English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 14/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

#elias_bejjani_news
 

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Bible Quotations For today

The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10/01-07/:”After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 13- 14/2020

Health Ministry: 1275 new cases of Corona, 10 deaths
French FM ahead of Macron visit: Lebanon’s collapse is like the Titanic’s sinking
Rahi presides over Sunday Mass service in Bkirki
Al-Rahi Hopes Bickering Won't Halt Port Probe, Says Keen on PM Post
Aoudeh commemorating Martyr Gebran Tueni: Our officials are irresponsible, Constitution has become dependent on private interests
Pessimism Grows on Govt. Formation Prior to Macron Visit
Mustaqbal Lashes Out at 'Plan to Target Premiership' in Fiery Statement
Tlais: We have taken the decision to head towards escalation, strikes
Memorandum of Understanding underway between Lebanon and Nepal to lift ban on arrival of workers
Shooting in Ras al-Ain locality in Baalbek due to an individual clash
Health Ministry warns citizens against eating wild mushrooms due to reported poisoning cases
Fahmi Revises Curfew and Virus Precautionary Measures
Israeli Army Fires Gunshots on Lebanon's Border
Khalil Criticizes Judge Charges against Him
Iran media says Lebanon outplayed US in Israel maritime talks
Lebanon recruitment agencies benefit from sponsorship system, lobby against reforms/Fatima Al-Mahmoud, Al Arabiya English/Friday 11 December 2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 13- 14/2020

Gunman opens fire during outdoor choir performance at cathedral in New York City
The Israel-Iran shadow war locks in on southeastern Syria
Netanyahu Warns 'Business as Usual with Iran' Will Be Mistake
Iran summons German, French envoys after Ruhollah Zam execution outrage
Outrage as Iran hangs dissident journalist
Iran’s Khamenei awards military medal to slain nuclear scientist
Iran controls crude oil pipeline spillage, fire in southwest
UK and EU Extend Brexit Talks after Ditching Deadline
Armenia Says Six Fighters Hurt in Karabakh Truce Violation
Bahraini Child Urges Hamilton to Save His Father on Death Row
Morocco-Israel Ties 'Already Normal', Says Moroccan FM
Egypt, Jordan and Iraq discuss peoples’ movement by land

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 13- 14/2020

Time to bring perpetrators of Iran’s 1988 massacre to justice/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 13, 2020
Our Chinese Sister Cities: "Use the Countryside to Surround the City"/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/December 13/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 13- 14/2020

Health Ministry: 1275 new cases of Corona, 10 deaths
NNA/December 13/2020  
The Ministry of Public Health announced, on Sunday, that 1275 new Corona cases have been reported, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 146,520.
It also indicated that 10 death cases were also registered during the past 24 hours.

French FM ahead of Macron visit: Lebanon’s collapse is like the Titanic’s sinking
Reuters/Sunday 13 December 2020
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Lebanon’s political and economic collapse was like the sinking of the Titanic, only without the music. “Lebanon is the Titanic without the orchestra,” Le Drian told the daily Le Figaro in an interview published on Sunday. “The Lebanese are in complete denial as they sink, and there isn’t even the music.”Le Drian’s remarks set a pessimistic tone a little over a week before President Emmanuel Macron makes his third visit to Beirut since a massive port blast destroyed swathes of the city and killed 200 people in August. Macron is losing patience with Lebanon’s politicians as rival politicians mired in turf battles stand in the way of sweeping reforms that donors say are imperative for badly-needed financial aid to be released. It is believed the Titanic’s orchestra kept playing for as long as it could as the liner went down in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912, trying to help keep passengers calm amid impending doom. All the musicians perished.

Rahi presides over Sunday Mass service in Bkirki
NNA/December 13/2020 
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros al-Rahi, presided over Sunday Mass service in Bkirki this morning. In his sermon, Rahi expressed his hope that the recent political, sectarian and legal reactions would not obstruct the investigation into the port explosion. "We hope that the reactions will not create a national division on a sectarian basis for which we do not find justification, especially since we are all keen on the prime minister's position and other constitutional, national and religious posts," Rahi noted. "We believe that sponsoring these post is not supposed to interfere with the course of justice. Rather, the immunity of these sites is against the immunity of the judiciary," he added, stressing that they are not interfering in any judicial investigation. Commenting on the fight against corruption in Lebanon, the Patriarch expressed his concern about the way this issue is being handled, calling on politicians to take their hands off the judiciary. Finally, he called for forming an emergency, neutral, non-partisan cabinet to tend to the pending economic and financial dossiers

Al-Rahi Hopes Bickering Won't Halt Port Probe, Says Keen on PM Post
Naharnet/December 13/2020
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday said he hopes the latest political, sectarian and legal controversy will not impede the ongoing probe into the catastrophic Beirut port explosion. “Let’s not forget that it destroyed half of the capital and left 200 people dead, 5,000 wounded and thousands homeless, which prompted world countries to scramble to aid the affected, while our state, those in power and politicians stood idly by,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday Mass sermon. “We also hope that the reactions will not create a national rift on a sectarian basis, for which we cannot find a justification, especially that we are all keen on the premiership post and the rest of the constitutional, national and religious posts,” he added. “Keenness on all these posts is not supposed to contradict with the course of justice, seeing as the immunity of these posts stems from the immunity of the judiciary. The judiciary protects them all while they should be under the law like any ordinary citizen,” al-Rahi went on to say. He also stressed that Bkirki “does not cover anyone and does not interfere in any judicial probe.”The controversy erupted after the lead judicial investigator charged caretaker PM Hassan Diab and three ex-ministers with negligence in the ongoing probe into the port disaster.

Aoudeh commemorating Martyr Gebran Tueni: Our officials are irresponsible, Constitution has become dependent on private interests
NNA/December 13/2020 
Beirut's Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Archbishop, Elias Aoudeh, presided Sunday over a memorial Mass service held at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George in Nejmeh Square, marking 15 years since the assassination of Martyr Gebran Tueni and his two companions.
In his sermon, Aoudeh eulogized the late Tueini, saying: "Fifteen years have passed since the assassination of the free word, represented by a man who loved his homeland to death, and did not want to see his country ruled by strangers, but wanted it liberal, independent, prosperous, and rich in its youth...Yet, nothing has changed since our lives are still filled with tragedies and sorrows, and private, narrow interests still take precedence over the nation's interest, and the citizen still suffers as we witness the silencing of voices calling for freedom and liberation from every restriction."
He added regretfully, "If Gebran Tueni were among us today, the sword of his word would have been hanging over everyone who brought our country to its bottom. We have reached the opposite of all that Gebran and his fellow intellectual comrades dreamed of and defended with their thought, pen, dialogue and logic, respecting the opinion and dignity of the other...The country has lost all the essentials of a decent life, and its youth have abandoned it and freedom has left it for a long time..."Aoudeh criticized the irresponsibility of Lebanese politicians and officials, considering that the constitution has become dependent on narrow interests while the country loses its sovereignty, dignity of its people and flourishing economy. "Years have passed and we have been living as strangers in our homeland, because of a bizarre culture that has infiltrated and settled among us, the culture of corruption and exploitation of the nation's resources; the culture of hatred, intimidation and subjugation, instead of love and tolerance and dialogue based on the mutual exchange of thoughts and perspectives...We now have a culture of silencing free tongues and suppressing freedom of expression, starting with programmed campaigns, up to moral or physical assassination. This culture is still in force today, and those who adopt this approach are not tired of following it," Aoudeh corroborated. He concluded by praying to the Lord Almighty for guidance and protection, saying: "Our call today is to restore the pulse to the heart of freedom that is suffocating, and to keep the voice of truth aloud, no matter how difficult the circumstances surrounding us, for our God is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14: 6), and in Him alone lies our salvation!"

Pessimism Grows on Govt. Formation Prior to Macron Visit
Naharnet/December 13/2020
Skepticism is increasing regarding the possibility of forming a new government prior to French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Lebanon on December 22, media reports said. The visit is Macron’s third to crisis-hit Lebanon this year after an August 4 cataclysmic explosion at Beirut’s port killed 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed swathes of the capital. “Impasse, paralysis and tensions are engulfing the government formation process,” An-Nahar newspaper reported on Sunday. “Doubts grew over the past hours due to the paralysis that is gripping the internal scene and the lack of any indications suggesting that a government can be formed soon,” the daily added. It also noted that the latest political clash regarding the investigations and charges in the port blast probe has aggravated the situation amid “a trade of accusations over using the judiciary to settle political scores.”

Mustaqbal Lashes Out at 'Plan to Target Premiership' in Fiery Statement
Naharnet/December 13/2020
Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Sunday issued a sharp-toned statement warning of “a plan to target the Premiership” and “isolate the first position of the Sunni sect in Lebanon,” days after caretaker PM Hassan Diab was charged in the probe into the port blast. In an unusual statement, the bloc slammed those who have allegedly sought to “sectarianize the catastrophe” of the explosion and “point the fingers at the Sunni sect and its leaders” over their defense of Diab and the Premiership. “These leaders have risen against a suspicious course that is difficult to isolate from the ongoing political spite and attempts to stage a coup against the national accord format,” the bloc added. “Yes, there is a plan to target the Premiership post -- a revenge plan against the Taef Accord which achieved real partnership in power and ended an era of monopolization and unilateralism,” Mustaqbal said, vowing that it shall not allow such a plan to pass. In an apparent jab at President Michel Aoun and his political movement, the bloc said the plan “evokes the coup-like rhetoric of the late 1980s to impose it on political and national life.”“Yes, there is a plot to contain and isolate the first position of the Sunni sect in Lebanon, whether through intimidation and charges against the prime minister in the port case or through intimidation against the political leaders who assumed the PM post over the past 10 years,” Mustaqbal added, noting that the lead investigator into the case, Judge Fadi Sawan, has lodged a memo with parliament in which he accused former premiers of suspected responsibility. “They allow themselves to defend their positions, sects, jobs and components, and they also allow themselves to paralyze the country for years and years, without caring for the financial losses and social and economic repercussions, in order to allow the person who is the strongest in his sect to reach the presidency,” the bloc said. It also blasted Aoun’s camp for “impeding the formation of governments for the sake of the son-in-law (Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil), or under the excuse of imposing standards that allow the leaders of the sects to name ministers, choose portfolios and cling to the one-third veto power.”Also in a jab at Aoun and his camp, Mustaqbal added: “They don’t hesitate to rally supporters outside the gates of the presidential palace to protect the position of the presidency and put red lines in the face of peaceful popular protests.” “They have only labeled one thing as sectarian protection, which is the defense of the premiership position, turning the judicial charges against it into a chance to target several ex-PMs at once,” the bloc went on to say. “They do not resemble the destroyed, afflicted and burdened houses of Beirut in anything, or else they would have stopped impeding the government’s formation and would have agreed to the PM-designate’s line-up which rises above partisan shares and nominates itself to rescue Beirut from the claws of destruction and ruin,” Mustaqbal said.

Tlais: We have taken the decision to head towards escalation, strikes
NNA/December 13/2020
Head of Land Transport Union, Bassam Tlais, confirmed Sunday that the land transport sector opposes the lifting of subsidies, in principle. He indicated that when food items were subsidized, the General Labor Union was not consulted, adding that the Union has held the successive governments to blame for lack of transparency in dealing with the sector. "Citizens have not failed to fulfill their duties towards their country, so why are they being led to a dead end?" he questioned. "We have taken the decision to go for escalation, movements and strikes," declared Tlais, noting that the Grand Serail meetings did not yield any solution thus far. "We confirm that any proposal or any talk about lifting subsidies that is not protected by legislation that preserves the citizen will not be accepted," he stressed. Tlais deemed the subsidy on 320 food commodities as "incomprehensible", adding that "correct thinking begins with supporting the citizen, not the commodities." He emphasized that the fuel issue is directly related to citizens' affairs and that the state ought to address matters in a comprehensive manner, especially that the country is going through a real crisis.

Memorandum of Understanding underway between Lebanon and Nepal to lift ban on arrival of workers
NNA/December 13/2020
Nepal's Honorary General Consul in Lebanon, Sheikh Mohammad Wissam Ghazeel, received from the Lebanese Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Ministry the memorandum of understanding pertaining to the recruitment of domestic workers from Nepal to Lebanon. The memorandum was sent by the Consulate to the Embassy of Nepal in Cairo (according to the established rules) in order to be forwarded to the Ministry of Labor in the Federal Republic of Nepal. Upon the approval of the Nepalese Labor Ministry, the memorandum will then be referred to the Lebanese government to be signed by both parties. This memorandum of understanding aims at regulating the relationship between the worker and the employer, as well as the employment contracts for Nepalese laborers of all categories, and to guarantee the rights of both employers and workers. This step comes after the Republic of Nepal banned the travel of its domestic workers to Lebanon. Consequently, once the memorandum of understanding is finalized, Nepal will lift the ban imposed on the arrival of Nepalese workers to Lebanon.

Shooting in Ras al-Ain locality in Baalbek due to an individual clash
NNA/December 13/2020
An individual dispute between members of two families in Ras al-Ain locality in Baalbek developed into an exchange of fire and rocket-propelled grenades, without causing any casualties, NNA correspondent in Baalbek reported this evening.
As a result, an army patrol arrived immediately at the scene, and work is underway to arrest the shooters.

Health Ministry warns citizens against eating wild mushrooms due to reported poisoning cases
NNA/December 13/2020
The Ministry of Public Health announced in a statement on Sunday, that "in recent hours, multiple poisoning cases were reported due to ingestion of toxic types of wild mushrooms, causing serious health complications that required immediate medical attention."Accordingly, the Ministry urged citizens to refrain from eating wild mushrooms which are abundant at this time of the year, for their safety purposes especially that distinguishing the poisonous from the edible type requires expertise. It also cautioned citizens that previous similar poisoning incidents have resulted in the death of a number of individuals.

Fahmi Revises Curfew and Virus Precautionary Measures
Naharnet/December 13/2020
Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi on Sunday issued a new memo relaxing the country's curfew and anti-coronavirus measures. Fahmi's memo coincides with the holiday season, in which Lebanon usually witnesses a boost in touristic and shopping activities. According to the memo, the nighttime curfew now begins at 11:30 pm instead of 11:00 pm and businesses will be allowed to open until 10:30 pm instead of 10:00 pm. Nightclubs, pubs and bars will meanwhile be allowed to reopen at 50 percent of their customer capacity. They will however be obliged to close at 10:30 pm like the rest of the sectors while "dancing" will be prohibited, the memo says. "A two-meter distance between tables shall be observed while only eight people will be allowed to be seated at the same table," the memo adds. It also allows the organization of public and private parties and social and cultural events including weddings and funerals. "The capacity is 25% for indoor events and 50% for outdoor events while the number of attendees should not exceed 100 people in all cases," the memo says. The decision to reopen the economy came despite a sharp spike in coronavirus cases for the small country in recent months.

Israeli Army Fires Gunshots on Lebanon's Border
Naharnet/December 13/2020
Israeli troops on Sunday fired 10 gunshots between the al-Abbad and the Manara Israeli military posts facing the Lebanese border towns of Mays al-Jabal and Houla, TV networks said. LBCI TV said the gunfire erupted as a number of young men were pulling an old barbed wire from the vicinity of a deserted UNIFIL post. Al-Jadeed television said the shots were fired as four citizens were collecting scrap metal on the Lebanese side of the border. A Lebanese Army patrol then arrived on the scene and detained the four Lebanese nationals for interrogation as the Israeli army went on alert and dispatched a Merkava tank for monitoring from its al-Abbad post, al-Jadeed added.

Khalil Criticizes Judge Charges against Him
Naharnet/December 13/2020
Amal Movement MP Ali Hassan Khalil of the Development and Liberation Parliamentary bloc criticized as “inconsistent” the indictments charged against him and other Lebanese figures over the deadly port blast. Khalil said the indictments that also charged caretaker PM Hassan Diab and two other ex-ministers, are “inconsistent with constitutional and legal rule.” Khalil said his bloc has committed to “serious work” in order to uncover the truth about the August 4 Beirut port "crime," and inflict the “harshest” penalties against its perpetrators. "The indictment does not cohere with any constitutional or legal rule," he stressed. Judge Fadi Sawan, the lead investigator in the August 4 blast, charged Diab and three former ministers allies of Hizbullah. Besides Khalil, Ghazi Zeiter and Youssef Fenianos, both former ministers of public works were charged.
 

Iran media says Lebanon outplayed US in Israel maritime talks
Jerusalem Post/December 13/2020
The calculation by the Lebanese side may be that a US administration seeking to re-enter the Iran deal will be more favorable to Lebanon in discussions.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, relying on reports in Western media, has championed the Lebanese attempt to frustrate US-backed talks on delimiting the maritime borders between Israel and Lebanon.
Lebanon sought to prevent the Trump administration from gaining another foreign-policy success regarding Israel and prefers to complete the discussions under a Biden administration, Tasnim reported.
Lebanon, led by pro-Hezbollah President Michel Aoun, may be calculating that a US administration seeking to reenter the Iran deal will be more favorable to Lebanon in the discussions. In the past, the US ostensibly has gone soft on Hezbollah’s activities as it was attempting to get a deal with Iran because the Islamic Republic backs the terrorist group and has sought to keep the US from isolating it.
Tasnim acknowledged foreign media reports about the degree of Iranian control in Lebanon through Hezbollah.
“The sources claimed that Lebanon is currently controlled by an armed party that runs the country with a non-Lebanese agenda,” the pro-regime news agency said. “US sources note that it was clear from the outset that the Lebanese negotiating team would never give a gift to the Trump administration, which is leaving the White House, and would prefer to present it to the new US administration led by Joe Biden.”
The overall issue is that mapping an agreed-upon maritime boundary would aid gas exploration. Israel recently took delivery of a new Sa’ar 6-class corvette designed to defend the exclusive economic zone off its coast.
Hezbollah has pressured Lebanon not to cut a deal with Israel, which would benefit both countries and increase foreign investment in secure offshore rights. Lebanon is in a financial crisis and needs tens of billions of dollars in cash as a bailout.
Hezbollah holds Lebanon hostage, using the country as a base for missiles and threats against Israel. Its leadership has recently indicated that the country should not rely on the West, including the US or France, and should instead shift toward China.
This is part of an Iranian-backed shift in the region, including among Tehran’s allies in Iraq. However, Beijing wants stability in the region and would prefer economic success as opposed to the rotting failure caused by Hezbollah’s economic stranglehold.
The calculations on the maritime discussions illustrate Iran’s worldview that takes into account changes in the US administration. This is a regime that carefully calculates throughout the region what moves to take next.

Lebanon recruitment agencies benefit from sponsorship system, lobby against reforms
Fatima Al-Mahmoud, Al Arabiya English/Friday 11 December 2020
Various attempts to dismantle Lebanon’s heavily criticized domestic worker sponsorship program have failed over the years, and now, new research shows that some in Lebanon benefit financially from the system, leaving little impetus for a corrupt ruling elite to abolish it. Activists estimate that one to two migrant workers die in Lebanon every week, yet the kafala system persists as it props up a financially lucrative industry where recruiters, government entities, and service providers benefit, argue researchers Jonathan Dagher, David Wood, and Jacob Boswall. The primary beneficiaries from the kafala system are local recruitment agencies who earned approximately $57.5 million in revenues in 2019 alone, according to the findings of Beirut-based Triangle Research, Policy and Media Centre. This is assuming the minimum recruitment fee is earned, estimated to range between $1,800 and $4,300 by the Syndicate of Owners of Recruitment Agencies in Lebanon (SORAL); the fees depend on the agency and the worker’s nationality. There is no definitive data on the profit generated by beneficiaries of the kafala system due to lack of transparency in the industry, but “it is definitely profitable,” said Boswall, who is an economic researcher at Triangle. Deemed as a form of “modern day slavery” by Human Rights Watch, the kafala system excludes migrant workers from Lebanon’s labor laws and gives authority of their immigration status and employment to a sponsor (kafeel) instead. There were attempts to reform aspects of the current system over the past months, but they have been struck down.
“The lobbying led by SORAL against reforms in the last few months was motivated by private economic interests,” he told Al Arabiya English. SORAL was the main group that lobbied against reform attempts. Titled “Cleaning Up: The Shady Industries that Exploit Lebanon’s Kafala Workers,” Triangle’s special report provides a comprehensive understanding of the economic interests of key institutions that underpin Lebanon’s kafala system. Behind the recruitment agencies, the second largest beneficiary of this exploitative system are government institutions. Migrant workers generate an annual revenue of $36.5 million for the General Security Directorate and $6.1 million for the Ministry of Labour in residency and labor permits, according to the reports estimates. Other parties that financially benefit from the kafala system are local service providers. These include medical labs who perform health screenings, insurance firms that provide basic health insurance packages for workers, and public notaries. The revenue for each institution amounts to $1 million, $1.6 million, and $2.9 million respectively.
Attempted reforms
A standard unified contract for domestic workers that was proposed by caretaker minister of labor Lamia Yammine in September was successfully appealed in the Shura Council, Lebanon’s highest legislative court. The recruitment agencies’ syndicate pushed back hard against the contract updates for “negatively impacting the industry of domestic workers recruitment in Lebanon and contravening the labor law.”Local recruitment agencies’ annual revenues account for roughly 60 percent of the industry’s total profit, and they would have the most to lose if the kafala system was dissolved, said Boswall.
The updated contract would have granted workers basic labor rights, like terminating their work contract without their employer’s consent, working for designated hours per week and being paid overtime, and being granted separate, private accommodation, among other provisions.
The revised contract was perceived as a “crucial first step toward dismantling kafala in Lebanon” by the International Labour Organization, but it would have significantly shrunk the $100 million annual revenues generated by the system, Triangle’s report concluded.
Low wages become smaller
Currently, as Lebanon struggles with one of the worst economic crises in its history, migrant workers are being denied meager wages as employers struggle to obtain dollar bills in a country with dwindling foreign reserves. If they are paid, workers are typically given salaries in Lebanese pounds, the crashing local currency, slashing their wages by nearly 80 percent. “Salaries now range between 200,000 Lebanese pounds and 600,000 pounds, not more,” explained Mekdes Yilma from Egna Legna Besident, an Ethiopian activist group. At the current black market exchange rate, monthly salaries amount to $25 to $75. The cost of many basic goods, which workers have to purchase themselves, in the country have doubled. “If they dare protest or ask for their rightful pay, they would be beaten up and abused,” continued Yilma. Prior to the ongoing economic crisis, foreign domestic workers used to earn between $100 and $300 a month depending on their race and nationality, said Yilma. The minimum wage in Lebanon is $450 a month.
Thrown out
Aside from being denied months of pay, many domestic workers were thrown out onto the streets with their belongings packed in trash bags, and left stranded with no money, food, water, or their passports. In the absence of government action to protect these women, Egna Legna launched a campaign to send migrant workers back home. So far, they have repatriated 300 women and children, with 100 more to be sent back in coming days. Watch: Kenyan domestic worker abandoned in Beirut with belongings in garbage bag “We have women calling us every day, telling us they’re trapped in homes,” Yilma told Al Arabiya English. “They tell us that they’re miserable and thinking of hurting themselves, and we don’t have the authorization to go get them from these homes.” While the proposed unified standard contract would not have fully eradicated the kafala system, it would have ensured basic protections afforded to other workers in Lebanon. But between the money hungry stakeholders lobbying to protect the kafala system and the absence of a constitutional government that can legitimately propose reforms, migrant domestic workers are trapped in the middle, paying the price.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 13- 14/2020

Gunman opens fire during outdoor choir performance at cathedral in New York City
Reuters/Monday 14 December 2020
A gunman opened fire at an outdoor choir performance on the steps of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City’s Upper West Side on Sunday, and was himself shot and wounded by police, according to police and a Reuters photographer at the scene. New York City Police Department Spokesman Sergeant Edward Riley said the gunman had fired on police, but no officers were injured. The suspect was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition, the sergeant said.

The Israel-Iran shadow war locks in on southeastern Syria
DEBKAFile/December 13/2020
In the last weeks of the Trump administration, Israel is fast-tracking the military drive to push Iran and its helpers back from their advance on southern Syria and the Golan border. The IDF is urged to hurry up in case the Biden administration decides that Iran’s presence in Syria need not be addressed by the US in a potential renegotiated nuclear deal with Tehran. Iran is using the uncertain transition period to advance on the Syrian-Israel Golan border by infiltrating and hiding behind Syrian army positions in the southern Syrian provinces of Deraa, Quneitra and Sweida. The Iranians are also practicing clandestine tactics on the Syrian Golan with the help of a special Hizballah unit and dozens of local armed groups and soldiers, taking advantage of the overall chaos prevailing in the region. The IDF is hitting back by expanding the targets of its air strikes to include the Syrian regime army positions hosting or covering Iranian Revolutionary Guards or Shiite militia forces in the south and the east. The success of the IDF’s ramped-up operations to counter Iran’s strategy was indicated by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi in an end-of-year summary last Thursday, Dec. 10. “Iran has begun cutting back on its military presence in Syria as a result of our operations,’ he said, “but there is still a long way to go before the job is done.” The tempo and quality of Israeli strikes against Iranian assets in Syria, including kinetic operations, the general said, have been enhanced this year, along with more numerous covert and clandestine missions.”
Iran had also significantly stalled its cargo airlift for smuggling weapons into Syria, Gen. Kochavi revealed. This came as a result of the destruction by aerial bombardments in recent months of vast quantities of advanced weaponry, that were to have been handed over to Iran’s proxy, Hizballah, for using in Lebanon as a convenient forward base for attacking Israel. To escape Israel’s air strikes, Iran has moved its bases, camps and headquarters out of the line of Israeli fire around Damascus towards the northern and eastern parts of Syria. Iranian forces have also been drawn down. Hizballah and Syrian armed units have been left to anchor Iran’s presence in the south. Moreover, reported IDF air strikes on IRGC positions at Abu Kamal in eastern Syria on the sensitive border with Iraq showed Israel to be undeterred by the proximity of US bases.
Tehran is acting on the assumption that Israel is intent on provoking a major clash to provide Donald Trump with justification for clobbering Iran or its interests in the waning days of his presidency. Tehran is therefore at pains to avoid overt or extreme response to the intensified IDF campaign. Its presence in South Syria is denied except for “a few advisers.” Reported casualties are dismissed as “Zionist propaganda.”The IDF is using Tehran’s caution to seriously bludgeon its assets and collaborators in Syria for the purpose of driving home Israel’s determination to drive them out.

Netanyahu Warns 'Business as Usual with Iran' Will Be Mistake
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 13 December, 2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said it would be a mistake “to go back to business as usual with Iran,” signaling Israeli resistance to an expected push by President-elect Joe Biden to revive the international nuclear deal with Iran. Netanyahu spoke at a press conference with Robert O'Brien, President Donald Trump's national security adviser. But his comments appeared to be aimed at Biden, who has said the US will rejoin the nuclear deal if Iran agrees to strict adherence. The deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, has unraveled since Trump withdrew from it in 2018. “As long as Iran continues to subjugate and threaten its neighbors, as long as Iran continues calling for Israel’s destruction, as long as Iran continues to bankroll, equip and train terrorist organizations throughout the region and the world, and as long as Iran persists in its dangerous quest for nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, we shouldn’t go back to business as usual with Iran,” Netanyahu said Sunday. “We should all unite to prevent this major threat to world peace.”O'Brien arrived days after the US announced that Israel and Morocco were establishing full diplomatic relations. O'Brien said the Trump administration's pressure campaign against Iran has been successful and said the string of agreements between Israel and Arab countries would cement what he called “the legacies of peacemakers” Trump and Netanyahu.

Iran summons German, French envoys after Ruhollah Zam execution outrage
Reuters/December 13, 2020
TEHRAN: Iran on Sunday summoned the envoys of Germany, current holder of the European Union’s rotating presidency, and of France over criticism of the execution of an Iranian journalist, Iranian media reported.
The Foreign Ministry voiced Iran’s protest to the two ambassadors over French and EU criticism of the execution on Saturday of dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam, who had been based in Paris before he was captured in Iraq and taken to Iran. Zam was convicted of fomenting violence during anti-government protests in 2017. His Amadnews feed had more than 1 million followers.

Iran Summons EU Envoys for Protesting Reporter's Hanging
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 13 December, 2020
Iran on Sunday summoned the German envoy to Tehran after the European Union condemned the execution of an Iranian journalist whose work helped inspire nationwide economic protests in 2017, Iranian state media has reported. IRNA said that an Iranian foreign ministry official summoned the German ambassador because of EU statements on the exiled reporter Ruhollah Zam, 47, who was hanged on Saturday. Zam was being held in jail in Iran after Iranian authorities seized him while he was traveling in neighboring Iraq last year. The German Foreign Ministry on Saturday expressed its shock about the circumstances of Zam’s sentencing and what it described as his “abduction from abroad" and forced return to Iran. Iran will also summon today the French ambassador to Tehran over European reactions to the journalist's execution, IRNA added. “This is a barbarous and unacceptable act,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement, which also condemned the hanging as a “grave blow” to freedom of speech in Iran. Zam had been living in exile in France, before his kidnapping and conviction in Iran. Iranian state television referred to Zam as “the leader of the riots” in announcing his execution by hanging early Saturday. In June, a court sentenced Zam to death, saying he had been convicted of “corruption on Earth,” a charge often used in cases involving espionage or attempts to overthrow Iran’s government. Zam’s website AmadNews and a channel he created on the popular messaging app Telegram had spread the timings of the 2017 protests and embarrassing information about officials that directly challenged Iran’s theocracy. Those demonstrations, which began at the end of December 2017 and continued into 2018, represented the biggest challenge to Iran’s rulers since the 2009 Green Movement protests and set the stage for similar mass unrest in November of last year. The initial spark for the 2017 protests was a sudden jump in food prices. Many believe that hardline opponents of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani instigated the first demonstrations in the conservative city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, trying to direct public anger at the president. But as protests spread from town to town, the backlash turned against the entire ruling class.

Outrage as Iran hangs dissident journalist
Arab News/December 13, 2020
JEDDAH: Rights groups reacted with outrage on Saturday after the regime in Tehran hanged Iranian dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam, who was convicted of encouraging violence during anti-government protests in 2017. Amnesty International said it was “shocked and horrified” by the execution. “We call on the international community, including member states of the UN Human Rights Council and the EU, to take immediate action to pressure the Iranian authorities to halt their escalating use of the death penalty as a weapon of political repression,” it said. Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East, said Zam’s execution was a “deadly blow” to freedom of expression, and “a reprehensible bid to avoid an international campaign to save his life.”The press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also condemned the hanging. “RSF is outraged at this new crime of Iranian justice and sees Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the mastermind of this execution,” the group said. Zam, 42, the son of pro-reform Shiite cleric Mohammad-Ali Zam, turned against the regime after the 2009 presidential election protests. He was forced to flee Iran and was given political asylum in France. He lived in Paris, from where he ran Amadnews, a popular anti-regime forum on the Telegram messaging app. In September 2019, on a visit to Baghdad, Ruhollah Zam was abducted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and brought back to Iran. In September 2019, on a visit to Baghdad, Zam was abducted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and brought back to Iran. The IRGC claimed he had been “directed by France’s intelligence service.”Zam was convicted of spying for France and an unnamed country in the region, cooperating with the “hostile government of America,” acting against “the country’s security,” insulting the “sanctity of Islam” and instigating violence during protests in 2017. The protests began in late 2017 as regional demonstrations against economic hardship spread nationwide. At least 21 people were killed during the unrest and thousands were arrested. Zam is not the first to be sentenced to death over the protests. Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old wrestler, was executed in September. The judiciary said he had been found guilty of “voluntary homicide” for stabbing to death a government employee in August 2018. Three young men were also sentenced to death over links to protests in 2019, but they will be retried at the request of their defense teams. Iran executed at least 251 people last year, the world’s second-highest total after China.

Iran’s Khamenei awards military medal to slain nuclear scientist
AFP/December 13, 2020
TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday posthumously awarded a prestigious military decoration to top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was assassinated last month, state television reported.
Fakhrizadeh was killed on a major road outside Tehran in late November in a bomb and gun attack that the Islamic republic has blamed on its arch foe Israel. The broadcaster said the first class Order of Nasr (“Victory” in Persian), bearing Khamenei’s signature, was handed to the scientist’s family by the armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri. “This is a decoration meant for dear ones who defend the Islamic revolution and Iran’s territorial integrity and independence,” Bagheri said. He added that it is the highest medal awarded in recognition of logistics contribution and support of the troops. After Fakhrizadeh’s death, Defense Minister Amir Hatami referred to him as his deputy minister and head of the ministry’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), focusing on the field of “nuclear defense.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged in 2018 that Fakhrizadeh was the head of a secret nuclear weapons program, the existence of which the Islamic republic has always denied.

Iran controls crude oil pipeline spillage, fire in southwest
Reuters, Dubai/Sunday 13 December 2020
A pipeline carrying crude oil to Iran’s second largest refinery ruptured and burst into flames on Sunday, but the spillage and the blaze were brought under control, Iranian news agencies reported. “The volume of the fire was not large...The fire is controlled, the oil spill has been completely contained and repair operations have begun,” Khosro Kiani, an emergency official in southwestern Iran, where the blaze occurred, told the semi-official news agency Mehr. “The incident did not cause any casualties, but the environment was slightly damaged,” Kiani said. The oil ministry’s news agency SHANA said repair teams had shut off the Maroun pipeline, which feeds the Isfahan refinery, Iran’s second largest with a capacity of about 375,000 barrels per day. Iran’s aging oil infrastructure has been long in need of rehabilitation, as refurbishment plans have been delayed by Western sanctions and local bureaucracy, analysts say. There have been several earlier instances of spillage from the pipeline that have adversely affected the region’s agriculture and fishing, the state news agency IRNA reported.

UK and EU Extend Brexit Talks after Ditching Deadline
Agence France Presse/December 13/2020
The European Union and Britain ordered their negotiators back to work Sunday after agreeing to abandon a supposed make-or-break deadline for a post-Brexit trade pact. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said last week they would decide whether an agreement was possible by the end of Sunday, but agreed in a crisis call to "go the extra mile". "Our negotiating teams have been working day and night over recent days," von der Leyen said in a video message, reading out a joint statement agreed with Johnson. "We have accordingly mandated our negotiators to continue the talks and to see whether an agreement can even at this late stage be reached," the leaders said, without offering a new deadline. EU negotiator Michel Barnier and Britain's David Frost held talks late on Saturday and early on Sunday. They have been alternating between the capitals but a European official said that, for the moment, they would remain in Brussels. Speaking for himself, Johnson insisted that agreement was far from sure with less than three weeks to go until Britain leaves the EU single market at the end of the month. "I'm afraid we're still very far apart on some key things, but where there's life there's hope," he said at Downing Street after briefing his cabinet about the call. "The UK certainly won't be walking away from the talks. I still think there's a deal to be done if our partners want to do it," he added. Johnson said Britain "would be as creative as we possibly can", confirming that he had sought anew to engage directly with Paris or Berlin but was rebuffed by the EU. Reports suggested the two sides were exploring a potential deal on how to respond if their regulations diverge over time and threaten fair competition. But Britain cannot compromise on the "fundamental nature" of Brexit, controlling UK laws and fisheries, the prime minister said. Without a deal, cross-Channel trade will revert to World Trade Organization rules, with tariffs driving up prices and generating paperwork for importers, and the failed negotiation could poison relations between London and the continent for years to come. "Either way, whatever happens, the UK will do very, very well," Johnson insisted.
'No stone unturned'
Ireland stands to lose out more than any other EU country if trade with its larger neighbor is disrupted, and cautiously welcomed the reprieve. "Time to hold our nerve and allow the negotiators to inch progress forward, even at this late stage. Joint statement on Brexit negotiations is a good signal. A deal clearly very difficult, but possible," Foreign Minister Simon Coveney tweeted. The hardline pro-Brexit faction in Johnson's own British Conservatives was unconvinced, however, and MPs fired their own tweets warning against any concessions. Much of the text of a possible trade deal is said to be ready, but Britain and Brussels are wrangling over a mechanism to allow for retaliation if UK and EU laws diverge in a way that puts continental firms at a competitive disadvantage. "The defense of the single market is a red line for the European Union," an EU source said. "What we have proposed to the United Kingdom respects British sovereignty. It could be the basis for an agreement." In London, the government insists that Britain is ready to leave the union and handle its own affairs after 47 years of close economic integration. Downing Street says it has mapped out "every single foreseeable scenario" for problems after December 31, and "no one needs to worry about our food, medicine or vital supply chains." The government says it is ready to offer hefty new support for sectors in the firing line such as farming and autos, but British business groups are aghast at the lack of clarity on future trading rules.
Scotland's nationalist government meanwhile demanded an end to "the crippling uncertainty" of a possible no-deal Brexit coming on top of the coronavirus pandemic.n And the European Parliament is deeply unhappy as time runs out for a thorough review of any pact before the year-end deadline. "Irresponsible and bitter," senior German MEP Bernd Lange tweeted about the drawn-out saga, warning that serious ratification is becoming "increasingly impossible."

Armenia Says Six Fighters Hurt in Karabakh Truce Violation
Agence France Presse/December 13/2020
Armenia said Sunday that six separatist combatants in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabkh region were injured in clashes with Azerbaijan troops, testing a Russian-brokered peace deal that ended weeks of fighting. The defense ministry in Yerevan reported several hours of clashes on Saturday, including with heavy artillery, in the Hardut region of the disputed province, after Azerbaijan bolstered its military presence in the area. "The Armenian side has six wounded," the ministry said, describing the incident as an Azerbaijani "provocation". It added that the new fighting was discussed during a meeting in Moscow between Russian and Armenian defense ministers, while the foreign ministry said clashes continued into Sunday. Azerbaijan on Saturday insisted that "adequate countermeasures" had been taken against "provocations" from the Armenian side. Six weeks of fighting that erupted in September between separatists backed by Armenia and Azerbaijan over the mountainous region ended in early November with a Moscow brokered peace deal that saw the Armenians cede swathes of territory. Russia has deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeeping troops to Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the deal and the Russian defense ministry Saturday reported the truce had been violated. It was Russia's first report of a violation since the peace deal was introduced on November 10. The French and American heads of the Minsk Group, which led talks on the conflict for decades but failed to achieve a lasting agreement, met with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on Saturday. The envoys, Stephane Visconti and Andrew Schofer, were expected in Yerevan on Sunday. On a visit to Baku this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed what he called his close ally's "glorious victory" in the conflict. The Turkish leader, who attended celebrations marking Azerbaijan's success, has overtly supported Baku, helping to train and arm its military.

Bahraini Child Urges Hamilton to Save His Father on Death Row
Agence France Presse/December 13/2020
A Bahraini child whose father is facing the death penalty sent a letter to Lewis Hamilton urging the seven-time Formula 1 champion to shed light on the case amid allegations of torture. Ahmed Ramadhan, 11, drew a picture of Hamilton's racecar pleading for help: "Lewis, please save my father." "When I was drawing the car, I felt hope that it might save my father's life," the London-based advocacy group Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) quoted the child as saying. "I really hope Lewis Hamilton delivers my message so my dad can come back home." Hamilton, who won the Bahrain Grand Prix last month, confirmed in a press conference in the United Arab Emirates capital Saturday that he received the letter. "I think the saddest thing for me was that there's a young man on death row and it's not clear ... and when his son writes me a letter it really hits home," he said ahead of the final race in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. "I think there's definitely work to be done in the background and I definitely won't let it go unnoticed." In July, Bahrain's top court upheld a death sentence against Mohamed Ramadhan and Hussain Moosa convicted of murdering a police officer in a bomb attack, following allegations that the conviction was based on confessions extracted by torture. The incident allegedly came amid a wave of attacks against police and other violent incidents that erupted after mass street protests in 2011 demanded an elected prime minister and a constitutional monarchy in Bahrain. The two accused are members of Muslim Sunni-ruled Bahrain's Shiite community and were first sentenced in late 2014. Amnesty International has condemned the ruling and described the trial as "grossly unfair". Hamilton said during the conference he would have hoped to address the issue with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa but his infection with coronavirus would not allow him. "I'd hoped... to sit and address it with the crown prince, but I was bed-ridden for most of the week," he said. Bahrain has claimed Iran trained and backed the demonstrators in order to topple the Manama government -- an accusation Tehran denies.
The kingdom rejects allegations of human rights violations and denies imposing discriminatory measures against its Shiite citizens. "When world champions like Lewis Hamilton choose to speak out, lives can change forever," said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of BIRD.
 

Morocco-Israel Ties 'Already Normal', Says Moroccan FM
Agence France Presse/December 13/2020
Morocco's relations with Israel are unique in the Arab world and bilateral ties were "already normal" before a "normalization" deal was announced, Morocco's foreign minister told Israeli media Sunday. Morocco on Thursday announced a "resumption of relations" with Israel, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that Rabat and the Jewish state had "agreed to full diplomatic relations." Morocco closed its liaison office in Tel Aviv in 2000 at the start of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising. Morocco's announcement is widely seen as making it the fourth Arab country this year to unveil plans to normalize ties with Israel through a US brokered deal, following the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan. But in an interview with Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper on Sunday, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said: "Israel's relations with Morocco are special and can't be compared to the relations that Israel has with any other Arab country." "From our perspective, we aren't talking about normalization because relations were already normal," Bourita was quoted as saying by the paper. "We're talking about (re-formalizing) the relations between the countries to the relations we had, because there have been relations the entire time. They never stopped," he added. A palace statement last week said that King Mohammed VI had agreed to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel with "minimal delay." That followed President Donald Trump's recognition of Morocco's contested sovereignty in Western Sahara, infuriating the Algerian-backed Polisario Front which controls about one-fifth of the vast, arid region. Bourita, in the interview, highlighted Morocco's enduring connection to Israel through its domestic Jewish community and the estimated 700,000 Israeli Jews of Moroccan descent.
"Morocco has an important history with the Jewish community, a history that is special in the Arab world," he told the paper. "It's my understanding that just this past year 70,000 Israelis came to visit here." The Palestinians have denounced the string of normalization deals, which broke with decades of Arab League consensus that there should be no recognition of Israel until it agrees to a peace that includes the creation of a Palestinian state. Abu Dhabi and Manama have already concluded deals with the Jewish state.
 

Egypt, Jordan and Iraq discuss peoples’ movement by land
Arab News/December 13, 2020
CAIRO: The 75th General Assembly of the Arab Bridge Maritime Company, held on Saturday in Cairo, brought together transportation ministers from Egypt, Jordan and Iraq to discuss the establishment of a means to transport passengers by land between the three countries. The meeting was attended by Egyptian Minister of Transportation Kamel Al-Wazir, his Jordanian and Iraqi counterparts and the company’s board of directors. During the meeting, they discussed organizing the movement of passengers by land between their respective countries, whether through the establishment of the Arab Bridge Land Transport Company or through the integration of already existing land transport companies with the Arab Bridge Maritime Company. The goal is to reach a model system that would facilitate the transportation of passengers between the three countries with a unified ticket.
The general assembly reviewed the technical condition of the maritime company’s ships, the effects of the pandemic on the company’s activity, recent business and financial results, as well as mechanisms that have been employed to ensure the continuity of the company’s activity, which represents an important trade link between Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. The Egyptian minister said that the directives of the political leadership in Egypt are always based on increasing cooperation and trade exchange between Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. He pointed out that the Arab Bridge Maritime Company represents a pioneering model for cooperation between Arab countries in the field of transport. Al-Wazir praised the company’s role in enhancing intra-Arab trade and increasing the volume of Arab-Asian-African trade exchanges. Among the points discussed during the meeting was how to ease procedures for the entry of goods, drivers and travelers in order to help smooth the trade movement. The Jordanian minister of transportation affirmed that this would help achieve economic integration between the three countries.
 

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 13- 14/2020

Time to bring perpetrators of Iran’s 1988 massacre to justice
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 13, 2020
Since its establishment, the Islamic Republic has committed various forms of human rights violations. One of the regime’s most egregious crimes, which until last week seemed to have been forgotten by the wider world, was the 1988 massacre of tens of thousands of political prisoners, including women and teenagers. However, a group of UN human rights experts has finally written a letter about the massacre to the Iranian government, pointing out that the regime’s actions “may amount to crimes against humanity.” The letter also called on the global community to take action to investigate the atrocity, including through the establishment of an international investigation. Amnesty International also weighed in on the issue and is applauding the move. Diana Eltahawy, the human rights group’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “The UN experts’ communication is a momentous breakthrough. It marks a turning point in the long-standing struggles of victims’ families and survivors, supported by Iranian human rights organizations and Amnesty International, to end these crimes and obtain truth, justice and reparation.”
Although the letter is a step in the right direction, the UN must do more to hold the Iranian leaders accountable, both due to the heinous nature of the crime and the high positions that some of the officials who played key roles in orchestrating the massacre currently have. Current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was, for example, reportedly aware of the massacre.
For decades, the Iranian regime has tried to systematically cover up one of its greatest crimes. Less than 10 years after its establishment, the Islamic Republic began cleansing prisons of thousands of dissidents and opposition activists. Ultimately, an estimated 30,000 people lost their lives in the brutal massacre. In 2017, Amnesty International released a comprehensive report on the slaughter. The 200-page report stated that the disappeared “were mostly young men and women, some just teenagers, unjustly imprisoned because of their political opinions and non-violent political activities.”
For decades, the Iranian regime has tried to systematically cover up one of its greatest crimes Even some high-ranking officials at the time warned then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini not to carry out the massacre. For example, a shocking audio recording of a meeting between the regime’s second-most-senior official and a number of people involved in the killings was surprisingly disclosed in 2016. In it, Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who had been named as Khomeini’s successor, says in chillingly blunt terms: “In my view, the biggest crime in the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed at your hands, and they’ll write your names as criminals in history.” He warned regime officials: “You will be in the future etched in the annals of history as criminals. The greatest crime committed under the Islamic Republic, from the beginning of the revolution until now, which will be condemned by history, is this crime committed by you.”
Montazeri was talking to senior members of the “death committee” in Tehran, the likes of which had been set up across the country to oversee the massacre of political prisoners. He had written letters to Khomeini, urging clerical rulers to refrain from committing a crime that should now rank alongside the Srebrenica massacre. Enraged, Khomeini removed Montazeri as his heir apparent. The audio tape was disclosed by Montazeri’s son, Ahmad, a moderate cleric who posted the confidential recording on his website, but was ordered by the intelligence agency to remove it.
Ironically, almost all of the people Montazeri was addressing in the audio clip currently or have recently enjoyed high-ranking positions in the regime. For example, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who was a representative of the intelligence ministry at the notorious Evin Prison at the time, served as justice minister from 2013 to 2017 under the so-called moderate President Hassan Rouhani. Ebrahim Raisi was a public prosecutor in 1988 and is now chief justice for the whole of Iran. Hussein Ali Nayeri was a judge and is now a deputy of the Supreme Court of Iran. In his memoir, Montazeri wrote that he told Nayeri to stop the executions at least in the religious holidays during the month of Muharram, but Nayeri said: “We have executed so far 750 people in Tehran... we get the job done with (executing) another 200 people and then we will listen to whatever you say.” Pourmohammadi has in recent years defended the commission of the massacre and said he was “proud” of his role in the killing of political opponents. The foundations of the current regime’s power structure, with Khamenei as leader, were built on that massacre. The world must know that the authorities now in charge of Iran showed their true allegiance and unwavering fealty to the fundamentalist regime and its goals by having no qualms about ordering and implementing one of the greatest political crimes of the 20th century. The international community must do more to identify those Iranian officials who committed crimes against humanity and hold them accountable.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Our Chinese Sister Cities: "Use the Countryside to Surround the City"
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/December 13/2020
"While American local governments value such "exchanges" for financial and cultural reasons, 'exchange' (交流) has always been viewed as a practical political tool by Beijing, and all of China's 'exchange' organizations have been assigned political missions". — China's Influence & American Interests, Report of the Working Group on Chinese Influence Activities in the United States, by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the Center on US-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York, 2019.
"We will keep connecting schools in the U.S. and China one at a time". — USA-China Sister Schools Association.
China has used its sister cities to boost its "mask diplomacy", in which it plays both the arsonist and the firefighter, and has written about this new initiative in state media with quotes from "grateful" US sister cities thanking China for sending them masks.
Local politicians and others, such as school principals, are simply easy targets for the sophisticated tactics of CCP officials, who prey on the goodwill and naiveté of unsuspecting Americans, although willful blindness doubtless plays a role. "Local politicians typically know little about China and have no responsibility for national security, and because their Chinese interlocutors present themselves as offering people-to-people exchanges and 'opportunities for local business', these politicians have a strong incentive to remain uninformed". — Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg, Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World.
In February, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned: "Chinese Communist Party officials... are cultivating relationships with county school board members and local politicians – often through what are known as sister cities programs... Last year, a high school – a high school, a high school in Chicago – disinvited a Taiwanese representative to serve on a climate panel after Chinese pressure."
On November 17, four US Senators introduced legislation to investigate the "sister city" partnerships between communities in United States and China. According to Senator Marco Rubio:
"The Chinese government and Communist Party has a history of exploiting cultural and economic partnerships to conduct malign activities, and it's clear that opaque, sister-city partnerships deserve increased scrutiny. We must do more to better understand, and then counter, Chinese influence operations at the state and local level, which are often conducted under the benign auspices of sister city relationships."
In February, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned:
"Chinese Communist Party officials... are cultivating relationships with county school board members and local politicians – often through what are known as sister cities programs... Last year, a high school – a high school, a high school in Chicago – disinvited a Taiwanese representative to serve on a climate panel after Chinese pressure."
Take Cascade Elementary School in Orem, Utah, which has a Chinese language immersion program. Orem has been the sister city of Urumqui, China since 2000. In March, China Daily, the English language newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), published an article, "US 4th-graders proud to be pen pals with Xi," featuring interviews with staff and children at the school. The article appeared after 50 fourth-graders from Cascade Elementary School sent Chinese New Year's cards to China's President Xi Jinping and he replied to them. In his letter, according to China Daily, Xi praised the children for their Chinese language skills, including being able to write Chinese characters, and told them, "I hope you will keep at it, make even bigger progress and become young 'ambassadors' for Sino-US friendship". According to China Daily:
The idea of writing to the Chinese president came from those students and was supported by their Mandarin teacher, Zheng Yamin, who also gives lectures on Chinese culture and festivals at the Salt Lake City Public Library in Utah's capital.
"It's an amazing thing for our students to get a personal letter from the president of China," Principal Darrin Johnson said. "President Xi said he hopes to visit us here one day, but we also hope to follow up with a visit by our students to China next year so they can see for themselves how interesting and beautiful China is.
"I think it's a great honor. The Chinese president is incredibly busy, running a country and dealing with the new coronavirus."
According to "China's Influence & American Interests," a report by the Working Group on Chinese Influence Activities in the United States, put out in 2019 by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the Center on US-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York:
"China pursues sister-city relationships under an organization called the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries... that aims to strengthen the rule of the Chinese Communist Party and increase China's influence overseas... under the administration of Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, the association has been revitalized as China seeks to groom local business, political, and media leaders in countries around the world...
"Beginning in the early 1970s, China and the United States built trust and common prosperity through cooperation at the local level. The work of two hundred sister city pairs and over forty sister state/province partnerships was reinforced by state and city trade and investment promotion offices, chambers of commerce, Chinese American and traditional clan associations, Chinatown cultural centers, and various and sundry activities at US colleges and universities, secondary schools, church groups, and museums...
"After forty years of engagement, the US-China focused foundations, educational and exchange programs, research institutes, and arts and entertainment initiatives throughout the country are too many and various to be cataloged. American mayors, county executives, and governors—many of whom travel to China often and host an unending stream of Chinese visitors—have leveraged the work of these groups to enrich local coffers and local culture..."
While American local governments value such 'exchanges' for financial and cultural reasons, 'exchange' (交流) has always been viewed as a practical political tool by Beijing, and all of China's 'exchange' organizations have been assigned political missions."
"The Xi administration", according to Professor Anne-Marie Brady who, among other things, has studied Chinese influence activities in New Zealand, "has revived traditional CCP policies of utilizing people-to-people... relations in order to coopt foreigners to support and promote China's foreign policy goals". One of the ways that they do that, according to Brady, is to "[u]se sister city relations to expand China's economic agenda separate to a given nation's foreign policy. The CCP front organization, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries is in charge of this activity"
According to Brady:
"CCP united front officials and their agents are tasked with developing relationships with foreign and overseas Chinese personages to influence, subvert, and if necessary, bypass the policies of their governments and promote the interests of the CCP globally...The Xi administration's strategy of working more with local governments for economic projects has now revitalized the CPAFFC, as well as the local equivalents they work with such as in New Zealand, the New Zealand-China Friendship Society
An American equivalent of the New Zealand-China Friendship Society is the US-China Peoples Friendship Association, a not-for-profit organization that describes as its purpose "to develop and strengthen friendship and understanding between the peoples of the United States and China. USCPFA was founded as a national organization in 1974, working on people-to-people diplomacy between Americans and Chinese. Nearly 35 chapters in four regions spanning the U.S. comprise the organization".
The State Department is currently reviewing the activities of the U.S.-China Friendship Association, which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently called a CCP United Front Work organization.
"These organizations ...have apparently attempted to exert influence on groups all across the public sphere, including in our schools, in our business associations, impacting local politicals – politicians, media outlets, and Chinese groups here inside the United States."
In July 2019, the fourth US-China Sister Cities Mayors' Summit was held in Houston, Texas. It was co-hosted by Ron Nirenberg, mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and chairman of Sister Cities International, the US organization that co-hosted the summit, and Xie Yuan, vice-president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
"Subnational cooperation and people-to-people exchanges are the highlights in the history of China-US interactions and a driving force for the growth of our relations," said Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to the US, in a message sent to the summit.
"The 277 pairs of relationships at the state, provincial and city levels between China and the US -- 227 pairs of sister cities and 50 pairs of sister states/provinces -- have led to win-win cooperation as both sides share resources and complement each other's strengths".
According to China Daily:
"More than 100 municipal representatives traveled from China to join their US counterparts from over 20 cities in the one-day summit, as the two sides engaged in broad-ranging discussions on topics including innovation and smart cities, the Maritime Silk Road, educational exchanges and how to energize and engage existing and prospective sister city relationships".
There are, apparently, also direct US-China school partnerships. According to the website of an organization that calls itself the USA-China Sister Schools Association, it has "been dedicated to connecting students, teaching staff and administrators of K-12 schools in the U.S. and China since our founding in 1992."
"Over the past two decades, we have witnessed the creation and execution of vibrant exchange programs between more than 20 sister school partnerships. These partnerships spread out in states like Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin and Kansas and are continuing to expand to other parts of the country. Given the fact that Sino-American relationship is one of the world's most important bilateral relationships, we believe that interpersonal interaction between the youth of the two countries will greatly enhance mutual understanding, which in turn will contribute to the peace and development of the world. We will keep connecting schools in the U.S. and China one at a time".
China has used its sister cities to boost its "mask diplomacy", in which it plays both the arsonist and the firefighter, and has written about this new initiative in state media with quotes from "grateful" US sister cities thanking China for sending them masks.
In an article titled, "US sister cities get help from Chinese friends in virus fight", China Daily quotes Jennifer Priest, executive director of the Norfolk Sister City Association, as thanking the Ningbo Beilun District People's Government for a donation of 2,000 masks. "We are so grateful to our counterpart in China," she said. According to the article:
"Utah, which has enjoyed a 'sister-state' relationship with Liaoning since 2006, received a batch of donations from the Chinese province that included 7,000 N95 masks, 70,000 disposable surgical masks, as well as 7,000 protective suits and 3,000 face masks for children. Leaders from the Utah Legislature expressed their gratitude to officials from Liaoning through a virtual special ceremony to celebrate the arrival of the medical supplies.
"Also presented during the Skype meeting were teachers and students from Cascade Elementary School, who were the recipients of parts of the 3,000 children's masks. The school's students in the Chinese-language immersion program shared stories of their correspondence with President Xi Jinping, which took place in the beginning of the year...
"Maryland's Deputy Secretary of State Luis Borunda praised the long-term friendly relationship between Maryland and China, and extended sincere gratitude to the sister province Anhui."
These quotes from "grateful" sister cities are invaluable propaganda for the Chinese Communist Party.
Local politicians and others, such as school principals, are simply easy targets for the sophisticated tactics of CCP officials, who prey on the goodwill and naiveté of unsuspecting Americans, although willful blindness doubtless plays a role. According to Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg, in their recently published book, Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World:
"Local politicians typically know little about China and have no responsibility for national security, and because their Chinese interlocutors present themselves as offering people-to-people exchanges and 'opportunities for local business', these politicians have a strong incentive to remain uninformed...
"The focus is typically on economic and cultural ties and it's easy to pretend that there is no political element... however, these local ties are in fact highly political, and where necessary they can be leveraged to pressure national governments. This is the tactic of 'use the countryside to surround the city'".
*Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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