English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 25/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

#elias_bejjani_news
 

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Bible Quotations For today

Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 02/01-20/:”In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 24-25/2020

Christmas Is A Holy Event For Openness Prayers, Contemplation, & Forgiveness/Elias Bejjani/December 25/2020

Video-Text/Is Dr. Geagea Going To Sign A “Paper Of Understanding” With Hezbollah?/Elias Bejjani/September 04/16
Pope Francis promises to visit strife-torn Lebanon, South Sudan, as soon as possible
Ministry of Health: 2708 new coronavirus cases, 20 deaths
Pope Offers Christmas Message for Lebanon
Rahi to Politicians: Free Lebanon from Personal Interests, Regional Files
President Aoun congratulates Lebanese on Christmas, New Year despite difficult circumstances
Israeli Jets Fly Low over Lebanon to Strike Syria's Hama
Report: Baabda Sources Lash Back at Center House
Coronavirus Dampens Christmas Joy in Lebanon
Report: PSP Says Arslan’s Problem is with His Allies
Iran seen behind obstacles to cabinet formation in Lebanon
Shattered Beirut districts liven up for Christmas/Samar Kadi/The Arab Weekly/December 24/2020
Timeline: Lebanon's ordeal from civil war to port blast
Ahead of first Christmas without their dad, daughters of late American hostage Amer Fakhoury launch nonprofit/Jacqui Heinrich, Ben Evansky/Fox News/December 24/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 24-25/2020

World Readies for Lockdown Christmas
Muslims Kill, Wound Christians in (Unacknowledged) Hate Crime
Leaked Hamas memo offends Christians in Gaza
Explosion hits gas pipeline in Egypt's North Sinai region
Macron Free of Covid Symptoms, Presidency Says
Iran warns US President Trump against any 'adventurism' before leaving White House
Trump warns Iran over strike on Baghdad embassy
Top US officials discuss options to protect Americans in Iraq from Iran attacks
Iranians created website threatening US election officials: Security agencies
Israel arrests Palestinian suspect in West Bank killing
Turkey bashes Gulf outreach to Israel while feigning less aggressive face
Turkey hopes to turn new page with U.S. and EU in 2021, Erdogan says
EU Parliament seeks targeted sanctions on Iran for killing of Afkari, Zam
 

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 24-25/2020
Jihad at Christmas: "Coldly Kill Them with Hate and Rage"/Richard Kemp/Gatestone Institute/December 24/2020
Qatar seeks to set Riyadh apart from boycotting alliance in Gulf reconciliation talks/The Arab Weekly/December 24/2020

Sustained pressure on Iranian regime still necessary/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 24/2020
Iraq’s real problem is a political one/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/December 24/2020
Will ‘Little England’ or ‘Global Britain’ prevail in 2021/Andrew Hammond/Arab News/December 24/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 24-25/2020

Christmas Is A Holy Event For Openness Prayers, Contemplation, & Forgiveness
Elias Bejjani/December 25/2020
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 02/11)
Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 02/14)
The holy birth of Jesus Christ bears numerous blessed vital values and principles including love, giving, redemption, modesty and forgiveness.
Christmas is a role model of love because God, our Father Himself is love.
Accordingly and in a bid to cleanse us from our original sin He came down from heaven, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. (John15/12)
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John15/13)
Christmas is way of giving …God gave us Himself because He is a caring, generous, forgiving and loving and father.
Christmas embodies all principles of genuine redemption. Jesus Christ redeemed us and for our sake He joyfully was crucified, and tolerated all kinds of torture, humiliation and pain
Christmas is a dignified image of modesty ..Jesus Christ accepted to be born into a manger and to live his life on earth in an extremely simple and humble manner.
Let us continuously remind our selves that when our day comes that could be at any moment, we shall not be able to take any thing that is earthly with us for the Day of judgment except our work and acts, be righteous or evil.
Christmas is a holy act of forgiveness ….God, and because He is a loving and forgiving has Sent His Son Jesus Christ redeem to free us from the bondage of the original sin that Adam and Eve committed.
Christmas requires that we all genuinely pray and pray for those who are hurt, lonely, deserted by their beloved ones, feel betrayed, are enduring pain silently pain, suffer anguish, deprived from happiness, warmth and joy .
Christmas is ought to teach us that it is the duty of every believer to practice his/her faith not only verbally and via routine rituals, but and most importantly through actual deeds of righteousness….
Christmas’ spirit is not only rituals of decorations, festivities, gifts and joyful celebrations…But deeds in all ways and means by helping those who need help in all field and domains.
Christmas’s spirit is a calls to honour and actually abide by all Bible teachings and values.
In this realm we have a Biblical obligation to open our hearts and with love extend our hand to all those who are in need, and we are able to help him remembering always that Almighty God showered on us all sorts of graces and capabilities so we can share them with others.
Christmas is a time to hold to the Ten Commandments, foremost of which is “Honour your father and your mother”.
Christmas is a good time for us to attentively hear and positively respond to our conscience, which is the voice of God within us.
Christmas should revive in our minds and hearts the importance of fighting all kinds temptations so we do not become slaves to earthly wealth, or power of authority.
Christmas for us as patriotic and faithful Lebanese is a time to pray for the safe and dignified return of our Southern people who were forced to take refuge in Israel since the year 2000.
Christmas for each and every loving and caring Lebanese is a holy opportunity for calling loudly on all the Lebanese politicians and clergymen, as well as on the UN for the release of the thousands of Lebanese citizens who are arbitrarily and unjustly imprisoned in Syrian prisons.
Most importantly Christmas is a time for praying and working for the liberation of our dear homeland Lebanon, from the Iranian occupation.
No one should never ever lose sight for a moment or keep a blind eye on the sacrifices of our heroic righteous martyrs who willing sacrificed themselves for our homeland, identity, existence, and dignity. Our prayers goes for them on this Holy Day and for peace in each and every country, especially in the chaotic and troubled Middle East.
May God Bless you all and shower upon you, your families, friends, and beloved ones all graces of joy, health, love, forgiveness, meekness and hope.
Click Here To Read The Arabic Version Of The Above Piece

Video-Text/Elias Bejjani/(2016 Archive)Is Dr. Geagea Going To Sign A “Paper Of Understanding” With Hezbollah?
/هل يوقع د. جعجع ورقة تفاهم مع حزب الله
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/45344/elias-bejjaniis-dr-geagea-going-to-sign-a-paper-of-understanding-with-hezbollah%d9%87%d9%84-%d9%8a%d9%88%d9%82%d8%b9-%d8%af-%d8%ac%d8%b9%d8%ac%d8%b9-%d9%88%d8%b1%d9%82%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d9%81/

#Geagea_Fatal_Sin

Is Dr. Geagea Going To Sign A “Paper Of Understanding” With Hezbollah?
Elias Bejjani/September 04/16
Really, I can’t understand what Dr. Samir Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese Forces Party (LF) is doing and for what?
There is No logic, No comprehensible rational, or any kind of heroism at all in the sudden shocking derailing from his deeply rooted resistance past to the adaption of pro Hezbollah stances within a very short time.
The man and against all odds took a 180 degree deviation track, and is strongly and openly supporting the Lebanese Iranian puppet and Trojan, MP. Micheal Aoun for the Presidency post that has been vacant for more than two years because of Hezbollah’s intimidation, Iran’s occupational -expansionism agenda, and anti-constitutional stances.
Yesterday Dr. Samir Geagea loudly and fiercely called on the Lebanese members of parliament to immediately elect MP. Micheal Aoun as a president, and bizarrely alleged that this election will be a salvation means for Lebanon.
For heavens sake how could the pro-Iranian Aoun save Lebanon when he himself is an Iranian hostage, puppet, and a mere anti-Lebanese robatic tool.
Aoun has been for the past 11 years against Lebanon’s independence, freedom, sovereignty, democracy, common living, existence, history, identity and not honouring all the Maronite historical national convictions?
Politically, Geagea is committing suicide and at the same solidifying the Iranian occupation and hegemony for nothing in return at all, neither for himself as a politician, not for our people, or for Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty.
MP. Micheal Aoun in 11 years after signing the humiliating “Paper of understanding” with Hezbollah has got nothing from this Iranian terrorist military and denominational proxy in spite of all the cowardice succumbing that he offered.
In the same context, Aoun’s past in reality and practicality is totally ashamed of his present as well as from his future.. and definitely Geagea’s harvest from his pro Iranian coup against himself , against his strong patriotic image, and against his past will not be any different no matter what.
The question is, where Lebanon is heading to after Geagea’s surrender?
Personally, I feel so sad and extremely disappointed, because Dr. Samir Geagea who is well known to be a man of faith, hope and principles is totally replicating the Syrian-Iranian deadly Micheal Aoun’s deviation that took place in year 2006 in the aftermath of the “Paper Of Understanding” that he signed with Hezbollah.
In conclusion, Sadly, all what Dr. Geagea needs to become another Aoun is signing a “Paper Of understanding” with Hezbollah, and quite Frankly I will not be surprised if this happens, although I pray that such a deadly sin shall not occur.

Pope Francis promises to visit strife-torn Lebanon, South Sudan, as soon as possible
Reuters/Vatican City/Thursday 24 December 2020
Pope Francis promised in his Christmas messages on Thursday to visit Lebanon and South Sudan as soon as he could. The pope traditionally mentions countries in his Christmas Day message, but he singled out those two nations with Christmas Eve messages because of difficulties each has faced this year. “I am deeply troubled to see the suffering and anguish that has sapped the native resilience and resourcefulness of the Land of the Cedars,” Francis said, referring to Lebanon, which has been struggling with a deep economic crisis and the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion on August 4 that killed about 200 people. Victims are still awaiting the result of an investigation into blast the ruined a swathe of the capital. Francis expressed “my affection for the beloved people of Lebanon, whom I hope to visit as soon as possible.”He said he hoped the country could “stand apart from conflicts and regional tensions.”He is already due to visit Iraq on March 5-8. In a separate message written jointly with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who is the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican communion, and Church of Scotland moderator Martin Fair, the three church leaders committed to making a previously delayed trip to majority Christian South Sudan “as things return to normalcy.”The message was addressed to South Sudan’s leaders, former rivals who formed a national unity government in February after years of civil war ravaged the oil-producing yet poor nation. A UN report said this month that implementing various aspects of a peace accord had stalled in the country, where floods in September displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
 

Ministry of Health: 2708 new coronavirus cases, 20 deaths
NNA/Thursday 24 December 2020
The Ministry of Public Health announced 2708 new coronavirus infection cases, which raises the cumulative number to 165933 confirmed cases.
20 deaths have been recorded over the past 24 hours.

Pope Offers Christmas Message for Lebanon
Agence France Presse/Thursday 24 December 2020
Pope Francis expressed his desire to visit crisis-hit Lebanon and urged political leaders to seek the best interest of the Lebanese people in Christmas Eve message. Lebanon was plunged into its worst economic crisis in decades by the devastating port blast in Beirut in August. In a message to cardinal Beshara el-Rai, the patriarch of the Maronite Church, the 84-year-old pontiff said Thursday he hoped to visit Lebanon "as soon as possible". "Beloved sons and daughters of Lebanon, I am deeply troubled to see the suffering and anguish that has sapped the native resilience and resourcefulness of the Land of the Cedars," he said. He appealed to Lebanon's leaders "to seek the best interest of the public" and for the international community to "help Lebanon to surmount this grave crisis and resume a normal existence".

Rahi to Politicians: Free Lebanon from Personal Interests, Regional Files
Naharnet/Thursday 24 December 2020
Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi on Thursday criticized Lebanon’s leaders for failing to form a government, voicing calls to distance Lebanon from “your personal interests and the regional conflicts.”“Free Lebanon from the files and conflicts in the region and from your personal interests,” Rahi said in a televised Christmas message. He pointed to the collapsed economy and trade in Lebanon which “must be revived through the formation of a government, but malicious intentions that only know how to destroy prevent the formation,” he said. “The political group has made politics an art for its interests to humiliate the people and strike the economy as if running an enemy state and enemy people,” the Patriarch lashed out. Rahi said all the promises made about a speedy government have failed, noting that efforts are “back to square one.”
To families of the victims of the Beirut port blast, he said the investigation into the explosion is regretfully “going in circles.”“It is painful that the investigation into the port explosion revolves around itself, but the disaster outweighs everyone's immunity. The people want the truth and the investigation should go to the basis of the disaster,” said Rahi.

President Aoun congratulates Lebanese on Christmas, New Year despite difficult circumstances
NNA/Thursday 24 December 2020
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, congratulated the Lebanese for Christmas and New Year, despite the difficult circumstances the country is going through. The President wrote the following, on his "Twitter" account: "Christmas remains a sign of hope that does not cease, no matter how hard the difficulties are, and new year remains the beginning of which we hope will be promising. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year."
Congratulations to the Patriarch
On the other hand, President Aoun called Maronite Patriarch, Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, congratulating him on Christmas and the New Year, and apologized for not participating in the festive mass in Bkerke tomorrow due to the current health conditions and the repercussions of the "Corona" pandemic.
President Aoun also wished that Christmas returns next year in better conditions for Lebanon and the Lebanese.
Head of the Association of Banks:
The President had received this morning at Baabda Palace, Head of Banks Association, Dr. Salim Sfeir, and his advisor, Professor Antoine Habib, and deliberated general conditions in the country, in addition to the banking situation.
Dr. Sfeir expressed his hope that the New Year would bring better days for the Lebanese in light of the current crises.
Telegrams and greetings: In addition, President Aoun received congratulatory telegrams from a several Presidents and Leaders most notably from the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who said in his telegram: “I am pleased on the occasion of Christmas and the New Year 2021 to send to Your Excellency the most sincere congratulations and best brotherly wishes. I take this good occasion to express to you our aspiration with full determination, hope and optimism that the new year will be a good beginning for a better future, in which our aspirations and hopes will be fulfilled, and in which all our efforts are combined to face common challenges, so that our peoples will enjoy a stable world. I also hope that our bilateral relations will witness development in all fields during this year and the coming years, for the benefit of our two brotherly peoples and countries.
Your Excellency the President and my dear brother, and as I renew to you sincere congratulations on the glorious Christmas and the New Year, I pray to God the Almighty to grant you continued health, happiness and success, and to bless your brotherly people and all the peoples of our Arab nation with more development, progress and prosperity”.
The President also received a congratulatory telegram from the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, in which he said: "We are pleased to extend to your Excellency and the brotherly people of Lebanon the highest heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of the celebration of the glorious Christmas and the New Year 2021, wishing Lebanon, its people and all the peoples of the world peace and prosperity”.
Moreover, President of the Republic of Poland wished the best for Lebanon and the Lebanese, hoping that the new year would bring prosperity and development in bilateral relations between the two countries and prosperity for the whole world.
In parallel, President Aoun received several congratulatory cards, most notably from Jordanian King Abdullah II, Armenian President Armin Sarkissian, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.—Presidency Press Office

Israeli Jets Fly Low over Lebanon to Strike Syria's Hama
Agence France Presse/Associated Press
Israeli warplanes violated Lebanon's airspace late Thursday to carry out a strike in neighboring Syria, sparking panic among residents on Christmas Eve. The jets were heard flying at low altitude over Beirut and Sidon shortly before the strikes. Social media reports also said that blasts were heard in the northern regions of Akkar and Tripoli. It was not immediately clear whether those were bombardment sounds or the sounds of jets breaking the sound barrier. Israeli jets regularly violate Lebanese airspace and have often struck inside Syria from Lebanese territory. But the Christmas Eve flights were louder than usual, frightening residents of Beirut who have endured multiple crises in the past year, including the catastrophic Aug. 4 explosion at the city's port that killed over 200 people and destroyed parts of the capital. That explosion resulted from the detonation of a stockpile of ammonium nitrates that was improperly stored at the facility. Syria's state news agency SANA said Syrian air defenses intercepted missiles fired by Israel on the western province of Hama. "Our air defenses intercepted an Israeli attack on the Masyaf area" in rural Hama, SANA reported. Syrian state TV aired footage purporting to show air defenses responding to the Israeli attack. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported strikes on Masyaf, saying Israel was "likely responsible." The war monitor said the attack targeted "positions of regime forces and Iran-backed militias," without providing additional details. Israel, which did not immediately comment on the reports, has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011. It has targeted government troops, allied Iranian forces and fighters from Lebanon's Hizbullah. It rarely confirms details of its operations in Syria, but says Iran's presence in support of President Bashar al-Assad is a threat and that it will continue its strikes.

Report: Baabda Sources Lash Back at Center House
Naharnet/Thursday 24 December 2020
Circles of Baabda Palace lashed back at the Center House on Thursday saying there were “no bats in the Palace,” and that the Presidency has always been eager to work “publicly, clearly and with transparency.”“There are no bats in Baabda Palace and no black rooms, because the presidency operates openly, clearly, transparently, while the black rooms exist to serve those who wish to disrupt the political stability in the country and obstruct the formation of the government and topple the national balance and the unified standards,” to form a government, said Baabda sources. They stressed that President Michel Aoun urged for “unified standards” when forming the government, while the format presented by Hariri “did not meet those standards, especially by adhering to, for example, the ministries of interior and justice, which are complementary in terms of security and justice, and cannot be delivered to a single team.”Aoun did not suggest partisans as ministerial candidates, but suggested names of independent specialists with competence and experience to run the ministries assigned to them, they added. Negative atmospheres were leaked on Wednesday following a meeting between the two men on the government formation. Center House sources accused what they said “bats of the palace” of interfering with the President “to disrupt the atmosphere and prepare for a new round of complication, as has been the case since the designation” of Hariri.

Coronavirus Dampens Christmas Joy in Lebanon
Associated Press/Thursday 24 December 2020
While many places around the globe were keeping or increasing restrictions for Christmas, Lebanon was an exception. With its economy in tatters and parts of its capital destroyed by a massive Aug. 4 port explosion, Lebanon has lifted most virus measures ahead of the holidays, hoping to encourage spending. Tens of thousands of Lebanese expatriates have arrived home for the holidays, leading to fears of an inevitable surge in cases during the festive season. Lebanon has the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East — about a third of its 5 million people — and traditionally celebrates Christmas with much fanfare. But even with restrictions relaxed, a severe economic crisis was pouring gloom over the holidays this year. The streets of Beirut, traditionally lit with Christmas lights, are more subdued. Shops may have new products, but few people are buying A giant Christmas tree in downtown Beirut is decorated with the uniforms of firefighters to commemorate those who died in the port explosion. Another tree represents Beirut’s ancient houses destroyed in the blast. “People around us were tired, depressed and depleted, so we said let’s just plant a drop of joy and love,” said Sevine Ariss, one of the organizers of a Christmas fair along the seaside road where the explosion caused the most damage.

Report: PSP Says Arslan’s Problem is with His Allies
Naharnet/Thursday 24 December 2020
The complex of the Druze representation in the new government surfaced again with reports that an 18-seat, instead of 20, cabinet might be formed, which would automatically grant the single Druze seat to the Progressive Socialist Party of ex-MP Walid Jumblat, Asharq el-Awsat newspaper reported Thursday. Druze MP and leader of the Lebanese Democratic Party Talal Arslan was angered by the above. He lashed out at his “allies and foes” alike, describing the move as unfair. Meanwhile, PSP sources told the daily that “Arslan’s problem lies with his allies,” in reference to the Free Patriotic Movement. On Wednesday, Arslan said in a tweet that a progress in the formation of a government “must not be made at the expense of the Druze community,” describing it as an attempt of marginalizing the Druze.
 

Iran seen behind obstacles to cabinet formation in Lebanon
The Arab Weekly/December 24/2020
BEIRUT--Lebanese political sources have reported new obstacles to forming a government of specialised ministers headed by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri. After a second visit to the Baabda palace to hold negotiations with President Michel Aoun to form a government, Hariri admitted there were obstacles. Political sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed the stalemate on Iran’s desire, via its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, an ally of Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, to delay the formation of the Hariri government. Aoun’s demand that his party, the Free Patriotic Movement, obtain the ministries of interior and justice drew concerns from Hariri about whether the president was serious in his efforts to expedite the formation of a new government or whether he was attempting to waste more time so as to accomplish Hezbollah’s wishes. The sources suggested that Hezbollah was behind the rigid position of the president, who gave up the demand to the blocking third in government and started insisting on the ministries of interior and justice. Aoun’s goal, according to these sources, is to control the security sectors in the country and have power over the judiciary.A number of Lebanese politicians believe Iran prefers to wait until after January 20 to allow the formation of a new Lebanese government.By doing so, Iran hopes to show the incoming administration of US President-elect Joe Biden the extent of its influence in Lebanon and its control of the smallest details there.
Complications
Sources close to the Wasat House (Hariri’s residence) said that the information leaked from Baabda Palace triggered a negative atmosphere about the results of the meeting before it took place. The initial positive signs, the sources said, came from Hariri at the request of Aoun, who asked him to announce that there had been progress. However, parties close to Aoun soon rushed to muddle the process by creating new complications. On Wednesday, Hariri stressed the need to form the government after the New Year and indicated that there are “complications” surrounding the matter. This came during a news conference held after his meeting with Aoun. “I hope there will be a government, but there are still obvious complications,” Hariri said, indicating that “there are political problems,” without going into detail. He emphasised the ability of the government, if formed, to stop the collapse of Lebanon’s political and economic spheres, adding, “We need a government of specialists to stop this collapse.”Hariri pointed out that “expediting the formation of a government is priority, and we need people from whom we can benefit for the interest of the country.”He called on Lebanese officials to “be humble and think about the citizens and those affected by the Beirut port explosion,” stressing the need to “form a government after the New Year.”
Hariri’s statement on Wednesday contrasted with his optimistic assessment on Tuesday, when he said that the atmosphere was positive during his meeting with Aoun, that there was great openness and that the Wednesday meeting would lead to “a formula for forming a government before Christmas.” The recent developments show there are still obstacles to the formation of a new government. Earlier this month, Hariri said he had presented Aoun with “a government lineup of 18 specialised ministers, without any party affiliation.” However, Aoun recently announced he objected to Hariri’s naming of ministers, “especially Christians, without consulting with the presidency.”Lebanon has not been able to form a rescue government since the Beirut port explosion on August 4 that prompted the current caretaker government headed by Hassan Diab to resign. Aoun named Hariri to form the next government, following the resignation of his predecessor, Mustapha Adib, who was unable to form a new cabinet. French pressure did not succeed in pushing Lebanese factions to form a government of specialists in order to facilitate Beirut’s access to foreign aid. French President Emmanuel Macron gave the Lebanese officials more than one deadline to reach a consensus on the portfolios, but partisan calculations, especially from Hezbollah and its ally the Free Patriotic Movement headed by former Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, kept bringing negotiations back to square one.

Shattered Beirut districts liven up for Christmas
Samar Kadi/The Arab Weekly/December 24/2020
Beirut--The odd scene of a Christmas village and a lighted tree set up next to damaged buildings while groups of young revelers toasted in pubs facing blasted structures is an illustration of Lebanon’s resilience four months after the seismic Beirut port blast shattered part of the city.
“We are staying,” read some signs in the famous nightlife districts of Mar Mikhael and Gemayze, two of the hardest-hit in the August 4 explosion that killed 200 people, injured thousands and left 300,000 people homeless.
Some of the pubs and restaurants straddling the main street of Mar Mikhail have reopened a few weeks before Christmas after undergoing massive restoration.
“It was a ghost area for months. Nobody felt like coming back because they did not want to relive the tragedy. Everybody was disheartened to see the area which was the beating heart of the city come to a sudden death,” said Hoda Naame manager of a pub that has recently reopened.
“The whole place was shattered in the explosion. We had to redo from scratch without any assistance. The owner insisted on restoring the pub from his own pocket,” Naame added. Private initiatives such as “Beirut City of Life” and Mar Mikhail Christmas Village were designed to breathe some life back into the area during the festive season despite sadness and the difficult economic and social conditions.
Daily concerts, Christmas carols singing, Christmas parades and children activities with Santa Claus are taking place at the Christmas village “to bring back a smile on the people’s face,” says Charles Hage president of the Lebanese NGO organizing the event, Solidarity. “We are doing the best we can to stand by the people of Mar Mikhail and Gemayze and bring the vibe back into the area. We want them to feel the Christmas spirit and forget about the tragedy that befell on them even for a few moments,” Hage said.
“If you go to the Christmas village you will see people from all over Lebanon and from different religions very proud and happy to be together. Christmas is about love, sharing and standing next to each other. That is why we insisted on having the village in the heart of the devastated area,” Hage added.
Solidarity is among several NGO’s that have been supporting the restoration of Mar Mikhail’s residential buildings. By the end of January the NGO would have restored more than 1000 apartments with donated funds.
“Beirut City of Life” initiative was designed by a group of volunteers to reinstate life in an area known to be the beating heart of Beirut, organizers say. “It is about envisioning the rebirth of the neighborhood by engaging the different designers, galleries, artists, shops, restaurants and bars in a month-long calendar of events and exhibitions to drive traffic back to this neighborhood by creating activities, workshops and exhibitions targeted at all segments of the population,” the organizers stated. However, despite efforts to give the people a feel of Christmas, spirits are low in Lebanon amid a persisting political stalemate and an unprecedented financial and economic crisis.
“We don’t feel it is Christmas although we are sitting with friends having fun and laughing, but it is just on the surface. Deep down we are very sad,” said Ursula Mir, an expat engineer while enjoying a drink with friends. “You feel there is a constant state of hopelessness and sadness in the country. I hope that once the whole area is rebuilt it will breathe life back into it,” said Mir who came home for the holidays. Faisal Abboud, an engineer living in Paris, is keen on helping revive his favorite pub in Mar Mikhail where he has good memories when he was a student.
“This place was like my second home. I used to spend more time here than anywhere else. When the blast happened I felt devastated. I felt guilty because I couldn’t do anything except watch the news on TV and donate some money. While I am here for the holiday, I will be coming to Mar Mikhail every day,” Abboud said.
Mohamad Abdin manager of Bonavida pub which has just reopened hopes dynamism will eventually return to the area once residents return to their homes. “Life is coming back to Mar Mikhail slowly, but the country is sad and we are trying hard to bring back some joy to the people. We cannot sit idle with our arms crossed. Life has to continue despite everything,” Abdin said. Despite the gloom and low spirits, many hope that everything that made Mar Mikhail what it had been would return such as the small shops and bakeries that gave the street life and neighbors who stopped in for coffee or a beer.

Timeline: Lebanon's ordeal from civil war to port blast
BEIRUT/Reuters/December 24/2020
One of the worst years in Lebanon’s tumultuous history is drawing to a close with the country reeling from the aftermath of a massive chemical explosion and an economic meltdown that looks set to cause even more trouble in 2021.
Here is a timeline of some of Lebanon’s troubles since 1975:
1975
Civil war erupts after Christian gunmen ambush a bus carrying Palestinians in southern Beirut. A “Green Line” frontline divides Beirut into Christian East and Muslim West.
1978
Israel invades south Lebanon and sets up an occupation zone in an operation against Palestinian guerrillas.
1982
Israel invades all the way to Beirut. The Syrian army is ousted from Beirut and thousands of Palestinian fighters under Yasser Arafat are evacuated by sea after a bloody 10-week siege.
Israel’s ally and head of Christian militia Lebanese Forces, Bashir Gemayel, is elected president but killed before taking office. Hundreds of civilians in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila are massacred by Christian militiamen allowed in by Israeli troops.
Bashir’s brother, Amin Gemayel, becomes president.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards establish Hezbollah in Lebanon.
1983
Israel and Lebanon sign a peace agreement under U.S. patronage. Syria opposes it and it is never ratified.
Shi’ite Muslim suicide bombers kill 241 U.S. Marines and 58 French paratroopers in Beirut as part of a multinational force.
1984
Muslim militiamen seize West Beirut. The Lebanese army splits along religious lines. The peace deal with Israel is cancelled and Gemayel breaks with Israel under Syrian pressure.
1988
Parliament fails to elect a successor to Gemayel, who appoints Christian army commander General Michel Aoun to head military cabinet. Muslim officers quit.
1989
Parliament elects Rene Mouawad president. He is killed by a bomb in West Beirut days later. Parliament elects Elias Hrawi president but Aoun rejects his authority.
Aoun declares a war of liberation against Syrian forces and opposes the Taif peace agreement negotiated in Saudi Arabia.
1990
Aoun and the Christian Lebanese Forces militia led by Samir Geagea battle for months to control Christian enclave. The Vatican arranges a ceasefire.
In October, Syrian forces drive Aoun out of the presidential palace. He goes into exile in France.
1991
Parliament passes an amnesty law pardoning all political crimes as the civil war comes to an end.
1992
Rafik al-Hariri, a Saudi-backed billionaire, becomes prime minister after the first post-war election.
1996
Israel launches the 17-day “Operation Grapes of Wrath”, that kills more than 200 Lebanese in retaliation for Hezbollah shelling northern Israel.
2005
Hariri is killed on Feb. 14 when a massive bomb explodes as his motorcade travelled through Beirut; 21 others also died.
Mass demonstrations and international pressure force Syria to withdraw troops from Lebanon. Shi’ite allies of Damascus stage their own big rallies in support of Syria.
2006
In July, Hezbollah crosses the border into Israel, kidnaps two Israeli soldiers and kills others, sparking a five-week war. At least 1,200 people in Lebanon and 158 Israelis are killed.
After the war, tensions in Lebanon simmer over Hezbollah’s arsenal. In November, Hezbollah and its allies quit the cabinet led by Western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and organise street protests against it.
Anti-Syria politician Pierre Gemayel, Amin Gemayel’s eldest son, is assassinated in November.
2007
Hezbollah and its allies maintain a sit-in protest against the Siniora government for the entire year. Their stated demand is veto power in the government.
2008
Wissam Eid, a police intelligence officer investigating the Hariri assassination, is killed by a car bomb in January.
In May, Siniora’s cabinet accuses Hezbollah of running a private telecoms network and installing spy cameras at Beirut airport. The cabinet vows legal action against the network.
Hezbollah said the move against its telecoms network was a declaration of war by the government. After a brief conflict, Hezbollah takes control of mainly Muslim west Beirut.
After mediation, rival leaders sign a deal in Qatar to end 18 months of political conflict.
2011
The first government led by Hariri’s political heir, Saad, is toppled when Hezbollah and its allies quit because of tensions over a U.N.-backed tribunal into the Rafik al-Hariri assassination.
2012
Hezbollah fighters deploy in Syria to aid government forces facing a Sunni rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad.
In October, a car bomb kills senior security official Wissam al-Hassan. The intelligence unit he led had in August arrested Michel Samaha, a pro-Syrian former minister who was charged with transporting Syrian-assembled bombs to wage attacks in Lebanon.
2017
Saad al-Hariri’s ties with Saudi Arabia, which is furious at Hezbollah’s expanding role in Lebanon, hit a nadir in November when it was widely acknowledged Riyadh forced him to resign and held him in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia and Hariri publicly deny this version of events, though France’s Emmanuel Macron later confirms that Hariri was being held in Saudi Arabia.
2019
Amid a stagnant economy and slowing capital inflows, the government faces pressure to curb a massive budget deficit.
Proposals to cut the state wage and pension bill meet stiff opposition. The government vows to enact long-delayed reforms but fails to make progress that might unlock foreign support.
In October, a government move to tax internet calls ignites big protests against the ruling elite. Lebanese of all sects take part, accusing leaders of corruption and mismanagement.
Hariri quits on Oct. 29. The financial crisis accelerates. Depositors are frozen out of their savings as a hard currency liquidity crunch bites. The currency begins to crash.
2020
Hassan Diab, a little-known academic, becomes prime minister with backing from Hezbollah and its allies.
Lebanon defaults on its sovereign debt in March.
Talks with the IMF get nowhere as the main parties and the influential banks resist a financial recovery plan.
The financial collapse accelerates, with the currency losing up to 80% of its value. Poverty rates soar.
On Aug. 4, a vast quantity of ammonium nitrate explodes at Beirut port, killing 200 people, wounding 6,000 and devastating swathes of Beirut, prompting the Diab government to quit.
The U.N.-backed tribunal convicts a Hezbollah member of conspiring to kill Rafik al-Hariri 15 years after his death.
Hariri is designated to form a new government but the parties remain at odds over portfolios even as the World Bank warns that poverty will likely engulf more than half the population in 2021 and central bank reserves dwindle.
*Writing by Tom Perry and William Maclean; editing by Ed Osmond and Mike Collett-White
 

Ahead of first Christmas without their dad, daughters of late American hostage Amer Fakhoury launch nonprofit

Jacqui Heinrich, Ben Evansky/Fox News/December 24/2020

تقرير من موقع فوكس نيوز: بنات الشهيد عامر فاخوري ومع أول عيد ميلاد بغياب والدهم يعلنون عن تأسيس جمعية غير نفعية لمساعدةالأميركيين المختطفين والأسرى في الخارج
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/94153/ahead-of-first-christmas-without-their-dad-daughters-of-late-american-hostage-amer-fakhoury-launch-nonprofit-%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%b1-%d9%85%d9%86-%d9%85%d9%88%d9%82%d8%b9-%d9%81%d9%88%d9%83/
Amer Fakhoury, 57, died in August after US forces rescued him
The daughters of an American hostage who died of cancer after being forcibly incarcerated in Lebanon during a family vacation have launched a foundation to support Americans in captivity overseas.
Amer Fakhoury, 57, died in August after U.S. forces brought him home to Dover, N.H., in a daring military rescue operation. Fakhoury developed cancer in Beirut, which his family believes was linked to unsanitary conditions in the military prison where he was beaten and tortured over false charges drummed up by Hezbollah.
AMERICAN MAN WHO WAS DETAINED IN LEBANON FOR SIX MONTHS DIES OF CANCER, FAMILY SAYS
Fakhoury’s children tell Fox News the Amer Fakhoury Foundation’s goal is to honor their late father and fill financial and advocacy gaps for hostages and their families. Fakhoury, in his dying days, proposed building support for hostages sharing his harrowing experience. The father of four recounted his traumas, including physical beatings and witnessing the torture of a 13-year-old boy. Fakhoury said he wanted to shine a light on unseen victims and establish a network that would support hostage homecomings.
"Our foundation hopes to help hostages and their families financially and emotionally," Guila Fakhoury, Amer’s eldest daughter, told Fox News. "What happened to Amer Fakhoury can happen to any U.S. citizen visiting a foreign country."
Zoya Fakhoury said the sisters used their collective savings to sustain their parents’ home and restaurant mortgages while their father was detained and their mother fought for his release.
"We did not want them to come home homeless and lose the business they worked so hard to build," Zoya Fakhoury said. "We also had to take care of sending money to Lebanon in order to pay for the lawyers, medical bills, and my mother’s stay. We were already dealing with the trauma of our father being held by Hezbollah, and we had to add on financial burden on our shoulders, as well."
The foundation aims to assist other victims with pro bono lawyers and resources to help navigate the traumatic experience without the added worry of financial stress.
The Amer Fakhoury Foundation will soon be launching a channel on YouTube and will detail, for the first time, Amer’s story from the day he was kidnapped to his release.
"We will also address the torture and abuse that goes on in Lebanon, a country where the U.S. sends millions of dollars in aid to every year," Guila Fakhoury told Fox News
Fakhoury was held without charges for nearly six months after a Hezbollah-backed newspaper accused him of torturing Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorists in the '80s and '90s. Fakhoury, who fought in the South Lebanon Army during Israel’s occupation of the country, was never previously accused of the charge and had taken advantage of an invite to ex-pats to return to his home country after not seeing family for two decades.
The largely Christian force disbanded after Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, and Fakhoury sought refuge first in Israel and finally in America, where he received citizenship, opened a successful Lebanese restaurant, and became an active member of the Republican party.
FAMILY OF US CITIZEN IMPRISONED IN LEBANON PLEADS FOR HIS RELEASE: 'THIS IS A CRY FOR HELP'
The Trump administration and State Department lobbied for his release following proposed bipartisan sanctions against senior Lebanese officials involved in Fakhoury’s unlawful detention, and US forces brought him home after a military judge responded to the mounting pressure by levying unfounded charges of murder, attempted murder of prisoners kidnapping, and torture – all which were later dropped.
Fakhoury's supporters say he was well-loved by the people of Dover -- including many fans of his Lebanese restaurant. He was also an active member of St. George’s Church in the town.
While his family hopes to keep his memory alive, they stress that the life of a person fighting for the return of a hostage can be desperately lonely.
"We as a family were not prepared for this tragedy, and had to use all our savings in order to stay afloat," Guila Fakhoury said. "We reached out to the government, as well as many hostage organizations, but none were able to provide financial support and that is one of the reasons the Amer Fakhoury Foundation emerged. We would love to work with the government on creating a plan to other help families in the U.S. who have their loved ones held hostage."
"When our father was detained, my sisters and I used up all of our savings in order to pay my parents' house mortgage as well as their business mortgage. We did not want them to come home homeless and lose the business they worked so hard to build," she said.
The family, while thankful that President Trump and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, helped free their father, feel the White House should take more action against the country they say tortured a U.S. citizen.
"We Americans send a lot of money to Lebanon every year and our tax money should not go to promote torture and abuse. [Lebanese] government officials that are responsible for the torture and killing of our father need to be held accountable," Guila Fakhoury said.
Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defenses of Democracy focusing on the region, told Fox News that the U.S. should reassess its relationship.
"It is an Iranian satrapy run by Hezbollah," he said. "Its so-called institutions work hand in glove with or on behalf of Hezbollah. U.S. security assistance to Lebanon, including US funding for UNIFIL, only props up the Hezbollah order. It does not advance any real US interest and should be terminated."
According to the U.S. Aid website, the United States has given approximately $219 million in aid to Lebanon in 2020.
The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation states that there are currently 42 publicly disclosed hostage and wrongful detention cases involving Americans abroad. The 11 countries where Americans are being detained include China, Iran, Syria, Turkey, Russia and Venezuela.
James Foley, a well-respected conflict journalist, disappeared in 2012 while covering the Syrian civil war. He was beheaded by ISIS terrorists in August of 2014. Foley's mother set up the foundation in her late son's name to help families in similar tragic situations that she had faced with her son's captivity and death.
MOTHER OF JAMES FOLEY: NEW SURVEY SHOWS MAJOR STRIDES FOR FAMILIES OF HOSTAGES
Guila Fakhoury told Fox News the Foley Foundation was a big help to her family as they dealt with the emotional toll of her father's detention and death.
Fox News’ Julia Musto contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/daughters-late-american-hostage-amer-fakhoury-launch-nonprofit?fbclid=IwAR1-UZOrCPHgy_dULLCQYB42Wp-zOfHekCX1vK_OsL82ZJTVFk1_EU-cFKo

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 24-25/2020

World Readies for Lockdown Christmas
Agence France Presse/December 24/2020
Coronavirus misery hung over Christmas preparations worldwide on Thursday, with countless millions forced to cancel plans or limit festivities under fresh virus lockdowns. After a grinding pandemic year that has seen more than 1.7 million people die from Covid-19, a slew of new outbreaks are a stark reminder that despite emergency vaccine roll-outs, life is unlikely to return to normal quickly. In Australia -- often a rare bright spot in keeping the virus in check -- a growing cluster of cases in northern Sydney has confined residents to seaside suburbs and prompted a ban on all but the smallest Christmas family gatherings. Jimmy Arslan, who owns two cafes at the epicentre of the city's outbreak, said trade was down 75 percent and his Canberra-based family had been forced to cancel their Christmas visit. "It's heartbreaking. It's a very, very sour ending for a sour year," the 46-year-old told AFP. "Let's just say we all should welcome 2021 and kick 2020 in its arse." In Europe, much of the continent is enduring a dark winter of resurgent outbreaks. Germany has been forced to cancel its famous Christmas markets and Pope Francis plans to bring the Vatican's Christmas midnight mass forward by two hours to meet Italy's curfew rules. In Bethlehem -- which Christians believe is the birthplace of Jesus Christ -- mass will be held without worshippers and broadcast online. Nicolas al-Zoghbi, who visited Bethlehem's Chapel of Saint Catherine in the lead-up to Christmas, said the joyfulness of the season had been replaced by "depression"."We hope the Lord will destroy corona, just get rid of it so we can return to our previous life," he said.
Holiday isolation
But for many, the isolation that has defined the past year will continue into Christmas Day and beyond -- such as in Belgium, where residents are largely limited to welcoming a single visitor. In the Catholic-majority Philippines some are choosing to spend the holidays alone because of the risk of catching the virus on public transport, as well as quarantine rules making travelling time-consuming and expensive. "I am ordering food in, re-watching old movies, and catching up with my family by video," said Kim Patria, 31, who lives alone in Manila. Britons, meanwhile, were cut off from swathes of the world on their Sceptred Isle, due to the emergence of a new Covid-19 strain. Some UK border restrictions have been temporarily relaxed for the holidays, but thousands from other European countries are still stranded in England. "Home for Christmas? Forget it," said Laurent Beghin, a French truck driver who delivered his cargo but was still stuck days later. In the United States, more than one million people have now been vaccinated, but the country's coronavirus response remained chaotic as Donald Trump helicoptered off the White House lawn for one of the last times in his presidency. The Republican and his wife Melania were bound for a vacation at his glitzy Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after his shock rejection of a massive coronavirus relief package passed by Congress. New Year's celebrations are looking downbeat globally, with lockdowns looming for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Austria through the post-Christmas period, while Portugal has imposed a New Year's Eve curfew. For now, Sydney still plans to ring in 2021 with its famous Harbour Bridge fireworks display, with New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian pledging the seven-minute spectacle will go ahead "no matter what".But as with most of 2020, people are being encouraged to watch on television from their sofas.

Muslims Kill, Wound Christians in (Unacknowledged) Hate Crime
Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/December 24/2020
Two Muslim brothers recently went on a stabbing spree targeting Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt; one man was killed and two others were severely injured and hospitalized.
Last reported on Dec. 13, the brothers had been arrested and were to be detained for four days, pending an investigation. According to authorities, they went on their murderous stabbing spree because they were “upset” that their mother had died earlier that day, on Dec. 10. Even the state appointed prosecution denied that their actions had any “religious or sectarian” motivation. However, Fr. Michael Gamil, of the local Coptic Church, witnessed the crime and offered a different account. He said that the two brothers—Nasser Ahmed Muhammad and Ali Ahmed Muhammad—specifically targeted and attacked Christian shopkeepers on the street directly behind his church. “The matter began with insults and curses to the shopkeepers for being Christians and Copts,” explained the clergyman. The Copts present responded with patience. Then, when one of them, Ramses, quietly went to close and lock his shop door, they lunged at and stabbed him with knives. Ramses’ brother, Adel, who ran a grocery store nearby, saw what was happening, rushed to his brother’s aid, and was also stabbed for his efforts. The Muslim brothers then barged into the clothing shop of another Copt, Tariq Fawzi Shenouda, and stabbed him in the torso, near his heart. All three men were hospitalized with serious injuries in intensive care; Ramses died of his wounds. Not content, the two Muslim brothers then entered the same church that Fr. Michael serves in and cursed at another priest, the partially blind Fr. Paul.
Fr. Michael continued by asking the all-important question: “They say they started cursing the Copts because their mother died; and two years earlier, they cursed the Copts because their brother died: what do (family) death and the Copts have to do with each other??” He underscored that the two brothers have for years been in the habit of verbally harassing and insulting Christians—though they clearly took their hate to another level with this latest stabbing spree. The authorities know full well that this murderous incident was motivated by religious hate, concluded Fr. Michael, but, as usual, are reluctant to admit it, as doing so would damage Egypt’s reputation. “Copts were peacefully working in their stores, and these brothers barged in saying ‘you infidel Copts.’ That is clearly sectarian.”

Leaked Hamas memo offends Christians in Gaza
The Arab Weekly/December 24/2020
GAZA –A leaked Hamas memo showing Gaza’s ruling Islamist group wanted to curb Christmas celebrations among Gaza’s Muslim majority has upset the enclave’s tiny Christian community in the run-up to the holiday. The ministry of religious affairs document, dated December 15, called for “activities by the directorate of preaching and spiritual guidance to limit interaction with Christmas. ” The leak went public last weekend, upsetting Palestinian Christians. “We set an example for the world in not having any sectarian problems, therefore, we were very upset,” said Samer Tarazi, a Christian journalist in Gaza. He said Christians just wanted life to continue “as normal.” Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Atallah Hanna, called the memo “inflammatory,” but said it “will not harm our unity and good relations.” Hamas said the reaction was exaggerated and that it only wanted to ensure Muslims marked Christian holidays in accordance with Islamic law. “There was never any intention to offend Christians or limit their ability to celebrate and perform their religious rituals,” said Bassem Naim, a Hamas official. The ministry, which is tasked with running Gaza’s mosques and looking after Muslim and Christian affairs in the coastal strip, quickly released a statement saying Christians “have the right to hold their religious celebrations and they can’t be offended or be restricted.” The statement added, “Just as Muslims are commanded to avoid violations of (Islamic law) on Muslim holidays, it is all the more reason for them to avoid (such violations) during the holidays of others.”
Small community
It is rare for religious tensions in Gaza to spill over into the public domain. While around 1% of the population of the Palestinian Territories as a whole are Christian, the percentage is small in Gaza, where there are around 1,000 mostly Greek Orthodox Christians among nearly 2 million Muslims. The Christian community was already upset that celebrations will be limited because of the coronavirus pandemic. Gaza Christians cannot make their usual Christmas trips to Bethlehem this year due to increased COVID-19 travel restrictions imposed by Israel – which has for years imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip citing security concerns about Hamas – and Palestinian curbs on movement to prevent the spread of infection.

Explosion hits gas pipeline in Egypt's North Sinai region
AFP/Friday 25 December 2020
A blast hit a gas pipeline in Egypt's restive North Sinai region Thursday, a security source told AFP. "An explosion occurred (Thursday) evening along the main gas pipeline supplying the city of El-Arish," the source said, referring to the provincial capital. The blast took place in the Sabika area to the city's west, the source added. Witnesses told AFP that smoke and flames from the fire were visible some 30 kilometres (almost 20 miles) away. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear. Egypt has for years been fighting an Islamist insurgency in North Sinai, which escalated following the military's 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Provincial governor Mohammed Abdel Fadil Shousha said in a statement that the blast did not cause any casualties and "will not impact the gas supply" to the city. Security forces were searching the area and authorities have opened an investigation, the statement added. In February 2018, authorities launched a nationwide operation against militants, focusing on North Sinai. Earlier this year, the ISIS group said it blew up a gas pipeline around 80 kilometres west of El-Arish, claiming it was connected to Israel.

Macron Free of Covid Symptoms, Presidency Says
Agence France Presse/Thursday 24 December 2020
French President Emmanuel Macron is free of Covid-19 symptoms, his office said on Thursday, a week after he tested positive for the coronavirus. The president, who was in self-isolation at an official residence near Paris from where he ran meetings remotely, no longer needs to remain in quarantine, the Elysee Palace added. Macron "shows no symptoms a this stage", the statement said, and "the isolation of the President can therefore end after seven days". Macron had remained in charge "of the main issues of current affairs of our country" during his self-isolation, and would continue to do so in the coming hours and days, it said. Macron, who had tested positive for the virus last Thursday showing symptoms of fatigue, coughing and muscle aches, promised daily updates on his health. His office reported "signs of improvement" for the first time on Wednesday, having in previous statements described the 43-year old president's condition as "stable". The French authorities are concerned that the Christmas holiday period could see a new spike in infections, after the country's total Covid death toll rose to nearly 62,000 this week. Authorities said late Wednesday that nearly 15,000 new cases had been reported in the previous 24 hours, and 278 new deaths. A vaccination campaign is to start on Sunday, with health workers and older people among the first to get jabs, the government said. The EU gave the green light for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Monday, paving the way for the first inoculations to start across 27 countries soon after Christmas.The French HAS health authority on Thursday cleared the vaccine for use in France.

Iran warns US President Trump against any 'adventurism' before leaving White House
AFP/Thursday 24 December 2020
Iran on Thursday warned the US president against any "adventurism" before leaving the White House, after Donald Trump said he would hold "Iran responsible" for any fatal attack on Americans in Iraq. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's comments came after Trump accused Iran of being behind a rocket attack Sunday on the US embassy in the Iraqi capital, that caused material damage but no deaths. The exchange also comes as tensions mount ahead of the first anniversary of the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad.
Trump "uses a worthless photo to recklessly accuse Iran", Zarif said on Twitter Thursday, referring to an image Trump had posted after the embassy attack of three rockets he said had come from Iran. "Trump will bear full responsibility for any adventurism on his way out," Zarif added. Trump ordered a drone strike on January 3 this year to kill powerful Iranian general Soleimani while he was in Baghdad. Days later, Iran launched a volley of missiles at Iraqi bases housing US and other coalition troops. Trump refrained from any further military response. But the US leader, now in his final weeks in office, is sticking to his "maximum pressure" approach toward the Iranian regime. "Now we hear chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq," Trump tweeted Wednesday, before warning, "if one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over". Zarif had responded earlier Thursday, tweeting, "Putting your own citizens at risk abroad won't divert attention from catastrophic failures at home."The US embassy in Iraq and other foreign military and diplomatic sites have been targeted by dozens of rockets and roadside bomb attacks since late 2019.The US diplomatic mission has already partially withdrawn its staff due to security concerns, two senior Iraqi officials told AFP earlier this month.

Trump warns Iran over strike on Baghdad embassy
The Arab Weekly/December 24/2020
WASHINGTON--US President Donald Trump warned Wednesday he would hold “Iran responsible” in the event of a fatal attack on Americans in Iraq, as the first anniversary of the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a US air strike approaches. “Our embassy in Baghdad got hit Sunday by several rockets,” Trump said on Twitter, referring to an attack that caused damage but no deaths. “Guess where they came from: IRAN,” he added. “Now we hear chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq,” he added, before offering “some friendly health advice to Iran: if one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over,” he said. Responding to Trump, the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javid Zarif tweeted on Thursday: “Putting your own citizens at risk abroad won’t divert attention from catastrophic failures at home.”He also attached an image of years-old Trump tweets that claimed ex-president Barack Obama would have started a war with Iran to win re-election, as well as a screen grab of a graph that purported to show the severity of the coronavirus pandemic in the US. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had already pointed the finger at Tehran, while the US military command that covers the region said that the rocket attack “was almost certainly conducted by an Iranian-backed rogue militia group.”It said in a statement that while it “caused no US injuries or casualties, the attack did damage buildings in the US embassy compound, and was clearly NOT intended to avoid casualties.”“The United States will hold Iran accountable for the deaths of any Americans that result from the work of these Iranian-backed rogue militia groups,” it added. Iran had earlier responded by calling on US authorities on Monday not to provoke “tensions”. Trump ordered the drone attack on January 3, 2020 to kill the powerful Iranian general while he was in Baghdad. The air strike came after Iranian-backed militias had fired rockets at US targets in Iraq, in a scenario echoed by the latest strikes against the US embassy. After Soleimani’s killing, the entire region held its breath in anticipation of an uncontrolled escalation which ultimately did not materialise. But tensions are rising again as the first anniversary of the strike nears and the US leader — in his final weeks in office — is sticking to his “maximum pressure” approach toward the Iranian regime. Washington has recently reduced its diplomatic staff in the Iraqi capital amid speculations that it could close the mission altogether.
A “range of options”
Top US national security officials agreed on Wednesday on a proposed range of options to present to President Donald Trump aimed at deterring any attack on US military or diplomatic personnel in Iraq, a senior administration official told Reuters. The so-called principals committee group, including acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O’Brien met at the White House, said the official, who requested anonymity. A “range of options” would be presented soon to Trump, said the official, who would not describe the content of the options or say whether they included military action. “Each one is designed to be non-escalatory and to deter further attack,” the official said. Another US official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that while no Americans were injured in the attack, it involved roughly 21 rockets being fired, including a number of them hitting the compound. The senior administration official said the aim of the White House meeting was “to develop the right set of options that we could present to the president to make sure that we deter the Iranians and Shia militias in Iraq from conducting attacks on our personnel.” An array of militia groups announced in October that they had suspended rocket attacks on US forces on condition that Iraq’s government present a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops. But a rocket strike on the US Embassy on Nov. 18 was a clear sign that Iranian-backed militias had decided to resume attacks on US bases, according to Iraqi security officials. Washington, which is slowly reducing its 5,000 troops in Iraq, threatened to shut its embassy unless the Iraqi government reins in Iran-aligned militias.

Top US officials discuss options to protect Americans in Iraq from Iran attacks
Reuters/December 24/2020
Top US national security officials agreed on Wednesday on a proposed range of options to present to President Donald Trump aimed at deterring any attack on US military or diplomatic personnel in Iraq, a senior administration official told Reuters. The meeting was spurred by an attack on Dec. 20. At least eight rockets landed in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone in an attack targeting the US Embassy, causing some minor damage, the Iraqi military and the embassy said on Sunday. The official said the so-called principals committee group of officials, including acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O’Brien, discussed the situation at the White House. They agreed on a “range of options” that will be presented soon to Trump, the official said. The official would not describe the content of the options or say whether they included military options. “Each one is designed to be non-escalatory and to deter further attack,” the official said. The Iraqi military blamed the Dec. 20 attack on an “outlaw group.”But US officials blame Iran-backed militia for regular rocket attacks on US facilities in Iraq, including near the embassy in Baghdad. No known Iran-backed groups have claimed responsibility. The senior administration official said the aim of the White House meeting was “to develop the right set of options that we could present to the president to make sure that we deter the Iranians and Shia militias in Iraq from conducting attacks on our personnel.”An array of militia groups announced in October that they had suspended rocket attacks on US forces on condition that Iraq’s government present a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops. But a rocket strike on the US Embassy on Nov. 18 was a clear sign that Iranian-backed militias had decided to resume attacks on US bases, according to Iraqi security officials. Washington, which is slowly reducing its 5,000 troops in Iraq, threatened to shut its embassy unless the Iraqi government reins in Iran-aligned militias.

Iranians created website threatening US election officials: Security agencies
Reuters/Washington/Thursday 24 December 2020
US security agencies said on Wednesday they had highly credible information indicating that Iranian cyber actors were responsible for creating a website earlier this month featuring death threats aimed at US election officials. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Homeland Security Department's Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement that the Enemies of the People website, which surfaced after the US election but now appears dormant, demonstrated “an ongoing Iranian intent to create divisions and mistrust in the United States and undermine public confidence in the US electoral process.” The agencies said they had previously warned that “Iranian cyber actors” likely were keen to influence and interfere with the 2020 US election. “Iran is not involved in inciting violence and creating unrest in the United States,” Alireza Miryousefi, a spokesman for Iran's UN mission, said in an email to Reuters.
“Iran itself is the largest victim of cyber-attacks, including Stuxnet, and has always emphasized the need for the establishment of a global mechanism to prevent cyber-attacks at the United Nations, and at other international institutions.” The alleged Iranian-created website accused US officials involved in election security of “treason.” The site, along with several associated social media accounts, included photographs of Republican and Democratic officials, with rifle crosshairs superimposed on them. It also included officials' purported home addresses. Those targeted by the website included FBI director Christopher Wray and Christopher Krebs, the former CISA director who was fired by President Donald Trump after publicly vouching for 2020 election results showing Joe Biden defeated Trump. The site also targeted several employees of Dominion Voting Systems, a voting-machine vendor that has been the subject of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories of vote manipulation. A Dominion spokeswoman said those false claims have resulted in dangerous threats to the company and its workers. Internet records hid the identity of whoever set up the site. Cybersecurity researchers said one of the pages was hosted in Russia, and some records include accounts registered through Yandex, a Russian email platform. But experts said such links did not prove any Russian government connection to the website.

Israel arrests Palestinian suspect in West Bank killing
The Associated Press, JerusalemThursday 24 December 2020
Israel’s internal security agency said Thursday it detained a Palestinian suspected of killing an Israeli woman near a West Bank settlement earlier in the week. The Shin Bet said a Palestinian suspect from the vicinity in the northern West Bank was apprehended as part of a joint operation with the Israel police and military. Other details of the case remained under a court-issued gag order. Esther Horgen, 52, a mother of six from the West Bank settlement of Tal Menashe, was found dead in a nearby forest on Monday after she had gone missing a day earlier. Israeli officials have called her death a murder, and settler leaders have charged that she was killed in a Palestinian attack. Israel’s figurehead president, Reuven Rivlin, visited the family Thursday and offered his condolences. Nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 war. The Palestinians want the West Bank to be part of their future state and view the settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace, a position shared by most of the international community.

Turkey bashes Gulf outreach to Israel while feigning less aggressive face
Jerusalem Post/December 24/2020
Ankara has managed to alienate most of Europe through its threats against France, Greece and other states. Ankara continues to claim to foreign media and friends that it seeks reconciliation with the US, European Union and Israel, even as its state-controlled media suggest the opposite.
For instance, Turkey secured a piece on Voice of America about its “reconciliation” with Israel, while state-run Turkish Radio and Television bashed people from the UAE and Bahrain who visited Israel. Turkey, which has diplomatic relations with Israel, has been attempting to isolate it under its far-right Hamas-backing ruling party, the AKP. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his team have made it clear their agenda is to “liberate al-Aqsa” and have even described Jerusalem as “ours,” asserting that the city belongs to Ankara, not Israel. Turkey recalled envoys after the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem.
Yet Ankara has managed to alienate most of Europe through threats against France, Greece and other states. It has angered the US by hosting Hamas and buying Russia’s S-400 antiaircraft system. Ankara also appears to be working closely with Russia and Iran on Syrian issues. Recently, Turkish-backed extremists began to shell the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Ain Issa. Turkey has also hinted it is planning an operation in Iraq against Kurds. In the Mediterranean region Turkey’s parliament extended the role of Turkish troops in Libya, and Ankara continues to harass Greece by asserting claims to natural gas fields that conflict with Athens. A year of invasions by Ankara, first against Kurds in Syria and later against Armenians, has left many in the region concerned about Ankara’s next move.
Turkey bet big on a Trump victory, slamming the then-Democratic candidate for the presidency, Joe Biden. Now it has pivoted. Part of the pivot was pushing a narrative about “reconciliation” with Israel, for which there is no evidence.
Turkey appears to claim that it will continue to host Hamas terrorists and that Israel should hook up with a Turkish pipeline for energy needs, which would ruin Israel’s relationship with its Greek and Cypriot partners in the East Med pipeline. Ankara’s message is that Turkey would get everything and Israel would be isolated. Now Ankara’s narrative has also included claims that it wants to work with the EU and US in 2021. This is because of increasing calls for sanctions on Turkey. It is impossible to ignore the reality. Turkey continues to illegally occupy Afrin in Syria and has illegally sent weapons to Libya despite an arms embargo. It appears to be inflaming tensions from Somalia to Kashmir and is seeking to undermine stability in eastern Syria and northern Iraq. Turkey continues its eastern Mediterranean operations. Overall Ankara tried to sell itself to the Trump administration as a bulwark against Iran and Russia, even as it bought Russia’s S-400 antiaircraft system and let Iranian intelligence kidnap dissidents in Turkey. For Israel, Ankara has one narrative to the Western media and another for home consumption. At home, it calls Bahrain and the UAE “sellouts” for having tolerant and friendly relations with Israel.
While Hanukkah was celebrated in Dubai and by UAE diplomats, Ankara’s increasingly far-right Islamist worldview has no place for Hanukkah or for Israel. The goal is solely to make Turkey appear less destabilizing as the new US administration takes office.
Ankara now feels isolated as it has worked alongside Iran to be Israel’s chief antagonist, while one Arab country after another normalizes relations with the Jewish state.

Turkey hopes to turn new page with U.S. and EU in 2021, Erdogan says
ANKARA-Reuters/December 24/2020
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey hopes to “turn a new page” in its ties with the United States and European Union, and that Ankara had been subjected to double standards by both its NATO ally Washington and the bloc. This month Washington sanctioned Turkey over its acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defences, and the EU also prepared punitive measures over Turkey’s dispute with members Greece and Cyprus over Mediterranean offshore rights. The bloc decided to postpone the measures until March. Speaking to lawmakers from his ruling AK Party, Erdogan said “artificial agendas” tested Turkey’s ties with the EU and United States in 2020, but he hoped things would improve. “Turkey is facing double standards both over the eastern Mediterranean and the S-400s. We want to turn a new page with the EU and United States in the new year,” Erdogan said. “We don’t see our multilateral political, economic and military cooperation as an alternative to our deep-rooted ties with the United States. And we wish for the EU to rid itself of the strategic blindness that is distancing Turkey from it,” he added. The U.S. sanctions come at a delicate moment in the fraught relations between Ankara and Washington as Democratic President-elect Joe Biden gears up to take office on Jan. 20, replacing Republican Donald Trump. Ankara has condemned the sanctions as “grave mistake” and said it expects Biden to be more constructive in solving issues between the allies, ranging from differences over Syria policy to the S-400s. On Wednesday, Erdogan said Turkey would not “bow down to the language of sanctions and blackmail”, but added that he believed Biden will show the “necessary importance” to Turkish-U.S. ties.
*Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer

EU Parliament seeks targeted sanctions on Iran for killing of Afkari, Zam
Jerusalem Post/December 24/2020
Suspend diplomatic and economic relations with Iran, demand European politicians
The majority of European Parliament members on Thursday voted to condemn the Iranian regime’s violation of human rights and urged selective sanctions against the clerical regime. According to the parliament’s statement, the MEPs “demand targeted EU measures against Iranian officials who have committed serious human rights violations, including the recent executions of Ruhollah Zam and Navid Afkari, as well as against those involved in gross human rights abuses, such as judges who have handed the death sentence to journalists, human rights defenders, political dissidents and activists.”
In September, the US government imposed sanctions on Iranian regime judicial and prison officials who carried out the execution of Afkari. Iran’s regime executed Zam in December and Afkari in September for their peaceful protests against regime corruption and economic mismanagement.
Afkari, a champion Greco-Roman wrestler, participated in demonstrations against the worsening economy in 2018. Zam, a journalist, disclosed widespread regime corruption in his reporting. The parliament statement added that the “MEPs strongly condemn the arbitrary detention, sentencing and, recently, return to prison of women human rights defender, lawyer and 2012 Sakharov Prize laureate Nasrin Sotoudeh in Iran. They urge Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her and allow her to receive the healthcare she requires.”
The vote was approved by 614 MEPs in favor, 12 against and 63 abstentions. Iran’s parliament (Majlis) said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), “that the anti-Iran resolution made the Iranian lawmakers completely surprised and dissatisfied.” The IRNA article added that “the Iranian legislators warned that the issuance of the resolution shows Europeans support US-imposed unilateral sanctions on the great nation of Iran, which is considered a disgraceful act.”A group of 24 members of the European Parliament last week urged the EU’s chief diplomat to suspend “all trade and diplomatic relations of the entire European Union” with Iran’s regime until Tehran releases Ahmad Reza Djalali to Sweden. The letter to the EU’s foreign policy head Josep Borrell stated “we are extremely concerned about the death sentence given to the Swedish Iranian citizen, Dr. Ahmad Reza Djalali. The execution of Dr. Djalali was recently confirmed by the Supreme Court, and subsequently, he was transferred to the place of execution.”The MEPs continued that “Dr. Ahmad Reza Djalali is a Swedish citizen and should have the full support of all EU member states... It is certain that demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Ahmad Reza Djalali, as well as a coordinated effort by the EU member states in taking a strong stance against the Iranian regime’s violation of human rights, would send a clear message to the regime’s officials, to reconsider their behaviors and reaffirm their commitments to their international obligations.” Djalali, a medicine researcher, relocated to Sweden. Iran’s regime arrested him in 2016 during his attendance at a scientific conference, which he was invited to by Tehran University. The regime sentenced him to death in 2017 for espionage.
Iranian-regime controlled television showed video of Djalali ostensibly confessing to providing information to the Mossad about Iran’s military establishment’s nuclear scientists. Iran frequently shows forced confessions on state-controlled television.
The politicians’ letter was dated December 14 and was announced on December 17.
 

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 24-25/2020

Jihad at Christmas: "Coldly Kill Them with Hate and Rage"
Richard Kemp/Gatestone Institute/December 24/2020
Christmas is an attractive time for jihadists for three unattractive reasons.
Many of the examples of failed terrorist plots show that Western security authorities have had considerable success in protecting us all, including the numerous Muslim victims of Islamic jihad. We might have even greater confidence in government officials and security officials if they and the media told us the truth about the religious doctrine that really lies behind these attempts to murder us and destroy our way of life, no better illustrated than by their obsession with Christmas.
[M]any of those responsible for our security have themselves been indoctrinated with politically correct falsehoods which can only obstruct their efforts to prevent innocent people from being coldly killed with hate and rage at Christmas or anytime else.
This month, Islamic State terrorists released a "religious" song for Christmas, "Coldly Kill Them With Hate and Rage". Taking the form of Islamic religious chant, the song, according to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute, exhorts jihadists everywhere to murder non-Muslims, "pagans, atheists and polytheists", from "West Africa all the way to east Asia... through air, land and sea". Published on Telegram, the post includes the hashtag #MerryChristmas and a photograph of a Christmas tree with dynamite attached.
Christmas is an attractive time for jihadists for three unattractive reasons. First and foremost, they are fighting a religious war and by far their numerically greatest enemies are Christians whose most prominent festival is Christmas. Second, large crowds joining festive events and filling shopping centres present a target-rich environment. Third, publicity: mass murder at this time of year guarantees additional outrage among Western countries and Christian communities everywhere. The Islamic State song enjoins its followers to "make their media cry and broadcast". The propaganda value is particularly powerful for jihadists intent on recruiting and motivating fighters and funders for their cause and creating division between communities aimed at inciting vengeance attacks against their fellow Muslims.
It would be a mistake, however, to dismiss such overt jihadist threats merely as an effort to instil terror among their targets around the world, especially in the West. They mean what they say and their past actions conclusively prove it. This week, mourners gathered to pay their respects to the 12 people killed and 56 wounded when an Islamic State terrorist drove a truck into crowds at a Christmas market in Berlin on December 19, 2016. This followed a series of jihadist terror attacks in Europe that year, including a nail-bomb planted by a 12-year-old Iraqi boy at a Christmas market in Ludwigshafen, Germany, that failed to detonate. On the first anniversary of the Berlin rammings, police in the north of England seized bomb-making equipment and arrested Islamic State terrorists believed to be planning an attack in the UK at Christmas, and Russian intelligence services reportedly disrupted a Christmas attack planned for the city of St Petersburg.
On December 22, 2014, an Islamic State-inspired terrorist drove his van into the Christmas market in Nantes, France, killing one and wounding nine. The day before, a man of Algerian-Moroccan descent wounded 13 people by driving his vehicle into them in the French city of Dijon. The day before that, on December 20, a French Muslim convert stabbed three people near Tours. These three Christmas attacks were the first of many Islamic State terrorist atrocities in France. In December 2018, a man of Algerian descent killed five people and wounded 11 with a revolver and a knife, in an Islamic State-inspired attack at the Strasbourg Christmas market. In 2017 German police prevented an Islamic State attack aimed at a Christmas market in the city of Essen, arresting six Syrian men. In December 2000, an Al Qaida-linked plot to bomb the Christmas market in Strasbourg was disrupted by British and German security authorities.
Many other jihadist Christmas plots have been prevented by police and intelligence services in Europe and Britain, including a large-scale vehicle bomb and suicide vest attack in the Netherlands in 2019 and a 2011 Christmas bomb attack on the London Stock Exchange, the London Mayor's home and the US Embassy. Several Christmas terrorist attacks have also been planned against the US. These include a 2009 Al Qaida attempt to blow up a passenger airliner over US territory using a suicide bomb that failed when the explosives malfunctioned. In 2010 an Al Qaida terrorist attempted to bomb a Christmas tree lighting event in Portland. In 2017 a Muslim convert and former US Marine planned a Christmas shooting attack in San Francisco and was arrested by the FBI.
The pattern is global. In Australia, among other Christmas period plots, intelligence services prevented an attack in 2016 using guns, bombs and knives, aimed at a number of landmarks in Melbourne, including St Paul's Cathedral, planned for Christmas Day. By far the highest death-toll at Christmas occurs in Muslim-majority countries. In Indonesia, Al Qaida and their affiliates Jemaah Islamiyah murdered 18 and wounded 118 others in a series of coordinated bombings of churches on Christmas Eve 2000. In Nigeria and Egypt alone, almost 150 Christians were killed in targeted attacks at Christmas in 2017. Last year an Egyptian policeman was killed attempting to defuze a bomb at a Coptic Christian church days before their Christmas services. Also last Christmas, the Islamic State affiliate Boko Haram executed 11 Christian hostages, murdered seven others and burnt down a church on Christmas Eve. These examples are far from exhaustive.
This month Aimen Dean, a former Al Qaida chemical weapons expert who became an agent of the British intelligence service MI6, and was subsequently exposed, warned of Islamic State plans for a Christmas bombing campaign in Europe. He suggested they would try to exploit the easing of coronavirus restrictions over Christmas in several countries. Previously, a UN Security Council report, asserting that travel restrictions and reduced gatherings had constrained jihadist violence outside conflict zones, warned of a resurgence of attacks as lockdowns are reduced.
Attacks targeting non-Muslims are not of course restricted to Christmas. They take place all year round, including at the other great Christian festival of Easter. Last year over 25 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in a series of bomb attacks by an Islamic State affiliate against churches and hotels in Sri Lanka at Easter. Nor are Christians the only religious group targeted in the jihadists' holy war which could "wipe out" Christianity from parts of the Middle East according to a report last year commissioned by the British Foreign Secretary. In 2002 the terrorist group Hamas murdered 30 and wounded 140 Jews during a Passover seder in Netanya, Israel and on the eve of the Purim festival a few years before, the same group murdered 13 Israelis and wounded 130 in Tel Aviv. In 2005, Islamic jihadists killed 67 people and wounded many more in a bomb attack in Delhi as Hindus prepared for Diwali, a festival that has been targeted for attack many times.
It is politically incorrect to ascribe religious motives to jihadists, with Western authorities and media preferring to blame mental disorder, so-called "lone wolves" or "unknown motives" for their mass killings. The reality is different. Destruction of religious enemies, in particular Christians and Jews, is central to jihadist doctrine. Islamic State videos of beheading and execution of Egyptian and Ethiopian Christians carried the title: "A Message in Blood Written to the Nation of the Cross". Their now-eliminated leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, frequently proclaimed his movement's intent to march all the way to Rome, breaking Christian crosses and trading and selling their women on the way. He frequently railed against Jews and the Jewish State. Former Al Qaida leader Usama Bin Laden often threatened Israel in his messages to the world and his supporters. His infamous 1998 rallying call to the Sunni Islamic world was entitled "Declaration for Jihad against the Jews and the Crusaders [Christians]".
Christmas attack warnings by jihadists as well as warnings from our own authorities over this festive period will be with us for generations. Many of the examples of failed terrorist plots show that Western security authorities have had considerable success in protecting us all, including the numerous Muslim potential victims of Islamic jihad. We might have even greater confidence in government officials and security officials if they and the media told us the truth about the religious doctrine that really lies behind these attempts to murder us and destroy our way of life, no better illustrated than by their obsession with Christmas.
The danger is not just the misleading message to the public about mental disorder and lone wolves. It is also the reality that many of those responsible for our security have themselves been indoctrinated with politically correct falsehoods which can only obstruct their efforts to prevent innocent people from being coldly killed with hate and rage at Christmas or anytime else.
*Colonel Richard Kemp is a former British Army Commander. He was also head of the international terrorism team in the U.K. Cabinet Office and is now a writer and speaker on international and military affairs.
© 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.

Qatar seeks to set Riyadh apart from boycotting alliance in Gulf reconciliation talks
The Arab Weekly/December 24/2020
RIYADH--Qatar does not hesitate to put obstacles in the way of reaching a serious Gulf reconciliation that obliges it to dispel its neighbours’ fears about its controversial relations with Islamic extremist groups, and with Turkey and Iran. Its latest manoeuvre is to seek to strip this reconciliation of its collective dimension by limiting it to Saudi Arabia alone.
On Wednesday, Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, indicated that there had been a “breakthrough in the Gulf crisis two weeks ago, after the issuance of a Kuwaiti statement on the crisis.”
He said, during a press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, that “the discussions on the Gulf reconciliation were with Saudi Arabia only, but it (Saudi Arabia) represented the other parties as well.”
“There are no obstacles to solving the Gulf crisis at the political level, and Qatar is trying to ignore any obstacles that appear, and that it does not pay attention to small matters,” he added, referring to the boycotting countries’request that Qatar take practical steps to show goodwill. Gulf affairs analysts said that Qatar seeks to split the coalition of the boycotting countries, which has maintained its cohesion during the last three years, by offering direct mediation with Saudi Arabia, and suggesting that it is not concerned about the rest.
These analysts indicated that the goal is to push countries such as the UAE and Egypt to retreat from the new truce track after they had sent indications showing their readiness to go along the Saudi efforts if Qatar undertook confidence-building steps, perhaps the most important of which is to stop the media campaigns waged by Al-Jazeera Channel against Egypt and the UAE. These campaigns have picked up their pace following Riyadh’s announcement of the start of reconciliation efforts.
This Qatari approach, which seeks to differentiate between Saudi Arabia and its allies, would impede the Gulf summit scheduled for next January 5 in Riyadh, and lead to the absence of some countries, or at least reducing the level of their participation in the meeting. Riyadh is using the summit to test Doha’s intentions. The UAE quickly reacted to the Qatari manoeuvre. Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, wrote on Twitter, “the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s management of this file is a source of confidence and optimism”. Gulf observers considered his words a direct response to Qatar’s attempts to split the coalition of boycotting countries.“From Riyadh, the capital of Gulf decisions, we take steps, God willing, to strengthen the Gulf dialogue towards the future,” Gargash added, stating further that his country is looking forward to “a successful summit in Riyadh with which we begin the stage of strengthening the Gulf dialogue.”
Qatar had sought to anger Bahrain by arresting a number of Bahraini fishermen, and it sent a clear signal stating that it did not want to expand the circle of reconciliation, consideringManama a secondary element in the crisis, not requiring any reassurances, which prompted a quick Bahraini response. The Bahraini parliament did not hesitate to assert that reconciliation with Qatar “cannot be achieved before some issues are resolved through negotiation.”On Tuesday, Abu Dhabi accused Qatari media platforms of working to undermine the steps of reconciliation, about two weeks before an upcoming Gulf summit in Riyadh, to be held after increasing signs of progress in resolving the Gulf crisis. On Tuesday, Gargash said, “The political and social atmosphere in the Arab Gulf is looking forward to ending the Qatar crisis and is looking for the best way to ensure Doha’s commitment to any agreement that brings good for the region. Qatari media outlets, however, appear determined to undermine any agreement.”
“This is a strange and difficult to explain phenomenon,” he added.
On December 4, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmed Nasser Al-Sabah had announced that there were “strenuous efforts to reach a final agreement to resolve the Gulf conflict,” in a manner that guarantees the unity of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Doha is trying to isolate Saudi Arabia from the rest of the boycotting countries by pursuing a direct bilateral reconciliation with Riaydh, but observers believe that the Qatari tactic has flaws. They pointed out that the Saudi leadership may be enthusiastic and ready to heal the Gulf rift, but it can just as easily return to square one with the same enthusiasm. These observers believe that Saudi Arabia is looking at the issue from its more comprehensive regional dimension. The kingdom is trying to advance enough cards to strengthen the Gulf ranks in the face of upcoming changes, including the arrival at the White House of a new American administration that is planning to reopen negotiations over the Iranian nuclear file, and it may neglect to take into account the security of the Gulf unless the GCC states presented a unified front in demanding to curb the growing Iranian threats.
In contrast to this Saudi line of thinking, Qatar is still keen to develop relations with Iran and Turkey without taking into account the reconciliation arrangements that will force it to adhere to the interests of the Gulf Cooperation Council and its decisions.
On Wednesday, the Qatari foreign minister called for “a dialogue between the Gulf states and Iran,” and welcomed “any initiatives that make the region stable,” a stance that may anger the Saudis. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt had severed diplomatic relations with Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of involvement in supporting extremist Islamic groups and undue rapprochement with Iran.
The severing of official ties was accompanied by economic measures, including the closure of land borders, sea routes, and their airspaces to Qatari flights.
At the time, the four countries insisted on Qatar’s compliance with a list of 13 demands that Doha so far has refused to respond to. At the top of these demands are that Qatar abandon its policies of supporting and financing terrorism, stop providing media platforms for extremist groups whose leaders reside in the Qatari capital and Turkey, and move away from Iran which is accused by its Gulf opponents and the West of engaging in activities aimed at destabilising the region.

Sustained pressure on Iranian regime still necessary
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 24/2020
The Iranian regime is confident that the next US administration will rejoin the nuclear deal. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani recently said that he had “no doubt” about a pending return to the status quo under American President-elect Joe Biden.
This, Rouhani added, would result in the prompt suspension of economic sanctions as the US arranged to return to the seven-party nuclear agreement from which it withdrew in 2018. On the other hand, recently released satellite images indicate that the Iranians are building new facilities near the fortified underground Fordow nuclear site. While the regime has made no public statement about the work, it previously acknowledged similar defensive constructions at nuclear facilities in Natanz.
There is also evidence of ongoing work at other less-prominent sites that has not even been declared to inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In October, the main coalition of Iranian opposition groups known as the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), announced the discovery of a military site controlled by the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, which is primarily responsible for weaponizing Iran’s nuclear program.
The new US administration should pay due attention to these reminders and recognize their significance. It is widely anticipated that Biden will adopt a softer policy than his predecessor, President Donald Trump, but the presidential transition does not need to result in the US whipsawing from “maximum pressure” back to a conciliatory strategy. A gentle approach would embolden the regime.
And the nuclear deal is not the only outstanding issue with the West. There is a 32-year-old crime against humanity case for which no Iranian official has ever been held accountable. During three months in 1988, an estimated 30,000 political prisoners were brutally executed.
The massacre was highlighted just days before the release of new images from Fordow, when a letter was made public by a group of UN human rights experts. In a report, they demanded relevant information from the Iranian regime and also acknowledged the troubling failure of international bodies to address the crime.
The killings were not investigated by the UN’s General Assembly, Security Council, or Commission on Human Rights. The experts said: “The failure of these bodies to act had a devastating impact on the survivors and families as well as on the general situation of human rights in Iran and emboldened Iran to continue to conceal the fate of the victims and to maintain a strategy of deflection and denial that continues to date.”
It is widely anticipated that Biden will adopt a softer policy than his predecessor, President Donald Trump
Some of the main perpetrators of the massacre remain in positions of extraordinary influence within Iran’s political and economic systems, among them the current head of the judiciary and the justice minister.
It is no surprise, therefore, that evidence points to escalating repression of dissent in the Islamic Republic, especially in the face of popular unrest that has defined recent years.
Dozens of peaceful protesters were killed at the beginning of 2018 when the country found itself in the midst of a nationwide uprising. But that death toll was dwarfed in November last year when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) opened fire on crowds of citizens participating in a larger uprising.
Approximately 1,500 people were killed, making the crackdown by far the clearest acknowledgement that authorities remain committed to the strategies that were on prominent display in the 1980s.
This observation is one that Biden and other policymakers should take to heart as they set a course for collective Western responses to Iran’s malign behavior.
American and European policies can help to safeguard the Iranian people against even worse repression of their fundamental rights. At the same time, appropriately assertive policies are still needed in order to pressure the regime into abandoning activities that could lead to it obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Then comes the concern regarding Iran’s role as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, a threat much more immediate and closer to home since its agents or proxies could strike virtually anywhere in the world, at any time.
Fears over Iranian terrorism were particularly validated in 2018, when multiple Iran-backed terror plots were thwarted including one that would have seen explosives being set off just outside Paris at an NCRI-organized gathering of tens of thousands of Iranians.
Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s president-elect, was the keynote speaker at the event in the French capital, joining an impressive array of hundreds of international figures and lawmakers calling for democratic change in Iran. Four co-conspirators in the bomb plot, including a senior Iranian diplomat, are currently on trial in Belgium, in a case that should influence Western policies.
The past 40 years have shown that the Iranian regime’s behavior will only get worse. There is only one conclusion: Sustained pressure on the Iranian regime is necessary and tragically under-emphasized.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman, and president of the International American Council. He serves on the boards of the Harvard International Review, the Harvard International Relations Council, and the US-Middle East Chamber for Commerce and Business. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Iraq’s real problem is a political one
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/December 24/2020
The devaluation of the Iraqi dinar is one of the measures taken by the Iraqi government to cope with the country’s grave economic crisis. Although analysts seem to put the blame on the current low oil prices and crude production cuts, in fact this unprecedented 20 percent devaluation is the result of years of suffering under the pressure of Iranian militias and the diversion of wealth toward Tehran. In a way, the situation is similar to what Lebanon is experiencing — forced isolation from its Arab neighbors and the international scene. One could label the predicament a case study under the title, “How to lose friends and alienate countries,” perhaps adding for good measure, “as well as plunge the country into total chaos and bankruptcy.”The situation in Iraq is quite alarming and is mostly the result of wealth being vacuumed out by Iranian corruption. The decision to devaluate by itself is a positive one. There is indeed no need to burn hard currencies to protect an exchange rate that does not reflect the economic situation. Despite the impact on import costs, letting the market decide usually improves things when other sound policies and reforms are put in place.
Yet, the real problem is not an economic one, neither for Iraq nor Lebanon. The real problem is political. It is useless if not impossible to try and solve economic problems when there is no political vision for the country. This guarantees to keep it in a crisis loop with the only hope being that the downfall is not too painful. Therefore, there is no need to get into economic analysis. Iraq, like Lebanon, is heading toward a complete meltdown. Iraq has a clear advantage in its oil reserves, yet even on this front, the country has been forced to seek upfront payments to meet its liabilities and commitments. It is not enough that debt has plagued the country; now, future sales are being swallowed by the black hole of mismanagement and corruption.
Iran, through its militias and its political parties, has been dragging Iraq and Lebanon to the bottom of an abyss. This same week, Iraq agreed to start fuel exports to Lebanon in 2021, a move that has been discussed since before summer, yet one may wonder how Lebanon will be able to pay for this. In Iraq, as in Lebanon, the piracy of electricity piracy is costing billions of dollars every year. Iraq marked the theft at $12 billion this year alone. In both countries, one might ask who protects this fraud and who is absolved from settling his bills. If this is clear for electricity, the same will apply to the Ministry of Health. The focus of Iran’s impact on this ministry goes beyond the social aspect, affecting business and finance.
Iranian interference has indeed been a case study in leading countries in its sphere of domination into chaos. It destroys any voice that stands up to its violence. Yet, when it comes to economic interests, there must also be a real, underlying objective in evading sanctions and benefiting. Their appointed leaders act as a vassal state that needs to pay a tribute to the supreme power in Tehran.
It is useless if not impossible to try and solve economic problems when there is no political vision for the country
It is clear that the Lebanese banking system and Iraqi energy are good means of setting up structures to avoid sanctions and pay tribute to Tehran. Basically, what Tehran gives to Hezbollah and its militias in Iraq it can funnel from state institutions and the private sector to benefit its own interests and extract whatever service or value it needs. In that sense, one might also wonder how much of the oil sold by Iraq could be smuggled Iranian oil or bartered at least.
It is therefore understandable that protestors are calling for anti-corruption and anti-fraud reforms. Yet, when they call for technocrats here and there to take over the government, they are mistaken as such a call is without a clear political vision and, under current Iranian control, nothing will change before the political battle has been won.
The fact is that Tehran and its proxies have something that their political opponents do not, and it goes beyond being armed and challenging the country’s institutions and sovereignty. It starts with political belief followed by strategy, planning and consistency in execution — and, most of all, total loyalty. There are certainly many other factors, such as financial resources. If Iran’s proxies can function, it is not a problem that the entire country falls into chaos. Electricity fraud, corruption or anything else works fine if they are gaining control and advancing their objectives.
Unfortunately, on the opposing side, there is a complete lack of political vision. As crowds of protestors come and go, this will never be enough to effect real change. The enemy is ruthless: The assassinations of activists and any meaningful or inspiring voice is enough to prove it. Without a structured organization, activists will keep being targeted.Despite the direness of the situation and the risks of becoming a failed state, there are paths toward a better future. Yet, this road to recovery cannot start if the country’s sovereignty is being destroyed and the real issues are not tackled. It is also important for Iraq to win back Kurdistan and all regions to the federal state, which is the only way to move forward. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has proven his will to reestablish order and rein in armed militias — an undoubtedly difficult task. Before that, though, he should formulate a clear political vision that will rally the people of Iraq to his cause. This can only be a vision of freedom of belief, a free economy, and a small government.
In other words, Iraq needs a locally flavored formulation of Reaganomics or Thatcherism. President Ronald Reagan defeated the USSR while Thatcher saved the UK economically. For its part, Iraq should not look to defeat Iran but rebalance its relationship with this important neighbor as this is the only way to recovery. This would be a net positive not only for Iraq but for the entire region.
• Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

Will ‘Little England’ or ‘Global Britain’ prevail in 2021?
Andrew Hammond/Arab News/December 24/2020
Whether “Global Britain” or “Little England” becomes the more powerful political narrative across the UK post-Brexit will help define the country’s politics in 2021 and beyond.
There were diverse and sometimes divergent views expressed by people voting to exit the EU. Some more isolationist leave voters focused on the costs and constraints of EU membership, including the issue of UK financial contributions to the budget of Brussels, which could now be redirected to domestic ends.
However, other Brexiteers voted for a quite different vision of a buccaneering hyper-global UK that could now double-down with countries outside the EU. If Prime Minister Boris Johnson gets his way, it will be this Global Britain narrative in the ascendancy in 2021 by showcasing the nation’s continued international leadership.
As a step toward this ambition, Johnson last month pledged some £16.5 billion ($22 billion) for increased defense spending in the next few years. But his Global Britain plans go well beyond military to diplomacy, with London in 2021 chairing the UN Security Council from February, holding the rotating G7 presidency from January, and hosting the UN-led summit on climate change.
Johnson’s defense spending pledge comes as part of what he asserts is one of the most sweeping UK defense and security reviews since the end of the Cold War. And in his first trip to India as prime minister in January, he will seek to push forward a post-Brexit free trade agreement.
Yet despite Johnson’s Global Britain ambitions, there are also political pressures to retrench internationally, especially given the country’s strained finances post-pandemic. One early sign of this was the decision of the UK government last month to reduce its commitment to international aid from 0.7 percent to 0.5 percent of gross domestic product. One other development that will help determine whether the UK becomes more inward-looking post-Brexit are the threats to its territorial integrity. Post-Brexit, these threats are at the highest level in modern political times.
Yet despite Johnson’s Global Britain ambitions, there are also political pressures to retrench internationally, especially given the country’s strained finances post-pandemic
Ground zero is Scotland, where recent polls indicate record high levels of support for independence, including one by Ipsos Mori in October with 58 percent. Support for independence is reflected in the voting intention numbers for May’s Holyrood ballot. A survey last week from The Scotsman/Savanta ComRes indicates that the Scottish National Party (SNP) will probably win a commanding majority and possibly every constituency seat except one.
This could be a political game-changer, with SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon pressuring the reluctant UK government to approve another independence referendum after the last, failed one in 2014. London can technically block a second plebiscite, but this may become politically indefensible if the SNP win big in May. Sturgeon claims that this will “make the case for Scotland to become an independent country, and seek a clear endorsement of Scotland’s right to choose our own future.” Sadly, it is increasingly possible that the 2020s could therefore, tragically, witness the unraveling of one of the world’s longest and most successful political unions.  Brexit is the immediate context for this unfolding political drama, given that the vast majority (62 percent) of the Scottish electorate voted in 2016 to remain in the EU. Sturgeon has highlighted what she calls the “self-sabotage” of Brexit, saying it “strengthens the case for Scotland becoming an independent country.” This is a potential tragedy in the making, for despite the understandable disappointment of Sturgeon and many Scottish voters at the 2016 Brexit vote, she risks leading Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales down a path that will probably weaken all parties, given that their future is better together. On the foreign front, the wider UK would be damaged by Scottish independence. For instance, a UK parliamentary committee has warned that losing the Scottish tax base could lead to further budgetary cuts to international activities, including the armed forces.
The UK’s extensive network of diplomatic and trade missions will also be impacted, eroding the country’s post-Brexit voice in international forums such as the UN, G7, G20 and NATO. Together with military cutbacks, this will undermine both hard and soft power, which has enabled the nation to punch above its weight for so long.
This is why, with growing political risks over the integrity of the union, the case needs to be made again in 2021 for why the future of Scotland and the UK is better together. At a time when Johnson is seeking to promote Global Britain, Scottish departure from the union threatens to undermine the sizeable political, military and economic force that the UK has preserved, and which has helped bolster international security and prosperity.
• Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.