LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 29/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.august29.19.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006

Bible Quotations For today
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Letter to the Romans 08/01-11/:”There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on August 28-29/2019
Hezbollah Says to Retaliate Against Israel, War Unlikely
Aoun meets SSNP delegation: We will adopt corrective path to strengthen economy
Tenenti to NNA: UNIFIL is keenly working to ensure stability and security along Blue Line
Berri: Lebanese unanimous position on Israel aggression is one of the first signs of victory
Hariri meets with Arab ambassadors
Lebanese PM Urges Russia to Intervene to Avert Escalation with Israel
Report: Hariri in Talks with US, International Parties to Prevent Israeli Aggression
Report: Dahiyeh Drone Attack Targeted Iranian Guided-Missile Technology
Paris Urges Hizbullah Restraint to Pass 'Appropriate Resolution' on UNIFIL
UNIFIL Head in Close Contact with Parties, Urges Maximum Restraint
Berri Says Lebanese Unity is First Victory against Israel
Hizbullah Rules Out Wider War with Israel
Ferzli Says New War with Israel is 'Unlikely'
Abdullah: No Landfill, No Incinerators in Jiyyeh-Baasir
Rahi, LF delegation tackle latest developments
Chehayeb to graduates of Children Cancer Center: You did not demand exemptions, you battled through the pain and succeeded
Army arrests five persons in Beddawi for throwing stones at soldiers
Israel's new strategy just slapped Nasrallah across the face
Beirut Strike Target: Vital Iranian Device for Hezbollah's Mass Missile Production

Analysis/Netanyahu and Nasrallah — the Middle East’s Longest and Most Stable Enmity
How Will Hezbollah Respond to Israel’s Drone Attack?

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 28-29/2019
US sanctions networks connected to Iran’s government, military
Iran publicly hangs murderer of Friday prayer imam
Israel Files Complaint at Security Council against Iran
Syria air raids hit near Turkish military post: Monitor
Russia to help rebuild NW town retaken by Syria
Assad Orders Measures Against Rami Makhlouf’s Companies
US says won’t release Mideast peace plan before Israeli election
3 Officers Killed in Blasts at Police Checkpoints in Gaza
US to Keep Up Pressure on Sudan as it Discusses Lifting Sanctions
UK PM to Suspend Parliament Until Oct 14
Gaza under Alert after Bombings Kill Three Police Officers
Yemen government forces enter Aden after seizure by STC

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 28-29/2019
Israel's new strategy just slapped Nasrallah across the face/Alex Fishman|/Ynetnews/August 28/2019
Beirut Strike Target: Vital Iranian Device for Hezbollah's Mass Missile Production/Amos Harel/Haaretz/August 28/2019
Analysis/Netanyahu and Nasrallah — the Middle East’s Longest and Most Stable Enmity/Anshel Pfeffer/Haaretz/August 28/2019
How Will Hezbollah Respond to Israel’s Drone Attack?/Hanin Ghaddar/The Washington Institute/August 28, 2019
Iran Develops Air Defense Capability for Possible Regional Role/Farzin Nadimi/The Washington Institute/August 28/2019
Arab States Give China a Pass on Uyghur Crackdown/Haisam Hassaneini/The Washington Institute/August 28/2019
Palestinians: Why Allow Facts to Get in the Way?/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/August 28/2019
What Will China Do with the Hong Kong Protests?/Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/August 28/2019
Saudi Columnists: Homosexuality, Which Is Condoned In The West, Is Repulsive And Contravenes Islam; We Must Defend Our Societies Against It And Impose The Death Penalty On Those Who Engage In It/MEMRI/August/August 28/2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on August 28-29/2019
Hezbollah Says to Retaliate Against Israel, War Unlikely
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 28 August, 2019
Hezbollah will retaliate against Israel after drones crashed in Beirut's suburbs, but a new war between the old enemies remains unlikely, the Iran-backed movement's deputy leader has said. "I rule out that the atmosphere is one of war, it is one of a response to an attack," Sheikh Naim Qassem told Russia's RT Arabic channel on Tuesday night. "Everything will be decided at its time." Lebanon's Hezbollah is preparing a "calculated strike" in response to the drones but seeks to avoid a new war with Israel, two sources allied to the movement told Reuters earlier on Tuesday. A reaction “is being arranged in a way which wouldn’t lead to a war” that Hezbollah does not want, one of the sources said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Tuesday that Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah should “calm down” after Nasrallah said his Iranian-backed movement would respond to the drone crash. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the drones, including one that had exploded. But in a speech on Sunday, Nasrallah described it as the first Israeli attack in Lebanon since the two sides fought a month-long war in 2006. One of the drones blew up near the ground, causing some damage to Hezbollah’s media center in the southern suburbs which it dominates. “I heard what Nasrallah said. I suggest to Nasrallah to calm down. He knows well that Israel knows how to defend itself and to pay back its enemies,” Netanyahu said in a speech. Israeli officials have declined to comment when asked if Israel was responsible for the drones, which Hezbollah says were rigged with explosives. In response to questions about the origin or target of the drones, Qassem did not give details. He said Hezbollah deemed it an attack that it must respond to, so that Israel does not upset the status quo and set its own terms. "We want the strike to be a surprise...and so there is no interest in diving into the details," he added. "The coming days will reveal this."

Aoun meets SSNP delegation: We will adopt corrective path to strengthen economy
NNA - Wed 28 Aug 2019
President of the Republic General Michel Aoun received a delegation from the Syrian Social Nationalist Party headed by Fares Saad, who stressed that the party stands by the president in his national positions that protected Lebanon and saved the mountain from sedition. Aoun welcomed the delegation, saying "officials should defuse the mountain, which has historically been a witness of coexistence and it should not be shaken." He explained that "one of the reasons for the difficult economic situation, resort to rentier economy and neglect of productive economy. We will adopt in the next few days a corrective line to strengthen the economy, and we may see difficult yet necessary measures."Aoun stressed that "the time we have is narrow. (...) We will overcome the crisis, but we must bear in mind that this treatment takes some time. We will lay the foundations of the solution, and this is the reality of things. We do not intend to hide it from the people as it used to happen before."President Aoun underlined the importance of unity and coexistence, and that difference in politics exists even within a single party, but it should not become a fundamental problem.

Tenenti to NNA: UNIFIL is keenly working to ensure stability and security along Blue Line
NNA -Wed 28 Aug 2019
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti, told NNA on Wednesday that the UN force is closely monitoring developments in Lebanon and the broad region. In this context, Tenenti stressed the importance of ensuring security and stability along the Blue Line, saying UNIFIL is keenly working with the parties on the ground to achieve this end. The UN official added that UNIFIL works in close coordination with Lebanese armed forces, day and night, all along the Blue Line. Tenanti said that UNIFIL Commander, General Stefano Del Col, is in full contact with all parties to prevent any misunderstanding or incident that could expose the cessation of hostilities to danger. He said that UNIFIL Commander urges all parties concerned to exercise maximum restraint, in words and deeds, and to take advantage of the coordination mechanism, assumed by UNIFIL, to raise important issues amidst current tensions.

Berri: Lebanese unanimous position on Israel aggression is one of the first signs of victory
NNA - Wed 28 Aug 2019
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, said on Wednesday that Lebanon's unanimous stand on condemning the Israeli offensive against Lebanon was one of the first signs of victory at the level of national unity. Speaker Berri's words came during the weekly "Wednesday Gathering" with lawmakers at his Ain Tineh residence. Berri briefed visiting lawmakers on the climate of the forthcoming economic meeting to be taking place at the presidential palace. The Speaker hoped that the meeting would constitute a chance for adopting decisive decisions, reiterating his call for the application of all laws. On the other hand, Berri met with New Zealand's Ambassador to Lebanon, Greg Lewis, as part of his tour among Lebanese officials on courtesy visits.

Hariri meets with Arab ambassadors
NNA - Wed 28 Aug 2019
The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri on Wednesday received at the Grand Serail the ambassadors of the Sultanate of Oman, Badr bin Mohammed Al Mantheri, Saudi Arabia, Waleed Bukhari, Morocco, Mohammed Krin, Algeria, Ahmed Abu Zayan, Sudan, Ali Al Sadeq Ali, Iraq, Ali Abbas Al Amri, Tunisia, Karim Boudali, Egypt, Nazih Naggari, United Arab Emirates, Hamad Al Shamsi, Kuwait, Abdul Aal Al Kinai, and Palestine, Ashraf Dabbour and the Jordanian Chargé d'Affaires Wafa Al-Atim, in the presence of former Minister Ghattas Khoury. After the meeting, the Dean of the Arab Diplomatic Corps, the Ambassador of Kuwait Abdul Aal Al Kinai, said: "Prime Minister Hariri explained the Lebanese viewpoint on the recent events in Beirut and the southern suburbs. We as Arab countries stated our support and attachment to the security and stability of Lebanon and the measures or policies it takes to preserve its security, stability and territorial integrity, because the Arabs are keen on the stability of Lebanon and want it to be safe from all that threatens its security and stability." Hariri then met with New Zealand's Ambassador to Lebanon Greg Lewis and discussed with him the situation and the bilateral relations. He also received the former United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary General, Taleb Rifai, and the President of the Lebanese exhibitions and conferences Association, Elie Rizk. After the meeting, Rifai said: "We asked Prime Minister Hariri to sponsor the first Arab Investment Conference, which will be held in Beirut between February 19 and 21 with the participation of Arab and foreign delegations."

Lebanese PM Urges Russia to Intervene to Avert Escalation with Israel
Beirut – Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 28 August, 2019
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri urged Russia to intervene to avert further escalation with Israel in wake of the recent drone attacks. His office announced that he had telephoned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to condemn Israel’s attack against Beirut’s southern suburbs, deeming it a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701. The Foreign Ministry said that Hariri had asked Russia to exert its influence to prevent further escalation between Lebanon and Israel. Moscow stressed to Beirut its commitment to a sovereign, independent and stable Lebanon, added the ministry. It also urged all parties to respect international law and resolution 1701 that helped end a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. Hariri’s adviser for Russian affairs, George Shaaban, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Moscow will exert efforts to avoid escalation, revealing that it was contacting concerned parties to that end. Lavrov underlined the importance of Lebanon’s stability, adding however, that it still does not have enough details about the drone attacks. Everything hinges on how Hezbollah will retaliate and how Israel will respond in turn, he said. On Sunday, two Israeli drones crashed in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. One of the drones blew up near the ground, causing some damage to Hezbollah’s media center. Israeli officials have declined to comment when asked if Israel was responsible. Precise details about where the drones were fired from have yet to emerge. Hezbollah has said the two drones were rigged with explosives after its experts took apart the first drone. Israel used the attack, for which the Jewish state has not claimed responsibility, "to change the rules of engagement," Hariri had said during a meeting of the Higher Defense Council on Tuesday.
Lebanon vowed during the meeting to defend itself "by any means". Hezbollah is, meanwhile, preparing a “calculated strike” against Israel, but it seeks to avoid a new war, two sources allied to the party told Reuters on Tuesday.
In a briefing to the Security Council, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov urged all parties to exercise the greatest level of restraint. Lebanon's ambassador to the UN, Amal Mudallali called on the council to exert the necessary and effective pressure on Israel to cease its violations against the country.

Report: Hariri in Talks with US, International Parties to Prevent Israeli Aggression
Naharnet/August 28/2019
Since the latest Israeli drone attack in Lebanon, Prime Minister Saad Hariri has not stopped contacts with the US administration and other international parties to curb any Israeli aggression threatening to throw the situation off balance in Lebanon and the region, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat reported on Wednesday.
Hariri constantly consults with President Michel Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and calls on the international community, mainly Washington, to pressure Israel to stop its violations of Resolution 1701, well-informed sources told the daily on condition of anonymity. They said the Premier holds Israel responsible for breaching the balance established by the rules of engagement drawn up after the end of the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizbullah. Hariri accused, according to ministerial sources, Israel of being behind breaching these rules of engagement, “thinking that it can impose a new situation in the south to push for change.”The Premier’s office said late on Tuesday that Hariri telephoned EU Commissioner for Security and Foreign Policy Federica Mogherini asking for the EU support to stop Israeli violations of UN resolution 1701 and maintain security and stability in the region after the recent developments. Lebanon's Higher Defence Council, a government body in charge of defence policy, met on Tuesday and discussed the Israeli drone attack on Sunday that hit southern Beirut, a stronghold of Hizbullah. The Council affirmed in a statement the right of the Lebanese to defend themselves by any means against any aggression. It came after Aoun, a former army chief, denounced the attack as a "declaration of war" and Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed retaliation. During Tuesday's meeting, Hariri said the attack -- the first of its kind since a 2006 war between Hizbullah and Israel -- posed a threat to regional stability. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday his country was ready to use "all means necessary" to defend itself against Iranian threats "on several fronts". Hizbullah on Tuesday said the drone attack involved two drones -- one which exploded and the other that crashed without exploding because of a technical failure. The Beirut drone attack came after Israel on Saturday launched strikes in neighbouring Syria to prevent what it said was an Iranian attack on the Jewish state.
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday said two Hizbullah members were among those killed in the strikes

Report: Dahiyeh Drone Attack Targeted Iranian Guided-Missile Technology
Naharnet/August 28/2019
A suspected Israeli drone attack on a Hizbullah site in Beirut’s southern suburbs targeted “crates believed to contain machinery to mix high-grade propellant for precision guided missiles,” Britain’s The Times newspaper reported on Tuesday, quoting unnamed Western intelligence sources.
Hizbullah said overnight that a drone that crashed in its southern Beirut suburbs stronghold at the weekend contained an explosive device weighing more than five kilograms. The Iran-backed group had previously said an Israeli reconnaissance drone had flown over the southern suburbs before crashing, and that a second armed drone had then "hit a specific area" before dawn on Sunday. But after the party's "experts dismantled the first drone that crashed in Beirut's southern suburbs, it was found that it contained a sealed explosive device" of around 5.5 kilograms, it said in a statement. "We confirm that the purpose of this first drone was not reconnaissance but the carrying out of a bombing attack," it added. The latest discovery, Hizbullah said, confirms that Sunday's drone attack involved not one but two explosive-rigged drones -- one which exploded and the other that did not because of a technical failure.
The incident marked the first such "hostile action" in Lebanon since a 2006 war between Hizbullah and Israel, the party's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday, vowing retaliation. Israel did not claim responsibility for the attack but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his country was ready to use "all means necessary" to defend itself against Iranian threats "on several fronts."

Paris Urges Hizbullah Restraint to Pass 'Appropriate Resolution' on UNIFIL
Naharnet/August 28/2019
Presidency Affairs Minister Salim Jreissati held talks Wednesday at his office in Beiteddine with French embassy charge d’affaires Salina Grenet-Catalano. “He discussed with her the general situations in Lebanon, especially the security situation after the Israeli aggression in Beirut’s southern suburbs and the steps that the Lebanese state is taking to address its aftermath,” the National News Agency said. “Grenet-Catalano relayed her country’s stance that stresses the need for restraint, especially that Lebanon is on the verge of the extension of the term of the U.N. force operating in the South (UNIFIL) and that France along with other countries has contributed to endorsing an ‘appropriate resolution’ that would extend the U.N. force’s term for another year,” NNA added. Jressati for his part briefed the French diplomat on President Michel Aoun’s stances on the latest developments. One drone came down and another exploded early Sunday in a Hizbullah stronghold in the southern Beirut suburb of Mouawad, damaging a Hizbullah media center and lightly injuring three people who were in the building. In the wake of the incident, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed to "do everything" to thwart Israeli drone attacks in Lebanon, threatening to down any unmanned aircraft that violates Lebanon’s airspace. He also pledged to retaliate from Lebanon against an Israeli airstrike that killed two Hizbullah members in Syria.

UNIFIL Head in Close Contact with Parties, Urges Maximum Restraint
Naharnet/August 28/2019
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti announced Wednesday that the U.N. force is closely monitoring the developments in Lebanon and the broad region. In this context, Tenenti stressed in an interview with the National News Agency the importance of ensuring security and stability along the Blue Line, saying UNIFIL is keenly working with the parties on the ground to achieve this end. The U.N. official added that UNIFIL works in close coordination with the Lebanese Army, day and night, along the Blue Line. Tenenti also said that UNIFIL Commander Major General Stefano Del Col is in full contact with all parties to prevent any misunderstanding or incident that could expose the cessation of hostilities to danger. He added that UNIFIL’s chief is urging all parties to exercise maximum restraint, in words and deeds, and to take advantage of the coordination mechanism, assumed by UNIFIL, to raise important issues amid the current tensions. One drone came down and another exploded early Sunday in a Hizbullah stronghold in the southern Beirut suburb of Mouawad, damaging a Hizbullah media center and lightly injuring three people who were in the building. In the wake of the incident, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed to "do everything" to thwart Israeli drone attacks in Lebanon, threatening to down any unmanned aircraft that violates Lebanon’s airspace. He also pledged to retaliate from Lebanon against an Israeli airstrike that killed two Hizbullah members in Syria.

Berri Says Lebanese Unity is First Victory against Israel
Naharnet/August 28/2019
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday described the unity that followed the latest attacks as the first victory against Israel. “The Lebanese consensus on condemning the Israeli aggression that targeted Lebanon several days ago resembled the first sign of victory at the level of national unity,” Berri told lawmakers during the weekly Ain el-Tineh meeting. Separately, the Speaker told the MPs that the upcoming economic meeting in Baabda should reach an agreement on at least two points that he described as essential: the 2020 state budget and electricity reform.
“The 2020 budget should be approved with a reduced deficit and within the constitutional timeframe,” Berri said, stressing that the financial deficit created by the poor administration of the electricity sector should be addressed seeing as it “represents one third of the state budget’s deficit.”

Hizbullah Rules Out Wider War with Israel
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 28/2019
Hizbullah is ruling out a wider war with Israel but says it will carry out a surprise attack in retaliation for an alleged Israeli drone assault south of Beirut over the weekend. Naim Qassem told Russia Today in an interview that aired late on Tuesday that Hizbullah will not be "intimidated by threats of war in order not to retaliate. There was an aggression and we said we will retaliate and this is what will happen."He refused to elaborate, saying that "we want the strike to be surprising and therefore, it is not in our interest to reveal more details."Qassem's comments came just days after an alleged Israeli drone crashed in a Hizbullah stronghold in southern Beirut while another exploded and crashed nearby.

Ferzli Says New War with Israel is 'Unlikely'
Naharnet/August 28/2019
Deputy Parliament Speaker Elie Ferzli on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of a new Lebanese-Israeli war, but said that a response to Israel’s drone attack on southern suburbs of Beirut was inevitable. “Israel has breached the rules of engagement (drawn up after the end of the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizbullah) and UN Security Council Resolution 1701. But I don't think there will be a new war,” said Ferzli in remarks to VDL (93.3) radio station. “A response to the attacks is inevitable but the timing depends on the conditions and calculations of the battle,” he added. Ferzli noted that Israel has an aggressive strategy it plans to invest before the Israeli elections. He said that “Israel has chosen Lebanon based on the philosophy that Hizbullah has its hands tied and can not respond because of the situation in Lebanon and the difficult internal conditions will prevent it from doing so.” One drone came down and another exploded early Sunday in a Hizbullah stronghold in the southern Beirut suburb of Mouawad, damaging a Hizbullah media center and lightly injuring three people who were in the building. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had on Sunday vowed to "do everything" to thwart Israeli drone attacks in Lebanon, threatening to down any unmanned aircraft that violates Lebanon’s airspace. He also pledged to retaliate from Lebanon against an Israeli airstrike that killed two Hizbullah members in Syria.

Abdullah: No Landfill, No Incinerators in Jiyyeh-Baasir
Naharnet/August 28/2019
Progressive Socialist Party MP Bilal Abdullah on Tuesday said that all officials of the Chouf region refuse to have a landfill or incinerator in the Jiyyeh area. “In the name of deputies, municipalities, civil society, parties and residents of the Chouf area we reiterate our position, no landfill in Jiyyeh-Baasir today and no incinerators in the future. The Chouf area has borne enough,” said Abdullah in a tweet. His remarks came one day after the government approved several points of a waste management plan including setting three incinerators in various Lebanese locations. Establishing landfills is a controversial move that most local authorities refuse. Environment Minister Fadi Jreissati said the government “has given local authorities a one-month deadline to suggest sites and each region has the right to propose an alternative.” He however, warned that the government will be obliged to “impose solutions” if MPs, municipalities and municipal unions do not suggest locations for the landfills. The Naameh landfill in Chouf, one of the biggest in Lebanon, was closed in 2015. It was initially built in 1998 as part of an emergency plan to receive trash from the capital Beirut and Mount Lebanon. In the absence of “agreeable” alternatives, its closure triggered a waste crisis that Lebanon is still suffering from.

Rahi, LF delegation tackle latest developments
NNA -Wed 28 Aug 2019
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rahi, on Wednesday received in Bkirki a delegation of the Lebanese Forces, with whom he discussed most recent developments on the local arena. The delegation included MPs Chawki Daccache and Eddy Abi Lamaa, as well as Antoine Murad. Speaking on emerging, MP Daccache said that they discussed with Patriarch Rahi the general situation in the country at the various political and economic levels. Talks also touched on the current challenges facing the country in light of recent developments. The visit comes as part of the LF's periodic meetings with the Patriarch. Daccache said Patriarch Rahi is currently following up on the latest developments in the country.

Chehayeb to graduates of Children Cancer Center: You did not demand exemptions, you battled through the pain and succeeded
NNA - Wed 28 Aug 2019
For the eighth consecutive year, the Children Cancer Center in Lebanon organized a ceremony at the "Charles Hausler Hall" at the American University of Beirut, titled "Path of Joy", under the patronage of Minister of Education and Higher Learning, Akram Chehayeb, distributing diplomas to thirty-six pupils undergoing treatment as the facility, 13 of them having earned their brevet degree and 23 having passed the high school (baccalaureate) diplomas after taking the official exams this year at the center. In his speech, Chehayeb paid tribute to the graduates "who believe in education and hold on tightly to life", and to "the family of the Children Cancer Center and the sacrifices of its volunteers." He said: "With you we acquire the virtues of patience and giving, and with the donors the virtue of doing good deeds. You have faced pain with a smile, and persevered in your lessons. You neither asked for exemption from exams nor did you make objections. You deservedly succeeded. You deserve to win and succeed, and deserve all the facilities to follow the path towards a better future." "Helping others is the most noble of messages," he concluded. "Keep planting hope; hope for a better future for you and the nation."

Army arrests five persons in Beddawi for throwing stones at soldiers
NNA - Wed 28 Aug 2019
The Lebanese army arrested on Wednesday five persons in Beddawi, for throwing stones at soldiers, NNA Correspondent reported. Several young men and women attempted to storm into the military vehicles to release the detainees, prompting Lebanese soldiers to shoot in the air.
As such, tension prevailed in the area, at a time the army introduced further reinforcements.

Israel's new strategy just slapped Nasrallah across the face
Alex Fishman|/Ynetnews/August 28/2019
Israel is taking advantage of Nasrallah's vulnerabilities by challenging Lebanon to contain the Iran-backed organization or pay in either military strikes or natural gas revenue. Just a few hours after Hassan Nasrallah's televised speech in which he threatened Israel with destroying its aircrafts, should they enter Lebanese air space, the leader of Hezbollah may have been given a slap to the face the likes of which he will not forget. Arab media outlets reported a raid attributed to Israel, this time in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley.
If Israel was behind the attack, it would mark a shift in the balance of power that has existed between the Jewish State and the terror group since 2006. Both Israel and Hezbollah have violated UN resolution 1701, passed after of the Second Lebanon War, to end the conflict. Israeli Air Force continues its flights over Lebanon while Hezbollah increases its military capabilities on the border with Israel. But the number of clashes between the two, over all these years, has remained small and most have occurred in Syrian territory. overall, Israel has avoided visible action in Lebanon, allowing Nasrallah to claim his enemy is deterred. But now he has reason to be concerned. Recent events could indicate a change in Israel's perception regarding Hezbollah's abilities.  The IDF, under the leadership of Lt. General Aviv Kochavi is showing confidence in successfully meeting any threat emanating from Lebanon, head on.
Security officials understand that having completed almost a decade of fighting in Syria, mostly with good results, Hezbollah is now prepared to set its sights on Lebanon's southern border with Israel and should be reminded of its vulnerabilities. Lebanon is in the midst of an economic crisis. And Nasrallah himself has described his organization's financial state as "tittering on the verge of bankruptcy."
Next month talks are set to begin, with American mediation, on demarcation of a maritime border between Israel and Lebanon. The outcome of these talks will determine Lebanon's natural gas production, which means millions of dollars that both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government are in desperate need of. The bottom line is that a military conflict with Israel will most likely abolish any political gain achieved by the Iran-backed movement, whose leader has become the strongest politician in Lebanon. A divided country, with parts of its population opposed to Hezbollah's policies and actions, will deteriorate quickly towards the destruction of the Lebanese tourism industry and its infrastructure. Israel is taking full advantage of Nasrallah's vulnerability and is backing him up against the wall. Officials still think the deterrence achieved at the end of the 2006 war is intact, and this could result in complacency on the part of decision makers. The question is whether Israel is taking a calculated risk by its actions or is this a gamble. The Shiite leader and his Iranian patrons must be wondering, if Monday's raid on the Beqaa is an isolated event or a change in Israel's strategy. Was it a message to Lebanon warning, it should prevent Hezbollah from carrying out its threats, or is this a new policy entirely, meant to disrupt the organizations efforts to obtain precise weaponry, by attacking in Iraq, Syria and now in Lebanon? With Israel's new level of friction with Iran and its proxies, it is up to them to determine the direction this conflict will be taken in.

Beirut Strike Target: Vital Iranian Device for Hezbollah's Mass Missile Production
عاموس هاريل/هآرتس: هدف الدرونز الإسرائيلية التي استهدفت الضاحية كان تدمير اجهزة إيرانية حيوية متخصصة بإنتاج الصواريخ
Amos Harel/Haaretz/August 28/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/77916/times-of-israel-beirut-strike-will-delay-hezbollah-missile-program-by-at-least-a-year-%d8%aa%d8%a7%d9%8a%d9%85%d8%b2-%d8%a3%d9%88%d9%81-%d8%a5%d8%b3%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%a6%d9%8a%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%81/?fbclid=IwAR1p1KsMWbACxNblzjQc5Qr00HzqzxL6DtFH8iVIESuL9vWRx0vYckr-IaM
Iran delivered special propellants mixer - used in manufacturing ballistic missiles - to Lebanon in violation of international treaties.
The attack in Beirut early Sunday morning, which has been attributed to Israel, hit a central component of Hezbollah's missile program. It damaged a planetary mixer — an industrial-sized mixer weighing about eight tons, needed to create propellants that can improve the engine performance of missiles and increase their accuracy. The machine was hit, as far as we know, shortly before Hezbollah planned to move it to a secured site. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who accused Israel of carrying out this strike and a second one – which killed two Lebanese Hezbollah fighters near Damascus a few hours earlier – threatened retaliation for both strikes. The Israeli army is readying for a reprisal, possibly within the next few days. A Hezbollah reprisal is likely to include fire targeting Israel Defense Forces units on the Lebanese or the Syrian border, or even firing a missile deep into Israeli territory. The assumption is that Nasrallah will try to keep the response "below the threshold of war," but it's difficult to know whether he can fully control the consequences. In addition, Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, led by Gen. Qassem Soleimani, might try to carry out a retaliatory strike of its own.
The aerial strike in Beirut, which Nasrallah said was conducted by two explosive-laden drones sent by Israel, hit the mixer, which had been temporarily placed in a Hezbollah-controlled area of the city's Shi'ite quarter Dahiyyeh. The mixer was damaged, but the main blow was to the machine's control panel, which is separate from the mixer itself.
Replacing the controller, an expensive bit of electronics manufactured in Iran, will likely take a long time. Were the mixer to become operational, it could have enabled Hezbollah to set up a production line capable of turning out rather large quantities of precision-guided long-range missiles. Because of its use in manufacturing ballistic missiles, the mixer was delivered to Hezbollah by Iran in violation of international treaties.
Hezbollah's retaliations to attacks they attributed to Israel
In the past few years, foreign media outlets — as well as a few high-ranking Israeli officials — have reported hundreds of Israeli Air Force strikes targeting arms convoys sent by Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon, via Syria. In addition to damaging shipments of precision missiles, they hit precision accuracy kits, which are meant to be retrofit onto missiles already in Hezbollah's arsenal to improve their performance. The weapons smuggled in these shipments were heavy and relatively prominent; Hezbollah likely figured out that Israel can easily identify them and sought an alternative method.
In his address to the UN General Assembly in September, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that Iran and Hezbollah were building three underground sites for manufacturing and converting precision missiles in the Beirut area. The factories were vacated within a few days. The latest strike in Beirut will probably significantly delay Hezbollah's missile program.
Soleimani's retaliatory failure
The Israeli strike Saturday night in the village of Aqraba, southeast of Damascus, was the product of extended intelligence surveillance of Quds Force activities. Soleimani sought to avenge attacks ascribed to Israel against arms stores belonging to the Revolutionary Guards and pro-Iranian Shi'ite militias in Iraq and Iran. The task was assigned to the Imam Hossein Division, also known as the international division, a Shi'ite force that reports to Soleimani in Syria and is active in the country's civil war and in its efforts against Israel.
The cell that planned drone attacks targeting Israeli sites in the Golan Heights included two Lebanese men, former Hezbollah members who joined the Quds Force. As far as is known, Nasrallah was unaware of the plan. On Thursday evening, the cell approached the Israeli border, on the foothills of Mount Hermon, but the IDF foiled their attempt to fly two drones into Israeli territory.
The cell was identified the following day in a private, guarded home in Aqraba. On Saturday night, the Israel Air Force fired at the building, killing the two Lebanese militants.
In Lebanon, a different drone strike, allegedly by Israel, was reported Monday. It was said to have been carried out early Monday morning in Lebanon's Bekaa, against the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, the Palestinian militant organization founded by Ahmed Jibril. In retrospect, that report appears suspect; the attack may very well not have happened.

Analysis/Netanyahu and Nasrallah — the Middle East’s Longest and Most Stable Enmity
انشيل فايفر/هآرتس: العداوة بين نصرالله ونيتنياهو هي الأطول في الشرق الأوسط بهدوئها والاستقرار
Anshel Pfeffer/Haaretz/August 28/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/77936/%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%b4%d9%8a%d9%84-%d9%81%d8%a7%d9%8a%d9%81%d8%b1-%d9%87%d8%a2%d8%b1%d8%aa%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%88%d8%a9-%d8%a8%d9%8a%d9%86-%d9%86%d8%b5%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%84%d9%87/
Both leaders have avoided turning their belligerent bluster into wider confrontations, being experienced enough to know the limitations of military power.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s suggestion to Hassan Nasrallah on Monday that he “calm down” with his threats was a rare acknowledgment of an old enemy. The prime minister doesn’t regularly speak of the Hezbollah leader in public, and there are a number of reasons for this. Netanyahu doesn’t like referring to anyone who doesn't share his state-leader status, but in Nasrallah’s case it’s even more intentional: He wants to portray Hezbollah as merely an Iranian proxy, not as an entity in its own right. In addition, Netanyahu — aware as he is of media imagery — knows that Nasrallah is both one of the most recognizable Arab leaders, especially among Israelis, and that he’s respected and feared as well. So why bring him up?
At the same time, however, there is no other enemy Netanyahu has spent so much time reading intelligence briefings on and discussing his intentions in closed security meetings.
Nasrallah is a decade younger than Netanyahu, but he’s a more experienced leader. When Netanyahu first became prime minister in 1996, Nasrallah had already headed Hezbollah for four years. Twenty-three years on, all the enemies and rivals Bibi faced in the Arab world have gone — except for Nasrallah, who hasn’t moved. (Though not himself an Arab, you can also add Nasrallah’s main patron, Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, to that short list.)
The Netanyahu-Nasrallah enmity is the oldest in the region. And not only is it remarkably stable, it has also been relatively peaceful. In the 27 years since Nasrallah assumed control of Hezbollah, following the Israeli assassination of his predecessor, Abbas Musawi, there have been seven Israeli prime ministers. Netanyahu, by far the longest serving, has been leader for nearly half of that period, and none of the major conflagrations with Hezbollah have been on his watch.
Operation Accountability, when Israel bombarded southern Lebanon for a week in 1993, trying to stop Hezbollah rocket launches, took place under Yitzhak Rabin. The longer and more ferocious Operation Grapes of Wrath was directed by Shimon Peres in 1996. And then of course there was the Second Lebanon War, into which both Nasrallah and Ehud Olmert allowed themselves to be dragged in 2006.
During the three years of Netanyahu’s first term, the cease-fire achieved after Grapes of Wrath was largely adhered to: Clashes between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah in the “security zone” of southern Lebanon continued, but attacks on civilian targets in northern Israel ceased.
The same can be said for the past decade after Netanyahu returned to power. The cease-fire that ended the Second Lebanon War has been kept. Israel and Hezbollah have fought on Syrian soil but not in Lebanon. At least, until the explosions in Beirut on Saturday night that Hezbollah accused Israel of carrying out.
Not only have Nasrallah and Netanyahu been good at keeping the peace together, but the wars in Lebanon have arguably helped both their careers.
Despite the destruction wreaked by Israel during the confrontations, for a long time in the Arab world Nasrallah enjoyed the image of being leader of the resistance to Israel — until he became synonymous with the mass killings of Syrian civilians alongside the Assad regime. He was the man whose fighters “forced” Israel out of southern Lebanon in 2000 and fought the IDF to a humiliating stalemate in 2006.
Anger among Arab Israelis at the deaths of Lebanese civilians in Qana during Operation Grapes of Wrath was one of the reasons their turnout was low in the following month’s election, helping Netanyahu beat Peres by a sliver.
When the Second Lebanon War broke out a decade later, Netanyahu was leader of a shrunken Likud, with only 12 seats and little prospect of returning to government. Israel’s failure in that war fatally damaged the credibility of the Olmert government and launched Likud’s path to recovery.
But the reasons Nasrallah and Netanyahu are adept at avoiding their belligerent bluster turning into wider confrontations are not only political. They are both experienced and seasoned enough to know the limitations of military power — particularly how outcomes cannot be predicted or controlled once the dogs of war are unleashed.
Nasrallah learned this the hard way in 2006, and he has no desire of being blamed for another round of destruction in Lebanon.
Netanyahu’s caution in using the IDF’s unwieldy armored brigades is a result of his own military service as a special operations officer 50 years ago. Sayeret Matkal, the small and secretive elite unit in which he spent his entire five years in uniform, breeds among its operatives a suspicion of the “big and stupid” army. Netanyahu has always favored small, pinpoint operations carried out by elite commandos, the air force or the Mossad over mobilized divisions.
For the past 10 years, both sides kept to the red lines: Israel didn’t attack targets in Lebanon’s territory and Hezbollah didn’t launch operations against Israel from Lebanon. Instead, the small-scale secret war took place in Syria. Did that all change on Saturday in Beirut?
Whatever happened in Dahiyeh, Netanyahu and Nasrallah are creatures of habit and haven’t changed. Hezbollah may have stored an important asset there, supplied by Iran for the purpose of improving the accuracy of the missiles it has already provided. Netanyahu may have decided that the opportunity of destroying it, before it slipped away and was hidden in the Bekaa Valley, was too important to miss. And both leaders have been known to give in to hubris.
But this is almost certainly a one-off. Hezbollah’s retaliation, when it does come, will be designed to give both men a ladder from which to climb down an avoid further escalations. It will be just big enough to restore Nasrallah’s dignity, and not so big as to force Israel to launch another series of attacks in Lebanon. Both men have too much invested in the cease-fire they have maintained together for so long.

How Will Hezbollah Respond to Israel’s Drone Attack?
حنين غدار/معهد واشنطن: كيف سيرد حزب الله على هجوم المسيرة الإسرائيلية
Hanin Ghaddar/The Washington Institute/August 28, 2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/77943/%d8%ad%d9%86%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%ba%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%b4%d9%86%d8%b7%d9%86-%d9%83%d9%8a%d9%81-%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%af-%d8%ad%d8%b2%d8%a8-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%84%d9%87/
With the IDF seemingly expanding its missile hunt to Lebanon and Iraq, the actions of Iran’s proxies, their host governments, and U.S. officials will do much to determine if wider escalation is in the cards.
Over the past week, the Israel Defense Forces have launched attacks against Iranian and affiliated targets in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. In the latter strike, conducted August 25, two IDF drones crashed between residential buildings in the Mouawad neighborhood of south Beirut. According to Hezbollah, these “suicide drones” were armed with 5.5 kilos of C4 explosive; media reports indicate they deliberately targeted crates believed to contain machinery for mixing high-grade propellant used in precision-guided missiles. The previous day, IDF jets reportedly targeted an Iranian position in Damascus, thereby preventing an imminent drone attack on Israel being planned by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force.
Although the Beirut attack did not cause any casualties, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah did not ignore the incident as he usually does with Israeli strikes on the group’s assets in Syria. Instead, he vowed to down any Israeli drones over Lebanese skies.
Nasrallah also explicitly threatened vengeance for the Damascus strike, which killed two Hezbollah fighters. Accusing Israel of violating “the rules of engagement,” he warned of a harsh, immediate response to the incident, presumably from Lebanon. Yet Hezbollah officials appeared to back down somewhat on August 27, telling Reuters that the group is preparing a “calculated strike” against Israel, “arranged in a way [that] wouldn’t lead to a war that neither Hezbollah nor Israel wants.”
For its part, Israel seems to be expanding its Syria strategy to Lebanon and Iraq, targeting Iran’s precision missile assets in each country directly and forcefully. During his September 2018 UN speech, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu outed some of these facilities in Lebanon while leaving room for diplomacy to deal with this threat to Israel’s security. As the Mouawad evidence shows, however, Hezbollah is still trying to upgrade its domestic missile arsenal with Iran’s help, so Israel feels compelled to pursue military options. More IDF attacks can be expected, and Hezbollah’s retaliatory options—“calculated” or not—are limited. In fact, such retaliation might open the door to more Israeli strikes, drawing Lebanon further into the Iran-Israel confrontation. The question is, will Hezbollah take that course anyway, and if so, in what form?
THREE SCENARIOS
Thus far, Nasrallah has warned that Hezbollah will do the following: shoot down any Israeli drones it spots flying over Lebanon; launch retaliatory measures from Lebanon for the personnel killed in the latest Syria strike; and respond to the Beirut drone attack. Although each of these threats is rather general, acting (or not acting) on them would produce one of three scenarios, all of them problematic for the group’s leadership:
High-risk Hezbollah attacks on sensitive Israeli targets. If the group retaliates against high-value military, economic, or symbolic targets inside Israel, it would register a powerful, hurtful blow against its enemy while pleasing its support base back home. Yet both effects would be short-lived, since Israel would almost certainly respond with larger and more devastating attacks, perhaps leading to a full-fledged war that Hezbollah may not be able to deescalate at the last moment.
Since most parties with a stake in the matter would seek to avoid such a conflict, its probability is low. Yet it could still come to pass if either side miscalculates events sufficiently. Moreover, Israel has wanted to deal with Hezbollah’s remaining precision missile facilities in Lebanon for some time, and escalation (temporary or not) could provide an opportunity to do so. This might lead to full-fledged war as well—in this case between Israel and Iran, and maybe other countries if Tehran pushes its other foreign Shia militia proxies to join.
The potential consequences of any “all-out war” scenario are dire. Hezbollah would suffer heavy personnel and equipment losses that it currently lacks the funds to replace. It would barely be able to compensate its constituency for their personal losses and reconstruction demands. The Shia community in south Lebanon, the Beqa Valley, and south Beirut would not be able to flee the next conflict as they did the 2006 war (since Syria is now off limits, and sectarian tensions would make it difficult to shelter in other parts of Lebanon). They would probably blame Hezbollah for causing the destruction by attacking sensitive Israeli targets. In short, Lebanon would be devastated, and reconstruction funding would not be as abundant as it was in 2006 given today’s greater international pressure on Hezbollah and general donor weariness.
No Hezbollah attacks at all. The group may decide not to retaliate at all, instead adopting the approach so often used by the Syrian regime next door: that is, warning it will choose “the appropriate time and place” for retaliation, then letting that rhetorical threat drag on until everyone forgets. The problem with this scenario is that Hezbollah’s support base will not forget. Nasrallah’s domestic credibility stems mainly from his famous “fulfilled promise” (al-waad al-sadeq), an attribute he claimed after supposedly achieving the “divine victory” he promised early in the 2006 war. In other words, he has to fulfill his promises at some point, otherwise he will lose credibility.
Nasrallah already faces significant discontent at home for largely ignoring Israeli attacks on Hezbollah assets in Syria (Iran attempted to retaliate for such strikes in April-May 2018 and January 2019, but Hezbollah was not involved in those operations). If he does not respond forcefully to attacks in Lebanon, the distrust and criticism brewing among his constituency will boil over.
Failure to act would also erode whatever deterrence Hezbollah has left in terms of limiting Israeli military operations. A few hours after Nasrallah railed against the Damascus strike, Israeli warplanes reportedly attacked a Beqa Valley base belonging to the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. Although the facility was not Hezbollah’s, it was inside Lebanese territory and very close to a location where Nasrallah’s speech had been broadcast live to a large local audience. Not responding now would simply be too embarrassing.
Limited Hezbollah response. This is the most likely scenario, in part because the group’s rhetoric so far suggests such a course, and also because it has launched limited strikes against Israel in the past. In 2015, Hezbollah personnel fired an antitank missile that killed an IDF officer and a soldier close to the border. The attack came in response to the assassination of seven Hezbollah members (including senior official Jihad Mughniyah) and an Iranian general on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.
To respond proportionately to the Beirut drone attack, Hezbollah might send small explosive-laden drones into Israel, or use overseas terrorist networks to target Israeli interests. This outcome might satisfy Nasrallah’s base and allow him to save face, without the risk entailed by entering a wider confrontation. Yet if Israeli operations inside Lebanon and Iraq have now become the new normal, then a limited Hezbollah response will only postpone future confrontation, at least as long as the group continues its precision missile project in Lebanon (Hezbollah’s two other main threats to Israel—its cross-border tunneling project and its military presence near the Golan Heights—have largely been contained for the moment).
AVOIDING WAR ENTAILS A CLEAR U.S. RESPONSE
Hezbollah’s patrons in Iran understand the complexities of any retaliation in Syria or Iraq. In the former, Russia coordinates with Israel when the IDF needs to attack Iranian targets; in the latter, Baghdad still has significant military relations with the United States. In contrast, Lebanon is largely free of such great-power considerations, and it remains Hezbollah and Iran’s strongest base, allowing them to carry out attacks from there without significant outside interference if they so desire. And if Lebanon turns into a battlefield, the fighting could easily expand to Iraq and the rest of the region.
Therefore, containing Hezbollah’s responses in Lebanon requires a nimble U.S. approach that combines smart public and private messaging with clear demands to officials in Beirut. This includes the Lebanese Armed Forces, who already fired on Israeli drones earlier today and may try to disrupt further IDF operations against Hezbollah weapons caches. Active U.S. mediation is a must given Washington’s relationships with Israel and Lebanon, and its longstanding assistance to the LAF. Since 2006, the U.S. government has provided more than $2 billion in military assistance, and it should use this aid as leverage for warning the LAF not to fire on Israeli forces and communicating the consequences of Hezbollah’s missile activities to Beirut. In particular, LAF officials should be reminded that they are supposed to be implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which prohibits militias like Hezbollah from possessing military capabilities in Lebanon. The stage is already set for serious discussion of these issues in the Security Council, which will soon vote on whether to renew the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Meanwhile, the Trump administration needs to address the delicate situation in Baghdad, where U.S. officials are constrained not only by the volatile nature of local politics, but also by the widespread Iraqi conviction that Israel’s recent strikes there were authorized or facilitated by Washington—a claim that has touched a raw nerve of Iraqi nationalism. As such, the administration should tell Prime Minister Adil Abdulmahdi and President Barham Salih that the presence of Iranian-linked precision missile assets on their territory will inevitably spur Israel to launch more attacks. This in turn could increase the chances of the very scenario that Iraq’s civilian and militia leaders have said they want to avoid: dragging their country into an Iranian conflict with another power.
Finally, even if recent French efforts to jumpstart U.S.-Iranian talks do not bear fruit, Washington should recognize the heightened urgency of convincing Iran to contain its regional proxies. In messaging Tehran on this matter, U.S. officials should prioritize the precision missile facilities in Lebanon and Iraq, since that is the issue most likely to spark a wider conflict.
*Hanin Ghaddar is the Friedmann Visiting Fellow in The Washington Institute’s Geduld Program on Arab Politics.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 28-29/2019
US sanctions networks connected to Iran’s government, military
Reuters, Washington/Wednesday, 28 August 2019
The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two networks it says are linked to Iran’s government and military organizations, the Treasury Department said. One of the networks used a Hong Kong-based front company to evade US and international sanctions and target US technology and components for people tied to Iran’s government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the US Treasury Department said in a statement. The other network obtained Nuclear Suppliers Group-controlled aluminum alloy products for companies owned or controlled by Iran’s defense ministry, the department said. The sanctions are part of a US campaign to increase economic pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program. Washington ditched a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and five other countries and has reimposed sanctions on the country.

Iran publicly hangs murderer of Friday prayer imam
AFP, Tehran/Wednesday, 28 August 2019
Iran on Wednesday hanged in public a man convicted of murdering the leader of main weekly prayers in the southern city of Kazeroun, state news agency IRNA said. Hamid Reza Derakhshandeh was executed at the scene where he killed the cleric on May 29, IRNA reported, citing the chief justice of Fars province, Kazem Mousavi. Mohammad Khorsand suffered fatal injuries when attacked with a “cold weapon” while returning from a ceremony during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, IRNA said. The cleric had been the leader of Friday prayers in Kazeroun, the capital of Fars province, since 2007. After his arrest, Derakhshandeh stood trial and “confessed to the premeditated crime in the presence of judicial authorities”, Mousavi was quoted as saying. The death sentence was upheld by the supreme court and carried out after the cleric’s family decided not to spare the life of the killer who refused to express regret, Fars news agency reported. Under Iranian law, a murder victim’s family can spare a convict’s life by accepting blood money. “Due to the sensitivity of the case and the public sentiments in this regard, efforts were made for the case to be investigated promptly,” Mousavi said. Imams who lead Friday prayers in Iran are appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Israel Files Complaint at Security Council against Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 28 August, 2019
Israel filed a complaint to the United Nations Security Council against Iran’s activity in Syria. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, on Tuesday filed the complaint after Israeli forces uncovered and foiled an Iranian plot to launch “killer drones” towards the Jewish state from Syrian territory. "The international community must make clear to Iran that this subversive behavior and the funding of terror will not be tolerated," Danon wrote in the complaint, according to ynet news. The Israeli army had last week announced that it had struck several targets southeast of Damascus. “The strike targeted Iranian Quds Force operatives and militias which were preparing to advance attack plans targeting sites in Israel from within Syria over the last number of days,” the military said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had thwarted the planned Iranian attack. “Iran has no immunity anywhere. Our forces operate in every sector against the Iranian aggression,” he said on Twitter. Israel says it has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria against Iranian targets trying to establish a permanent military presence there and against advanced weapon shipments to Tehran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah party.

Syria air raids hit near Turkish military post: Monitor
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 28 August 2019
Air raids hit near a Turkish military post in northwest Syria Wednesday, a war monitor said, after Ankara vowed to take necessary steps to protect its troops deployed across the border. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said warplanes fired at areas surrounding a Turkish observation post in Sheir Maghar, located in the extremist-run Idlib region. The Britain-based monitor said it was not clear if the aircraft belonged to Russia or the Syrian regime, both of which have pounded Idlib with heavy air strikes since late April. The raids near Sheir Maghar came after Syrian government forces surrounded another Turkish observation post in the nearby town of Morek last week, according to the Observatory, which relies on sources inside Syria for its information. Days earlier, a regime air strike cut off a Turkish military convoy shortly after it crossed into Idlib en route to Khan Sheikhun.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said that the situation in Idlib had put his troops “in danger.” “We do not want this to continue. All necessary steps will be taken here as needed,” he said after talks with his Russian counterpart Vladmir Putin in Moscow. Idlib province and parts of neighboring Aleppo and Latakia are controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an extremist alliance led by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate. Russian-backed Syrian government forces launched a ground offensive against the region on the Turkish border on August 8 after months of heavy bombardment. The fighting has upped the stakes with Ankara, which has established 12 military observation posts in Idlib under a buffer zone agreement reached with regime ally Russia. The Turkish-Russian deal in September last year was supposed to avert any full-blown offensive on Idlib, but it was never fully implemented.
Increased bombardment by the Syrian military and Russia since late April has killed more than 900 civilians in Idlib. In the same period, the violence has displaced more than 400,000 people including many already uprooted from other areas, the United Nations says.
“The situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone is of serious concern to us and our Turkish partners,” Putin said Monday at a press conference with Erdogan. He said Turkey had “legitimate interests” to protect on its southern borders and supported the creation of a security zone in the area.
Putin said he and Erdogan had agreed “additional joint steps” to “normalize” the situation in Idlib, but did not provide details. The Syrian civil war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Russia to help rebuild NW town retaken by Syria
The Associated Press, Beirut/Wednesday, 28 August 2019
The Russian military says it will help reconstruction efforts in a town in northwestern Syria that has been reclaimed by the Syrian government. Maj. Gen. Ravil Muginov said in remarks released by the Russian Defense Ministry Tuesday that the military’s Reconciliation Center has delivered humanitarian supplies to Khan Sheikhoun, which was captured by the Syrian army last week. Muginov said the Russian military will help Syrian authorities rebuild the town’s infrastructure. Syrian government forces have captured wide areas from insurgents over the past weeks, including all rebel-held parts of Hama province and areas on the southern edge of Idlib, the last remaining rebel stronghold in Syria. Khan Sheikhoun sits on the highway linking Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, and Syrian government forces have sought to open that highway. The Kurdish-led regional administration in northern Syria says the main US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia has begun withdrawing its fighters from a town near Turkey’s border. The withdrawal is part of a deal for a so-called safe zone in northeastern Syria involving the US and Turkey. The administration said Tuesday that “the first step” in these understandings began three days ago in Ras al-Ayn, from where members of the militia known as YPG withdrew with their heavy weapons. It says the Kurdish militia positions were taken over by local forces, without elaborating. Turkey has been pressing for a safe zone, running east of the Euphrates River toward the Iraqi border, to push US-allied Syrian Kurdish militias away from its frontier.

Assad Orders Measures Against Rami Makhlouf’s Companies
Beirut - London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 28 August, 2019
The head of the Syrian regime, Bashar Assad, has ordered a series of measures against companies owned by his cousin, Rami Makhlouf, in Syria, informed sources said on Tuesday. The sources said the measures involve Makhlouf’s shares in the state-owned Syrian Telecom Company (Syriatel), the country’s biggest mobile phone company. Makhlouf, Assad’s first cousin and the son of Mohammed Makhlouf, is considered a top businessmen in Syria. In the past few years, Samer Foz appeared as a main competitor to Makhlouf, particularly after purchasing his stake at the Four Seasons hotel in the capital Damascus. The European Union and the US have imposed sanctions on both Makhlouf and Foz due to their role in supporting the Syrian regime. Makhlouf founded several companies, including Cham Holding. He was later linked to financing pro-regime forces and their linked militias, mainly through Al-Bustan Association. The Syrian opposition website Kuluna Shuraka (All4Syria) reported on Tuesday that Moscow asked from Damascus a large sum of money and that Assad contacted his uncle, currently present in Russia, for this end. However, the website said Makhlouf failed to provide the sum prompting the regime to ask a “committee tasked with fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism, to start an investigation with 29 of the most powerful Syrian businessmen, including Makhlouf.”The website said similar measures were taken against Mohammed Hamsho, a Syrian businessman with extensive links to the Syrian government and the Assad family. The Damascus regime had earlier taken measures against Ayman Jaber, another businessman active in the Syrian coast. Some opposition figures said on Tuesday that Moscow asked that Damascus pay $1billion.

US says won’t release Mideast peace plan before Israeli election
Reuters, Washington/Wednesday, 28 August 2019
The United States will not release the long-delayed political portion of its Israeli-Palestinian peace plan before Israel’s elections, White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt said on Wednesday. The move, announced in a tweet by Greenblatt, appeared to be aimed at not interfering with September elections in which the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, is at stake. “We have decided that we will not be releasing the peace vision (or parts of it) prior to the Israeli election,” Greenblatt said on Twitter. We have decided that we will not be releasing the peace vision (or parts of it) prior to the Israeli election. Trump on Monday had said the plan might be revealed before the Israeli election. Trump’s Middle East team, including senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, had wanted to roll out the political plan during the summer but Netanyahu’s failure to put together a governing coalition after April elections prompted a delay. Netanyahu now faces a fresh vote on Sept. 17 and if successful, will try again to form a coalition. The White House in June announced the economic piece of the Trump peace plan and sought support for it at a conference of global finance ministers in Bahrain. It proposes a $50 billion Middle East economic plan that would create a global investment fund to lift the Palestinian and neighboring Arab state economies, and fund a $5 billion transportation corridor to connect the West Bank and Gaza. Gulf leaders, however, want to see details of the political plan, which is aimed at resolving some of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, before signing on to the economic plan.

3 Officers Killed in Blasts at Police Checkpoints in Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 28 August, 2019
Three officers were killed on Tuesday when explosions struck two police checkpoints in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run interior ministry said. Several Palestinians were injured in the attack. Interior ministry spokesman, Eyad Al-Bozom, said security forces were making progress in their pursuit of those behind the explosions, but he did not disclose further details. “The sinful hands that carried out this crime will not escape punishment,” said Bozom. Such attacks on Hamas were rare. A spokesman for the Israeli military said he knew of no involvement by Israel in the back-to-back incidents in Gaza city at a time of simmering cross-border confrontations with Hamas. The Israeli military earlier Tuesday bombed a Hamas military post after militants in the strip fired a mortar round across the border but said it had not carried out any air raids at night. Palestinian eyewitnesses at the scene told AFP they had seen no aircraft overhead. The first blast destroyed a motorcycle as it passed a police checkpoint, witnesses said, according to Reuters. Two police officers were killed and a third Palestinian wounded. It was not immediately clear if the riders were among the casualties. The second explosion, less than an hour later, killed one officer and wounded several people at a police checkpoint elsewhere in the city, the interior ministry said. The ministry declared a state of emergency throughout Gaza, putting security forces on alert. AFP journalists reported an increased Hamas presence on the main roads of the enclave. Tuesday's events were the latest in a string of cross-border incidents that have raised concerns of further escalation before Israel's September 17 elections. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for re-election, with political opponents calling for tougher action against Hamas. On Monday, Israeli warplanes hit what the military said were "terror targets in a Hamas military compound in the northern Gaza Strip, including the office of a Hamas battalion commander." Israel also announced it was slashing by half the fuel it pipes to the strip's main power station, meaning a cut to Gaza's already meager electricity supply.

US to Keep Up Pressure on Sudan as it Discusses Lifting Sanctions
Washington - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 28 August, 2019
The United States will test the commitment of Sudan's new transitional government to human rights, freedom of speech and humanitarian access before it agrees to remove the country from a state sponsor of terrorism list, a senior US official has said. The State Department official, speaking to reporters on background, said while Sudan's new Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok would be the main point of contact, US diplomats would also have to interact with General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, the outgoing deputy chief of the military council who heads the Rapid Support Forces.
"Prime Minister Hamdok has said all the right things so we look forward to engaging with him," the State Department official said. "This new government has shown a commitment so far. We are going to keep testing that commitment," Reuters quoted the official as saying. Hamdok, an economist, was sworn in last week as leader of a transition government, vowing to stabilize the country and solve its economic crisis. The official said the new government had emphasized in recent talks with US officials that it wanted the country removed from the terrorism sponsor list, which limits Sudan's access to international financing, including from lenders such as International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Hamdok, who has worked for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, told Reuters on Sunday he was seeking up to $10 billion in foreign funding over the next two years to cover Sudan's import bill and help it rebuild. Sudan was designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993 under former US President Bill Clinton, cutting it off from financial markets and strangling its economy. Washington lifted a 20-year trade embargo against Sudan in 2017 and was in the process of discussions on removing it from the US list when the military stepped in on April 11 to depose Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for 30 years. Mounting public anger over shortages of food, fuel and hard currency triggered mass demonstrations that eventually forced Bashir from power in April. The Trump administration suspended talks on normalizing relations with Sudan and demanded that the military hand power to a civilian government.

UK PM to Suspend Parliament Until Oct 14
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 28/2019
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Wednesday that the suspension of parliament would be extended until October 14 -- just two weeks before the UK is set to leave the EU -- enraging anti-Brexit MPs. MPs will return to London later than in recent years, giving pro-EU lawmakers less time than expected to thwart Johnson's Brexit plans before Britain is due to leave the European Union on October 31. "We're going to do it on October 14," Johnson told reporters. He is due to attend one last European Union summit three days later. "There will be ample time on both sides of that crucial October 17 summit, ample time in parliament for MPs to debate," Johnson said. The pound slumped almost one percent versus the dollar and euro on the news. Britain's currency slid 0.94 percent to $1.2179, while the euro bought 91.09 pence. A source in Johnson's Downing Street office insisted that only around four sitting days in the lower House of Commons would be lost as a result. Parliament returns from its summer break on September 3. By convention it is suspended for the annual conferences of the three main parties. The first, that of the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats, starts on September 14. The final one, that of Johnson's governing Conservatives, ends on October 2. Johnson wants parliament to return 12 days later on October 14. Last year's party conference recess was from September 13 to October 9, six days after the end of the party conferences. The 2017 break was from September 14 to October 9, five days after the last conference concluded. The move enraged opposition MPs involved in trying to stop Brexit. Tom Watson, deputy leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said: "This action is an utterly scandalous affront to our democracy. We cannot let this happen." Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Tom Brake tweeted: "The mother of all parliaments will not allow him to shut the people's parliament out of the biggest decision facing our country. His declaration of war will be met with an iron fist." The Green MP Caroline Lucas called it a "constitutional outrage". Sarah Wollaston said Johnson was "behaving like a tin pot dictator", while fellow former Conservative MP Anna Soubry said British democracy was "under threat from a ruthless PM". Johnson insists Britain must leave the EU on the October 31 deadline -- already twice-delayed -- with or without a divorce deal from Brussels. Six opposition parties on Tuesday pledged to seek legislative changes to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

Gaza under Alert after Bombings Kill Three Police Officers
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 28/2019
Hamas said Wednesday that two overnight bombings killed three police officers in the Gaza Strip in what witnesses called suicide attacks as the Palestinian enclave was placed under a state of alert. Witnesses told AFP that both bombings were suicide attacks by assailants on motorbikes, but there was no official confirmation. A source familiar with the investigation said a Salafist movement in Gaza that sympathises with the Islamic State group was suspected. Hamas's interior ministry confirmed the three deaths, but spoke only of two "bombings" in Gaza City without providing details. It said two of the police officers were 32 and the third was 45. Two separate police checkpoints were targeted, it said. An investigation was underway as authorities pledged to track down the "masterminds."Hamas leader Ismail Haniya sought to reassure Palestinians in the enclave of two million people. "We assure our people that whatever these explosions are, they will be brought under control as with every previous event, and will not be able to undermine the stability and steadfastness of our people," he said in a statement. Suicide bombings are rare in the Gaza Strip.In August 2017, a suicide bomber killed a Hamas guard in southern Gaza on the border with Egypt. Hamas, itself an Islamist movement, has run the Gaza Strip since 2007 but has been regularly criticised by more radical Salafist groups in the impoverished, Israeli-blockaded coastal territory.
The Israeli military said it had not carried out any air raids overnight.
- Tensions with Israel
The bombings come at a sensitive time. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008 and tensions have again risen between the two sides in recent weeks ahead of Israel's September 17 elections. Israel's military on Tuesday bombed a Hamas military post after militants in the strip fired a mortar round across the border, the latest in a string of such incidents this month. On Monday, Israel had launched air strikes against Hamas in response to rocket fire, while it also halved fuel deliveries to the enclave. The punitive reduction in the flow of fuel to the strip's main power station means a cut in Gaza's already rationed electricity supply.The incidents have threatened a fragile truce that had cooled several severe flare-ups between Hamas and Israel in recent months. Brokered by UN and Egyptian officials, the ceasefire also involves aid to the Gaza Strip from Qatar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is widely seen as wanting to avoid an escalation in Gaza before the polls due to the political risk involved, but he has faced calls for strong action from his electoral opponents. As a result, there has been speculation in Israel that Hamas has turned a blind eye to recent rocket fire and infiltration attempts instead of preventing them in a bid to pressure Netanyahu into further concessions. Hamas has not claimed responsibility for the recent cross-border incidents. Other militant groups, most prominently Islamic Jihad, also operate in the Gaza Strip.

Yemen government forces enter Aden after seizure by STC
Agencies/Wednesday, 28 August 2019
Forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized government have entered the interim capital Aden, Yemen’s Minister of Information Moammar al-Eryani said Wednesday, after it was seized by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) earlier this month. “The national army and security services reached at this moment the interim capital and begin to secure districts,” al-Eryani tweeted. He added that the forces have “taken full control of the main gate of (Aden) airport.” Last week, The head of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) headed with a delegation to the Saudi city of Jeddah on Tuesday after accepting the Kingdom’s invitation for talks regarding the Yemeni port city of Aden, the council said. The STC is part of the Arab Coalition supporting the legitimate government in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthis, however, recent events saw the council attempting to take control over Aden.
Yemen’s Interior Minister Ahmed al-Maysari in a statement warned government forces not to take revenge against southerners.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 28-29/2019
Iran Develops Air Defense Capability for Possible Regional Role
Farzin Nadimi/The Washington Institute/August 28/2019
A newly announced system could further the regime’s longstanding desire to create an A2AD umbrella in the Gulf and forward-deploy antiaircraft missiles in other countries.
On August 22, after years of hype, Iran finally unveiled the Bavar-373, a long-range air defense system whose claimed capabilities are supposedly on par or better than those of the Russian S-300 or the U.S. Patriot. Whether or not the Bavar can actually match the regime’s claimed specs in the field, the announcement raises a number of pressing concerns about how the system might be used inside Iran and beyond.
POTENTIAL CAPABILITIES
According to Iranian sources, Bavar can detect up to 300 targets at a time at a range of 300 kilometers, simultaneously tracking sixty of them and engaging six, whether aircraft or ballistic missiles. The system uses two small truck-mounted phased array radars, a command-and-control truck, and up to six vertically positioned four-tube launchers for each battery. A larger area-surveillance radar with a claimed range of 450 kilometers may be incorporated as well, and would probably be necessary for effective operation. This configuration is similar to Russian systems; in contrast, a Patriot battery does all of its detecting, tracking, and engaging using a single radar. Bavar can also reportedly use the latest version of Iran’s Sayyad missile (Sayyad-4), which would give it an engagement range of up to 200 kilometers.
Iran unveiled another air defense system two months ago: the similar but shorter-range “15th of Khordad.” Tehran claims this system can detect, track, and engage six conventional targets up to 100 kilometers away, and stealthy targets up to 45 kilometers away.
There is no verifiable open-source information on the actual performance of these two systems, but the June 20 attack on a U.S. Navy RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance drone over the Strait of Hormuz involved a similar system. A video released by Iran showed an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unit firing what looked like a single Sayyad-2 from a “3rd of Khordad” antiaircraft system at night, followed shortly afterward by falling wreckage. The battery’s “young crew” were credited with the confirmed kill, which drew no kinetic military response from the United States; they later received prizes from Iran’s Supreme Leader. Widely ignored, however, was the role played by the national military’s newly detached Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force (IRIADF) in detecting and tracking the target and passing the order to fire—contributions that likely magnified what the battery could do if it were ever deployed on its own or outside Iran’s domestic air defense network.
Added to this performance uncertainty is the fact that weapons designers and operators typically overstate how well their systems can perform, and often present mere modifications of previous systems as new products. Iran has been particularly prone to both practices.
PROLIFERATION AND A2AD CONCERNS
The Bavar announcement follows years of increased Iranian effort and investment on two related fronts: developing a range of mobile missile systems for the Islamic Republic’s layered air defense network, and seeking to forward-deploy them to allied territories with the goal of undermining Western and Israeli air supremacy should wider conflict break out. According to Tehran, these new systems are light and flexible, can be set up for operation on short notice, can be used in innovative fashion, and need only limited support.
In early 2018, for example, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen discovered an Iranian Sayyad-2C missile round of the same type that shot down the American Global Hawk. It was apparently destined for the Houthi rebels, together with an Iranian-made passive electronic receiver that could silently produce targeting solutions for the missile using GPS and other air traffic control signals given off by military and commercial craft. If employed effectively (whether by the Houthis or operators from Iran or Hezbollah), the missile would have been capable of shooting down a high-value target such as a large AWACS surveillance plane or tanker aircraft, giving the Houthis a significant propaganda coup.
Back at home, the Bavar-373 could give Iran a means of producing and fielding effective long-range air defense batteries in large numbers, assuming the system can perform as advertised. In contrast, when Russia delivered the S-300 to Iran in 2016, it sent only four batteries and a limited number of missiles. Tehran is also well aware that an S-300-based network would always be at risk of compromise by other countries who either own the system themselves (e.g., Azerbaijan, Greece, Ukraine) or are privy to its secrets after years of intelligence work on Soviet/Russian weapons (e.g., Israel and the United States). A domestically developed system like Bavar might not be as easily compromised.
The longer-term strategic threats posed by such developments are considerable. Armed with a larger number of new missile batteries that are more mobile and concealable than the S-300, Iran could potentially place an antiaccess/area-denial (A2AD) umbrella over all of the shipping lanes from the Persian Gulf down to the Gulf of Oman. Moreover, the technology used to develop such systems could help the regime develop new ballistic missiles with much more maneuverable and therefore survivable reentry vehicles, making them more capable of defeating missile defenses. Iran might even develop and field anti-surface versions of its versatile Sayyad missile, adding to its regional threat options.
COORDINATED AIR DEFENSE WITH IRAQ?
In May and June 2019, two high-ranking Iraqi military commanders visited Iran and discussed strengthening bilateral air defense cooperation. In addition to potential joint training and provision/co-production of air defense and surveillance systems, this cooperation could reportedly include a joint air traffic monitoring and air sector surveillance scheme. The latter option might give Iran access to sensitive Iraqi electronic data, which could in turn harm U.S. military operational security.
Previously, Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri met with his Iraqi counterpart on April 7 and later told reporters they had agreed to integrate or at least coordinate their air defense networks to address what he described as “an air threat from the direction of our western borders.” His remarks were in line with the regime’s frequent portrayal of cooperation with Baghdad as a joint defense against “common enemies,” by which Tehran means the United States, Israel, and Gulf countries. Moreover, Iran signed an agreement in 2017 to exchange intelligence with Baghdad and provide weaponry in the fight against the Islamic State. That accord could give the regime a pretext for delivering military hardware to Iraq, which is otherwise restricted by UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
CONCLUSION
The United States should monitor the quantitative growth and technological advances of Iran’s air defense systems more closely and with more urgency. Under current UN Security Council resolutions, Tehran will be legally permitted to export such systems or otherwise deploy them abroad as early as January 2021, and hostile counties or terrorist groups could be the recipients. Even now there are concerns that air defense or advanced missile technology might have ended up in Lebanon, Syria, or Iraq, with unforeseen consequences for U.S. and allied air operations anywhere in the vicinity.
*Farzin Nadimi is an associate fellow with The Washington Institute, specializing in the security and defense affairs of Iran and the Gulf region.

Arab States Give China a Pass on Uyghur Crackdown
Haisam Hassaneini/The Washington Institute/August 28/2019
Leaders in the Middle East have calculated that defending the Muslim minority is not worth the risk of losing Chinese economic, political, and military assistance.
On August 21, Qatar informed the UN Human Rights Council that it was withdrawing from a multilateral letter it had signed in support of China’s actions against the Muslim Uyghur minority in the restive Xinjiang province. Although it is unclear what exactly spurred this reversal, the decision is hardly a sign that Doha is preparing to call Beijing out publicly or scale down its bilateral ties. Ali al-Mansouri, Qatar’s permanent representative to the UN, explained the move in innocuous terms: “We wish to maintain a neutral stance, and we offer our mediation and facilitation services.” That careful wording is unsurprising given that Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has met with Chinese president Xi Jinping twice in the past six months and agreed to enhance strategic cooperation with Beijing.
More important, Qatar’s stance highlights a wider trend: when given the opportunity to address the issue alongside their fellow UN members, every Arab government in the Gulf region and beyond has chosen to either ignore or voice support for China’s human rights violations against Muslim Uyghurs, two million of whom live in Xinjiang alone. How to explain the fact that so many Muslim-majority states are essentially giving China a pass on well-documented abuses against their co-religionists?
COMPETING UN LETTERS
In July, two coalitions signed opposing letters to the UN Human Rights Council regarding the Uyghur issue: one criticizing China’s policies in Xinjiang, and the other backing them. The first camp, consisting of twenty-two countries, called on Beijing to stop its campaign of mass detentions, surveillance, and restrictions against Uyghurs and other minorities in the province.
The second camp, with thirty-seven countries, submitted a letter that read at times like a Chinese propaganda statement. After saluting Beijing’s “remarkable achievements in the field of human rights,” the letter argued that the Xinjiang crackdown was intended to combat terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism—three problems that “have seriously infringed upon human rights” in the province, including “the right to life, health, and development.” The letter singled out some of China’s specific “counterterrorism and deradicalization measures” for praise, such as “setting up vocational education and training centers.”
The geographical divergence between the two camps is striking. The first camp consisted mainly of European states, while the second was dominated by African and Middle Eastern states, among them Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates.
WHY THE ARAB SILENCE?
As in other parts of the world, Arab governments craft their foreign policies based on their own individual sociopolitical circumstances and a wide array of often-competing goals. Yet their universal willingness to back or ignore China’s treatment of the Uyghurs seems to stem from several shared concerns.
Solidarity on non-interference. Before Qatar’s withdrawal, all six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council signed the pro-China letter, notwithstanding their bitter differences on so many other issues. One way to explain this is that all of these states have more or less authoritarian governments and do not like foreign mingling in their affairs. In their view, intervening in China’s internal affairs would leave them open to similar interference. For instance, Saudi Arabia does not want to invite any more international pressure than it already faces regarding the Jamal Khashoggi case. As for signatories outside the GCC, Egypt is leery of international calls to improve conditions for its thousands of political prisoners, so criticizing China’s mass detentions is not an option.
Fear of political Islam. This concern intensified among many Arab governments after 2011, when uprisings across the region and the empowerment of political Islamists coincided with a spike in jihadist terrorism that destabilized several states. Since then, Arab leaders have become even more uncomfortable with conflicts built on religious ideology, and most of them associate political Islam with terrorism. As such, their domestic efforts to combat terrorism have made them sympathetic toward Beijing’s claim that the Uyghur crackdown is a counterterrorism campaign. This is why a country like Egypt is willing to let Chinese authorities interrogate Uyghurs in Cairo, and to praise Beijing for detaining hundreds of thousands of them in Xinjiang.
Fear of separatist movements. Historically, the Uyghur region of Xinjiang has been of strategic importance to China because it served as a bridge to Central Asia and the Middle East. Yet the area’s diverse ethnicities and cultures have made it very difficult for Beijing to govern and stabilize. After 2011, China began to worry that the unrest sweeping the Arab world could have ripple effects in Muslim areas of northwest Xinjiang, encouraging the province’s existing separatist movements to push harder for independence. Today, Beijing claims that the Uyghur controversy is a Western-propagated conspiracy aimed at hindering China’s progress by creating ethnic minority divisions within its borders— similar to the situation in many Arab states, where governments tend to view Kurdish and other minority movements as Western-fueled attempts to sow internal strife and separatism. Arab and Chinese leaders alike are firm believers in suppressing any such movements within their borders.
Desire for economic development. China’s ongoing Belt and Road Initiative seeks to link Asia and Europe with an ambitious slate of land and maritime infrastructure projects, many of them in the Middle East. So far, Beijing has reached BRI cooperation agreements with eighteen Arab countries, and Chinese companies have signed $35.6 billion in contracts there, $1.2 billion of it directed toward local energy and manufacturing sectors. Meanwhile, China’s trade with Arab countries reached $244.3 billion last year, and the government is currently preparing for two investment meetings early next month: the fourth China-Arab States Expo and the third China-Arab Economic Summit. Such ties give Arab states another potent reason to avoid criticizing China, as Beijing is wont to remind them. On August 21, for example—the same day Qatar withdrew from the UN letter—the newly appointed Chinese ambassador to Doha praised the relationship between the two countries and noted that “Qatar is China’s second-largest source of LNG import.”
Belief that China is too big to challenge. Arab countries have many political and military ties with China as well, and in their view, defending the Uyghurs is not worth risking them. China has so much global influence and is clearly not afraid to assert it, so Arab states rightly fear that questioning events in Xinjiang could spur Beijing to take any number of punitive actions against them.
WHAT CAN WASHINGTON DO?
The United States withdrew from the Human Rights Council last year, so there was little it could do about the competing UN letters. Yet Washington can still do much to shape the international conversation on the Uyghur issue. Putting a Uyghur American in charge of the China portfolio on the National Security Council was a promising bilateral step, but officials should also invest more effort and funds to counter the Chinese narrative internationally.
This includes increasing Arab and Muslim awareness of what is happening in Xinjiang—and locally, to Uyghur activists in countries like Egypt. In general, the Arab world tends to be uninterested in China’s internal affairs. This is a problem in of itself, since it has fostered widespread public ignorance of developments that would otherwise be quite relevant to them. To fill this void, Alhurra television and other U.S. government media directed at the Arab world could raise awareness of Muslim Uyghurs and dispel Chinese government claims that the unrest is entirely caused by terrorists. Increased understanding among the masses could in turn make it more difficult for Arab governments to kowtow before the more troubling aspects of Beijing’s foreign policy.
*Haisam Hassanein was the 2016-2017 Glazer Fellow at The Washington Institute.

Palestinians: Why Allow Facts to Get in the Way?
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/August 28/2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14782/palestinians-facts-terrorism
Why are the details about Rina Shnerb's hometown and her age worth mentioning? Because the Palestinian media has again engaged in a campaign of fabrications and lies to justify the terror attack and the murder of an innocent Jewish teenager.
The Palestinian media, however, does not feel comfortable reporting the facts about the terror attack. In the eyes of Palestinian new editors and journalists, Rina was a "settler" and a "soldier." By using such terms, the Palestinians are trying to create the impression that she was not an innocent teenager, but a Jew who lived in a settlement and was even serving in the IDF.
Finally, it is important to note that many Palestinian media outlets and officials continue to refer to Israel as "occupied Palestine." They see zero difference between a Jew living in the West Bank and a Jew living inside Israel. For them, all Jews are settlers and colonizers, and all cities inside Israel -- Tel Aviv, Haifa, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Eilat, as well as Lod, the hometown of Rina -- are "occupied." In the eyes of Palestinians, in fact all of Israel is "occupied" and a "settlement."
When Palestinian terrorists fired three rockets at Sderot on August 25, Palestinian media outlets reported that Sderot is a "settlement." In case anyone had doubts, Sderot is an Israeli city in the Negev Desert, not a "settlement." By using the term "settlement," the Palestinians are again trying to create the impression that a city it is a legitimate target for rocket attacks because it is an "illegal settlement."
Why are the details about Rina Shnerb's hometown and her age worth mentioning? Because the Palestinian media has again engaged in a campaign of fabrications and lies to justify the terror attack and the murder of an innocent Jewish teenager. Pictured: Rina Shnerb, who was murdered in a terrorist bombing on August 23. (Photo courtesy of the victim's family)
Rina Shnerb, the 17-year-old teenager who was killed in a Palestinian terror attack in the West Bank on August 23, was born and raised in the Israeli city of Lod. She had never lived in a settlement in the West Bank. Moreover, she never served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) or any security agency, as she was too young to be recruited for service.
Rina was killed in a bomb explosion when she and her family were visiting the popular Ein Buvin spring near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Her father, Eitan, and brother, Dvir, were injured when an explosive device planted near the spring went off.
Why are the details about Rina's hometown and her age worth mentioning? Because the Palestinian media has again engaged in a campaign of fabrications and lies to justify the terror attack and the murder of an innocent Jewish teenager.
Lod is not a settlement. It is a city located in the Central District of Israel, and even has an Arab population of 30%.
The Palestinian media, however, does not feel comfortable reporting the facts about the terror attack. In the eyes of Palestinian new editors and journalists, Rina was a "settler" and a "soldier." By using such terms, the Palestinians are trying to create the impression that she was not an innocent teenager, but a Jew who lived in a settlement and was even serving in the IDF.
This type of misinformation is aimed at sending a message that Rina was a legitimate target because she was one of hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers living in the West Bank and an active member of the IDF. The Palestinian public, for its part, is often quick to endorse such lies to justify terror attacks against Jews.
What is particularly disturbing is that even the media controlled by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas chose to spread the lie that the murdered teenager was a "settler" and "soldier."
Reporting on the terror attack, Abbas's official news agency, Wafa, said in an August 23 dispatch:
"The Israeli occupation forces on Friday sealed off main roads to villages west of Ramallah and beefed up their military presence in the Ramallah area on the pretext that a female settler was killed and others injured near the Dolev settlement that was built on the lands of [Palestinian] residents west of Ramallah."
The term pretext is aimed at casting doubt about the Israeli authorities' version concerning the circumstances surrounding the murder of the teenager. It is as if Abbas's news agency is telling its readers that there is no proof that the Jewish teenager was murdered in a terror attack and it is only a claim being made by the Israeli authorities.
Although the agency was aware that Rina was from an Israeli city located near Israel's main international airport (Ben Gurion Airport), it still chose to refer to her as a "female settler." Why? Because, in the eyes of Abbas's news agency, it is permissible to murder settlers because they are living "on Palestinian residents' land." Abbas's official news agency, in other words, is saying that this Jewish woman deserved a horrible death because she was living in an "illegal settlement."
Abbas's ruling Fatah faction also joined the Palestinian campaign of lies by describing the murdered Jewish teenager as a "settler" and her father and brother as "settlers." Again, by spreading such lies Fatah is implying that Rina was not just an ordinary teenager who was on a picnic with her family.
While Abbas's official media and faction continue to describe Rina as a "settler," other popular Palestinian media outlets have been spreading the other lie that she was a "female soldier" -- creating the false impression that she was targeted in a "legitimate resistance operation against an armed Jew in military uniform.
The Palestinian news agency Ma'an, which is closely associated with the Palestinian Authority and Abbas, was among the first media organizations to publish the fake news that Rina was a "female soldier." The agency even had the audacity to tell its readers that "Israeli media reported that a female soldier" was killed in a bomb explosion.
Needless to say, the Israeli media never referred to Rina as a "female soldier" or "settler." Ma'an and the rest of the Palestinian media, however, will not allow the facts to get in their way because the truth can be "inconvenient."
Speaking of inconvenient truths, here is another: Abbas and his Palestinian Authority have refrained from condemning the murder of the Jewish teenager. Their silence actually thunders their approval of such terror attacks, especially when, as they claim, the victim is a "settler" or "soldier." How can Abbas condemn the murder of a Jewish girl when he is telling his people, through his media, that Rina was not an innocent teenager?
While one considers disturbing facts, it might be mentioned that whenever a Jew is murdered or injured in a terror attack, Palestinians break out in mass celebration. Shortly after Rina's slaying, several Palestinian groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and various PLO factions like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) were quick to issue statements praising the murder of the teenager and calling on Palestinians to step up their "qualitative" attacks against Israel.
Not one Palestinian has dared to speak out against the slaughter; this silence, of course, does not come as a surprise. Given the continued anti-Israel incitement in the Palestinian media, no Palestinian will dare to go against the tide by condemning a terror attack out of fear of being labeled a traitor. On the contrary, any Palestinian who praises a terror attack against Israel earns respect and is hailed as a hero.
Finally, it is important to note that many Palestinian media outlets and officials continue to refer to Israel as "occupied Palestine." They see zero difference between a Jew living in the West Bank and a Jew living inside Israel. For them, all Jews are settlers and colonizers, and all cities inside Israel -- Tel Aviv, Haifa, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Eilat, as well as Lod, the hometown of Rina -- are "occupied." In the eyes of Palestinians, all of Israel is "occupied" and a "settlement"
They also consider any Jew visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem a "settler," even if he or she does not live in a settlement. The goal is to depict the Jewish visitors as hostile colonizers on a mission to "defile" a mosque. Again, this type of rhetoric aims to encourage Palestinians to launch terror attacks against Jewish "aggressors."
When Palestinian terrorists fired three rockets at Sderot on August 25, Palestinian media outlets reported that Sderot is a "settlement." In case anyone had doubts, Sderot is an Israeli city in the Negev Desert, not a "settlement." By using the term "settlement," the Palestinians are again trying to create the impression that a city it is a legitimate target for rocket attacks because it is an "illegal settlement."
The rhetoric and fabrications of the Palestinian media are simply part of a longstanding Palestinian campaign of incitement against Israel and Jews. For this media ensemble, truth is just another word for nothing left to lie about.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
© 2019 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.

What Will China Do with the Hong Kong Protests?
Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/August 28/2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14783/hong-kong-protests
The real "elephant in the room" not being addressed, however, is what the Hong Kong protests are really about: 2047, when Hong Kong is supposed to be handed over to China without any "one country, two systems" protection. What then?
Pictured: Riot police detain a pro-democracy protester on August 24, 2019 in Hong Kong.
Protests in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (SAR) -- which began in early June with demonstrators denouncing a proposed law to permit the extradition of SAR residents to the mainland to be tried in Chinese Communist courts -- have entered their 12th week and show no signs of abating. If anything, they are becoming increasingly strident, with calls for the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam's administration, among other broadening demands . The unfolding events present the Communist Party leadership in Beijing with a serious dilemma: to quell the protests with military force or wait until they die down.
According to a recent analysis in Bloomberg:
"In theory, [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] could quickly do away with Hong Kong's autonomy and activate the city's garrison overnight. But the likelihood of mobilizing troops remains low and the fallout from doing so -- for both China and Xi personally -- is potentially much higher than dealing with the political and economic repercussions of the protests, not least because he's already engaged in a damaging trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump."
The Hong Kong protests reportedly were a topic of debate at this year's annual meeting of current and former Communist Chinese leaders, which was held in Beidaihe in early August. The discussions likely included possible courses of action that the Xi government could take, such as encouraging Hong Kong's business community to call for an end to the demonstrations, for the purpose of restoring economic stability by reversing recent negative trends in retail sales, tourist-generated income and nervousness among foreign investors.
Beijing is currently exercising some version of this option, but by depicting protesters in a poor light -- accusing them of being "terrorists" manipulated by "foreign forces" bent on harming China -- and warning them to stop "playing with fire."
China's state media accused the demonstrators of conducting a "color revolution." The name reflects Beijing's sensitivity to how many of the former satellites of the USSR successfully seceded from the Soviet Empire, employing different colors of the rainbow as a symbol of their revolutionary intent.
Beijing also attempted to discredit the protesters through hundreds of fake accounts on social media. To their credit, Facebook and Twitter discontinued the Chinese government's access to those accounts.
A more forceful option that the Xi government may decide to pursue involves the infiltration of Hong Kong's local police force with the People's Liberation Army Garrison. Beijing cannot count on the loyalty of the Hong Kong police force, many of whose members are close relatives of the protesters.
Moreover, the Hong Kong police have proven unable to control, much less terminate, the protests. Acknowledging this reality, Carrie Lam could request the intervention of the People's Armed Police (PAP), a paramilitary force stationed in the nearby town of Shenzen in mainland China's Guangdong Province.
It may be, however, that Lam, a Catholic, would be loath to make such a request -- formally -- as a heavy-handed Chinese intervention could endanger the independence of Hong Kong's economic, political and religious institutions.
Alternatively, the People's Republic of China Liaison Office might bypass Lam's local administration and order the deployment of the PAP, China's most effective arm against domestic strife. If this option is exercised, Hong Kong would be completely bypassed by the Chinese Defense Ministry.
Any move by Beijing aggressively to suppress the people of Hong Kong's demand for the full implementation of their democratic rights would further hobble foreign investment, thereby seriously eroding the economic blueprint of China's Belt and Road Initiative. A military solution would render meaningless Xi's flowery rhetoric of a "win-win" international system, and reveal it as part of its scheme to fulfill its global hegemonic ambitions. Mainland and archipelago Southeast Asian nations would likely seek alternatives to Chinese regional leadership. One such alternative might be a U.S. Indo-Pacific community of nations.
In addition, any crackdown on the protesters in Hong Kong would likely dissuade Taiwan, and likely everyone else, from considering support for Beijing's "one country, two systems" policy to solve the island's standoff with the mainland's People's Republic.
China's ruling Communist Party might decide , therefore, that an armed suppression of the Hong Kong demonstrations would be too costly, economically, politically and in terms of public relations. If so, the Xi administration may decide, instead, to tamp down the spiraling crisis, by ordering Lam to meet with protest leaders and agree to shelve extradition legislation and to establish a commission to investigate local police brutality -- both original demands of the protestors.
Although such a maneuver could benefit Xi's reputation internationally, his rivals within the Communist Party might criticize him for what they would consider to be acts of weakness and capitulation to the protesters, possibly encouraging what Xi might consider the greatest threat: opposition from his own 1.5 billion people on the mainland, who might also secretly be wishing for more freedom in their lives. China is a totalitarian power that cannot brook any source of independent thinking. Fearing that the Hong Kong protests could prove contagious, Beijing is more likely to crush, rather than cede, to the protesters.
Xi may assess that any opprobrium endured by Beijing if it used force against the protesters would dissipate, just as it did 30 years ago when former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping ordered the 1989 massacre of student protesters in Tiananmen Square.
As China continues ostensibly to weigh its options, then, any optimism on the part of the protesters and the West appears to be premature.
The real "elephant in the room" not being addressed, however, is what the Hong Kong protests are really about: 2047, when Hong Kong is supposed to be handed over to China without any "one country, two systems" protection. What then?
*Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
© 2019 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.

Saudi Columnists: Homosexuality, Which Is Condoned In The West, Is Repulsive And Contravenes Islam; We Must Defend Our Societies Against It And Impose The Death Penalty On Those Who Engage In It
MEMRI/August/August 28/2019
Several columnists in the Saudi Al-Madina daily have recently written against the phenomenon of homosexuality in the world in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular, noting that Islam forbids it and treats it as an offense punishable by death. They wrote that this practice, which is tolerated in the West and even condoned by Western leaders, goes against nature and threatens to bring humanity to a level lower than that of animals. They also praised the Catholic Church for condemning homosexuality, and one called on all religious organizations in the world, especially Islamic ones, to protect mankind from the "heresy" of homosexuality, which threatens it. Another article also called to sentence homosexuals to death.
The following are excerpts from the articles:
Saudi Columnist: Homosexuality Is A Western Threat To Mankind And To Morality In The Guise Of Human Rights
Muhammad Al-Baladi, a columnist for the Al-Madina daily, wrote: "A [recent news] report said that an American grandmother had given birth to her own granddaughter after carrying her in her womb for nine months as a surrogate, so that her homosexual son and his partner could have a child and form an 'alternative' family. Here are the details: Cecile Eledge, aged 61, gave birth to her granddaughter, Uma Louise, in Nebraska, USA, after offering her gay son, Matthew Eledge, to serve as a surrogate for him and his partner, Elliot Dougherty. The egg was donated – and this is not a typo – by her daughter (the baby's aunt), in order to complete the homosexual family [consisting of] a husband, husband and children.
"I apologize to the reader for this nauseating news item, but presenting it was essential in order to clarify the extent of the West's moral absurdity that is threatening the world, and the alarming escalation of [practices] which undermine the divine natural order of creation in favor of homosexual filth that is mounting in the industrialized and civilized world. [This world] is apparently threatening to bring mankind to a level lower than that of animals, for animals naturally abhor many of these acts, which are being performed in the name of personal freedom and human rights. As a matter of fact... I do not know where this horrific moral erosion, headed by the coalition of barbaric capitalism, or [this] immoral practicality that is gradually taking over the world and completely overturning its moral balance, based on perverted standards, is taking us!
"The 'alternative family' that Cecile Eledge wanted to create for her son by carrying his child is a misleading term that has started spreading in homosexual circles in order to obscure the horror of their actions, which not only contravene all of the monotheistic religions as well as man-made laws, but also strongly contravene all the laws of creation, nature and the circle of life. This is nauseating disregard for an important divine law [regarding] populating the world and [ensuring] its continuity through controlled natural procreation. To tell the truth, I found no description of this disgraceful offense against mankind more powerful and genuine than the one [offered by] the Catholic Church, which said: 'Reinforcing society with the children of homosexual families is just like circulating false currency in society.'
"Amid the daily concessions being made by Western politicians and some human rights organizations to the masses of homosexuals, who try to present their demands as progressive and humane, it appears that the Catholic Church is the last bastion in the West [still] defending the values that the religions fought to establish for hundreds of years. Hence, I believe that all the world's conservative and religious organizations, especially the Islamic ones, must coordinate [and formulate] a uniform, firm and coherent religious position [on this matter], and set out red lines to defend mankind as a whole against the heresy of homosexuality that is threatening it.
"Absolute freedom is absolute corruption. We must not be a society without constraints or boundaries, in which individual cravings are the first criterion [for defining] freedoms. The monotheistic religions are the last bastion of morality, which humanity must uphold in the face of the pressures that condemn [the opponents of homosexuality] as barbaric and oppressive reactionaries. Otherwise, the world will witness an even greater moral collapse, to the point of [legitimizing] incestuous marriage or marriage with animals!"[1]
Saudi Author And Columnist: We Must Fortify Our Society Against This Repulsive Behavior
Another Al-Madina columnist, the author Dr. 'Assem Hamdan, likewise condemned homosexuality in a column published several days later. Agreeing with Muhammad Al-Baladi's statements, he described homosexuality as "ugly practices," "abhorrent behavior" and a betrayal of Muslim society, and called to defend this society against it. He wrote: "Al-Madina [recently] published an article... by my colleague Muhammad Al-Baladi, on the issue of homosexuality, a [phenomenon] that some Western institutions unfortunately welcome. Furthermore, former U.S. president Barack Obama gave his blessing to this repulsive practice when he invited two homosexuals to visit the White House. Perhaps one of the [most] fatal errors committed by former British Conservative [Party] leader David Cameron was his call to convene a Parliament session to vote on legislation pertaining to this pariah group, as if in order to welcome them into British society, which also includes people who oppose [homosexuality], naturally and based on the directives of the Christian Church. [In his article] Al-Baladi noted the positive position of the Catholic Church in the struggle against this despicable practice. In this matter there is a welcome agreement between the Church and the directives of Islam...
"Ultimately, these despicable practices erode the very existence of the materialistic Western culture, and it is only right that we should defend our [own] societies against them, by means of full commitment to the noble directives and rules of behavior of Islam, which came to elevate man and lead him to paths of abstention from sin and of goodness, decency and benevolence."[2]
Saudi Lecturer: Homosexuals Should Be Sentenced To Death
Al-Madina columnist Mohammed Khader 'Arif, a lecturer at King 'Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, responded to the articles by Al-Baladi and Hamdan, writing: "Dr. Hamdan clarified that both Christianity and Islam denounce this despicable practice and urged us to defend our society against it... I will add to the recommendation of the great author [Dr. Hamdan] that the punishment of those who commit these two crimes [adultery and homosexuality] must be severe and deterring. I have already proposed in two previous articles that a man or a woman who tempt [someone to commit adultery] should be sentenced to death... The punishment for a homosexual, if he is proven to be such, should be no less. For, as is well known, Islamic law imposes the death penalty on men who have relations with men.
"Publicizing [the crime] is part of the punishment, and is in fact the most important aspect of the punishment, so as to deter [others]... 'Assem Hamdan's article clarified that Christian societies [also] condemn these crimes, based on the directives of their religion, and do not regard the pursuit of the perpetrators a violation of human rights, so our conservative Muslim society must certainly do the same."[3]
[1] Al-Madina (Saudi Arabia), July 3, 2019.
[2] Al-Madina (Saudi Arabia), July 9, 2019.
[3] Al-Madina (Saudi Arabia), July 17, 2019.