city of Buraydah, Qassim, which is the stronghold of Saudi conservatives, Khamis created his own website called “Al-Manhaj.”At the end of the 1990s, Khamis gained a large Arab audience by appearing in televised debates with Shia scholars on Al-Mustaqila channel that broadcasts from London. An illustration of the Abrahamic Family House to be built on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. (https://www.forhumanfraternity.org/abrahamic-family-house) An illustration of the Abrahamic Family House to be built on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. (https://www.forhumanfraternity.org/abrahamic-family-house)
Khamis gained further prominence as sectarian religious discourse spread throughout the Arab world, with the cleric being one of the founders of the Safa channel.
After being featured on Al-Mustaqila and Safa, Khamis moved to the Wasal channel, which also promoted sectarian content.
Some social media users compared Khamis to Saudi cleric Muhammad al-Arifi.
This comparison has been rejected by supporters of the “New Year’s Lion,” a title given to Khamis by the Wisal channel. Others have referred to the Kuwaiti cleric as the “Qaradawi of Kuwait,” in reference to Al Jazeera’s radical in-house cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, as if he represented a new strategy for launching propaganda attacks on the Arab Gulf states from Kuwait.
Twitter user @s7h40 wrote, “Is the Qaradawi of Kuwait trying to ignite a new fitna, with instructions from his Al-Jazeera friends?”
Link: https://twitter.com/s7abh40?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1348573272380731394%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Falarab.co.uk%2FD8B9D8ABD985D8A7D986-D8A7D984D8AED985D98AD8B3-D8AFD8A7D8B9D98AD8A9-D983D988D98AD8AAD98A-D98AD8AAD8B7D988D8B9-D984D8A5D8ABD8A7D8B1D8A9-D981D8AAD986D8A9
Without naming the Kuwaiti preacher, Saudi professor Abdullah al-Ghadhami wrote,“There are indications that we have overcome a time of rigidity and extremism, and this is most often the case now. However, a video marked by extremism recently appeared on Twitter, and my comment is referring to that video.”Some Gulf twitter users defended Khamis, however, launching the hashtag “#Othman_Khamis_Asad_Sunnah (The Lion of Sunnah).”Twitter user Maaly Al-Barbarari (@Mrbrary), who is known to defend Qatar, said, “Khamis said the truth and defended Islam .. so they attacked him, but good and righteousness people defended and supported him.” Some Emirati citizens have long cautioned against the cleric, who once held lectures in the country and presented a TV programme on an Emirati satellite channel.
They warned that his discourse runs against the country’s tolerant character. Last Ramadan, Khamis appeared on Al-Jazeera’s “Sharia and Life” programme. Social media users posted videos and photos at the time of one of his earlier visits to Dubai in which he held lectures.
Twitter user @mbark2200 wrote, “These are the people of the UAE, not how the media wants to portray them. The people of the UAE are rather a people of religion and Sunnah, and here are some pictures of Sheikh Khamis’s lecture in the UAE. # Othman_khamis_the Lion_Sunnah.”

US sanctions key leader of Iraqi PMF, Hezbollah Brigades
The Arab Weekly/January 14/2021
BAGHDAD--The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) and Hezbollah Brigades militia leader Abdulaziz al-Mohammadawi, known as Abu Fadak, as it designated him a global terrorist figure.
The move by the US Treasury against Mohammadawi was expected by many Iraqi officials. It was also the second time in a week that a senior Iraqi militia official has been sanctioned. The chairman of the paramilitary umbrella, the Popular Mobilization Forces, Falih al-Fayyadh was sanctioned last Friday under the Magnitsky Act and accused of rights abuses against antigovernment protesters. The law allows the US to target any foreigner accused of human rights violations and corruption. Abu Fadak, a senior figure of the Iran-backed Hezbollah Brigades (or Kata’ib Hezbollah) militia, is also the acting deputy chairman of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a role he took on after a US airstrike last January in Baghdad killed the militia’s deputy head Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a powerful founding member of Kata’ib Hezbollah and the lead architect of the umbrella group of pro-Iran paramilitaries. Top Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander, Gen. Qassim Soleimani, was also killed in that airstrike. Apart from being a member Kata’ib Hezbollah, which the US has described as an “Iran-backed terrorist organisation,” the US claims Abu Fadak is working with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force to “reshape official Iraqi state security institutions … to instead support Iran’s malign activities,” according to the US State Department. The statement said Iran-backed elements, including Kata'ib Hezbollah, are involved in sectarian violence and are responsible for attacks against Iraqi government facilities and diplomatic missions. The PMF was formed in 2014 to counter the Islamic State group, following a fatwa from Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani, and was later brought under the government’s fold. Its growing influence in Iraqi affairs has alarmed the US officials who accuse it of orchestrating attacks on the American Embassy in Baghdad. Abu Fadak was a largely unknown figure until he replaced al-Muhandis even though some militia groups opposed his selection. In contrast to Abu Fadak’s designation, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry promptly denounced last week’s measures against al-Fayyadh, who is a more established political figure and a former Iraqi national security advisor. The ministry said it would follow up with the incoming Biden administration in Washington on the matter.

Kata'ib Hezbollah leader makes strange offer to train pro-Trump 'liberation movements'
The Arab Weekly/January 14/2021
Askari said, in a tweet, that the security advisers of the “Islamic Resistance” are ready to provide advice and training, directly and indirectly, to “the liberation movements” of the “Disunited States.”

BAGHDAD - In a provocative statement, a key leader of Iraq's Kata'ib Hezbollah militia reflected a strange disconnect from reality and ignorance of basic facts about the United States.Abu Ali al-Askari, a security official of Kata'ib Hezbollah, said his militia, which is part of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), is ready to provide advice and training to US "liberation movements." Askari wrote on Twitter that the security advisers of the "Islamic Resistance" are ready to provide advice and training, directly and indirectly, to "the liberation movements" of the "Disunited States."
He added that "special sites will be assigned for that purpose," but did not elaborate further. The statement, analysts said, showed that the Kata'ib Hezbollah leader does not seem to realise that the "liberation movements," in reference to far-right American groups that stormed Capitol Hill earlier this month, claim that US President Donald Trump is the true winner of US elections and are clamouring for him to stay in power. Askari also appears oblivious to the fact that Trump specifically targeted pro-Iranian Iraqi militias with sanctions and carried out a potent blow against Iran and its PMF allies by targeting and killing the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi associate Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis in January 2020. The vociferously anti-American Iraqi militia is equipped with armoured Hummer cars and Bradley vehicles. The US army left these US-made vehicle in Iraq when its forces withdrew and in some cases, supplied them to the Iraqi army. Activists on social media mocked the pro-Iranian Iraqi militia leader's statements, describing him as disconnected from reality and having no knowledge of US political affairs. He has appears to have no grasp of the political identity of Trump's far-right supporters or the type of demands they have made on the US president, which include launching decisive strikes against Iran, the militia's regional sponsor.
Kata'ib Hezbollah is a central faction that Washington accuses of targeting its embassy in Baghdad and US forces deployed in military bases throughout Iraq. Last February, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Ahmad al-Hamidawi, the secretary-general of Kata'ib Hezbollah, with the aim of "tightening the pressure" on Tehran and its allies. The US State Department labelled Hamidawi "a specially designated global terrorist," froze any assets he might possess in the United States and criminalised any American dealings with him. The United States has ratcheted up pressure on pro-Iran Iraqi militias in recent months. It most recently sanctioned the head of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), Faleh al-Fayyadh, for his “involvement in human rights violations,” after it sanctioned pro-Iran militia leaders from within and outside the PMF accused of firing rockets at US sites. Experts say these sanctions are likely to be particularly embarrassing for Baghdad, given that the PMF, made up of dozens of Shia militias, is an officially-sanctioned body that only nominally takes orders from Iraq's commander in chief, who is the prime minister. According to sources, the US has a list of names of individuals that the United States could hold responsible for attacking the US Embassy or other sites, and may still target them in quick retaliatory strikes.

War Looms Between Sudan, Ethiopia
Khartoum - Ahmed Younis and Mohammed Amin Yassin/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 14 January, 2021
Sudan warned that there will be serious consequences after Ethiopia's recent military violations, stressing that the air sorties at the border contribute to increasing security tensions. Ethiopia has pushed large reinforcements to its border with Sudan, while the Sudanese army still maintains its military deployment within its territory and the areas it has retaken in the last period. The Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accompanied by the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Mohammad Othman al-Hussein, and a number of senior Sudanese army commanders, arrived at the Sudanese-Ethiopian border to inspect the forces at the front lines. On Monday, Ethiopian militias attacked al-Fashqa area, killing five women and a child. Later, the army found the body of one of the two women who went missing during the attack. Sources reported that the Sudanese army combed the areas after the attack of the Ethiopian forces. They predicted possible military confrontations after the Sudanese and Ethiopian armies conducted ground maneuvers near the border. In a strongly worded press statement, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said that an Ethiopian military aircraft crossed the Sudanese-Ethiopian border in a “dangerous and unjustified escalation.”The ministry warned that the latest incident “could have dangerous consequences, and cause more tension in the border area.”The ministry called on Ethiopia not to repeat “such hostilities in the future given their dangerous repercussions on the future of bilateral relations between the two countries and on security and stability in the Horn of Africa.”Meanwhile, a Sudanese military helicopter crashed shortly after taking off from Gedarif, an eastern province bordering Ethiopia. The military said the crew tried to land the plane, but it caught fire after hitting the ground, adding that all three members of the crew survived. The Sudanese government spokesman, Minister of Culture and Information Faisal Mohamed Saleh denied allegations that the Sudanese forces had entered Ethiopian territory. Saleh asserted during his interview with Bloomberg Asharq that the Sudanese army responded decisively to the Ethiopian violations of the Sudanese border after the joint border committee failed to make any progress.
He reiterated that the conflict between the two countries has nothing to do with demarcating the borders, which are internationally agreed upon, and there is no dispute over them, which Addis Ababa denies. Recent reports indicated that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are now involved in the mediations aiming to ease tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia. Member of the Sovereignty Council Mohammad al-Faki Suleiman is expected to visit Saudi Arabia to clarify Sudan's position on the conflict with Ethiopia. Sudan's National Borders Commission on Wednesday accused Ethiopia of violating the historical border agreements signed between the two countries. Moaz Teqno, head of the commission, described Ethiopia as “evasive and procrastinating” in implementing the agreements signed between the two countries on marking the border. Teqno briefed the ambassadors, diplomats, and representatives of regional and international organizations to Sudan on the dispute between Khartoum and Addis Ababa. Over the past years, Ethiopia has continued to encroach on Sudanese lands, build settlements and expel Sudanese farmers, in clear violation of all agreements, stated Teqno. “The Ethiopian infringements on the Sudanese territory have continued since 1957,” asserted Teqno, noting that Ethiopia also evaded its obligations in the border agreements which could be traced back to as early as 1903. Ethiopia’s ambassador to Sudan Yibeltal Aemero told the briefing that “all the recent unprecedented action of the Sudanese army will complicate the bilateral relations, including the pending task of the re-demarcation of the common boundary with huge implications to peoples of the two countries and the region at large unless corrected urgently.” Aemero accused Sudanese troops of taking advantage of the deadly conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region to enter the territory and loot property, kill civilians and displace thousands of people. The ambassador stated that his country supports the Sudanese people and has not resorted to the military option, noting that the Sudanese army’s attack must end because it will complicate relations.
The border between Sudan and Ethiopia is about 725 km and was determined in the 1903 agreement. Border tension between the two countries escalated during the conflict in Tigray region, after Ethiopian forces and militias attacked Sudanese forces inside their territory, killing three individuals and a high-ranking officer.The Sudanese army redeployed within its territory and regained control over more than 80 percent of the areas that had been witnessing an Ethiopian presence for many years. The negotiations to demarcate the border between Sudan and Ethiopia last December failed to reach an agreement.

Wary of sanctions, Turkey hopes to reopen talks with US
The Arab Weekly/January 14/2021
ANKARA--Turkey’s defence minister has called on the United States to reopen talks about Ankara’s controversial purchase of a Russian air defence system, urging Washington to move past sanctions and threats. But Hulusi Akar also told foreign reporters in Ankara on Wednesday that Turkey was in discussions to receive a second batch of the advanced S-400 missiles from Russia, which compete with US Patriots. The issue will pose an immediate challenge for US President-elect Joe Biden, who is expected to take a tougher line with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After more than a year of warnings, Washington hit Turkey’s military procurement agency with sanctions last month under a 2017 law which punishes major military purchases from Russia. Akar emphasised the need for dialogue between the NATO allies to address Washington’s concerns. “Let’s sit down, let’s talk, let’s make the effort to find a path to resolve this,” Akar said. “Our sincere belief is dialogue, dialogue, dialogue… Without dialogue, with things like sanctions, threatening language, it’s really not possible to get anywhere.”Before Washington sanctioned the Turkish Presidency of Defence Industries, Ankara had sought to set up a working group with US defence officials to assess the impact of the S-400s on NATO hardware. Such efforts went nowhere, however. Turkey made the purchase after failing to come to terms on deliveries of the Patriots with their manufacturer Raytheon. The US State Department said last month that the sanctions would stay in place as long as the S-400s remained part of Turkey’s defences. Still, Washington’s punishment was lighter than feared, avoiding the Turkish banking sector and not hurting the fragile economy. Akar said Turkey enjoyed good working relations with Biden when he was vice-president under Barack Obama between 2008 and 2016.
Rapacious appetite
But in remarks that will likely raise hackles in Washington, Akar also confirmed that “talks continue” on a second package of the S-400s, insisting they were always part of the Russian deal. Turkey took delivery of the first batteries in July 2019 and tested them last year. Despite this, Akar said he was “optimistic” for Turkey to return to the US F-35 fighter jet programme, as it had been a significant buyer and parts manufacturer. Washington moved quickly to suspend Turkey’s involvement in the programme, barring it from acquiring the next-generation planes in reprisal. “We want to return to the F-35 programme, we are always optimistic. We want this decision to be undone,” Akar said. The defence minister added Turkey was still in talks for possible purchases of Franco-Italian Eurosam’s SAMP/T missile system, which is another Patriot equivalent. “We are in NATO, we stand with Europe, we stand with the US… We want to meet our (security) needs from our allies,” Akar said.

Fearing Famine, U.N. Calls on U.S. to Reverse Huthi 'Terrorists' Label
Agence France Presse/January 14/2021
The United States must cancel its decision to classify Yemen's Huthi rebels as "terrorists" to avoid a catastrophic famine, several United Nations officials told the Security Council on Thursday. The terrorist classification has drawn criticism from aid groups, the European Union and many others over fears it will exacerbate the already dire humanitarian crisis in war-ravaged Yemen. "What is the likely humanitarian impact? The answer is a large-scale famine on a scale that we have not seen for nearly 40 years," said Mark Lowcock, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs. He said exemptions to allow aid agencies to deliver supplies, as suggested by Washington, would not be sufficient to avoid a famine, adding "what would prevent it? A reversal of the decision." Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump's administration announced the last-ditch move on Sunday with just days to go before his successor Joe Biden takes over. The designation is set to come into force on January 19 -- the eve of the inauguration of Biden, whose aides had hoped to mount a fresh push to end Yemen's six-year war. It is also seen as complicating the incoming U.S. leader's promised efforts to restart diplomacy with Iran, which has links to the Huthis. The rebels control much of Yemen and have faced a bloody offensive from U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, with millions in the country depending on aid to survive. Designation as a terrorist group is expected to halt many transactions with Huthi authorities, including bank transfers, paying medical personnel and for food and fuel, due to fears of U.S. prosecution.
'A death sentence'
Aid groups have said that they have no option but to deal with what is the de facto government in northern Yemen. The U.N. envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said he backed Lowcock's stance that the U.S. decision "would contribute to famine in Yemen and thus should be revoked." "We fear that there will be inevitably a chilling effect on my efforts to bring the parties together," added Griffiths, who has regular contact with the Huthis. It was the first time that the U.N., usually cautious with its largest financial contributor, has so clearly criticized the outgoing U.S. administration.
About 16 million people will go hungry this year in Yemen, the U.N. predicts. David Beasley, head of the World Food Program, discarded his prepared speech to warn of a "catastrophic" famine. "What do you think is going to happen to five million people that are in emergency classification now? They are going to slide into famine conditions," he said. "We are struggling now with a designation (which) is going to be catastrophic. It is literally going to be a death sentence to hundreds of thousands if not millions of innocent people." U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres "of course" supports the calls for the United States to withdraw its decision, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during his daily press briefing. But Saudi Arabia this week welcomed the U.S. move, saying it was "in line with the legitimate Yemen government's calls to put an end to the activities of the militia supported by Iran." Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Richard Mills pointed out that the U.S. was the largest humanitarian aid donor, and he offered assurances that exemptions would limit the impact of the American decision. Lowcock made an urgent appeal for donations, saying "in 2020, we received $1.7 billion for the U.N. response plan. About half of what we needed. And less than half of what we got the year before." "The aid operation used to help 13.5 million people every month. Now we're helping just over 9 million," he said. "Less money means stopping key programs, including food aid."

Israel Reaches 2 Million Vaccinated Milestone
Agence France Presse/January 14/2021
The number of people inoculated in Israel for coronavirus passed the two million threshold Thursday, with the prime minister saying there was "light at the end of the tunnel."Israel "will become the first country to emerge from the corona crisis," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted. "We see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said, all smiles as he observed an Israeli woman become the second millionth to receive the Covid-19 jab. "I am the second millionth," to be vaccinated in Israel, read a sign held by 22-year-old Margaret Alsoso as she received her first dose of the vaccine in the city of Ramla near Tel Aviv. Netanyahu -- who faces yet another re-election contest and a corruption trial over the coming weeks -- has sought to highlight his personal role in the inoculation campaign. The prime minister was the first to get the jab on December 19, when Israel launched its inoculation campaign with the vaccine made by US-German pharma alliance Pfizer-BioNTech. In early January authorities said two million people would receive a two-dose Covid-19 vaccine by the end of the month. As of Thursday only 150,000 people had received their two doses. But as Israel pushes aggressively with its vaccination drive, it is also witnessing a surge in the pandemic with some 9,000 coronavirus cases registered daily. The country, currently in its third national lockdown, has recorded more than 523,000 cases, including around 3,850 deaths, according to the health ministry. On Thursday, Netanyahu urged Israelis to respect lockdown restrictions. Amnesty International has called on Israel to provide coronavirus vaccine doses to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, saying the Jewish state is obliged to do so under international law.
 

WHO team arrives in China's Wuhan to investigate COVID-19 origins
NNA/Reuters/January 14/2021
An international team of scientists led by the World Health Organization arrived on Thursday in China’s central city of Wuhan to investigate the origins of the novel coronavirus that sparked the pandemic. The group arrived late in the morning on a budget airline from Singapore and was expected to head into two weeks of quarantine. They had been set to arrive earlier this month, and China’s delay of their visit drew rare public criticism from the agency’s chief. The team left the airport terminal through a plastic quarantine tunnel marked “epidemic prevention passage” for international arrivals and boarded a cordoned-off bus that was guarded by half a dozen security staff in full protective gear. Team members did not speak to reporters, although some waved and took pictures of the media from the bus as it departed. The United States, which has accused China of hiding the extent of its initial outbreak a year ago, has called for a “transparent” WHO-led investigation and criticised the terms of the visit, under which Chinese experts have done the first phase of research. The team arrived as China battles a resurgence of cases in its northeast after managing for months to nearly stamp out domestic infections.
Peter Ben Embarek, the WHO’s top expert on animal diseases that cross to other species, who went to China on a preliminary mission last July, is leading the 10 independent experts, a WHO spokesman said. Hung Nguyen, a Vietnamese biologist who is part of the team, told Reuters that he did not expect any restrictions on the group’s work in China, but cautioned the team might not find clear answers. After completing quarantine, the team will spend two weeks interviewing people from research institutes, hospitals and the seafood market in Wuhan where the new pathogen is believed to have emerged, Hung added.
The team would mainly stay in Wuhan, he told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday during a stopover in Singapore. Last week, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Gheybreyesus said he was “very disappointed” that China had still not authorised the team’s entry for the long-awaited mission, but on Monday, he welcomed its announcement of their planned arrival. “What we would like to do with the international team and counterparts in China is to go back in the Wuhan environment, re-interview in-depth the initial cases, try to find other cases that were not detected at that time and try to see if we can push back the history of the first cases,” Ben Embarek said in November. China has been pushing a narrative via state media that the virus existed abroad before it was discovered in Wuhan, citing the presence of the virus on imported frozen food packaging and scientific papers claiming it had been circulating in Europe in 2019.—“We are looking for the answers here that may save us in future - not culprits and not people to blame,” the WHO’s top emergency expert, Mike Ryan, told reporters this week, adding that the WHO was willing to go “anywhere and everywhere” to find out how the virus emerged. Team member Marion Koopmans, a virologist at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, said last month it was too soon to say whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus had jumped directly from bats to humans or had an intermediate animal host. “At this stage what I think we need is a very open mind when trying to step back into the events that led eventually to this pandemic,” she told reporters.—Reuters

Pope Francis, Ex-pope Benedict Get Virus Vaccines, Says Vatican
Agence France Presse/January 14/2021
Both Pope Francis and his predecessor, former pope Benedict XVI, have received the coronavirus vaccine, the Vatican said on Thursday. "I can confirm that as part of the Vatican City State vaccination programme to date, the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine has been administered to Pope Francis and the Pope Emeritus," spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

Greece wants EU pressure on Turkey to take back migrants
NNA /AFP/January 14/2021
Greece called Thursday on European Union authorities to better enforce a landmark 2016 migrant deal and ensure that Turkey take back nearly 1,500 people whose asylum requests were rejected. Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said his government had submitted a "request" to the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, and the Frontex border agency "for the immediate return to Turkey" of just under 1,500 "third country citizens who are not entitled to international protection." "Europe needs to establish a common mechanism to address this issue within the new Migration and Asylum Pact, as well as implementing the necessary legal and operation mechanism for achieving returns," Mitarachi said in a statement. Among asylum claimants whose applications had been "conclusively" rejected on appeal, 995 are in Lesbos, 180 in Chios, 128 in Samos and 187 in Kos, the migration ministry said. Only 139 returns took place in 2020 before Turkey halted the process in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, Athens said Thursday. "We expect Turkey to step up its efforts under the Joint Statement," Mitarachi said. "First, to prevent the passage of boats departing from its shores bound for our country and European Union. And second to accept the return of migrants, on the basis of the EU-Turkey Joint Statement, but also, on the basis of existing bilateral readmission agreements," he said.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 14-15/2021

Turkey-Israel Reconciliation?
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/January 14/2021
[I]t was Erdogan who in October called Jerusalem a Turkish city. Referring to the Ottoman occupation of Jerusalem (1517-1917), Erdogan said: "It is still possible to encounter traces of the Ottoman resistance in this city that we had to leave in tears during the First World War. In other words, Jerusalem is our city, it is a city from us."
Apparently, the Erdogan regime is hoping to expand trade with Israel and further gain diplomatic support in international matters. At the same time, instead of genuinely trying to fight anti-Semitism and other forms of racism in Turkish society through education and other means, the Erdogan regime has been indoctrinating its supporters with Jew-hatred and actively supporting Hamas terrorists.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has referred several times to Israelis as "Nazis." This notion appears to be a projection: it has been Turkish governments that have ethnically cleansed Turkey of almost all its non-Muslim citizens. Erdogan denies the 1915 Armenian genocide by Ottoman Turkey, even as he has called the genocide "the most reasonable decision at the time".
On December 25, a reporter asked Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about his views on the news that Israel and Turkey were "re-establishing their relations recently." Erdogan replied:
"Our relations with Israel concerning intelligence have not been interrupted anyway; they continue. I mean, we are experiencing some difficulties with the people at the highest level there, as with some other countries. If we had no such problems with the top [of the Israeli government], our relations with Israel would be very different. Of course, particularly Israel's Palestine policy is Turkey's red line. It is impossible for us to accept Israel's Palestinian policies. It is impossible for us to accept Israel's attitude towards our brothers and sisters in Palestine and its ruthless actions there. Where we differ with Israel is our understanding of justice and of territorial integrity of countries. Otherwise, we want to move our relations with them to a better point."
Two weeks before Erdogan talked about "bettering relations with Israel," a conference organized by a pro-government Turkish organization, the Association of Justice Defenders Strategic Studies Center (ASSAM), promoted the idea of creating a joint Islamic army and a common defense system for the "Confederation of Islamic Countries". One of the main targets of this proposed army is Israel.
The board chairman of ASSAM, a retired Turkish general Adnan Tanriverdi, is the founder of a Turkish security firm, SADAT International Defense Consulting, and a former senior advisor to Erdogan. In a 2009 article, Tanriverdi wrote:
"[T]o defeat Israel, it must be forced to defend itself, to engage all its forces, and the length of the war must be extended.... If Israel has to call all of its reserve soldiers to duty, there will be no one left at home or in their businesses. It cannot continue like that for a long time."
The annual Islamic Union Congress was organized online on December 12 under the theme of "ASRICA [Asia-Africa] confederation defense organization" and discussed "the principles and the procedures of the common defense system for the Islamic union". Tanriverdi presented in his speech the defense structure of the so-called Islamic union that ASSAM envisions will consist of 61 Muslim countries.
Tanrıverdi has repeatedly stated that the Muslim world must establish an "army for Palestine" against Israel. In an Istanbul speech delivered in 2019 by Tanriverdi, he emphasized that it was impossible for the Islamic world to "give up on Jerusalem." Tanrıverdi said:
"The Islamic world should prepare an army for Palestine from outside Palestine. Israel should know that if it bombs [Palestine] a bomb will fall on Tel Aviv as well."
Tanriverdi conveniently ignores that Palestine was a provincial place name established by the Romans in 135 CE, after the defeat of a Jewish rebellion, to replace "Judea" and all other vestiges of Jewish life in the region. The reason for the current Palestinian-Arab statelessness is their own political leaders who have rejected three offers for a state and instead chosen war and terrorism over peaceful coexistence. The United Nations proposed a plan in 1947 to partition Palestine into two sections: an independent Jewish state and an independent Arab state. While Jewish leaders accepted the plan, Arab leaders vehemently opposed it. The day after Israel declared its independence, May 15, 1948, five Arab countries invaded it: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
Seventy-three years later, extremist Muslims still plan on destroying Israel. The gatherings of the Islamic Union Congress started in 2017 and will continue until 2023. The next annual congress in 2021 will discuss "principles and procedures of joint foreign policy for the Islamic union."
Erdogan referred to Turkey's understanding of "territorial integrity of countries" as one of the reasons their relations with Israel has deteriorated. However, it was Erdogan who in October called Jerusalem a Turkish city. Referring to the Ottoman occupation of Jerusalem (1517-1917), Erdogan said:
"It is still possible to encounter traces of the Ottoman resistance in this city that we had to leave in tears during the First World War. In other words, Jerusalem is our city, it is a city from us."
Erdogan also has made it clear many times that his problem is not only with the "top" people in the Israeli government, but also with the whole Jewish nation.
Speaking at a meeting on January 31,2020, for instance, Erdogan blasted the "Deal of the Century" that was presented by US President Donald Trump attempting to peacefully resolve the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Erdogan called Israel "a pirate, cruel and insatiable" and -- apparently forgetting that the Palestinians had been offered a state three times, and each time turned the offer down -- opposed the idea that Jews should have a state of their own.
"We never recognize and accept this plan that will destroy Palestine.
"Israel, which was established in a pirate way on Palestinian lands, has reached its present borders unjustly and unlawfully. The eyes of the cruel ones do not get enough of either blood or property. Israel does not get enough of these things either. They are trying to put into effect this plan, which means the annexation of Palestinian lands. Now, without any shame, they are trying to deprive Palestine [of a state], including the West Bank."
Erdogan also condemned those who befriend and support Jews, whom he referred to as "those with a kippah on":
"When we look at the attitude of Islamic countries, I feel sorry for us. First of all, you, Saudi Arabia. You have been silent. When will you speak up? The Oman, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi administrations. They join [the peace initiative] and give applause. Shame on you! How will those clapping hands account for this treacherous step? Those sitting with kippahs on their heads [Jews] applaud and they [Muslims] applaud, as well. Tell me who your friend is and I will tell you who you are. The key to peace is in Jerusalem today, as it has been for thousands of years. Anyone who encourages Israel is responsible for the dire consequences that will occur."
Referring to his January 29, 2020 meeting with Turkey's Jewish community, which was closed to the media, Erdogan said he warned Turkey's Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva about his stance on the US administration's peace plan: That Turkey's Jewish community and the "Christian world" should not maintain silence concerning the issue.
For these extremist Muslims, facts do not seem to matter. The US administration's peace plan for Palestinian Arabs and Israel does recognize Palestinian statehood and a "two-state solution." The plan notes that it "addresses today's realities, and provides the Palestinians, who do not yet have a state, with a path to a dignified national life, respect, security and economic opportunity." These are, in fact, rights and opportunities that the Turkish government has never recognized for any of its persecuted minority communities: Armenians, Yazidis, Anatolian Greeks. Alevis, Kurds, or Assyrians.
Meanwhile, antisemitism in Turkey has become a government-level, systematic problem. In 2018, Erdogan established nine councils, the members of which he appointed, who are responsible for "offering policy proposals, ideas and strategies to the president" on the economy, foreign policy, education and law. Among those councils' appointees are well-known public figures who have made blatant anti-Semitic statements. In an interview with the Turkish journal Yörünge in August, for instance, author Alev Alatlı, a member of Erdogan's culture and art council, said that the "anti-Erdogan forces of the world" are led by Jews and motivated by millennia-long Jewish teachings. "The real project [of the Jews] is to cleanse the universe of goyim," she said, referring to "goyim" as those "for whom there is no place in the world unless they serve the Jews." In another interview the same month with the newspaper Takvim, Alatlı said:
"American imperialism and Jewish alliances (Evangelism and Jewish) have once again stepped into action today and are dragging the world into chaos. Their first target is Turkey."
This is in line with Erdogan's worldview. He has frequently targeted Israelis and Jewish people with insults and hate speech. In 2014, he said:
"Israel is a country that threatens peace in the world; it is a country that threatens peace in the Middle East. Therefore, as Turkey, as long as I am in this position [of prime minister], I cannot think of anything positive about Israel. It is not possible for us to look positively at Israel, which is engaging in state terror.
"My call is to the Islamic world. As long as it does not clearly show its attitude towards Israel, these problems will continue. Our attitude is clear. We were almost at a point where we zeroed our relations with Israel. Israel is currently committing genocide."
Erdogan seems not to be the best judge of what constitutes a genocide. A proud denier of the 1915 Armenian genocide by Ottoman Turkey, he has called it "the most reasonable decision at the time". Also, when then Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, against whom an arrest warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court for conducting a genocide in Darfur, visited Turkey in 2009, Erdogan defended him by saying: "It is never possible for a person belonging to the religion of Islam to which we belong to commit genocide." Evidently Erdogan thinks that what determines genocide is not the actions or intent of the perpetrators, but their religion.
Erdogan then targeted Jewish people with a violent Islamic teaching: In December 2017, after US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Erdogan said:
"Those who think they are the owners of Jerusalem today will not even be able to find trees to hide behind tomorrow."
The remark alludes to an Islamic hadith (saying attributed to Islam's Prophet Muhammad) according to which:
"The Hour [of Judgement Day] will not begin until you fight the Jews, until a Jew will hide behind a rock or a tree, and the rock or tree will say: 'O Muslim, O slave of Allah, here is a Jew behind me; come and kill him."
Erdogan has also referred several times to Israelis as "Nazis." In July 2018, he responded to Israel's passage of its Nation-State Law by saying that the "spirit of Adolf Hitler" had re-emerged in the country. Erdogan called Israel the "most Zionist, fascist, and racist state in the world" and claimed that there was "no difference between Hitler's obsession with the Aryan race and Israel's understanding that these ancient lands are meant only for Jews."
This notion appears to be yet another projection: it has been Turkish governments that have ethnically cleansed Turkey of almost all of its non-Muslim citizens -- through genocide, pogroms, forced deportations and other forms of persecution.
The Turkish government's hostility to Jews and Israel is not limited to statements. In 2018, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced that Hamas was funneling terror funds to the West Bank and Gaza through Turkey:
"Kamil Tekeli, a Turkish law professor, was arrested by the Shin Bet and the police in mid-January. He was deported back to Turkey after being questioned...
"Tekeli said he helped Hamas operatives who came to Turkey to buy apartments, offices and cars and set up companies registered in his name.
"The Shin Bet said its investigation discovered one company set up by Hamas in Turkey that was used to launder money collected for Hamas in other countries and then send it on to the territories. In this way, millions of dollars were sent to Hamas-controlled Gaza.
"The Shin Bet statement also accused Turkey of aiding Hamas' military build-up via a company called SADAT, established by an adviser to members of the current government in Ankara. Tekeli told his interrogators that the company sends money and arms to Hamas."
Erdogan's government is also reportedly harboring members of Hamas, providing at least a dozen members of the terrorist organization with citizenship. In August, Erdogan personally met with a Hamas delegation that included politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh and the terror group's No. 2, Saleh al-Arouri, a top military commander who has a $5 million US bounty on his head.
The US government unambiguously condemned Erdogan's welcoming of Hamas:
"Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU and both officials hosted by President Erdogan are Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The U.S. Rewards for Justice Program is seeking information about one of the individuals for his involvement in multiple terrorist attacks, hijackings, and kidnappings."
Following Erdogan's meeting with Hamas members, Israel's chargé d'affaires in Istanbul, Roey Gilad, said that Turkey had given passports to a dozen Hamas members in Istanbul. He described the move as "a very unfriendly step" which his government would raise with Turkish officials.
According to Reuters, Gilad said Israel had already told Turkey last year that Hamas was carrying out "terror-related activity" in Istanbul, but that Turkey had not taken any action. According to Reuters:
"Gilad said the Hamas members who received Turkish documents were financing and organising terrorism from Istanbul, which Turkey has previously denied. Many of them came to Turkey under a 2011 deal between Turkey and Israel to exchange a captured Israeli soldier for more than 1,000 prisoners, Gilad said."
Sadly, much of the Turkish public seems to agree with Erdogan's hate-filled rhetoric against Israel. A 2014 Pew Research Center poll found that the country most hated by Turkish citizens is Israel. 86% of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of Israel, while only 2% viewed it positively.
Moreover, books such as Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Hitler's Mein Kampf, and The International Jew by Henry Ford "form the basic texts for anti-Semites the world over, are perennial bestsellers" in Turkey, as a leading scholar of Turkish Jewry, Rifat N. Bali, pointed out.
After years of hostile statements and actions against Israel, why is Turkey trying to approach Israel now? One reason appears to be geopolitics. Because of its aggressive policies in the region, the Turkish government is now largely isolated there. In addition, the Financial Times reported in August:
"Turkey's economy suffered its deepest downturn on record at the peak of this year's coronavirus crisis, according to data that underlined the pain caused by lockdown measures on key sectors."
Apparently, the Erdogan regime is hoping to expand trade with Israel and further gain diplomatic support in international matters. At the same time, instead of genuinely trying to fight anti-Semitism and other forms of racism in Turkish society through education and other means, the Erdogan regime has been indoctrinating its supporters with Jew-hatred and actively supporting Hamas terrorists.
The Erdogan regime has proven time and time again that it is hostile to Israel, hostile to Jews and other non-Muslim minorities, and friends with those who want to obliterate the Jewish state.
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute.
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Restart, Reset or Renew? The Strategy against Iranian Nuclear Ambition
Peter Schweizer/Gatestone Institute/January 14/2021
Even if the deal negotiated in 2015 by the Obama administration were worth the effort, it is impossible to imagine the Iranians willingly recommitting to enrichment levels they have long since blown past. No one believes in their professed "peaceful use" of nuclear energy. So why does a return to the deal make any sense?
The killing of top terror-funding IRGC official Qasem Soleimani by the US military and Iran's relatively toothless retaliatory attack against two US bases in Iraq suggest that the regime fears what an escalation of tensions would mean to its own future more than it desires to stab at the "Great Satan." The regime may finally be on the verge of collapse.
Those sanctions are the only leverage the U.S. really has against Iran, and they may finally succeed, much as the Reagan administration was able to do to the USSR in the 1980s. Now is not the time to reduce or remove them in exchange for paper promises born of a campaign slogan, from a regime whose movements suggest it fears its days are numbered.
Through covert operations, hidden diplomacy, an intense military buildup, and a series of actions designed to throw sand in the gears of the Soviet economy, American policy destroyed the USSR from its fingertips to its heart. Former Soviet leaders including Mikhail Gorbachev have admitted it with grudging admiration. The only ones who were wrong were those in the liberal foreign policy establishment who pretended it was all just a coincidence.
Iran's ruling mullahs have openly accelerated their nuclear research, and recently boasted that they have achieved uranium enrichment levels of 20%. There is little hope that Iran will throttle back its advances in uranium enrichment, new deal or no deal. Pictured: The Isfahan uranium enrichment facility in Isfahan, Iran.
President-elect Joe Biden ran on a slogan to "restore the Iran nuclear deal." For those voters desperate to undo every accomplishment of the Trump administration, which abandoned the deal and imposed sharp sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors, it must have sounded attractive.
But now that Biden will be responsible for American security and not just criticizing Donald Trump, he would do well to slow down and consider alternatives.
The mullahs in Iran, claiming to be freed from the deal by Trump's 2018 decision to pull the United States out, have openly accelerated their nuclear research, and recently boasted that they have achieved uranium enrichment levels of 20%. The JCPOA restricted them, on paper at least, to 3.67%. Iran has vastly increased its stockpile of ballistic missiles, a grave concern to other countries in the region, particularly Israel.
There is little hope that Iran will throttle back its advances in uranium enrichment, new deal or no deal. That genie is partially out of the bottle, and Iran remains a sworn enemy and a vicious threat to its neighbors. Even if the deal negotiated in 2015 by the Obama administration were worth the effort, it is impossible to imagine the Iranians willingly recommitting to enrichment levels they have long since blown past. No one believes in their professed "peaceful use" of nuclear energy. So why does a return to the deal make any sense?
European foreign policymakers seem to be encouraging exactly such a delusion. Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said last month that the Obama administration-era deal still remains the "best instrument" to resolve any disputes about Iran's nuclear program. He and his counterparts from Britain, France, China, Russia, and the European Union all declared it would be a positive step away from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's policy of crippling sanctions on the Iranian regime.
In 1994, in a book called Victory that traced the success of the Reagan administration's strategy against the Soviet Union. I showed how the combination of an immense military build-up by the United States and its allies combined with sharp economic sanctions against the USSR is what extinguished it from the map. The book is out of print but enjoyed a second life among Pompeo's subordinates and associates at the State Department and the CIA in 2018. I am still convinced that economic sanctions are the most effective way to effect a safer world and consign the Iranian regime to the same ash heap as the Evil Empire.
Iran's economy remains a shambles and indications grow of the regime's feathery grasp of power. Inflation is more than 40%, according to the Statistical Center of Iran. High unemployment and economic contraction have led to street protests against the regime, and harsh crackdowns on the people by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The country's infrastructure and banking system continue to crumble, and the regime's own corruption becomes more obvious as the plight of everyday Iranians worsens. The killing of top terror-funding IRGC official Qasem Soleimani by the US military and Iran's relatively toothless retaliatory attack on two US bases in Iraq suggest that the regime fears what an escalation of tensions would mean to its own future more than it desires to stab at the "Great Satan." The regime may finally be on the verge of collapse.
Incoming National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a CNN interview recently that restoring the US to the JCPOA deal remains the intention of the new Biden administration, though he did predicate it on Iran's willingness to return to the enrichment limits of the previous deal. Both sides apparently want the other to readopt the agreement's terms first. Sullivan said nothing specific about whether the US would drop those sanctions as an incentive to Iran's putting their nuclear program "back in the box," as he called it. Iran has already rejected this offer, insisting as usual that it is the U.S. that is the "rogue regime." Iran wants sanctions eliminated as a precondition to deigning to return to the negotiating table.
Those sanctions are the only leverage the U.S. really has to offer Iran, and Iran's economy is now at the point where sanctions may finally succeed, just as the Reagan administration was able to do to the USSR in the 1980s. Now is not the time to reduce or remove them in exchange for paper promises born of a campaign slogan, from a regime whose movements suggest it fears its days are numbered.
The resource crisis faced by the Soviet Union in the 1980s was inherent in the system, but as noted in Victory, the U.S. had a comprehensive and sustained plan to make it a terminal illness. Through covert operations, hidden diplomacy, an intense military buildup, and a series of actions designed to throw sand in the gears of the Soviet economy, American policy destroyed the USSR from its fingertips to its heart. Former Soviet leaders including Mikhail Gorbachev have admitted it with grudging admiration. The only ones who were wrong were those in the liberal foreign policy establishment who pretended it was all just a coincidence.
Whatever course the new Biden administration chooses to combat Iran's regional threat must feature the same skill, deep commitment and determination that marked the nine-year campaign to stop the Soviet Union from threatening the rest of the world. No one suspects the aged mullahs of Iran to be any less devoted to fomenting terrorism in the Middle East than the Soviets were of destabilizing Western democracies and emerging nations in Africa or the Middle East. The same commitment that brought down one can defang the other.
*Peter Schweizer, President of the Governmental Accountability Institute, is a Gatestone Institute Distinguished Senior Fellow and author of the best-selling books Profiles in Corruption, Secret Empires and Clinton Cash, among others.
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

The Double Standards and Hypocrisy of Social Media Giants
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/January 14/2021
What, however, about Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who constantly tweets anti-Semitic and incendiary tweets and whose regime the US Department of State called "the world's worst sponsor of terrorism"? Khamenei, in fact, has become so emboldened on Twitter that, on it, he publicly calls for annihilation of Israel and denies Holocaust.
According to Twitter's "Violent organizations policy": "There is no place on Twitter for violent organizations, including terrorist organizations, violent extremist groups, or individuals who affiliate with and promote their illicit activities... Our assessments under this policy are informed by national and international terrorism designations..."
More shocking, in November 9, 2014 Khamenei posted a tweet laying out how to annihilate Israel "Why should & how can #Israel be eliminated? Ayatollah Khamenei's answer to 9 key questions. #HandsOffAlAqsa". Khamenei actually posted a screen shot exactly detailing the process to destroy Israel. These tweets are still up.
"I kid you not! At a Knesset hearing on Antisemitism, @Twitter rep tells me they flag @realDonaldTrump because it serves 'public conversation', but not Iran's @khamenei_ir call for GENOCIDE, which passes for acceptable 'commentary on political issues of the day'" — Human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky, July 29, 2020.
Several social media giants recently made a controversial move by banning US President Donald Trump while allowing leaders of what the US Department of State has called the top state sponsor of terrorism, the Iranian regime, to operate freely on their platforms.
First, it was Facebook and Instagram that banned the President "indefinitely." Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said:
"We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete."
Twitter immediately followed suit by suspending the accounts of President Trump, Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell. Regarding President Trump, Twitter claimed:
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence."
Twitter apparently had a problem with only two tweets of the President: one stated that he would not attend President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20: "To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th." In the second one, President Trump wrote:
"The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!"
Twitter explained:
"These two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President's statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks. After assessing the language in these Tweets against our Glorification of Violence policy, we have determined that these Tweets are in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy and the user @realDonaldTrump should be immediately permanently suspended from the service."
Such an interpretation of those words seems, bluntly, a bit of a stretch -- especially when compared to what is permitted on Twitter without so much as a "thoughtful little note" of any kind.
What, for instance, about Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who constantly tweets anti-Semitic and incendiary tweets and whose regime the US Department of State has called "the world's worst sponsor of terrorism"? Khamenei has no problem on Twitter publicly calling for the annihilation of Israel and denying the Holocaust.
"We will support and assist any nation or any group anywhere who opposes and fights the Zionist regime," Khamenei tweeted on May 20, 2020, "and we do not hesitate to say this. #FlyTheFlag". On May 18, 2020 he posted a tweet:
"The West Bank must be armed, just as Gaza. The only thing that can reduce the Palestinians' hardships is the hand of power. Otherwise, compromise won't reduce a bit of the cruelty of this usurping, evil, wolf-like entity. #FlyTheFlag".
On May 21, 2020, he tweeted:
"The ppl of Palestine should hold a referendum. Any political sys they vote for should govern in all of Palestine. The only remedy until the removal of the Zionist regime is firm, armed resistance."
According to Twitter's "Violent organizations policy":
"There is no place on Twitter for violent organizations, including terrorist organizations, violent extremist groups, or individuals who affiliate with and promote their illicit activities... Our assessments under this policy are informed by national and international terrorism designations, as well as our violent extremist group and violent organizations criteria.
Don't those tweets from Iran's Supreme Leader violate Twitter's own rules?
More shocking, in November 9, 2014 Khamenei posted a tweet laying out how to annihilate Israel: "Why should & how can #Israel be eliminated? Ayatollah Khamenei's answer to 9 key questions. #HandsOffAlAqsa". Khamenei actually posted a screenshot exactly detailing the process to destroy Israel. Those tweets are still up.
When asked about the ayatollah's anti-Semitic tweets, Ylwa Pettersson, Twitter's head of policy for the Nordic countries and Israel, told the Israeli Knesset's Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, through a video-conference:
"We have an approach toward leaders that says that direct interactions with fellow public figures, comments on political issues of the day, or foreign policy saber-rattling on military-economic issues are generally not in violation of our rules."
The response commendably sparked outrage. People pointed to the double standards. Member of Knesset Michal Cotler-Wunsh, who was in the session and led the discussion, wrote:
"Wow. Twitter just admitted that tweets calling for genocide against Jews by Iranian leaders DON'T violate its policy! THIS is a double standard. This is antisemitism."
Human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky tweeted:
"I kid you not! At a Knesset hearing on Antisemitism, @Twitter rep tells me they flag @realDonaldTrump because it serves 'public conversation', but not Iran's @khamenei_ir call for GENOCIDE, which passes for acceptable 'commentary on political issues of the day'. cc. @CotlerWunsh"
Social media giants nevertheless freely allow Iranian leaders to tweet death threats to Americans, anti-Semitism and calls for the destruction of Israel. Will no one please stop them?
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 2021 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.

Erase and Criminalize
Chris Farrell/Gatestone Institute/January 14/2021
There is a concerted effort to tar every Trump supporter with the brush of Capitol mob protester. That is a lie. It is deliberate and malicious. It is a plan to intimidate and silence.
Facebook is purging all content referencing "stop the steal" — although there is ample evidence of voting irregularities and cause for election reform. Twitter is suspending and expelling hundreds of thousands of users. President Trump is among them. Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who leads public cheers of "Death to America!", is not.
Trump gave a speech stating: "if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore." That remark is supposed to qualify as "incitement to insurrection." What a pathetic, transparent lie! Think of the number of times innumerable politicians have invoked "fight" to express encouragement for active public policy engagement. We "fight" for healthcare, justice, human rights, entitlements, civil rights — even peace.
The criminality of Hillary's outlaw email server, the phony Russia Hoax, the fake Ukraine Impeachment, FISA Warrant abuse, the politically contaminated and compromised FBI — that all gets a "pass" — but Trump telling supporters to fight for their country — THAT is impeachable?
Biden did not win in a landslide. Many feel disenfranchised.
Welcome to America's Cultural Revolution.
China's Cultural Revolution (1966-76) sought to purge remnants of impure non-Maoist thoughts from Chinese society and economy. It was a radical period of persecution.
We are witnessing and experiencing a perverse and dangerous effort to purge America of all things Trumpian — but more importantly — the conservative, traditional values of millions of Americans. It is not only about erasure, but criminalization. Ordinary Americans who support President Trump — and at least 75 million that voted for him — are being targeted with a barrage of efforts to sensationalize and marginalize their beliefs. The professional political and media classes of America's East and West Coasts are striking hard and fast to eliminate Trump. There is a concerted effort to tar every Trump supporter with the brush of Capitol mob protester. That is a lie. It is deliberate and malicious. It is a plan to intimidate and silence.
Facebook is purging all content referencing "stop the steal" — although there is ample evidence of voting irregularities and cause for election reform. Twitter is suspending and expelling hundreds of thousands of users. President Trump is among them. Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who leads public cheers of "Death to America!", is not. There is little or no public criticism of the big social media corporations' censorship.
The protests of January 6, 2020 were gravely marred by the sad and unnecessary deaths of five Americans. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick's death is tragic. So is the death of unarmed Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt. Other "public" deaths in the last nine months have resulted in huge public protests and cities such as Portland burning for weeks. No such reaction to the Sicknick and Babbitt deaths. One wonders why. Where are Antifa and BLM now? Why so quiet? No justice, no peace! — right? Maybe not.
Meanwhile, many are clamoring for Donald Trump's immediate removal from office. Trump gave a speech stating: "if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore." That remark is supposed to qualify as "incitement to insurrection." What a pathetic, transparent lie! Think of the number of times innumerable politicians have invoked "fight" to express encouragement for active public policy engagement. We "fight" for healthcare, justice, human rights, entitlements, civil rights — even peace.
The hypocrisy is breathtaking — and dangerous. Trump supporters are supposed to be rhetorically beaten into silent submission, erased from public discourse, and subject to a new sort of bill of attainder, criminalizing all they believe in and support — because Trump succeeded in disrupting official Washington DC, but was not quite savvy enough to win a second term.
The criminality of Hillary's outlaw email server, the phony Russia Hoax, the fake Ukraine Impeachment, FISA Warrant abuse, the politically contaminated and compromised FBI — that all gets a "pass" — but Trump telling supporters to fight for their country — THAT is impeachable?
For some people, even raising these points for discussion is "scary." They would rather "wait for things to settle down," or "see how the inauguration and the opening days of the new administration go," before raising objections to the bulldozing of Trump supporters' civil rights. Well, that is too little and too late. Many critics are overplaying their hands. They sense weakness and seek to snuff out, permanently, any idea that Trumpism could manifest itself again on the American political landscape. It's time to institute the Uniparty and get consensus. They want to roll the clock back and return to the old rules of the DC game. They are even having an "event" to symbolize it. Ironically, it is a wreath-laying at Arlington Cemetery featuring The Establishment. Everything and everyone Trump fought against. Former presidents of both parties. There are many Americans who want nothing to do with those former presidents and what they represent. Biden did not win in a landslide. Many feel disenfranchised. Erasing and criminalizing those Americans will only exacerbate the deep divisions in America.
*Chris Farrell is a former counterintelligence case officer. For the past 20 years, he has served as the Director of Investigations & Research for Judicial Watch. The views expressed are the author's alone, and not necessarily those of Judicial Watch.
© 2021 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.

Iranian Redeployment in Iraq Behind Israel's Alleged Syria Strike, Sources Say
Yaniv Kubovich/Haaretz/January 14/2021

تقرير نشرته صحيفة هآرتس الإسرائيلية يوضح الأسباب التي على خلفياتها قامت إسرائيل أول أمس بغارات مدمرة وغير مسبوقة على الحدود السورية العراقية ودمرت مواقع ومخازن أسلحة تابعة للميليشيات الإيرانية
يانيف كوبوفيتش/هآرتس: إعادة الانتشار الإيراني في العراق وراء الضربة الإسرائيلية على سوريا ، بحسب المصادر

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/94917/haaretz-iranian-redeployment-in-iraq-behind-israels-alleged-syria-strike-sources-say-%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a%d9%81-%d9%83%d9%88%d8%a8%d9%88%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%b4-%d9%87%d8%a2%d8%b1%d8%aa%d8%b3/

Israeli intelligence officials worry Washington will lose interest in Iraq after Biden takes office. Latest attack attributed to Israel was much broader than previous ones
Tuesday’s extensive airstrike in eastern Syria, which struck multiple Iranian targets, was the fourth strike attributed to Israel in the last two weeks. Other attacks over the last two years on targets closer and farther away have been attributed to Israel, but this one was different, mainly due to the number of targets, their distance and the number of fatalities they caused.
Even though Israel prefers to keep silent regarding these strikes, defense establishment sources say that the attack occurred against the backdrop of Iranian entrenchment on the Syria-Iraq border, and rising tensions in the region ahead of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden taking office.
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Intelligence assessments in early 2019 suggested that Iran would have difficulties establishing a presence west of Damascus due to Israeli airstrikes and the sanctions imposed on it. Iran did move its forces to the Syria-Iraq border, to areas under total Iranian control. It set up infrastructure for moving forces and smuggling operations between Iraq and Lebanon.
Iran established militias with fighters from various countries in that area, including Hezbollah forces. Tuesday’s strike included dozens of targets, including headquarters and logistics centers used by Iran and the militias they sponsor.
"Iran did a damage assessment after it understood that it will have a hard time operating close to the Israeli border, and reassessed western Iraq," said an Israeli intelligence official in recent closed-door talks. "It transferred there missiles that can hit anywhere in Israeli territory, and can move them through a smuggling route to even closer positions. [Iran] is establishing a system of drones and cruise missiles and military industries it could not sustain in the Damascus area."
According to situational assessments presented to politicians, defense establishment officials are concerned that after Biden takes office, Washington will lose interest in Iraq, and it will become a vassal Iranian state. There is also a possibility that the United States will reenter the nuclear accord with Iran, and ease the sanctions it applied to it. According to intelligence assessments, a combination of these factors could embolden Iran's Revolutionary Guards to take risks in operations against Israel and other states.
A senior defense official recently said in a closed discussion that if the United States does return to the nuclear deal, "The Iranians might understand it to be a green light to keep doing anything non-nuclear." According to the source, "This means that they'll start tightening the rope more than they've done until now, and Hezbollah might also be affected by this. Israel will not accept this, and the Iranians understand that.”
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A former defense official, who was involved in efforts to prevent Iranian entrenchment in the area, said that Israel has an interest in showing the United States that it will not accept differentiating between the nuclear issue and Iran's actions in Syria or aid to Hezbollah, so long as they pose a strategic threat to Israel.
He added that if Iran and Hezbollah do increase their activities in the region, Israel will need to "Stretch the limit of the 'battle between the wars,' maintaining operational activity below the level of war, and to decide if that's enough to solve this problem."
Two weeks ago, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi bestowed commendations on several units, honoring their operational activities, including “missions having supreme importance for state security.” Among the recipients were units and people with roles involving combat in distant arenas, including clandestine missions most of the public is unaware of. Among the recipients was a submarine flotilla, honored for “dozens of classified operations, carried out in a dangerous environment involving changing areas of friction between the powers.”
Military Intelligence and the Mossad were awarded commendations for a significant classified operation in the campaign against high-precision missiles. The Israel Air Force also received a commendation for collecting intelligence which led to a successful operation. Naval commandos were cited for a string of groundbreaking operations, performed “in a changing and challenging environment.”
Even though Israel has tried to formally maintain some vagueness regarding its operations, it has long since been dispelled. Behind closed doors, there are clear statements about Israel being in direct confrontation with Iran. “Neighboring states know that Israel is the only one capable of standing up to Iran and hitting it hard,” says a senior defense official. Others say that the Middle East is on hold, waiting to see what policy Biden adopts for the region.
“All the powers are now engaged in their internal problems," says another defense official. "The economic and health situation, as well as China, worry the United States much more than the Middle East." This leads to an assessment that the powers will reduce their involvement in the region in order to focus on their more urgent problems.
Despite Iran’s intentions, officials say Israel has some significant advantages. Israel’s ties with the United States have been strengthened in recent years to levels not seen previously. There is a constant sharing of intelligence, giving all sides a better picture. This makes it harder for Iran to slip under the radar, and exposes it to attacks which cause it significant damage.
Israel’s intelligence services have carried out targeted assassinations, discovered attack tunnels on the Lebanese border, exposed nuclear sites and foiled attempts to carry out attacks, causing Iran embarrassment and uncertainty regarding the information Israel possesses. The normalization agreements with Gulf states has been a significant development, giving Israel a closer and better look at Iran.

Does Telling Muslims ‘How to Behave’ Prompt Hatred and Terror?
Raymond Ibrahim/January 14/2021
Germany’s Muslims; Helge Lindh pictured right.
Does a firm stance against Islam provoke anger, resentment, and violence from Muslims? And does the opposite—pandering to and appeasing Muslims—win their appreciation, respect, and cooperation?
Far too many in the West are convinced that the answer to both of these questions is an emphatic yes.
Recently, on Dec.7, 2020 in Berlin, for instance, in a speech to the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, Helge Lindh of the Social Democratic Party blasted what he characterized as “Islamophobia” and insisted that Germans need to strive to “understand Muslims instead of trying to change them…. Let’s not go on telling Muslims what modern Islam is.”
Much of his complaints were directed against the Alternative for Germany party (AfD), which not only takes a firm stance against Muslim immigration, but had scheduled me to speak on Islam—and announced it in the days before Lindh spoke. (German language video here; English forthcoming.)
At one point the social democrat said: “If we tell Muslims what we expect from them, how they should behave, we will humiliate them and reap hatred.”
Is this true? No; quite the opposite.
Consider the forgotten lessons of the (much distorted) colonial era, when European nations dominated and controlled much of the Muslim world. After 1,200 years’ worth of jihads that had permanently conquered some three-quarters of Christendom and terrorized the rest, Europe militarily managed to eclipse and essentially defang Islam throughout the 1800s and early 1900s.
Far from being resentful and turning more zealously to jihad, Muslims questioned the superior strength of Islam; for the first time in history, Muslims looked with awe and respect on the West. The result was Westernization and secularization.
After all, it was one thing to adhere to sharia and jihad when Islam was conquering and subjugating non-Muslims, as it had done for over a millennium. It was quite another thing for Muslims to remain confident in the Islamic way when the despised infidels were conquering and subjugating the lands of Islam with great ease—displaying their superior weapons and technology, not to mention all the other perks of Western civilization.
As a historian of the period puts it, “Napoleon’s invasion introduced educated Egyptians to the ideas of the French Revolution,” which “generated a gnawing and uncomfortable feeling among them that the ‘umma’ [the Islamic community] was not as perfect or as strong as they had imagined. Such uncertainty was the basis of new ideas and conceptions.”
Thus, and for the first time in over a millennium, Muslims began to emulate the West in everything from politics and governance to everyday dress and etiquette. During the colonial era and into the mid-twentieth century, all things distinctly Islamic—such as Islam’s clerics, the woman’s “hijab,” and the Salafi beard—were increasingly seen by Muslims as relics of a backward age, to be shunned. Many “Muslims” were Muslim in name only.
One need only turn to the history of Turkey to demonstrate this forgotten chapter of wholesale emulation of the West. Prior to the colonial era, Turkey was for centuries the Muslim world’s jihadi state par excellence (first under the Seljuk, then Ottoman dynasty). It prosecuted the jihad against Europe, swallowing up much of the Balkans for centuries, and enforced sharia.
Following the meteoric rise of the West, however, far from clinging more tenaciously to Islam, Turkey apostatized in all but name. It abolished the Ottoman Empire, the final caliphate of the Islamic world and disavowed its Islamic identity and heritage—even discarding the once sacrosanct Arabic script for the Latin alphabet in order to be more European. Turkey went from being the standard bearer of Islam and the embodiment of jihad for some five hundred years to being possibly the most Westernized Muslim nation in the world.
Similarly, all of the popular Arab nationalist movements that appeared in the twentieth century were distinctly secular and westernized, certainly in comparison with the religious rhetoric that prevailed in earlier times. As late as 1953, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser mocked the idea that women should wear the hijab on Egyptian national television in front of a packed live audience—to widespread laughter and agreement. (In the 1950s, few Egyptian women wore the hijab; today the majority of women in Egypt veil themselves.)
Needless to say, the European powers that dominated Muslim lands took a much sterner, no-nonsense approach towards Islam than any contemporary Western state would ever consider; and yet the Muslim mainstream, far from being “humiliated” or “resentful,” followed their lead.
Indeed, it is precisely when the West began to operate on the advice that German politician Lindh and countless like him insist is key to “winning Muslim hearts and minds”—that is, groveling, blaming the West for everything, and praising Islam—that Muslims began to turn to sharia and jihad.
It is no coincidence that the return of “Islamic fundamentalism,” as it was called in the 1970s, followed close on the heels of the cultural revolution that took the West by storm in the late 1960s. This new culture of sexual licentiousness, moral relativism, godlessness, and Western self-hatred prompted Muslims, who once admired and emulated the West when it was still characterized by moral restraint, to respond with contempt. Another aspect of the 1960s—the hyper-criticism of the West and its values by leftist Western intellectuals—exacerbated matters. Muslim opinion concerning the West swiftly soured and turned hostile.
The West had earned Muslim respect in the era of Western might and confidence. But by the 1970s, Western intellectuals were pushing once Westward-looking Muslims back to Islam. Consider the realm of historical studies alone: Western civilization is now portrayed as the root cause of all the world’s woes. Islamic civilization is now portrayed as just another noble victim of Christendom’s depredation. The objective history of the relationship between Islam and the West has been turned on its head.
Like Lindh, Western academics and intellectuals today make it a point to praise Muslim achievements even where there are none—as when Barack Obama ordered NASA to make Muslims “feel good about their historic contribution to science.” Far from winning Muslims over, such self-loathing and sycophantic behavior has naturally prompted even more revulsion among Muslims—and continues to do so.
When the West was confident and proud of its own heritage, it attracted Muslims over to emulation—even when it was ruling over them in their own lands. Now, forever apologizing for its “sins” and demonizing its own heritage, while promoting hedonism and an overall dishonorable lifestyle, it cannot even prevent increasingly disgusted Muslims from attacking it on its own territory. Germany, where politicians such as Lindh insist that “If we tell Muslims what we expect from them, how they should behave, we will humiliate them and reap hatred,” perfectly embodies this.
In short, and as Osama bin Laden once said, “When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse.” Confidence, assertiveness, and power are more attractive and breed admiration and emulation—particularly amongst those bred on primordial notions of might makes right, which has long been the central idea behind Islam—whereas timidity, weakness, and dissolution breeds contempt from those same people.

America and the Challenge of Post-Trump ‘Trumpism’
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/January 14/2021
In the last couple of days, the concept of ‘state institutions’ won a major battle against demagoguery and mob mentality; but it is far too early to talk about ‘winning the war’.
This battle was won - and had to be - because the alternative would have been frightening. This, of course, was far from the thinking of the tens of thousands who marched on Washington under naïve and extremist populist slogans. These slogans have nothing to do with the notions of responsible freedom, institutional democracy, and the acceptance of diversity in a society of immigrants that was initially built on diversity.
Perhaps, the best example is the short dialogue between TV reporter Hunter Walker and a woman from Knoxville, Tennessee, sobbing in front of the camera. The dialogue went like this:
* Ma’am, what happened to you?
- I got maced.
* And what happened, you were trying to go inside the Capitol?
- Yeah, I made it like a foot inside, and they pushed me out. And they maced me.
* What's your name, where are you from?
- My name is Elizabeth, I'm from Knoxville, Tennessee.
* And why did you want to go in?
- We're storming the Capitol, it's a revolution.
The woman’s bizarre ‘logic’ is shared by the tens of thousands of those incited by populist conservative groups, the agitating words of President Donald Trump, and ‘conspiracy theories’ long fabricated by racist white supremacists as well as ultra-extremist evangelicals against the state, its institutions, and its devolution of power mechanism.
The poor woman seems to be honestly convinced that America was corrupt and threatened by foreign invasion. She also believes that the country’s social fabric – originally based on immigration – was threatened by ‘intruding’ immigrants who do not deserve to be Americans. Furthermore, there is the conviction of the need to ‘Make America Great Again' (MAGA), although up till now it remains the world’s richest and most powerful country.
This is why I believe that what ended on January 6th was just a battle; as it is too soon to talk of winning the war. It is true that Donald Trump and his old backers have lost; but, these backers are still there, active, well-financed, and ready to gamble on him or anyone who inherits the leadership of his current.
Yes, Trump lost the 2020 elections, but the ‘Trumpist phenomenon’ is alive and well. It will continue to be an influential, irritating, and threatening voice that would affect America’s ability to go forward challenging a world in which facts and beliefs are ever-changing.
Despite the hope that the handover would take place smoothly on January 20th, there is the uneasy feeling that the next days and weeks may carry unforeseen developments in more than one area, such as:
- How to deal with President Trump in the light of his direct incitement behind storming the Capitol. The options are calls for his resignation, moves to impeach him, and attempts by some to have him fired. Each of these options has its political costs and repercussions, let alone legal complexities.
- How the leaders of the Republican Party handle the ‘Trumpist phenomenon’ after its first-round defeat. Will this defeat be a blessing in disguise to the Republican traditional leadership, which could feel temporarily ‘liberated’ from the stranglehold of the militant mob; and thus able to rebuild and rehabilitate party? Or are we going to see the moderates and traditionalist Republicans lose heart again, and run away from confronting that mob?
- How far can president-elect Joe Biden maintain the unity of the Democrats, and empower their rationalists? My guess is that the latter realize that their November presidential victory and regaining the Senate - after their double victory in Georgia - may be impressive, but are by no means overwhelming. Therefore, they do not enjoy Trump’s ability to crush and marginalize within the Republican Party. This means that Biden, and VP Kamala Harris, whose influence has now been enhanced by having the casting vote in the Senate, are now in a good position to keep the radical ‘Progressives’ under control.
- How to heal the nation, after four years of deep racial divisions, increased radicalism and polarisation, distrust of the state and government, doubt in the media, and ignoring the independence of the judiciary. All these, along with Covid-19 and its repercussions, America’s shaken global prestige, and credibility … prior to and after that painful day in the Capitol.
Regarding Trump, and how Republican leaders would deal with him, there are many rational explanations to all options. One must not underestimate the danger of pushing hard against Trump during these tense times, when emotions are still inflamed. Punishing and demeaning Trump can prove counter-productive to all; including the chances of moderate Republicans reclaiming their party. On the other hand, some – including Republicans may feel that the extremists could misconstrue moderation, and regard it as appeasement and weakness; so becoming more extreme and belligerent, and the chance for change could disappear.
For the Democrats, the job at hand looks easier, but not that much. To begin with, Biden’s personality seems temporarily ‘unifying’ all wings of the Party, but he must lead a quick change within two years before the next mid-term elections. This landmark may be decisive, given the slim Democratic majority in the current Congress, and the continuing effects of Covid-19, including public unrest, unless extreme political polarisation is contained.
Given the above, it is the two major parties’ duty to contain the dangerous drift away from ‘institutional government’ to settling differences through mobs in the streets. It is also their duty to take note that the abyss the country came close to is still there, and wise leadership is needed to stay away from it.
The wise have succeeded, this time around, in defeating the Congress’ opportunists and adventurers, who overlooked the fact that doubting the fairness of the elections meant doubting the legitimacy of their own presence in Congress. However, those remain there awaiting the people’s verdict.
America has never been in need of a mainstream conservative party than it does now. It badly needs such a party that believes in America and its institutions, and presents a healthy alternative to a liberal party, within a civilized diverse society.
Democracy can never survive without those who believe in it.

Biden and the Pentagon Can Declare War on Climate Change
James Stavridis/Bloomberg/January 14/2021
In Germany a couple of years ago, I was at a small luncheon associated with the Munich Security Conference, an annual event sometimes referred to as the “Davos of geopolitics.” There were some dull comments by a few political leaders. Then former US Secretary of State John Kerry took the floor and addressed what he said — correctly — is the greatest long-term threat to global security: climate change.
Kerry electrified the room. In a short but emotional talk delivered without notes, he laid out the reasons he is passionate about reducing global warming and addressing the many challenges presented by the deterioration of the world’s climate. At the time, I thought how much I wished he had real influence on President Donald Trump’s administration, which had pulled the US out of the Paris climate accords.
Well, as the saying goes, elections have consequences. By appointing Kerry as the special presidential envoy for climate, President-elect Joe Biden is signaling how important this basket of issues will be to his administration. What is particularly noteworthy is the inclusion of Kerry not only in the cabinet, but also as a member of the National Security Council. This will be welcomed by environmentalists, of course, and by the Department of Defense, which may come as a surprise to observers who think of the Pentagon as a massive, gas-guzzling, anti-environmental entity.
Actually, the department in general — and the uniformed military in particular — is highly concerned about the effects of climate change, and will be enthusiastic about an administration that takes the threat seriously and is willing to try and reduce it. Why does the Department of Defense care about climate change, and what will the military do about it under Biden?
Let’s start with the ways in which climate is tied to national security. At the top of the list is the immense strain that responding to climatological events puts on the Pentagon’s resources. The military has responded vigorously, domestically and internationally, to forest fires, hurricanes, typhoons, flooding and the civil unrest that often follows such crises. Most scientists attribute the increase in severity of humanitarian disasters to the impact of global warming.
An additional climate-induced threat is the kind of resource scarcity, notably water shortages, that plagues Africa and the Middle East. As agrarian economies falter in drought and higher temperatures, fighting breaks out. The wars in Syria and Mali are examples of conflicts in which soaring heat and water shortages are contributing factors.
Another concern is the possibility of great-power competition in the Arctic. As temperatures rise and the polar ice opens up, the chances of conflict between Russia on one side of the Arctic Sea and North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations — the US, Canada, Norway, Iceland and Denmark (which controls Greenland) — on the other heighten. China, which has a strong interest in shortened shipping routes across the top of the world, is building an icebreaker fleet. And the melting of the ice opens up access to hydrocarbons, which could become a source of disagreement and hostilities.
Finally, the Defense Department is concerned about rising sea levels, which threaten crucial ports in the US and overseas. Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia, which hosts the largest fleet concentration of the US Navy, is frequently flooded, and over time may become untenable as a military port.
Given all of these concerns, the department has been quietly paying more attention to climate issues since the beginning of the Barack Obama administration. Led by former Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, the service has experimented with adapting its energy needs to a mixture of petroleum and non-fossil fuels. The centerpiece of the effort was the so-called Great Green Fleet, which deployed to the Pacific in 2016 and included the John C. Stennis carrier strike group. The mission was to show that energy conservation and American power projection could stay afloat together.
All the military branches have looked to improve sustainability and decarbonization in their energy consumption. Leading figures including two former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen and General Joseph Dunford, and retired Admiral Sam Locklear, who headed the Pacific Command, who have all spoken out forcefully on the issues of climate and national security.
The Trump administration did its best to reverse the military’s switch to alternative energy. Yet Pentagon leaders quietly continued to include climate concerns where they could in strategies and policies. Such efforts won’t just be welcomed under the Biden administration, they will be mandatory.
Look for the Pentagon to clearly articulate the ways in which climate change is a national security threat; restart alternative fuel experiments such as the Great Green Fleet; step up the targets for shifting to sustainable power sources at bases and eventually getting to net-zero emissions globally; improve capability to respond to climate emergencies; and order the various construction arms such as the Army Corps of Engineers to factor environmental concerns into their planning, estimating and building.
The deterioration of the climate is real, and will cause the US significant security concerns. The Pentagon, so often the source of new technologies that change the world, has a chance to demonstrate that one of the largest organizations on earth in terms of personnel, budget, installations and logistics can go green. Climate Czar Kerry will find a willing partner in the Department of Defense.

What Do ISIS and the Iranian Regime Have in Common?
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/January 14/2021
There are thousands of differences between Khomeini's regime in Iran and ISIS: in their nature, rise, structure, representation and ideology… With that, they share an essential similarity: their projects' emergence is tied to the implosion of the projects that dominated the Arab Levant.
The 1979 Khomeinist revolution succeeded a gradual two-decade-long collapse that struck all of the Arab world's political and ideological icons, especially those of the Levant:
- Arab unity was dealt its fatal blow with the collapse of the "United Arab Republic", as Syria seceded from it in 1961. Despite the abundance of subsequent attempts and projects aimed at establishing unity, none materialized. They were replaced by occupations with Saddam's Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and the imposition of hegemony with that of Assad’s Syria’s on Lebanon.
- Socialism signified the state capitalism ruled by a stern security apparatus. The authorities utilized it to strengthen their grip on their societies and extend their network of control to areas and groups that had managed to maintain a degree of independence. In the mid-1970s, Anwar Sadat let go of that socialism; then came the collapse of the Soviet Union, which prompted the gradual shift to neoliberalism in Syria and elsewhere.
- The page on liberating Palestine was turned after 1967, and it was replaced by "retrieving the lands occupied by Israel." The Palestinian resistance's attempts to bring the old slogan back to the forefront ended with civil wars and, in 1982, an Israeli invasion. After that, in Tunisia, the Palestinian struggle became political, and it came to aim obtaining a state neighboring the Jewish state.
- Opposing Western policies also withered away after Nasserism's decline, which preceded Nasser's death. The Palestinian resistance gradually became moderate. Hafez al-Assad stood by the international coalition to liberate Kuwait and reached a compromise on Lebanon with the Americans. Saddam waged his war against Iran with Western support in the 1980s, and it is not without its indications that this same war became Iran’s widest bridge into the depth of the Levant.
Arab political culture, naturally, was the last to absorb the implication of these developments. The old rhetoric of struggle was and continues to be rehashed. The first to realize this and rush to seek inheritance was Khomeinist Iran, which was, as a cohesive central authority, equipped to do so.
Of course, Khomeinist Iran cannot, as a non-Arab state, inherit the call to Arab unity. As a state that claims to adhere to an Islamic economic philosophy, it also cannot inherit the call to socialism. But it plunged into the Palestinian cause and fighting Western influence, which it framed in Islamic terms.
In this, Khomeinism benefited from several factors: it benefited from the collapse of what had remained of Iraq after the 2003 war, after which the Iraqis became busy with complex and bloody pursuits aimed at shaping the post-Saddam era.
It benefited from the dramatic rise of the issue of sectarian, religious and ethnic identities, and it contributed to the cementation of this rise. The clearest manifestation of this is the emergence of militant Shiite factions in Iraq and Lebanon, some of which had been directly created by Iran.
Tehran also benefited from the meekness of the Syrian regime and the Palestinian resistance movements (Hamas, Islamic Jihad…) which were in desperate need of a savior. And it benefited from a mix of despair, innocence and the regression to the past within cultural milieus in the Levant that found, in the new regime, something to sustain themselves and keep the past alive.
Just as Khomeini's role in the Levant was born out of the failure of coups, their regimes and their propaganda, "ISIS" and its siblings were similarly born out of the failure of revolutions and their promises. True, it would be impossible to pin the emergence of this horror machine down to a single factor, but the despondency in the Arab world, especially the Levant, is undoubtedly among the main factors that made this shift possible.
This collective dejection, which was accompanied by civil strife and violence's replacement of civil and peaceful transformation, was a precious gift to former prisoners, who channeled their deprivation of freedom into inflicting cruel punishments on every moving being or object in this world. Rising upward, to revolution, was impossible, and so began the descent to ISIS.
If empowering Iranian influence is Tehran's final goal, another form of empowerment took hold over ISIS and its behavior: invading territory and establishing a caliphate in it. Instead of changing a regime, ISIS gave Salafists all over the world the chance to make their "migration" to a country that claims total purity. Improving residents' living conditions, then, is not relevant. What is essential is enhancing the implementation of religion as ISIS understands it.
Thus, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was an existential need for Soleimani to the same extent that Soleimani was an existential need for Baghdadi. Each of them chose the enemy that suits him: fighting one another affirmed the legitimacy of each one's confessional representation and his entitlement to inheriting that massive number of failed projects, the good and the wicked, which the Arab Levant had known.
Their catastrophic roles were born out of our collapse and the void we found ourselves in.

Iran regime ups pressure on Biden to return to nuclear deal
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 14/2021
د. مجيد رافيزادا: إيران تصعد الضغط على بايدين للعودة إلى الإتفاق النووي
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/94928/94928/
The Iranian regime has started its campaign to rush the incoming Biden administration into immediately rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal. However, the strategy the Iranian leaders are employing is not anchored in diplomacy; instead it is based on issuing threats, fear-mongering tactics, and the ratcheting up of military adventurism in the region.
For instance, the theocratic establishment last week began enriching uranium to 20 percent purity at the underground Fordow nuclear facility, meaning it is now just a short technical step away from weapons-grade level.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is also playing its part. It last week seized a South Korean-flagged ship, which it claimed was carrying thousands of tons of ethanol, in the Gulf. This alarmed the US State Department, with a spokesperson noting: “The regime continues to threaten navigational rights and freedoms in the Gulf as part of a clear attempt to extort the international community into relieving the pressure of sanctions. We join the Republic of Korea’s call for Iran to immediately release the tanker.”
In addition, the Iranian parliament in November passed a law that requires the government to expel all International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors from the country if US sanctions are not lifted by Feb. 21.
These tactics are aimed at giving the regime more leverage ahead of the start of negotiations with the Biden administration, as well as the means to obtain more concessions and greater appeasement from the next US president.
Tehran even wants compensation for the economic losses it has suffered since President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the nuclear deal in 2018. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in 2019: “If you wish more, if you require more, you should give and pay more.” The regime even came up with a figure, with the judiciary demanding the US pays $130 billion in damages. In September last year, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told a forum organized by New York’s Council on Foreign Relations: “Compensate us for our losses.” He added: “A sign of good faith is not to try to renegotiate what has already been negotiated.”
The Iranian leaders used the same threatening tactics ahead of the signing of the nuclear deal in 2015. The Obama administration’s negotiating team gave unprecedented concessions to the regime, including the deal’s sunset clauses, which set an expiration date for the restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, and exempting Iran’s military sites from being inspected by the IAEA.
Military sites are the most likely locations where Iran advances its nuclear program, with satellite images recently indicating that new facilities are being built near the fortified Fordow site. While the regime has made no public statement about the work, it previously acknowledged similar defensive construction at the Natanz nuclear facility. Meanwhile, the main coalition of Iranian opposition groups, known as the National Council of Resistance of Iran, in October announced the discovery of a secret new military facility east of Tehran. The group claimed the site was controlled by the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, which is primarily responsible for weaponizing Iran’s nuclear program.
Its tactics are aimed at gaining leverage ahead of the start of negotiations with the Biden administration.
The regime’s heightened threats and warnings betray the fact that Tehran is desperate to re-enter the nuclear deal and have all sanctions lifted. It is anticipating that President-elect Joe Biden will adopt a softer policy than his predecessor after he stated in a September op-ed for CNN: “I will offer Tehran a credible path back to diplomacy. If Iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations. With our allies, we will work to strengthen and extend the nuclear deal’s provisions, while also addressing other issues of concern.” However, the Iranian leaders want more than just the US re-entering the 2015 nuclear deal.
The Iranian regime is using its nuclear program to extort other governments, particularly by escalating its threats and nuclear violations in order to rush Biden into rejoining the nuclear deal and to get more concessions from his administration.
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh