English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 22/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

#elias_bejjani_news
 

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Bible Quotations For today

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 08/12-20: “‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’Then the Pharisees said to him, ‘You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.’Jesus answered, ‘Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgement is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.’Then they said to him, ‘Where is your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
 

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 21-22/2020

Health Ministry: 1182 new Coronavirus cases, 13 deaths
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling price at LBP 3900

Lebanon: murder of photographer Joe Bejjany sparks outrage/Gareth Browne/The National/December 21/2020
Gunmen Shoot Man inside His Vehicle in Kahale
MPs Approve Law to Lift Banking Secrecy, Clearing Way for Forensic Audit
MPs Pass Sexual Harassment Law, Amend Domestic Violence Law
Berri says Parliament decided all state institutions be subject to financial, forensic audit
Lebanon banking secrecy law suspended, paving way for central bank audit
Aoun Lauds Parliament for Passing Law Facilitating Forensic Audit
Report: Last Chance this Week to Form Govt Before End of Year
Ex-Ministers File New Request for Replacing Sawwan in Port Probe
Fahmi Allows Restaurants, Nightlife Sector to Open till 3AM
RestArt Beirut Strikes Out Its First Ambitious Project: Saving Sursock Palace
Iraq to Supply Lebanon with Power Generation Oil in 2021
Hassan Recommends Suspension of Flights from Britain over New Virus Strain
Report: Hizbullah Doesn't Rule Out a Strike from ‘Crazy’ Trump
Beirut Blast Led Litany of Mideast Crises in 2020
Lebanese Officials Try to Limit Inquiry Into Deadly Beirut Blast/Ben Hubbard/The New York Times/December 21/2020
An unprecedented crisis leaves a profound impact on children in Lebanon - UNICEF

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 21-22/2020

WHO Says New Coronavirus Variant 'Not Out of Control'
EU Approves Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine
UK Isolated over Virus Strain as EU Watchdog Approves Vaccine
U.S. Nuclear Submarine Crosses Strait of Hormuz in Show of Force
Iran urged not to waste ‘last window of opportunity’ for nuclear deal
US prepared to 'react' if Iran tries to avenge Qassem Soleimani killing: Top General
US calls on Iraq's leaders to prevent attacks after rockets targeted Green Zone
Turkey sentences Kurdish ex-MP Guven to 22 years in jail
Egypt reports bird flu outbreak in rural areas, state of emergency declared

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 20-21/2020
To Media facilities: Till when your silence on Hezbollah's atrocities of embaseelment, threats, kidnapping , blackmailng ,bribery, embezelment & threats,will continue.
Austria: Top Court Overturns Headscarf Ban/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/December 21/2020
Biden Shouldn’t Rush to Restore the Iran Nuclear Deal/John Hannah/Foreign Policy/December 21/2020
The EU Needs to Stand Up for the Human Rights It Proclaims/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/December 21, 2020
Getting back on the Paris climate track/Laurence Tubiana/Arab News/December 22/2020
The possible outcomes of the diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Iran/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/December 22/2020
New strain of COVID-19 wreaking havoc in aviation and oil/Cornelia Meyer/Arab News/December 22/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 20-21/2020

Health Ministry: 1182 new Coronavirus cases, 13 deaths
NNA/December 21/2020
The Ministry of Public Health announced, on Monday, that new Coronavirus cases have been reported, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 1182.
It also indicated that 13 death cases were also registered during the past 24 hours.

US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling price at LBP 3900
NNA/December 21/2020
The Money Changers Syndicate announced in a statement addressed to money changing companies and institutions Monday’s USD exchange rate against the Lebanese pound as follows:
Buying price at a minimum of LBP 3850
Selling price at a maximum of LBP 3900

Lebanon: murder of photographer Joe Bejjany sparks outrage
Gareth Browne/The National/December 21/2020
Father on school run was shot repeatedly by hooded men on motorcycle
A Lebanese photographer was shot to death by hooded men on Monday morning as he prepared to take his children to school. CCTV footage leaked to local media shows Joe Bejjany getting into his car outside his home in the mountain village of Kahaleh, about 13km from Beirut.
As he prepares to drive off, two men arrive on a motorcycle and approach the car. They open the driver's door and shoot Bejjany several times with silenced pistols. The men then flee off-camera on foot. They are still at large. Lebanon’s state news agency said Bejjany died of his wounds in the nearby Saint Charles Hospital. His death sparked outrage in the country. Bejjany previously worked in the telecommunications sector but had recently found work as a photographer, including for the Lebanese army. The village’s mayor, Jean Bejjany, said CCTV footage indicated the involvement of a third suspect, and demanded an investigation that would reveal the motives for the murder within 48 hours. He said that Bejjany had no personal issues and was well liked and said that locals would begin blocking the roads in protest if the culprits were not identified quickly.
Locals told The National that within hours of the murder, villagers were attempting to block the nearby Beirut-Damascus motorway, while the church bells rang out in tribute. Lebanon's Internal Security Forces told The National that they had begun an investigation, but there was no information yet regarding the motives or identities of the attackers. Michel Moawad, a former MP, tweeted that the murder risked exacerbating the decline of the Lebanese state. “The security and judicial agencies, as well as every official, must hasten to uncover the perpetrators and their backgrounds and impose the most severe penalties on them to avoid a return to the logic of self-defence and the complete dissolution of what remains of the state.” Bejjany was recently acclaimed for his pictures of the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion. The “About Me” section of his professional website shows him posing in front of a Humvee. A description reads: “This hobby has changed my perception of the world. My observation of things seems to go beyond their physical beauty.”The attack came just weeks after a colonel in Lebanon’s customs service, Munir Abu Rajeli, was found dead at his home in another murder that shocked the country. The attacks are not believed to be linked.

Gunmen Shoot Man inside His Vehicle in Kahale
Naharnet/December 21/2020
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a man on Monday morning in front of his house in Aley’s town of Kahale, media reports said. The victim identified as Joseph Bejjani, was killed with a silenced pistol, said the reports. He sustained a bullet to his head and another in his chest. Bejjani was about to ride his vehicle to take his children to school when two gunmen approached his vehicle and shot him dead, so showed surveillance cameras in the area. Footage showed them fleeing to an unknown destination.
Reports said the victim used to work at a telecommunications company, but currently worked as a certified photographer for the Lebanese Army. The assailants reportedly stole his mobile cellular phone. Later during the day, families and residents of Kahale area blocked the road in protest at the "unruly" security situation in the country, demanding "accountability."

MPs Approve Law to Lift Banking Secrecy, Clearing Way for Forensic Audit
Agence France Presse/December 21/2020
The Parliament on Monday passed a law that lifts banking secrecy from public accounts for one year, in a move aimed at facilitating forensic audit into the Central Bank’s accounts and into the state’s institutions necessary to obtain international assistance. Parliament Speaker had called for an end-of-year legislative session to discuss 70 items on the agenda. Several draft laws were approved during the session, most notably a bill criminalizing sexual harassment, especially at workplace. The vote on the banking secrecy law came in in accordance with a November decision by parliament to clear hurdles obstructing a forensic audit of the central bank and public institutions. The International Monetary Fund and France are among creditors demanding the audit as part of urgent reforms to unlock financial support, as the country faces a grinding economic crisis. But the central bank has claimed that provisions including Lebanon's Banking Secrecy Law prevent it from releasing some of the necessary information. "After approving a law that lifts banking secrecy... we can begin a forensic audit," said Hassan Fadlallah, a Hizbullah lawmaker. But lawyer and activist Nizar Saghieh argued that Monday's decision would only be "window dressing" in the absence of a clear intention from government to carry out the audit. "Implementation is a whole separate matter," he told AFP. New York-based Alvarez and Marsal, a consultancy firm formerly tasked with the audit, scrapped its agreement with the government in November because the central bank had failed to hand over required data. The move sparked widespread criticism of Lebanon's authorities. The country, which defaulted on its debt this year, is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades and is still reeling from a devastating explosion at Beirut's port that gutted entire neighborhoods of the capital on August 4. The dire economic straits and the explosion have both been widely blamed on government corruption and incompetence.

MPs Pass Sexual Harassment Law, Amend Domestic Violence Law
Naharnet/December 21/2020
Lebanon's parliament on Monday passed a landmark bill criminalizing sexual harassment and amended a controversial domestic violence law, in a move rights groups criticized as incomplete. The new law "criminalizes sexual harassment, especially in the workplace," the official National News Agency reported. Per the law, perpetrators can be sentenced to up to two years in prison and fined up to 20 times the value of the minimum wage, which stands at 675,000 Lebanese pounds ($450 at the official exchange rate but less than $100 on the black market), according to Lebanese rights group Legal Agenda.
Maximum penalties are reserved for harassment in the work place, public institutions or educational facilities. The United Nation's envoy to Lebanon, Jan Kubis, called the law a "welcome step."But Legal Agenda said the legislation fails to protect victims of harassment. Karim Nammour, a lawyer with the group, said the law only allows for victims to make use of the criminal justice system and not the civil courts, "which means the case will be public.""This is a major obstacle for victims and does not give them the incentive to file complaints." Another problem, according to Nammour, is that the law places on the victim "the burden of proving the harassment and its consequences," rather than requiring the perpetrator to prove his or her innocence. Parliament also expanded the scope of a law penalizing domestic violence. The legislation has been in force since 2014, but rights groups have censured it for defining domestic violence too narrowly and failing to specifically criminalize marital rape. On Monday, parliament broadened the law so that it now "penalizes economic and psychological violence," said Leila Awada, a lawyer with women's rights group KAFA. U.N. Women Lebanon praised the law's endorsement of "important protection-related measures that strengthen the legal framework to end violence against women" in the country. But it did not lay down penalties for marital rape.Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, called this a "glaring omission." "Marriage to the victim should not exempt a sexual offender from punishment," she told AFP.

Berri says Parliament decided all state institutions be subject to financial, forensic audit
NNA/December 21/2020
Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri, made an intervention in the course of the Parliament’s session earlier on Monday, during which the banking secrecy bill had been discussed. “The House of Parliament, and based on the President of the Republic’s letter, has issued a decision. The Parliament’s Council has the right to take three measures in response to the President’s letter, so it has decided to take an extreme measure, which is issuing a decision,” Berri explained. Replying to the critics of the parliament’s decision under the pretext that “the parliament had been expected to pass a law” [instead of issuing a decision] in response to the President’s letter, Berri said: “Originally, the Parliament does not have the right to issue a law in response to the President of the Republic’s letter. Thus, the House of Parliament has issued a decision that all state institutions, the Lebanese Central Bank, ministries, as well as state departments and public institutions, be subject to financial or forensic auditing.” “Today, we are called forth to reach a position whereby we, as a parliament council, respect our own decisions,” Berri added.

Lebanon banking secrecy law suspended, paving way for central bank audit
AFP/ Beirut Monday 21 December 2020
Lebanon’s parliament Monday approved a bill that suspends banking secrecy laws for one year to allow for a forensic audit of the central bank, a key demand of international donors, state media said. “Parliament approved a draft law... that suspends banking secrecy for one year,” the official National News Agency reported. The vote came in accordance with a November decision by parliament to clear hurdles obstructing a forensic audit of the central bank and public institutions, the NNA added. The International Monetary Fund and France are among creditors demanding the audit as part of urgent reforms to unlock financial support, as the country faces a grinding economic crisis. But the central bank has claimed that provisions including Lebanon’s Banking Secrecy Law prevent it from releasing some of the necessary information. “After approving a law that lifts banking secrecy... we can begin a forensic audit,” said Hasan Fadlallah, a lawmaker affiliated with the powerful Shiite Hezbollah movement. The damaged grain silo is seen at the site of the blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon,  But lawyer and activist Nizar Saghieh argued that Monday’s decision would only be “window dressing” in the absence of a clear intention from government to carry out the audit. “Implementation is a whole sperate matter,” he told AFP. New York-based Alvarez and Marsal, a consultancy firm formerly tasked with the audit, scrapped its agreement with the government in November because the central bank had failed to hand over required data. The move sparked widespread criticism of Lebanon’s authorities. The country, which defaulted on its debt this year, is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades and is still reeling from a devastating explosion at Beirut’s port that gutted entire neighborhoods of the capital on August 4. The dire economic straits and the explosion have both been widely blamed on government corruption and incompetence.

Aoun Lauds Parliament for Passing Law Facilitating Forensic Audit
Naharnet/December 21/2020
President Michel Aoun on Monday lauded parliament for approving a law that lifts banking secrecy off anyone who dealt in public affairs at the central bank and all state ministries and administrations. He added that parliament’s positive response towards the letter he had sent on November 24 “puts the file of combating corruption on the track of implementation, because it is the path towards achieving the aspired reforms which the Lebanese people are calling for and which nations and international organizations have encouraged us to carry out.”“After lifting banking secrecy, I hope the forensic audit will find its way to implementation in order to convict the culprits according to the evidence that will be provided by this audit,” the president went on to say.

Report: Last Chance this Week to Form Govt Before End of Year
Naharnet/December 21/2020
Lebanon awaits the endeavors of Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi to ease the hurdles obstructing the cabinet formation, after French President Emmanuel Macron was quarantined over coronavirus, PSP's al-Anbaa electronic magazine reported Monday.
Al-Anbaa said there seems “no genuine intentions to form a government” despite a meeting expected this week between President Michel Aoun and PM-designate Saad Hariri. It could be the “last possible opportunity” for the two leaders to agree on a much-needed government before the end of the year, in light of the crises gripping the country, added the daily. “Otherwise, the Lebanese will have to wait for the regional and international development to crystalize,” sources told al-Anbaa. Macron postponed a planned visit to Lebanon this month, to push leaders into forming a reform-oriented government, after retracting coronavirus.

Ex-Ministers File New Request for Replacing Sawwan in Port Probe
Naharnet/December 21/2020
Former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zoaiter on Monday submitted an additional request through their lawyer, asking the Court of Cassation to replace Judge Fadi Sawwan over “legitimate suspicion” regarding the legality of the charges he has filed against them in the port blast probe.The move comes in line with Article 340 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the National News Agency said. The additional request contains new arguments explaining why the two ex-ministers think that Sawwan should be replaced, NNA added. Sawwan had on December 10 issued charges against Khalil and Zoaiter as well as caretaker prime minister Hassan Diab and ex-minister Youssef Fenianos over the August 4 blast that killed around 200 people, wounded more than 6,500 and disfigured Lebanon's capital. The four were charged with "negligence and causing death to hundreds and injuries to thousands more" in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. The Cassation Court is now expected to rule on their request for Sawwan to be removed from his post. "Until then, all investigation proceedings are suspended," a senior court judicial official said. Diab has also refused to appear in front of the judge on similar grounds. Lebanon's politicians have rallied around the argument that the indictment of a minister should be submitted to a vote in parliament. Diab, who resigned in the wake of the explosion, already testified before Sawwan in September. The huge stock of ammonium nitrate that ignited at Beirut port had been stored there for years when Diab took office almost exactly a year ago. The fact that little light has been shed on the circumstances that led to Lebanon's worst peacetime disaster nearly four months after the blast has caused outrage. It is also fueling distrust among international donors, whose support is much needed if Lebanon is to stand a chance of surviving its deepest ever economic crisis.

Fahmi Allows Restaurants, Nightlife Sector to Open till 3AM
Naharnet/December 21/2020
Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi on Monday issued a memo further relaxing the country’s anti-coronavirus measures for the occasion of the holidays. According to the memo, the nighttime curfew will now start at 3am instead of 11:30pm while restaurants, the nightlife sector, the Casino du Liban and video poker centers will be allowed to open till 3am instead of 10:30pm. Supermarkets, grocery shops, gyms, malls, cinemas, theaters and private businesses will meanwhile be allowed to open till 11:00pm.The memo applies from Wednesday morning until the morning of January 1.

RestArt Beirut Strikes Out Its First Ambitious Project: Saving Sursock Palace
Naharnet/December 21/2020
The RestART Beirut Fund, an ambitious international initiative launched by a group of young friends from five different countries under the aegis of the King Baudouin Foundation, is launching its first project – saving the badly damaged Sursock Palace in Beirut and helping open it to the public as a museum and cultural center. The Fund is commencing its first fundraising campaign in time for Christmas in order to raise funds for the most urgent work – an emergency inventory and safeguard of the Palace’s heavily damaged artwork. The Palace, home of the famous Sursock-Cochrane family since 1850, is a relic of Beirut’s Golden Age which mixes European and Eastern styles in a unique way and houses priceless paintings by Gentileschi, 17th century European tapestries, Oriental furniture and ceramics. The Fund will help restore and open the Palace to the public while boosting the local economy by using local craftsmen, reviving traditional techniques where possible and involving Lebanese artists in the process. “This place of beauty, refinement and rich history shall be shared with the art lovers around the world, Lebanese people and the rest of the world and allow them to learn about and take pride in the Golden Age, which they have the power to revive,” a press release said. “A group of young friends and art passionates decided to act and help in the best way they could: by trying to save the often overlooked Beirut artistic heritage for future generations,” the press release added. Following a visit to Beirut and discussions with the Sursock-Cochrane family, they decided to launch a charitable Fund in order to raise much-needed funds to save the Palace from further destruction and prevent its collections being lost or dispersed forever. Dr. Marie Eve Didier, one of the six co-founding members explains: “We were all of course shocked by the terrible loss of lives and sufferings we witnessed after the explosion. But while the humanitarian emergency was naturally what everyone was focusing on, we realized there was another, less visible and overlooked emergency.”The press release explains that Beirut’s artistic heritage was at risk of being lost forever: unique buildings were at risk of collapse and priceless art collections laid among piles of rubble. “So we decided to help as best as we could – by trying to save at least one of these beautiful buildings and its artwork and open it as a museum. The Sursock Palace, with its amazing history and harmonious mix of European and Oriental artwork seemed the natural choice for this,” added Joseph El Hayek, cofounder based in Beirut. “Today, RestART Beirut is introducing its first fundraising campaign -- help fund the most urgent work needed in this future museum: an emergency inventory and safeguarding the most fragile pieces. Once the Palace is restored and the art collections renovated, the Fund hopes to financially support resident artists, hold exhibitions and concerts at the Palace and eventually extend its work to other endangered buildings,” the press release added. Further information on the RestART Beirut organization can be found on the Fund’s website: www.restartbeirut.art

Iraq to Supply Lebanon with Power Generation Oil in 2021
Naharnet/December 21/2020
Iraq’s oil ministry on Monday announced reaching an agreement with Lebanon for exporting oil to Beirut in the year 2021 according to global prices. The announcement followed a meeting in Baghdad between Iraqi Oil Minister Ehsan Abdul Jabbar and caretaker Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar, which was held in the presence of General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim. Ghajar for his part confirmed that the imported oil will cover the needs of Lebanon’s power plants. Abdul Jabbar meanwhile said that the quantities will be limited and will cover part of Lebanon’s power generation needs. “We are keen on boosting relations with brotherly Lebanon and standing by its brotherly people,” he added.

Hassan Recommends Suspension of Flights from Britain over New Virus Strain
Naharnet/December 21/2020
Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan announced on Monday that the scientific committee at the health ministry issued a recommendation to suspend all flights from Britain for several days until things clarify out. He said amid the holiday season “we have to commit to the preventive measures, otherwise the repercussions may be tragic and sad.”Countries around the world have begun banning flights and travelers from Britain as London announced the spread of a more-infectious new coronavirus strain was now "out of control". Scientists first discovered the new variant -- which they believe is 70 percent more transmissible -- in a patient in September. And Public Health England notified the government on Friday when modelling revealed the full seriousness of the new strain. But Britain's chief medical officer Chris Whitty pointed out that while the new strain was greatly more infectious, "there is no current evidence to suggest (it) causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments, although urgent work is underway to confirm this."

Report: Hizbullah Doesn't Rule Out a Strike from ‘Crazy’ Trump
Naharnet/December 21/2020
Hizbullah officials reportedly described US President Donald Trump as “crazy” who is willing to push with Israel, towards a war against Iran and the party before Joe Biden assumes office on January 20, British daily The Guardian reported Monday. A Hizbulah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in remarks to the daily: “You know, we do not fear death, but we have to protect our leaders and we know that we will be harmed politically if something happens to them. “These are dangerous times and Trump is crazy, but he will not get what he wants, he has neither patience nor time. The Israelis think they are coming for us, but it is us coming for them,” he added. A second party official who was not named because he was not authorized to make remarks to the press added: “Are they going to try to do a big thing in Beirut in the coming weeks? This is possible even though there is a state of security alert in Dahiyeh (Beirut’s southern suburbs) and the south. This is to protect our leaders and we have nothing specific, but there is something in the air.”

Beirut Blast Led Litany of Mideast Crises in 2020
Associated Press/December 21/2020
As countries across the Middle East grappled with the coronavirus pandemic, many also had to contend with long-running conflicts, economic crises and mass protests in another chaotic year for the volatile region. The most devastating single event in the region was neither war-related, nor a claimed terrorist attack, but an explosion in Beirut's port caused by the detonation of a stockpile of explosive chemicals that had been improperly stored there for years. The Aug. 4 explosion killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed entire neighborhoods of the capital. Associated Press photographer Hassan Ammar captured the catastrophic aftermath in an instantly iconic photo of a man carrying his 11-year-old niece through the smoking ruins. He and other AP photographers covered the year of upheaval. It began with fears of war after the U.S. killed Iran's top general and was dominated by a pandemic that had no interest in the region's bitter divisions and stubborn conflicts. Israelis and Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites, wealthy Gulf monarchies and war-ravaged countries alike saw widespread lockdowns, overwhelmed ICUs and the hasty construction of field hospitals as the pandemic easily slipped across heavily-guarded frontiers. The pandemic brought new horrors to Syria and Yemen, which are still mired in civil war. Holy sites sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews emptied out, in scenes of desolation last seen in the Middle Ages. Pilgrimages — including the annual hajj to Mecca and Medina — were cancelled or drastically scaled down. Jerusalem's Old City was empty over Easter, and Christmas celebrations were mostly cancelled in the biblical town of Bethlehem. The region's worst outbreak was in Iran, which was already reeling from months of escalation with the United States following President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and his imposition of crippling sanctions. In January, a U.S. drone strike killed Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the architect of Iran's regional military activities, near Baghdad's international airport. AP photos captured the national outpouring of grief, as hundreds of thousands of Iranians flooded the streets during mass funeral services. Iran retaliated with a missile attack on U.S. bases in Iraq. In Israel, protesters held the largest anti-government demonstrations in years, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resign over his trial on corruption charges and his government's handling of the pandemic. In one photo, a protester can be seen kneeling in the street with an Israeli flag, drenched by a police water cannon. Protests also continued in Iraq and Lebanon, which was already facing an economic meltdown even before the explosion. In both countries, the demonstrators took aim at an entrenched political elite blamed for years of corruption and economic mismanagement. In the occupied West Bank, Palestinians demonstrated against Israeli land seizures. In Afghanistan, militants stormed a maternity hospital in May, killing at least 24 people, including mothers, nurses and two babies. The horrific attack highlighted the lingering unrest despite a peace agreement reached in February between the U.S. and the Taliban, which condemned the hospital attack and denied any involvement.

Lebanese Officials Try to Limit Inquiry Into Deadly Beirut Blast
Ben Hubbard/The New York Times/December 21/2020
Months after a huge explosion in Beirut’s port, the investigation has become mired in politics as powerful forces band together to block efforts to hold leaders accountable.
BEIRUT, Lebanon — More than four months after the largest explosion in Lebanon’s history sent a shock wave of death and destruction through Beirut, not a single official has accepted responsibility for the blast or publicly explained how a stockpile of explosive material was left unsecured in the Beirut port for six years. In fact, powerful politicians are working to block the judge in charge of the investigation from questioning senior officials, much less holding them to account. On Thursday, the judge paused the inquiry to respond to an effort by two officials to have him removed from the case.
The blast — which killed 200 people, wounded thousands and inflicted billions of dollars in damage — was the starkest example yet of the grave dangers posed by the chronic corruption and mismanagement that have left the Lebanese with a dysfunctional state, poor services and a collapsing economy.
A broad coalition of angry citizens has cast the explosion as a watershed moment that could lead to real change in the way Lebanon is governed and break the culture of impunity that has long protected politicians from accountability. But they face fierce resistance from a political elite determined to preserve its prerogatives. “This blast was a milestone in Lebanese history,” said Nizar Saghieh, a lawyer who heads The Legal Agenda, a rights watchdog. “It is not just about the blast, it is the whole system. If we fail in this battle, we will not be able to hold anyone accountable for the country’s collapse.”
Damage from the August disaster still scars much of central Beirut.
Inside the port, gutted grain silos loom over the blast crater and demolished storage hangars. Downtown, metal sheets cover entrances to gutted shops and hotels. In residential neighborhoods, scaffolding climbs apartment buildings where families are still trying to replace blown-out windows and replace furniture.
The government has done little in the hardest hit neighborhoods, so charities have taken the lead in piecemeal reconstruction efforts.
The explosion compounded the trauma of existing political and economic crises. Lebanon’s currency was collapsing, its banks were refusing to give people their money and its politicians had repeatedly failed to make reforms required to unlock international aid.
Street protests calling for an end to corruption and changes to Lebanon’s political system had torn Beirut apart, but failed to shake a system dominated by sectarian political parties that use the state to expand their power and enrich themselves and their loyalists.
The explosion was caused by the sudden combustion of a large stockpile of ammonium nitrate, a compound used to make explosives, that had been stored haphazardly in the Beirut port despite repeated warnings about its danger.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab promised a comprehensive investigation, and the task fell to a 60-year-old judge with little public profile, Fadi Sawan. Judge Sawan began questioning people in a windowless office in the Hall of Justice that was so small there was scarcely room for the case files, an associate said. He has since acquired more space, but his staff consists of only two clerks, who take notes by hand. His task is immense: not only to determine what caused the explosion, but also to search for evidence of criminality related to the arrival of the ship that brought the chemicals to Beirut in 2013, the decision to store them in the port a year later and their handling since. That mission put the judge on a collision course with powerful figures. Documents obtained by The New York Times and other news outlets after the blast showed that a range of senior officials had been warned about the ammonium nitrate — including the president, the prime minister, the head of the army, and a number of judges and ministers — and failed to have it removed or protected. This month, Judge Sawan stunned the political establishment by charging four powerful politicians with criminal neglect causing death: Mr. Diab, who resigned along with his cabinet after the blast but has continued in a caretaker capacity; two former ministers of public works who oversaw the port; and a former finance minister who ran the customs authority.

An unprecedented crisis leaves a profound impact on children in Lebanon - UNICEF
NNA/December 21/2020
The UNICEF issued Monday the following press release:
2020 has been exceptionally challenging, a year of unprecedented deterioration of the wellbeing of children, young people and families living in Lebanon. The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a dramatically worsening economic situation followed by the Beirut explosions, are having a devastating impact on children and families who are increasingly in greater need of crucial support and ever more vulnerable to risks, as laid out in UNICEFs new report 'An unprecedented crisis for children in Lebanon' presented today by UNICEF Representative, Yukie Mokuo.
In 2020, existing estimations suggest that poverty among Lebanese has increased to 55 percent from 28 percent in 2018, and extreme poverty has tripled to 23 percent from 8 percent. For Syrian refugees, 91% of households are now living under the poverty line and 88% living in extreme poverty.
In particular, the most vulnerable households are facing many challenges to access basic services influenced by the multiple factors compounding this crisis. Routine vaccination has shown a sharp decline and the number of consultations for pregnant women has dropped by an average of 20% from 2019 to 2020. 1.2 million school aged children have been affected by schools' closure, with many of them facing difficulties (connectivity, equipment...) to access e-learning. Domestic violence and other negative coping strategies have also increased, including violence against children, child labour, and gender-based violence.
"When a deepening economic crisis and instability coincide with a devastating pandemic and a major disaster, the consequences for children and families can be catastrophic," she said. "In addition, the impact of removing price subsidies on the country's most vulnerable households will be tremendous. This is an unprecedented situation, and it demands a similarly unprecedented response to ensure the wellbeing and continued access to essential services for children and the most vulnerable".
With inflation already at 131% in the year to September 2020, prices set to rise even further, and soaring currency devaluation -among other factors-, the impact of these compounding crisis will further increase the risk of instability and of households falling into poverty and vulnerability.
To address and mitigate the impact of this crisis, UNICEF calls on the government for rapid and large-scale expansion of its social protection system and programmes including cash transfers with an integrated package of learning, child protection and social assistance - critical investments that address immediate financial needs and lay the foundation for Lebanon to prepare for future shocks. "We call for the protection and long-term assistance to the most vulnerable children to keep them and their families safe from negative coping mechanisms", remarked Yukie Mokuo.
"Without concerted action, more families will be pushed into poverty and vulnerability, and the poorest could face levels of deprivation that have not been seen for many years. Reaching more children, young people and families require urgent and sustained support," she added. "Working together, we can ensure the most vulnerable children -including refugees, children living with disabilities and girls at risk of violence- are kept healthy, safe and learning".
UNICEF will continue to advocate for a response that protects the most vulnerable, while working with our donors and partners on the ground. In 2020, UNICEF continued to respond to needs of children and their families across the country by providing humanitarian assistance and supporting access to essential services.
Key Highlights:
- 293,270 children with equitable access to formal educational and 27,000 with non-formal remote learning.
- 25,000 young people supported with competency based and vocational training programs to increase their employability and develop their business ideas.
- 194 Primary Healthcare Centers provided with medical supplies to to fight COVID-19 and protect frontline workers.
- 365,000 children vaccinated against measles and polio thanks to the 1.7 million doses of vaccines that were saved from the Central Supply Warehouse in Karantina after the explosions.
- 70,000 vulnerable children affected by the economic crisis across the country are receiving a cash grant, while 80,000 vulnerable children and individuals affected by the explosions are receiving a one-off emergency cash transfer.
- 20,765 people in 4,080 household were provided with access to water in areas damaged by the explosions.
- Over 22,000 children under 5 provided with essential nutrition supplements.
- Over 33,000 people coping with the psychological impact of the explosions have
received support.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 20-21/2020

WHO Says New Coronavirus Variant 'Not Out of Control'
Agence France Presse/December 21/2020
The new coronavirus variant discovered in Britain with a higher transmission rate is not yet out of control, the World Health Organization said on Monday, urging measures to help stop its spread. "In some senses it means we have to work harder. Even if the virus has become a little bit more efficient in spreading, the virus can be stopped," WHO's emergencies chief Michael Ryan said in a press conference. "So this situation is not in that sense out of control. But it cannot be left to its own devices."

EU Approves Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine
Agence France Presse/December 21/2020
The EU formally approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Monday after it was given the greenlight as safe by the European Medicines Agency, the bloc's regulator. "Based on this scientific assessment, we proceeded to authorize it for the European Union market," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a video statement. "As we have promised, this vaccine will be available for EU countries at the same time on the same conditions," she said, adding that the rollout would begin on December 27.

UK Isolated over Virus Strain as EU Watchdog Approves Vaccine
Agence France Presse/December 21/2020
Countries around the world closed their borders to Britain Monday in a race to contain a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus as the European Union neared approval of its first jab for the bloc's vaccination campaign. Dozens of countries from India to Argentina suspended flights from the UK in fear of the new virus strain, delivering a bleak reminder that the pandemic is far from under control a year after it began even as vaccinations bring a rush of optimism. European stocks, oil prices and the British pound all plummeted over the developments. Thousands of people are still dying daily from the virus that has claimed at least 1.69 million lives over the past year since it first emerged in China. While experts say there is no evidence the UK variant of the virus -- one of several mutations -- is more lethal or will affect the impact of vaccines, it may be up to 70 percent more transmissible, according to early data. The rapid response of flight cancellations upended travel plans around the world just as families were preparing to unite for Christmas. "Please help us leave!" said one British traveler who was among dozens held overnight in German airports, unable to leave until virus tests come back negative. Others are now moored in the UK for the foreseeable future. Beth Gabriel Ware, a Briton who lives in Turkey, flew home earlier this month to surprise her parents in Kent, south-east England -- but is now stuck. "I hadn't been in the UK for about 10 months, because I was so scared of this happening," she lamented.
EU watchdog approves jab
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was to hold a crisis meeting about the situation Monday, with particular concern about the disruption of goods from France, which imposed a 48-hour blockade on people and lorries crossing the English Channel.
The move came just as companies are racing to shift merchandise before Britain finally quits European Union trade structures after Brexit. "The absolute key is to get it resolved as soon as possible," transport minister Grant Shapps told Sky News on Monday.
Yet the Netherlands, another key sea route from Europe to Britain, confirmed its freight routes to the UK remained open despite banning all passenger ferries. The chaos comes as the EU prepared to launch its first inoculation efforts within days after a regulator approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Monday. "At this moment there is no evidence to suggest this vaccine will not work against the new variant," assured Emer Cooke, chief of the European Medicines Agency. BioNTech and Pfizer said they were "standing by ready" to deliver their vaccines once the European Commission gives the final nod. The United States and UK have already approved the jab and administered tens of thousands of shots, while Russia and China have been using their own domestically-produced vaccines.
Multiple variants
Scientists say the coronavirus has changed into different variants as it has spread around the world. The UK strain has also been detected in small numbers in Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands, while another variant with similar genetic mutations have been linked to widespread Covid-19 transmission in South Africa, according to the World Health Organization. There is currently "no evidence to indicate any change in disease severity, but this is also under investigation," WHO said in a statement. UK scientists first discovered the particularly fast-spreading mutation in a patient in September. By the week beginning December 9, the new strain was accounting for 60 percent of cases in London, said Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser. While Russia, Spain, India and others joined the list of countries banning flights from the UK on Monday, Australia and the US have held off. Americans, still suffering the world's highest death tolls, were bracing for relief after lawmakers reached a deal Sunday on a nearly $900 billion Covid-19 financial package. The measure, which Congress is expected to approve Monday, would include aid for vaccine distribution and logistics, extra jobless benefits of $300 per week, and a new round of $600 stimulus checks. Wall Street stocks nevertheless opened lower Monday as worries over the UK's virus strain dampened optimism on the stimulus bill.

U.S. Nuclear Submarine Crosses Strait of Hormuz in Show of Force
Agence France Presse/December 21/2020
A U.S. nuclear submarine crossed the Strait of Hormuz Monday in a new show of force directed at Iran as the anniversary of the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani by a U.S. drone approached. The USS Georgia can carry 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles and 66 special forces soldiers, according to a statement from the U.S. Navy, which usually does not disclose the presence of its submersibles around the world. The statement is illustrated with photos showing the USS Georgia at the surface, escorted by the cruisers USS Port Royal and USS Philippine Sea, in the strategic strait that Iran regularly threatens to block. The Georgia's presence "demonstrates the United States' commitment to regional partners and maritime security with a full spectrum of capabilities to remain ready to defend against any threat at any time," the Navy warned. U.S. military officials fear an attack by Tehran to avenge the powerful Soleimani, who was assassinated on January 3, 2020 in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport in Iraq. The head of U.S. forces in the Middle East, General Frank McKenzie, told journalists Sunday that Washington is "prepared to react" if Iran attacks them. The anniversary will coincide with a reduction in U.S. military strength in Iraq, and the Pentagon has stepped up demonstrations of force in recent weeks to deter opponents.  Two US B-52 bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, flew over the Gulf region on December 10, and the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz crossed the Gulf waters at the end of November. A rocket salvo on Sunday targeted the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, causing damage but no casualties. The attack was the third against U.S. military and diplomatic facilities since an October truce with pro-Iran Iraqi factions ended a year-long series of attacks on foreign facilities across Iraq.
 

Iran urged not to waste ‘last window of opportunity’ for nuclear deal
The Associated Press/Berlin Monday 21 December 2020
Countries trying to keep alive the 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear program agreed Monday to “positively address” the possibility of a US return to the accord under the Biden administration. Germany’s foreign minister urged Iran not to waste what he called a final window of opportunity. Monday’s virtual meeting of parties to the agreement — the first at the level of foreign ministers in over a year — came as the deal is in what German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called a “downward spiral” caused by a mixture of strong US pressure on Iran and Tehran’s violations of the accord.
The remaining countries that signed the agreement with Iran — Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia — have been trying to keep it from collapsing after the unilateral withdrawal of the US in 2018. The three European powers have expressed hope that with the change of administrations in Washington, the US could be brought back into the deal, whose goal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb — something Tehran insists it doesn’t want to do. President-elect Joe Biden has said he hopes to return the US to the deal, which was negotiated while he was vice president.
Complicating that, Iran is now in violation of most major restrictions set out in the agreement, including the amount of enriched uranium it is allowed to stockpile and the purity to which it is allowed to enrich uranium.
A joint statement released after Monday’s meeting said participants in the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, “re-emphasized their commitment to preserve the agreement” and discussed the fact that “full and effective implementation of the JCPOA by all remains crucial.”
“Ministers acknowledged the prospect of a return of the US to the JCPOA and underlined their readiness to positively address this in a joint effort,” the statement said. “We are standing at a crossroads today,” Germany’s Maas told reporters in Berlin, adding that the deal’s survival or otherwise will be determined in the coming weeks and months. The European powers stressed Monday that “just a commitment” to the accord on everyone’s part is not enough, Maas said. “To make possible a rapprochement under Biden, there must be no more technical maneuvers of the kind we have seen plenty in recent times — they would do nothing but further undermine the agreement,” he added. “The opportunity that is now being offered — this last window of opportunity — must not be squandered,” Maas said. “We made that very clear today to Iran in particular.”The deal promises Iran economic incentives in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, but with the reinstatement of American sanctions, the other nations have been struggling to provide Iran the assistance it seeks. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who also attended the meeting, tweeted that “I made it absolutely clear Iran must not implement the recently announced expansions to its nuclear program. To do so would undermine the opportunities for progress we hope to see in 2021.” Despite Iran’s violations, the International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that Tehran continues to give inspectors full access to its nuclear sites — a key reason the JCPOA member nations say it is worth preserving.

US prepared to 'react' if Iran tries to avenge Qassem Soleimani killing: Top General
AFP/Monday 21 December 2020
Washington is "prepared to react" if Tehran launches an attack to mark the first anniversary of the killing of powerful Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, the head of US forces in the Middle East warned Sunday. "We are prepared to defend ourselves, our friends and partners in the region, and we're prepared to react if necessary," General Kenneth McKenzie, who heads the US Central Command (Centcom), told journalists. He was touring the region weeks before the anniversary of the January 3, 2020 killing of Soleimani by a US drone strike near the Baghdad airport. "My assessment is we are in a very good position and we'll be prepared for anything the Iranians or their proxies acting for them might choose to do," McKenzie, a four-star marine general, told a small group of journalists in a telephone interview from an undisclosed location in the region. The Centcom commander said he had recently visited Baghdad, where he met with the head of the anti-jihadist coalition, American General Paul Calvert, as well as the Iraqi army chief of staff, General Abdul Amir Yarallah. McKenzie said he had also gone to Syria to meet with American forces deployed in the small southern base at Al-Tanf, near the border with Jordan and Iraq.
In an apparent sign of US military leaders' concerns about Iranian intentions after Soleimani's killing, McKenzie's current tour was not announced in advance. Similarly, last week's visits by General Mark Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Afghanistan were kept secret until he had left the region. "I talk to my commanders about it every day and I think we will be ready," McKenzie said. Even as the US Army continues troop withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan ordered by President Donald Trump -- with a goal of drawing down to 2,500 in each country by January 15 -- the Pentagon has substantially reinforced its posture around Iraq to dissuade Iran from launching any attack. The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz has been patrolling Gulf waters since late November, and two American B-52 bombers recently overflew the region in a demonstration of strength clearly aimed at Iran and its allies. Still, a volley of rockets exploded Sunday near the US embassy in Baghdad, causing material damage but no casualties, according to Iraqi security forces. It was the third attack on American military and diplomatic installations there since an indefinite truce was agreed with pro-Iranian groups in October.

US calls on Iraq's leaders to prevent attacks after rockets targeted Green Zone
Tuqa Khalid/Al Arabiya English/Monday 21 December 2020
The United States embassy in Baghdad urged Iraq's leaders to work on preventing attacks on foreign targets in the country, after a rocket attack targeted the American embassy's compound in the Green Zone on Sunday. Eight rockets targeted the US Embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone late Sunday, Iraq's military and Iraqi officials said, sparking fears of renewed unrest as next month's anniversary of the US slaying of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani draws near. "The US Embassy confirms rockets targeting the International Zone resulted in the engagement of Embassy defensive systems. There was some minor damage on the Embassy compound but no injuries or casualties," the embassy said on Twitter. "We have received reports of damage to residential areas near the US Embassy and possibly some injuries to innocent Iraqi civilians. As we have said many times these sorts of attacks on diplomatic facilities are a violation of international law and are a direct assault on the sovereignty of the Iraqi government," it added. "We call on all Iraqi political and governmental leaders to take steps to prevent such attacks and hold accountable those responsible." The attack is the third on US military and diplomatic installations since a truce in October largely put an end to a year of rocket and roadside bomb attacks on foreign installations across Iraq. The first, on November 17, saw a volley of rockets slam into the US embassy and various parts of the Iraqi capital, killing one young woman. On December 10, two convoys transporting logistical equipment for the US-led coalition helping Iraqi troops fight jihadists were targeted with roadside bombs. The attacks have been claimed by groups that both US and Iraqi officials have described as smokescreens for well-known Iran-aligned armed factions in Iraq.
Tensions have been high ahead of January 3 anniversary of the 2019 US drone strike in Baghdad that killed Soleimani and leading Iraqi paramilitary figure Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The US diplomatic mission has already partially withdrawn its staff due to security concerns, two senior Iraqi officials told AFP earlier this month. They described the move as a "minor drawdown based on security reservations from the US side," and said it was not a rupture of diplomatic ties. Iraqi and Western officials see a turbulent few weeks ahead of the White House handover from President Donald Trump, who has pursued a "maximum pressure" policy against Iran that has also squeezed its allies next door in Iraq. They did not rule out last-minute military action by the Trump administration on Iranian interests in Iraq, or a possible escalation by Iran-backed groups around Baghdad.- With AFP

Turkey sentences Kurdish ex-MP Guven to 22 years in jail
AFP/Diyarbakir Monday 21 December 2020
A Turkish court on Monday sentenced a prominent Kurdish former lawmaker who went on a months-long hunger strike to more than 22 years in jail on terror-related charges. Leyla Guven, a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker who was stripped of her parliamentary immunity in June, was convicted of membership of a terror group and disseminating terror propaganda for outlawed Kurdish militants, an AFP reporter said. Guven, 56, launched a 200-day hunger strike in 2018 in a bid to end jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan's isolation by securing him access to his family and lawyers. Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is blacklisted by Ankara and its Western allies as a terror group, has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.He has been serving a life sentence for treason on a prison island off Istanbul since his 1999 capture. Despite his almost complete isolation, he is still a key figure of the Kurdish insurgency and the movement generally in the region. In May last year, he called for an end to hunger strikes by thousands of jailed supporters in Turkey, who were surviving by drinking only salty and sugary water. Ocalan was allowed to meet his brother Mehmet for the first time in more than two years on January 12 last year, but details of the meeting have not been made public. In May last year, he was allowed to see his lawyers for the first time in eight years. Guven was in custody on separate charges when she launched her hunger strike. She was freed under judicial control last year after serving a one-year term for labelling the Turkish military operation against a Syrian Kurdish militia an “invasion.” The government accuses the HDP of links to the PKK, which the party denies. Guven's daughter Sabiha Temizkan said her mother was convicted for her work with the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Congress (DTK), a civil society group which has not been banned by the Turkish state but remains under scrutiny. In a tweet, Temizkan called the Turkish government “the enemy of the law.”
 

Egypt reports bird flu outbreak in rural areas, state of emergency declared
The Associated Press/Cairo Monday 21 December 2020
Local authorities in rural Egypt have declared a state of emergency after detecting two outbreaks of bird flu. Nagy Awad, head of the veterinary agency in the southwestern province of al-Wadi al-Gedid, said Sunday that avian influenza was detected in two poultry farms in the villages of Ezab el-Qasr and Oweina in the Dakhla Oasis, located over 750 kilometers (470 miles) from the capital, Cairo. He said the infected birds were culled and authorities have carried out medical examinations of people who were in contact with them. The virus, which is mainly spread through contact with infected animals, can cause severe illness or death in humans. Egypt suffered a major outbreak of bird flu in 2006 that led to the suspension of all poultry exports. Authorities have been pressing to renew them, and earlier this year, the World Organization for Animal Health, an intergovernmental body, had declared Egypt free of bird flu for the first time in 14 years. The H5N1 strain of bird flu spread in early 2000s in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, leading to the slaughter of tens of millions of chickens and ducks. Hundreds of people were infected, many of whom died, according to the World Health Organization. Egypt is at high risk because many of its poultry farms are in residential areas. Many Egyptians also raise pigeons and chickens at home to supplement their income. Even in dense urban areas, birds are kept on rooftops, balconies and courtyards.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 20-21/2020

Austria: Top Court Overturns Headscarf Ban
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/December 21/2020
The case highlights the constitutional restraints that European governments face in regulating political Islam and promoting integration.
"A regulation that only affects a certain group of female students and that remains selective in order to ensure religious and ideological neutrality as well as gender equality misses its regulatory goal and is irrelevant. §43a SchUG therefore violates the principle of equality in connection with the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion." — Austria's Constitutional Court, December 11, 2020.
"The prohibition of the wearing of Islamic headscarves in elementary schools was never intended to be a restriction of religious freedom, but rather as a protective mechanism against sexualization and Islamic oppression of underage children.... Unfortunately, this judgment is a step backwards in terms of civilization." — Leader of the Freedom Party in Upper Austria, Manfred Haimbuchner.
The Austrian Constitutional Court has ruled that Austria's ban on the wearing of headscarves in public schools violates the freedom of religion and the freedom of expression and therefore is unconstitutional. Pictured: The Austrian Constitutional Court building in Vienna. (Image source: Bwag/CC-BY-SA-4.0/Wikimedia Commons)
The Austrian Constitutional Court has ruled that Austria's ban on the wearing of headscarves in public schools violates the freedom of religion and the freedom of expression and therefore is unconstitutional.
The case highlights the constitutional restraints that European governments face in regulating political Islam and promoting integration.
The headscarf ban, introduced in June 2019 by a governing coalition comprised of the center-right People's Party (ÖVP) and the populist Freedom Party (FPÖ), was an extension of a groundbreaking October 2017 "Integration Law" that sought to improve the integration of Muslims into Austrian society.
The 2017 law banned face coverings — including burkas, niqabs or masks — in public spaces. The 2019 law extended that ban to preclude children under the age of ten from wearing headscarves in primary schools.
The 2019 law, which did not explicitly refer to Muslims or Islam, banned "any clothing that is ideological or religious and that involves covering the head." The law defined head coverings as "any type of clothing that covers the entire head hair or large parts of it." The text explained that the law was necessary to promote "the social integration of children according to local customs and traditions, the preservation of the basic constitutional values ​​and educational goals of the Federal Constitution, as well as the equality of men and women."
At the time, the government clarified that the law did not ban the patka head covering worn by Sikh boys or skullcaps worn by Jewish boys.
Austria's Islamic Faith Community (Islamische Glaubensgemeinschaft in Österreich, IGGÖ), an official Muslim umbrella group, condemned the law as "destructive" and a "direct assault on the religious freedom of Austrian Muslims." The group vowed to challenge the law at Austria's constitutional court.
In January 2020, the IGGÖ filed a lawsuit after Minister of Integration, Susanne Raab, announced that the government would apply the headscarf ban to girls up to 14 years of age. In its lawsuit, IGGÖ said that in Vienna, two girls wearing a hijab were prohibited from attending class, but that their parents relented after discussions with the school management.
In its December 11 ruling, Austria's Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof, VfGH) stated:
"Pursuant to Section 43a, Paragraph 1, Clause 1 of the School Education Act [§43a SchUG], schoolchildren are prohibited from wearing ideologically or religious clothing that involves covering the head until the end of the school year in which they turn ten.
"Two children and their parents opposed this regulation. The children are raised religiously in the Sunni or Shiite legal school of Islam. In this provision, which is ultimately aimed at the Islamic headscarf (hijab), you see a disproportionate interference with the right to religious freedom and religious child-rearing.
"With the decision announced today, the Constitutional Court has lifted this 'headscarf ban' as unconstitutional.
"A regulation that only affects a certain group of female students and that remains selective in order to ensure religious and ideological neutrality as well as gender equality misses its regulatory goal and is irrelevant. §43a SchUG therefore violates the principle of equality in connection with the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion."
In summary, some important points of this ruling:
"The principle of equality, in conjunction with the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, establishes the state's religious and ideological neutrality. When designing the school system, the legislature is required to comply with this requirement by treating various religious and ideological convictions based on the principle of equality. The school is based, among other things, on the basic values ​​of openness and tolerance (Art. 14 Para. 5a B-VG)."
"With §43a SchUG, however, the legislature picks out a specific form of clothing with religious or ideological connotations, which is in one way or another comparable with other, but not forbidden, religious or ideological clothing habits."
"A regulation that selectively picks out a certain religious or ideological conviction by deliberately privileging or disadvantaging such convictions requires a special objective justification with regard to the requirement of religious and ideological neutrality."
"The wearing of the Islamic headscarf is a practice that is applied for various reasons. The possible religious or worldview explanations that headscarf wearers give to justify the wearing of the headscarf, are manifold. By wearing a headscarf, you can simply express your affiliation with Islam or the orientation of your own life to the religious values ​​of Islam. Furthermore, wearing the headscarf can also be interpreted as a sign of belonging to Islamic culture or of adherence to the traditions of the society of origin. The Islamic headscarf therefore has no clear and unambiguous meaning."
"The Constitutional Court is, however, barred from adopting a certain interpretation as its own when there are several possibilities for interpreting a religious or ideological symbol, particularly when it comes to questions of freedom of religion and belief, and to base its assessment of the legal rights of the existence of such symbols in state educational institutions on this."
"The selective ban, which according to §43a SchUG only applies to girls and prohibits them from wearing an Islamic headscarf until the end of the school year in which they reach the age of ten...can also have a detrimental effect on the inclusion of affected schoolgirls and lead to discrimination because it carries the risk of making it difficult for Muslim girls to access education or of marginalizing them from society."
"With regard to the protection of schoolgirls against social pressure from their classmates, a concern raised by the federal government, the Constitutional Court does not fail to recognize that in schools there can also be ideological and religious conflict situations. However, this circumstance cannot justify the selective prohibition...because the prohibition according to §43a SchUG affects precisely those pupils who do not disturb the school peace themselves."
"It is incumbent on the legislature to create suitable instruments for conflict resolution, taking into account the requirement of neutrality and the constitutional educational mandate, should the legally provided educational and security measures for the maintenance of the school rules not be sufficient to resolve such conflict situations and to end forms of gender-related or religiously justified bullying."
IGGÖ President Ümit Vural welcomed the high court ruling:
"The IGGÖ opposes coercion of any form. We neither approve of a derogatory attitude towards women who decide against the headscarf out of personal conviction, nor can we agree to the restriction of religious freedom of those Muslim women who understand the headscarf as an integral part of their lived religious practice.
"The lawsuit was directed against the undermining of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution, freedom of belief, conscience and religion as well as equality before the law."
Minister of Education Heinz Faßmann said that the high court's ruling was regrettable: "It does not give girls the opportunity to make their way through the education system free of coercion."
Minister for Women Susanne Raab said that the government would accept the decision "because we live in a constitutional state." At the same time, she said, from both an integration perspective as well as from a women's political point of view, the ruling was "regrettable when little girls have to wear a headscarf and cover themselves in primary school."
FPÖ leader Norbert Hofer expressed defiance: "With a two-thirds majority in the National Council [lower house of Parliament], we have the opportunity to put the regulation back into force through a constitutional law."
FPÖ city councilor for Vienna Dominik Nepp said the ruling was "a sad day for children's rights and a dramatic kneeling to political Islam." He called for an "immediate correction by the National Council so that the headscarf as a symbol of political Islam and sexualization is not offered in kindergarten and elementary school."
The leader of the FPÖ in Upper Austria, Manfred Haimbuchner, said that the ruling amounted to a "civilizational regression for society." He added:
"The prohibition of the wearing of Islamic headscarves in elementary schools was never intended to be a restriction of religious freedom, but rather as a protective mechanism against sexualization and Islamic oppression of underage children. We must accept the fact that the Constitutional Court has now repealed this law as unconstitutional.
"Unfortunately, this judgment is a step backwards in terms of civilization. The door has now been opened to a religiously motivated oppression of girls, an oppression that we do not want in our society.
"Therefore, it is now important to study this judgment carefully and to draw conclusions from it as to how such a ban can still be implemented for the benefit of the children. The search for a constitutional majority for appropriate legislation in parliament is of course an option."
Austria's Muslim population now exceeds 700,000 (or roughly 8% of the total population), up from an estimated 340,000 (or 4.25%) in 2001 and 150,000 (or 2%) in 1990, according to data compiled by the University of Vienna. If high levels of migration continue, the Muslim population of Austria is forecast to reach nearly 20% of the total population by 2050, according to the Pew Research Center.
The massive demographic and religious shift underway in Austria, traditionally a Roman Catholic country, appears irreversible. In Vienna, where the Muslim population now exceeds 12.5%, Muslim students already outnumber Catholic students at middle and secondary schools. Muslim students are also on the verge of overtaking Catholics in Viennese elementary schools.
At the same time, Austria has emerged as a major base for radical Islam. Austria's Agency for State Protection and Counterterrorism (BVT) has warned of the "exploding radicalization of the Salafist scene in Austria." Salafism can be described as an anti-Western ideology that seeks to replace liberal democracy with Islamic law.
In other European countries, courts have also overturned government attempts to regulate political Islam. The results have often been inconclusive and confusing.
In Germany, for instance, the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) in March 2015 overturned a blanket headscarf ban in schools and emphasized the importance of religious freedom. Since then, every federal state has developed different regulations on the wearing of headscarves in schools. In January 2020, that same court ruled that a headscarf ban for legal trainees is constitutional.
In Spain, the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) in February 2013 ruled that a municipal ordinance banning the wearing of Islamic burkas in public spaces in Catalonia was unconstitutional. The Catalan government responded by approving a region-wide burka ban.
In France, girls have been prohibited from wearing headscarves in schools since 2004. In July 2010, France's Constitutional Council (Conseil Constitutionnel), the country's top legal authority, approved a law banning full-face veils in public. The law, which prohibits the wearing of burkas and niqabs in all public spaces in France, took effect in April 2011.
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 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.

Biden Shouldn’t Rush to Restore the Iran Nuclear Deal
John Hannah/Foreign Policy/December 21/2020
Moving quickly to resurrect the JCPOA, as Biden seems set to do, would start his presidency with a hugely divisive controversy.
It’s now clear that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is determined to resurrect the Iran nuclear deal—formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—as soon as possible after his Jan. 20 inauguration. Both Biden and his designated national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, have given recent interviews in which they underscore their intent to make Tehran a straightforward offer: If Iran comes back into compliance with the deal, the United States will do likewise. Iran would bring its nuclear activities back within the JCPOA’s limits, while the United States would ease sanctions imposed since outgoing President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the deal in 2018.
Rushing to restore the Iran deal virtually guarantees that Biden will start his presidency with a hugely divisive controversy. Such a step flies in the face of advice from JCPOA skeptics, who have urged Biden not to rush back into the deal. Rather than squander the leverage built up by Trump’s maximum-pressure campaign for no higher purpose than restoring a flawed arms-control agreement, Biden should exploit that leverage (and Iran’s desperate economic straits) to negotiate a better deal. Such a revised deal would delay or even remove the JCPOA’s sunset clauses—which provide for restrictions on nuclear activities to eventually be lifted. Or better yet, ban entirely Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts. Or better still, include constraints on Iran’s most threatening non-nuclear activities, especially its missile programs and regional aggression.
Biden and his team have yet to be convinced. While agreeing on the importance of a JCPOA 2.0—a follow-on agreement in which the constraints on Iran’s malign behaviors are both longer and stronger— they don’t see pursing it as a viable short-term strategy. On the contrary, they clearly fear that a failure to restore the original JCPOA is the surest route not to a better deal, but to a dangerous expansion of the Iranian nuclear program, an escalation of regional tensions, and perhaps even war.
Needless to say, an all-consuming crisis over Iran’s nuclear program has no place in Biden’s agenda, which he has promised will be intently focused on tackling the daunting array of challenges now confronting the American people—from the devastation wrought by COVID-19 to racial inequality, climate change, and competition with China.
Whatever benefits Biden might see in buckling to Iran’s extortion, the risks and potential costs should also be apparent.
That explains the allure of a rapid return to the JCPOA that promises some measure of de-escalation by reversing Iran’s recent nuclear expansion and, in Sullivan’s words, “put its program back in a box” and “time back on the clock.” Biden, similarly, told the New York Times that his overwhelming priority with Iran—and “the best way to achieve getting some stability in the region”—was to bring its nuclear program back under control. Once that was done, Biden said, “in consultation with our allies and partners, we’re going to engage in negotiations and follow-on agreements to tighten and lengthen Iran’s nuclear constraints, as well as address the missile program.”
Concerns about the current trajectory of Iran’s nuclear progress are well founded. “We’re in a dangerous situation,” Sullivan told the Wall Street Journal. “Since the United States left [the JCPOA], Iran has moved closer to a nuclear weapon.” That includes expanding its uranium stockpile, enriching to higher levels of purity, and testing more powerful centrifuges. And just two weeks ago, Iran’s parliament dramatically raised the stakes, passing a law that would require the government—within Biden’s first weeks in office should sanctions relief not be forthcoming—to embark upon its most far-reaching violations of the JCPOA yet, including deploying thousands of advanced centrifuges, building a stockpile of uranium enriched to 20 percent, and placing major constraints on inspectors. All in all, it’s an exquisite act of nuclear blackmail designed to send an unmistakable message to Biden: Either lift sanctions or face a nuclear crisis that could derail your presidency almost before it starts.
Whatever benefits Biden might see in buckling to Iran’s extortion, the risks and potential costs should also be apparent. The U.S. domestic backlash is certain to be fierce—from the majority of Republicans, for sure, and perhaps even a few prominent Democrats. It’s worth recalling that the top two Democrats on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Bob Menendez and Ben Cardin, not to mention Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, all opposed the JCPOA in 2015. That fight was one of the most bitter of President Barack Obama’s tenure and there’s no reason to believe that a second round would be any easier. Biden has suggested that his presidency’s north star will be rebuilding bipartisan consensus to address the country’s most urgent problems. Opting for a bruising battle over granting an economic lifeline to Iran’s terror-sponsoring regime has all the markings of a poison pill that could derail that agenda.
Biden’s difficulties will be further exacerbated by the international reaction. Whatever chits he earns with pro-JCPOA Europeans will be offset by the opposition triggered among Washington’s most consequential allies in the Middle East. If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood alone railing against the deal five years ago, he’s likely to have significant company this time around, particularly from U.S. partners in the Gulf. Things could get ugly quickly, with charges of betrayal flying fast and furious. Biden’s bid to restore U.S. credibility internationally could take a substantial beating.
Then there are the substantive risks associated with rejoining the JCPOA. Far and away the most important is the preemptive surrender of pressure on Iran before any of the original agreement’s flaws are addressed. Once Iran is free to sell its oil and gain access to billions of dollars, what leverage will Biden have to force Tehran into the follow-on diplomacy that he claims is essential? Liberated from the threat of economic collapse, what incentive would Iran have to make further painful concessions on issues such as its missile programs, which it views as central to its security?
It could be that the Iranians are only bluffing and that their escalation options are in fact heavily constrained.
Biden and his advisors suggest that if Iran resists negotiations, they’d be prepared to reimpose sanctions using the JCPOA’s so-called snapback mechanism. But under the deal’s terms, snapback is limited to instances where Iran is in significant non-performance of its nuclear commitments. It says nothing about any subsequent Iranian obligation to negotiate an extension of the JCPOA’s sunsets, much less agree to limits on its non-nuclear activities. Assuming that Iran returns to and stays in JCPOA compliance, what exactly would Biden’s grounds be for triggering snapback? He and other critics lambasted Trump for leaving the JCPOA at a time when Iran was, according to inspectors, abiding by its terms. How credible is it that Biden would now choose to blow up the agreement for reasons totally outside its terms?
Biden would be smart to task the intelligence community with providing, by Jan. 20, a National Intelligence Estimate that rigorously tests the key assumption underlying any decision to rejoin the JCPOA: that otherwise Iran will dramatically escalate its nuclear program and war will become more likely. Or could Elliott Abrams, Trump’s special envoy for Iran, be right instead when he argues that maximum pressure has made the Iranian regime so vulnerable that it will soon have no choice but to sue for economic relief on U.S. terms?
Others, such as the New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, have suggested that the Biden team’s worries about Iranian nuclear blackmail are overblown. It could be that the Iranians are only bluffing and that their escalation options are in fact heavily constrained—not only by their desperation to see sanctions lifted, but more importantly by their understanding that if they push too far, they will face the implacable determination of an Israel that has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to do whatever it takes to stop Iran’s progress toward a bomb.
A National Intelligence Estimate could shed important light on these competing claims and scenarios and help inform what is likely to be one of the most fateful choices of Biden’s presidency. Should the assessment end up supporting his instinct to rejoin the JCPOA, it could also serve as important ammunition in his efforts to manage domestic opposition and fretful friends in the Middle East. Biden’s hand would be stronger still if the U.S. assessment incorporated the views of Washington’s most capable intelligence allies, especially Israel and Britain.
Biden’s hand would be stronger if the U.S. assessment incorporated the views of Washington’s most capable intelligence allies.
In addition to an intelligence assessment that buttresses his position, Biden would be wise to couple any return to the JCPOA with something approaching a guarantee that would commit to triggering the snapback of sanctions automatically if, within a proscribed time period such as one year, Iran is not engaged in serious follow-on negotiations on the full range of U.S. concerns. It would be better still if Biden’s new snapback guarantee has the upfront backing of Washington’s key European partners. It would also be smart to include a bipartisan delegation from Congress in any follow-on diplomacy that could monitor progress and act as a check on any administration tendency to prevaricate or avoid hard decisions.
None of these measures will prevent the firestorm that surely awaits any attempt to restore the deeply flawed JCPOA. But they might help mitigate at least some of the costs that such a course will inevitably incur. Most importantly, Biden needs to have subjected his own policy biases to rigorous challenge and competing arguments that leave him convinced that, despite all the downsides, the game is truly worth the candle in terms of U.S. vital interests. Otherwise, he may be—to paraphrase scripture—be left to wonder: “What does it profit a man if he gains the JCPOA but loses his presidency?”
*John Hannah is a senior counselor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former national security advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney. FDD is a nonpartisan think tank focused on foreign policy and national security issues.

The EU Needs to Stand Up for the Human Rights It Proclaims
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/December 21, 2020
One year later, the EU now has a Magnitsky-system. No sanctions, however, have been suggested, whether by member states or by [High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy] Borrell himself.
"Sanctions are triggered when a Member State puts forward a proposal," Borrell answered, without acknowledging that he himself has the authority to put forward such a proposal. "For the time being, no one has done it.... Let us see in the future; for the time being my concrete answer is clear".
Crucially, the EU does not want to jeopardize the finalization of the EU-China Comprehensive Investment Agreement, which the EU and China have sought to realize for seven years now.
The US has sanctioned at least 28 Chinese officials over their actions in Xinjiang.
When asked whether Germany and the EU should enter into an investment agreement with China, while Uighurs there are being subjected to forced labor, German Chancellor Angela Merkel effectively dodged the question, saying she would "rather not answer hypothetical questions". Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) chats with Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron (second from right) and then European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the Élysée in Paris on March 26, 2019.
More proof that China is committing grave human rights abuses against Uighurs in Xinjiang has emerged. New evidence suggests that Uighurs, in addition to being detained in reeducation camps and coerced into working in textile manufacturing factories, are also forced to pick cotton.
Twenty percent of the world's cotton is sourced in Xinjiang, in addition to 85% of China's cotton being produced there. China is the world's largest producer and exporter of yarn, and the largest producer and exporter of textiles and apparel.
In addition, China has been discovered to use technology that arbitrarily selects Uighurs for detention through a data program that collects data about them and flags to officials those it deems potentially threatening for possible detention.
The recent discoveries come just a week after the European Union (EU) adopted its new Magnitsky-style global human rights sanctions regime on December 7, which allows the EU to target individuals, entities and bodies, including state and non-state actors, "responsible for, involved in or associated with serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide". According to the EU's new sanctions regime, any member state or the current High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, can propose sanctions, which it is then up to the collective of member states to adopt.
A year ago, in December 2019, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that called on the EU to impose targeted sanctions and asset-freezes on Chinese officials responsible for human rights violations toward the Uighurs, including a ban of Chinese exports into the EU produced with forced labor. Borrell told the European Parliament at the time:
"About sanctions, it is true that the Americans, the U.S. have been very much active in imposing sanctions on Chinese officials, 28 Chinese governmental institutions and companies for their role in Xinjiang. We have not done it. We have a different system.
"You know that I am trying to improve it by launching an initiative that could allow us to approve something equivalent to the Magnitsky Act. We will inform you about the work that we have already started. I need unanimity in the Council in order to do such a thing. I will fight for it."
One year later, the EU now has a Magnitsky-system. No sanctions, however, have been suggested, whether by member states or by Borrell himself.
At the press conference about the adoption of the new human rights sanctions regime on December 7, 2020, Borrell was asked, now that the EU had its Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime in place, whether Chinese officials involved in the repression of the Uighurs should and would be considered for human right sanctions. Without acknowledging that he himself has the authority to put forward such a proposal, Borrell answered:
"Sanctions are triggered when a Member State puts forward a proposal. For the time being, no one has done it. Once again, it does not prevent that from happening in the future; but for the time being, on your specific question, no Member State has put on the table a proposal for sanctions. Let us see in the future; for the time being my concrete answer is clear".
On December 17, the European Parliament adopted instead a strongly-worded condemnation of China's actions in Xinjiang. The parliament deplored "the ongoing persecution and the serious and systematic human rights violations" as "crimes against humanity" and welcomed the adoption of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. It called on the EU's Member States, and Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell,
"to swiftly evaluate the adoption of sanctions against the Chinese officials and state-led entities... responsible for devising and implementing the policy of mass detention of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, for the use of forced labour, and for orchestrating the severe repression of religious freedom, freedom of movement and other basic rights in the region and in other places, such as Tibet..."
The parliament also regretted "the fact that the approach taken and the tools used by the EU so far have not yielded tangible progress in China's human rights record which has only deteriorated over the last decade".
In contrast to the EU, the US Congress passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act in June 2019, and on September 22, 2020, the US House of Representatives passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The US has sanctioned at least 28 Chinese officials over their actions in Xinjiang. The list includes senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials, such as current Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, who executes Chinese government policy in the region. He is also the current First Political Commissar of the XPCC, a role in which he has exercised control over the entity. According to the US Department of the Treasury:
"The XPCC is a paramilitary organization in the XUAR that is subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The XPCC enhances internal control over the region by advancing China's vision of economic development in XUAR that emphasizes subordination to central planning and resource extraction. The XPCC's structure reflects a military organization, with 14 divisions made up of dozens of regiments... [Chen Quanguo]... has a notorious history of intensifying security operations in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, where he was deployed before arriving in Xinjiang..."
Meanwhile, the European Council, consisting of the heads of state of the EU member states and that is currently presided over by Germany, is unlikely to demand anything from China, let alone sanction it or do anything that might jeopardize its trade with Europe. This year, for the first time, China became the EU's largest trading partner, surpassing the US.
Crucially, the EU does not want to jeopardize the finalization of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, which the EU and China have sought to realize for seven years now. According to a December 17 report by the Financial Times:
"China and the EU are rushing to meet a year-end deadline to seal a long-awaited investment agreement, in a sign of the bloc's push to build strategic ties with Beijing, even as it revives relations with the US.
"The likelihood of the accord being settled soon is rising despite the disruption caused by the coronavirus crisis, officials from both sides have said.
"A shift by Beijing in the important area of market access has given the process additional momentum, EU officials said.
"The EU has long yearned for an agreement to allow its companies wider entry to the Chinese market, and the two sides agreed last year that it should be concluded by the end of 2020. Securing a deal would be a diplomatic coup for both powers."
Referring to the new resolution of the European Parliament on the Uighur situation, Member of the German Bundestag for the Greens, Margarete Bause, asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel whether Germany and the EU should enter into an investment agreement with China, while Uighurs there are being subjected to forced labor. Merkel effectively dodged the question, acknowledging that she was aware of the issue, but that as the negotiations were underway, she would "rather not answer hypothetical questions".
When the EU finalizes the EU-China investment agreement, whenever that will be, without any serious preconditions regarding China's human rights abuses, it will have missed a crucial opportunity to mark Europe's commitments to the human rights that it so often proclaims. By rushing into the deal before the year's end, furthermore, the EU will have unilaterally prejudiced any transatlantic cooperation that might have been used to counter China with the incoming US administration. Crucially, the EU will project capitulation -- in the words of the quote attributed to Russia's Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, "The capitalists will sell us the rope with which to hang them" -- whereas China will be emboldened in its human rights violations from Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong to the rest of the Pacific and beyond.
*Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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Getting back on the Paris climate track
Laurence Tubiana/Arab News/December 22/2020
When representatives from nearly 200 countries finalized the Paris climate agreement on Dec. 12, 2015, there were celebrations around the world. But it has now been five years and the world is in a state of deepening uncertainty. The coronavirus disease pandemic has ushered in deepening economic and social crises, as well as a wave of increased indebtedness. The geopolitical landscape is as fractured as it has been in decades and, with global supply chains being reorganized, the prospects for achieving deeper integration through trade are fading.
Yet, despite all the recent turmoil, one certainty remains: The climate crisis and the need to stick with the Paris accord, which is the only roadmap that we have for decarbonizing the global economy. Though the agreement initially met with doubts, its primary mechanisms are proving their efficiency and efficacy, and its target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century is now the point of reference for governments and businesses around the world. A growing number of economic sectors — public and private finance, energy, transport and, increasingly, industry — are setting targets consistent with this objective.
With the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) approaching, the immediate task for governments is to strengthen their climate plans (following the logic of the Paris agreement’s “ratchet mechanism”) to lock in emissions-reduction targets for 2030. Politically, the world has reached a tipping point. Donald Trump’s infamous June 2017 Rose Garden speech announcing America’s withdrawal from the Paris agreement set off a negative domino effect, encouraging Brazil, Australia and Mexico to also temper their climate ambitions. But we are now on the cusp of a positive domino effect, as more governments and sectors realize that decarbonization is the key to future economic competitiveness.
In 2020, ambitious new net-zero commitments by China, Japan, South Korea and the EU were followed by Joe Biden’s election to the US presidency, together marking a decisive shift in the global calculus. In 2021, the G7 and the G20 could both make climate policymaking (not least green finance) the central issue on the global agenda. A majority of members in each group have already established net-zero targets, and thus will need to increase their 2030 benchmarks accordingly. The EU, for example, will need to reduce net emissions by 55 percent by 2030 in order to meet its 2050 goal.
Beyond the latest developments in the US, the EU and China, broader economic trends and the mobilization of non-state actors have lent further momentum to climate action. Since 2015, there has been a 22,000 percent increase in assets committed to fossil-fuel divestments, and many large multinational companies have committed to emissions reductions in line with the Paris agreement.
For example, in late 2020, Malaysia’s state energy giant Petronas joined BP, Shell and Equinor in setting a 2050 net-zero emissions target, while Spain’s Iberdrola, the world’s third-largest utility, announced that it will invest €75 billion ($90 billion) over the next five years to double its renewable energy capacity. Meanwhile, Volkswagen’s CEO has acknowledged that the company’s survival depends on its ability to pivot to electric vehicle production, starting with a €33 billion investment between now and 2024.
We are on the cusp of a positive domino effect, as more governments and sectors realize that decarbonization is the key to future economic competitiveness.
Moreover, cities, regions, companies and financial institutions are increasingly working together on climate action, implying that some countries could exceed their national climate goals, while others — such as Brazil and the US — get back on track. These efforts are all underpinned by strong grassroots support for climate action. Even amid a pandemic, polls show that people are as concerned as ever about climate change and want their governments to do more to protect the planet.
These pressures are creating a virtuous circle. Far from being just words on paper, net-zero commitments are having a significant effect on the real economy. A major trade deal between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), for example, has been blocked by a number of EU member states over concerns about Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s disregard for environmental protections and issues like deforestation. As a result, many Brazilian businesses — including in the beef and soy industries — have been pressuring the Bolsonaro government to change course.
Moreover, in pursuing the European Green Deal, the EU is considering a carbon border adjustment mechanism to put a carbon price on certain imports from outside the bloc. The mechanism will be developed through close engagement with trade partners and could be the beginning of a new era of cooperation, as other countries committed to net-zero targets will have to push their own industries to pursue decarbonization.
Still, we cannot be blindly optimistic. The fact is that we are running out of time. We know that 2010-20 was the hottest period on record and that the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases have continued to rise fast. We know that emissions from fossil fuels and forest fires reached an all-time high in 2019 and we are now regularly confronted with images of melting glaciers, burning rainforests, streets choked with smog, and small islands battered by superstorms. Even in regions or countries where emissions have peaked, the effort to get to net zero by 2050 will need to be stepped up threefold. Other regions, meanwhile, are not even close to meeting the challenge.
With entire economies and societies changing fast, this is the moment for political leadership to push things across the finish line. The new Biden administration will play a critical part in the global response, but the US alone will not solve the problem. In these times of increasingly distributed global leadership, we must all work together. The international community’s next milestones — at the G7, the G20, and COP26 — will be decisive. This is a game of dominoes that we can win.
• Laurence Tubiana, a former French ambassador to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, is CEO of the European Climate Foundation and a professor at Sciences Po, Paris.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2020

The possible outcomes of the diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Iran
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/December 22/2020
The Azeri-Iranian poem recited by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this month at a military parade in Baku triggered a diplomatic crisis between Ankara and Tehran. For Iran’s leadership, matters did not end with summoning the Turkish ambassador over the poem, which recalls the 19th-century Russo-Iranian division of Azerbaijan’s territories; Tehran viewed the poem as a direct assault on Iran’s territorial integrity.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed anger, asserting that the poem incites separatism amongst Iran’s sizeable Azeri minority. The poem mentions the Aras river on the Azeri-Iranian border and recalls the agony suffered by the Azeris following the 1813 Russo-Iranian Treaty of Gulistan, under which the Azeri territories north of the Aras river were granted to the Russian Empire and those to the south were granted to Iran. From Iran’s perspective, the poem was a blatant Turkish attempt to nullify the treaty and allow Azeris to return to pre-Gulistan status.
The poem was recited at a time when competition between Turkey and Iran is raging across several arenas, foremost among which are Syria and Iraq, with both countries aiming to create leverage and acquire new areas of influence within geopolitical “grey areas of competition.” Victory is ultimately attained by gaining points in more than one grey area.
Erdogan’s move came at a delicate juncture, with Turkey aware that the changes taking place in the Iraqi arena are not in Iran’s interests, particularly given the attempts of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi to transition Iraq to real statehood in which the state exercises genuine authority over its territories. This is in addition to rapidly moving developments in Iraqi Kurdistan, strong Russian-Israeli pressure on Iran’s presence in Syria, and changes detrimental to Tehran’s interests in the southern Caucasus following the rise of Azerbaijan’s status as a power aligned with Turkey. Azerbaijan is making gains, with Erdogan taking credit and taking advantage of the new situation to wrest control over a new “grey area of competition” on the Iranian borders in a similar way to Iran maintaining a presence in Syria via its armed militias deployed near the Turkish borders.
More importantly, the Turkish leadership is aware of the need to craft new policies considering the change in Washington. Several observers have suggested that Erdogan’s move was intended to woo Joe Biden, suggesting that Turkey is willing to end its support to Iran despite the current strong relations between the two countries, especially at a time when the US has imposed sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system. Cutting ties with Iran would be consistent with the pragmatic Turkish foreign policy under Erdogan.
During his speech, Erdogan again said that saving Azerbaijan and its territories from occupation did not mean that Baku’s struggle was over, with it likely to continue in both the political and military arenas on several other fronts. This was widely interpreted as Turkey’s vow to continue to fuel Azeri nationalism and unite the Azeri people in one state.
Despite the current cooperation between the two countries, conflict is inevitable given the divisive and polarizing policies pursued by both states
Conflict analysts offer various interpretations of the cooperation and conflict between Turkey and Iran since Erdogan came to power. Despite the current cooperation, conflict is inevitable given the divisive and polarizing policies pursued by both states, the cutthroat competition to claim regional leadership and the overlapping areas of influence in several fields. For example, Erdogan raised the prospect of conflict when he launched an attack in June 2017 on the external misadventures of the Iranian regime in Syria and Iraq. He condemned “Persian expansionism.” He said: “Is Syria a theater for Iran’s sectarian expansionism? Yes, it is. Is Iraq a theater also? Yes, it is. I regard this a Persian expansionism rather than a sectarian one. I should specifically say that I do not approve of this Persian expansionism.”
Nonetheless, analysts link the ebb and flow of relations between the two states to the nature of the global system and how it deals with competing regional powers.
When this system applies the same principles inclusively to all, regional powers, competing for areas of influence and regional leadership, are more likely to suspend hostilities; in such a situation, regional powers are likely to see collective benefits in overlooking any prevailing crises to more effectively face the collective pressures imposed by the global system. It should be noted, however, that this does not imply an absence of mutual hostilities or crises.
This does not mean an end to the crises but indicates that competing regional powers are likely to resort to “competition in the grey areas.” The conflict between regional powers intensifies as the global pressure that had previously brought them together diminishes.
“Postponing” conflict is more prevalent when the global system is unipolar, such as the current US-led one, with the policy of competition in “grey areas” acting as a substitute. Turkey and Iran attempted, during Donald Trump’s presidency, to gain leverage over one another without direct conflict.
This provides an understanding of Iran-Turkish relations throughout Trump’s term, unlike the relationship during Obama’s presidency. Also, it is important to note that despite competition, Turkey stood by Iran during Trump’s term and rejected US sanctions, leading to Ankara facing similar sanctions.
However, Biden’s election has raised concerns in Ankara that Iran will benefit by changing the course of its policies from those implemented during Trump’s term. This could allow Iran to advance its expansionist misadventures. In this case, tensions will certainly resurface between Ankara and Tehran.
Despite Turkey’s escalation of media attacks on Iran since uncovering an 11-member Iranian cell in Istanbul believed to have links with the Revolutionary Guards, who abducted the Ahwazi dissident Habib Chaab and trafficked him to Iran, in addition to Ankara airing a video on the Ahwazi cause, this crisis is unlikely to escalate any further.
This is because of Iran’s reliance on Turkey to circumvent US sanctions, and its economic crisis and expansionist plans, which have led to Tehran incurring massive financial and human losses, while still awaiting any substantial benefits. These realities have forced Iran to avoid any new conflicts with regional powers such as Turkey. Despite Iranian militias in Syria coming under dozens, and even hundreds, of Israeli airstrikes in different Syrian provinces, Tehran failed to retaliate, no doubt impeded by its crippling economic crisis and fearful of instigating a new conflict with Israel, in addition to the huge challenges confronting it in the Iraqi andSyrian arenas. Also, Tehran’s plans have been impeded by the assassinations this year of Qassem Soleimani and nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Since Iran and Turkey are both awaiting the announcement of Biden’s policies, downplaying tensions represents a more pragmatic policy on Iran’s part, which appears evident in Iran’s speedy containment of the crisis, reiterating deep-rooted ties between the two countries and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s insistence that Erdogan had not intended to insult Iran’s territorial integrity by reciting the poem.
*Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is head of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami

New strain of COVID-19 wreaking havoc in aviation and oil
Cornelia Meyer/Arab News/December 22/2020
When representatives from nearly 200 countries finalized the
The airline industry, which had been badly battered by the pandemic, just about saw light at the end of the tunnel courtesy of vaccine approvals and the rollout of vaccination programs in several major economies. But once again the virus proved that it had a mind of its own. A mutant strand, which is believed to be 70 percent more infectious than the original coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and which had evolved in the southeast of England, forced the UK government to bring 16.4 million people into stricter measures, shutting all non-essential shops and forbidding them to leave their zone of restriction.
On Saturday evening immediately after the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had informed the nation of the new restrictions, scenes in London train stations were reminiscent of what had unfolded in Saigon as the last helicopters took off from the roof of the US Embassy. Countries were quick to react, first in Europe and then further afield. By now the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Kuwait and Hong Kong — just to name a few — have stopped or are about to stop receiving air passengers from the UK. The Eurostar has also halted operations. Saudi Arabia has taken the only sensible and prudent approach by stopping international air travel for a week until there is more clarity about the impact of this new strain.
This is especially tough on aviation, particularly as England’s southeast was the busiest region for air travel in Europe during the holiday season, according to Eurocontrol. The three carriers who are most affected are IAG, the parent of British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair. The last two will be hit particularly hard as they carry 49 percent of passengers between the UK and Europe. The bickering on cash reimbursements for canceled flights has already started, with EasyJet supposedly being the most conciliatory. While these three companies feel the brunt of the burden, let there be no illusion that the uncertainty will hit the industry as a whole. What happens in the UK today can happen tomorrow anywhere in the world — the only certainty during this pandemic being uncertainty.
Oil was also affected, WTI falling below $48/b or losing around 3 percent, while Brent fell below $51/b on Sunday after having reached $52.40/b on Friday, which were pre-pandemic levels. This ended a seven-week rally where the commodity appreciated some 33 percent since the end of October. The commodity has moved from deep backwardation into contango in a sign of the more pessimistic outlook. Brent traded at $47.44/b and $50.57/b Monday morning CET.
In this context, the decision of OPEC+ to convene at the ministerial level on a monthly basis in order to adjust production cuts if necessary was spot on. OPEC+ production cuts are expected to come in at 7.2 million bpd as of Jan. 1. In the face of uncertainty, it is wise to have an opportunity to recalibrate frequently. In the same vein, both Saudi Arabia and Russia, who are the de facto leaders of OPEC+, reiterated over the weekend that they would react fast to changes and have a hands-on approach. Earlier this month, markets might have been carried away in hope that life would return to normal as vaccines were proven effective and approved by several regulators. The reality is that while there might be light at the end of the tunnel, we are not out of the woods. The mutant strain of the virus proved that we have to be ready for surprises. Furthermore, we should not underestimate potential manufacturing impasses, logistical hurdles and the time it will take to vaccinate whole populations. Several experts have warned that we shall only return to something resembling normalcy toward the end of 2021 or even the beginning of 2022. Hang in there!
• Cornelia Meyer is a Ph.D.-level economist with 30 years of experience in investment banking and industry. She is chairperson and CEO of business consultancy Meyer Resources. Twitter: @MeyerResources