LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 25.2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.february25.20.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the
Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Matthew 06/05-15/”Whenever you pray, do not be like the
hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street
corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have
received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the
door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in
secret will reward you. ‘When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as
the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many
words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask
him. ‘Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your
kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day
our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. For
if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese
Related News & Editorials published on February 24-25/2020
What is The Ash Monday/Elias Bejjani/February 24/2020
Cana Wedding Miracle/The Forgiveness (Marfaa) Sunday/Elias Bejjani/February
23/2020
IMF extends visit to crisis-hit Lebanon: sources
Lebanon’s 1st Coronavirus Case Part of Social Media Jokes, Sectarian Tension
U.S. Sanctions Bill Aimed at Lebanon over Amer Fakhoury
Rafik Hariri Hospital: 3 Out of 34 Isolated despite Showing No Virus Signs
Hasan: Lebanon, WHO Coordinated Measures over Virus Threat
Coronavirus Measures Taken on Lebanon's Northern Border with Syria
Hasan Cancels Airport Tour Linked to Italian Plane Arrival
Some Brital, Hermel Schools Close over Coronavirus Fears
Iranian, Italian Planes Land in Beirut amid Coronavirus Fears
Renault Files Civil Claim against Ghosn
Parliament General Secretariat Hits Back at U.N. Coordinator
President Aoun receives Public Health Minister, Former MP Soukarieh
Ministerial Crisis Cell tasks municipalities to supervise self-isolation,
prevent travel to affected areas
Diab meets Ambassador of Syria
Diab tackles situation with Ambassador of Qatar
Diab meets Hitti, Army's Tripartite Committee teamBerri to Lebanese
Industrialists: Needed funds for industrial sector will be secured
Minister of Information follows up on situation of media sector, meets TL
delegation
Italian plane arrives at Beirut airport, medical team performs necessary
checkups
Hariri Hospital: 5 cases quarantined, 4 of which tested negative
Foucher visits Shatila camp, confirms France's support for UNRWA
Kattar meets Swiss Ambassador, Lebanese Industrialists Association delegation,
LF delegatiuon
Mortada chairs Locust Control Operations meeting: Agriculture Ministry teams
fully mobilized
Najm discusses judicial cooperation with Ambassadors of Australia, Mexico
Yammine discusses joint projects with World Bank delegation
Minister of Energy welcomes Ambassador of Germany
Kanaan, Kubis discuss financial reforms, anti-corruption laws
Lebanese Journalist Assaulted at Airport, Kubis Defends Free Speech
Report: SA, France Affirm Willingness to ‘Back’ Lebanon
Lebanese activists and critics of Hezbollah face attacks, arrest and threats/Najia
Houssari/Arab News/February 25/2020
Lebanon’s dangerous descent into Iran’s sphere of influence/Rami Rayess/The Arab
Weekly/February 24/2020
Hezbollah wants the dollar-hungry Lebanese to boycott American goods. The catch?
Lebanon could hurt more/Emma Scolding/The New Arab/February 24/2020
Lebanon can save its economy, just not with the help of the IMF/Karim Safieddine/The
New Arab/February 24/2020
Lebanese Mock Nasrallah’s Call To Boycott American Products/MEMRI/February
24/2020
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on February 24-25/2020
Palestinian Jihad fires more than 80 rockets, calls a sudden end to the blitz
Debkafiles/February 24/2020
'Islamic Jihad' Ends 'Military Response' against Israel after 2-Day Flare-up
Israel, Islamic Jihad Exchange Fire for Second Day
Iraqi Lawmakers Schedule Confidence Vote Amid US Calls for Protection
Iraqi Nurse Spends Her Weekends Stitching Wounds at Protest Site
Iran accused of coronavirus coverup amid claims of 50 deaths
Progress in Israeli Negotiations With Hamas- Media Reports
Israeli Leadership Encourages Repressive Measures against Palestinians
Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain Report Coronavirus Cases
Italy Authorities Urge Calm as Coronavirus Cases Stabilize
Libyans Propose Ceasefire, Slam International Inaction
Libya Rivals Announce Will Not Take Part in Geneva Talks
Iraqi Lawmakers Schedule Confidence Vote amid US Calls for Protection
Four Killed in India Clash ahead of Trump Arrival
US Presses Yemen's Huthis to Drop Baha'i Charges
Around 30 Hurt as Car Rams Germany Carnival Procession
WHO says it no longer uses 'pandemic' category, but virus still emergency
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
February 24-25/2020
Analysis/Israel Needs Qatar to Prevent Gaza
From Spiraling, and Hamas Knows How to Exploit It/Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/February
24/2020
A secret Mossad Qatar trip, Hamas outreach to Egypt and Iran’s threat/
Jerusalem Post/February 24/2020
How Should the West Respond to the Iranian Protesters?/Judith Bergman/Gatestone
Institute/February 24/2020
The Fortunate Arabs in the Middle East/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/February
24/2020
Why Does The Islamic Republic Of Iran Hold Elections?/Saeed Ghasseminejad/FDD/February
24/2020
FATF Reimposes Countermeasures on Iran for Failing to Meet Anti-Money Laundering
Standards/Toby Dershowitz/FDD/February 24/2020
Iran Does Not Lie… But it Lives in a Different Universe/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/February
24/2020
The New Killer Is Not the Big Killer/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/February
24/2020
Patriot Missiles and Erdogan’s Bluff/Bobby Ghosh/Bloomberg/February 24/2020
Iran regime’s persecution of its minorities generating anger/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab
News/February 25/2020
Iranian opacity increases coronavirus threat in region/Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab
News/February 25/2020
G20 meeting: Global priorities meet Vision 2030 aims/Cornelia Meyer/Arab
News/February 25/2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published on February 24-25/2020
What is The Ash Monday
Elias Bejjani/February 24/2020
مفاهيم اثنين الرماد الإيمانية
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/72716/elias-bejjani-what-is-the-ash-monday/
Ash Monday is the first day of Lent and It is a moveable feast, falling on a
different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter. It
derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of
adherents as a sign of mourning and repentance to God.
On The Ash Monday the priest ceremonially marks with wet ashes on the
worshippers’ foreheads a visible cross while saying “Remember that you are dust,
and to dust you shall return (genesis03/19)”.
Worshippers are reminded of their sinfulness and mortality and thus, implicitly,
of their need to repent in time.
Ash Monday (Greek: Καθαρά Δευτέρα), is also known as Clean and Pure Monday.
The common term for this day, refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes
and non-fasting foods.
Our Maronite Catholic Church is notable amongst the Eastern rites employing the
use of ashes on this day.
(In the Western Catholic Churches this day falls on Wednesday and accordingly it
is called the “Ash Wednesday”)
Ash Monday is a Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, contemplating of
transgressions and repentance.
Ash Monday is a reminder that we should begin Lent with good intentions and a
desire to clean our spiritual house. It is a day of strict fasting including
abstinence not only from meat but from eggs and dairy products as well.
Liturgically, Ash Monday—and thus Lent itself—begins on the preceding (Sunday)
night, at a special service called Forgiveness Vespers, which culminates with
the Ceremony of Mutual Forgiveness, at which all present will bow down before
one another and ask forgiveness. In this way, the faithful begin Lent with a
clean conscience, with forgiveness, and with renewed Christian love.
The entire first week of Great Lent is often referred to as “Clean Week”, and it
is customary to go to Confession during this week, and to clean the house
thoroughly.
The Holy Bible stresses the conduct of humility and not bragging for not only
during the fasting period, but evry day and around the clock.
It is worth mentioning that Ashes were used in ancient times to express grief.
When Tamar was raped by her half-brother, “she sprinkled ashes on her head, tore
her robe, and with her face buried in her hands went away crying” (2 Samuel
13:19). Examples of the Ash practices among Jews are found in several other
books of the Bible, including Numbers 19:9, 19:17, Jonah 3:6, Book of Esther
4:1, and Hebrews 9:13.
Jesus is quoted as speaking of the Ash practice in Matthew 11:21 and Luke 10:13:
“If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”
Cana Wedding Miracle/The Forgiveness
(Marfaa) Sunday
Elias Bejjani/February 23/2020
Lent period starts with the Cana Holy Wedding Miracle and ends with the Holy
Easter Day.
Lent in the Maronite Church rite starts this year on the ASH Monday, February
25/2020.
The Sunday that comes before the beginning of the lent period is called the
raising (أحد المرفع) or forgiveness Sunday (أحد الغفران)
Fasting is a battle of spiritual engagement through which we seek to imitate
Jesus Christ who fought Satan's temptations while fasting in the wilderness.
He triumphed over Satan, and we faithfully endeavour during the Lent period to
tame and defeat our earthly instincts and make our hearts, conscience and
thinking pure, immaculate and pious
The lent period is a spiritual battle that we chose to fight our own selves and
all its bodily and earthly instinctual pleasures in a bid to abstain from all
acts and thoughts of sin
Lent in principle is a Holy period that is ought to be utilized with God in
genuine contemplation, self humility, repentance, penances, forgiveness, praying
and conciliation with self and others.
Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Jesus Who is the
fountain of all love, forgiveness and mercy.
Lent is a pilgrimage in which Jesus Himself accompanies us through the desert of
our poverty while sustaining us on our way towards the intense joy of Easter.
We fastand trust that the Lord is our loving Shepherd.
"Psalm 23:04: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and staff comfort me."
Lent is ought to strengthen our hope and faith in a bid to fight Satan and to
keep away from his ways of sin and despair.
Praying and contemplation teaches us that Almighty God is there to guard us and
to lead our steps during the entire Lenten period.
Readind the Holy Bible and praying offers us God's Word with particular
abundance and empowers our souls and minds with His Word.
Mark 13:31: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away"
By meditating and internalizing the Word Of God we learn precious and
irreplaceable forms of prayer.
By attentively listening to God, who continues to speak to our hearts, we
nourish the itinerary of faith initiated on the day of our Baptism.
Prayers and fasting allow us to gain a new concept of time and directs our steps
towards horizons of hope and joy that have no limits
When we fast and pray, we find time for God, to understand that his words will
not pass away.
Through fasting and praying we can enter into that intimate communion with Jesus
so that no one shall take from us the faith and hope that does not disappoint.
IMF extends visit to crisis-hit Lebanon: sources
Arab News/February 25/2020
The IMF began meetings with Lebanese authorities on February 20 to provide broad
technical advice
Lebanon is grappling with an acute liquidity crunch that has prompted banks
fearing capital flight to impose strict controls
BEIRUT: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will continue meetings with
Lebanese authorities on Monday, sources familiar with the process said,
extending a visit to provide technical advice that was expected to end on
Sunday. The IMF began meetings with Lebanese authorities on Feb. 20 to provide
broad technical advice on how to tackle the country’s crippling financial and
economic crisis. The fund had said its team would stay until Feb. 23. Lebanon
has not requested financial assistance from the IMF as it draws up a rescue plan
to tackle a long-brewing financial crisis that spiraled last year as capital
inflows slowed and protests erupted against the ruling elite.
Lebanon’s 1st Coronavirus Case Part of Social Media Jokes,
Sectarian Tension
Beirut - Sanaa el-JackAsharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 24 February, 2020
Only a few hours had passed since the announcement of the first case of
coronavirus in Lebanon until masks disappeared from pharmacies and appeared on
the black market, with some information indicating that they were exported to
China. This led to the Minister of Economy issuing a decision prohibiting the
export of medical equipment, tools and personal protection items against
contagious diseases, including gloves, face masks and ventilators. One
pharmacist reported that he sold more than 300 face masks within an hour of the
first case being announced. He also claimed that “an atmosphere of insanity took
over. People rushed to buy masks with most of them not even needing them”. He
indicated that “a face mask did not cost more than 250 Lebanese Pounds (a few US
cents) the morning the first case was announced, reaching four dollars in the
evening, other than advertising special face masks the price of which jumped
from 3 to 30 dollars”. The virus made its way to Lebanon’s political and
sectarian tension through social media after the COVID-19 virus was found in a
45-year-old Lebanese woman who had traveled from Qom in Iran. Lebanon’s
political rivals started construing the story to their favor. The party
rejecting the domination of the “resistance axis” started criticizing Iran and
condemned it for exporting the virus, as if they were already waiting for the
first case to come specifically from Iran so that they build on it. On the other
hand, some activists in the Free Patriotic Movement linked the coronavirus with
Syrian refugees, with one of them saying on TV that “President Michel Aoun and
Gebran Bassil’s warnings were on spot, how can we face the virus with the
presence of Syrian refugees?” Hezbollah supporters stood sharply against the
tone of condemnation against Iran. They accused those promoting this
condemnation with having racial hatred and conspiracy theories. The first
instance was a voice recording allegedly by the woman who had the virus, lying
at her hospital bed affirming that she was safe and that accusing her of having
the virus was nothing but a conspiracy against Iran because she stayed six
months in Qom. She also added that the news had spread before the results of the
tests came back even though, she claimed, nothing was wrong with her. This led
some people to tweet a photo of her passport with a phrase expressing that she
represents them, asking political officials to visit her so that they catch the
infection.
The conspiracy theory was not limited to the camp of Iran supporters. The other
side also spread a voice recording of someone claiming that “promoting the
coronavirus reaching Lebanon is aimed at ending the popular uprising and
continuing the repression practiced by the regime against the protesters and
recruiting banks to steal the money of the Lebanese”. The Lebanese
government’s decision to ban travels to Iran, a couple of days ago, remained
ambiguous despite mentioning that “flights to the quarantined areas in Iran are
banned due to the spread of the coronavirus in China, Iran, South Korea and
several other countries except those that are necessary for medical, educational
or occupational purposes.”
U.S. Sanctions Bill Aimed at Lebanon over Amer Fakhoury
Associated Press/Naharnet/February 24/2020
A New Hampshire senator is sponsoring a bill to ban visas and freeze assets of
Lebanese officials involved in the detention of a Lebanese-American citizen
since September. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, is expected to introduce
the bill Monday, along with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. It would sanction
current or former Lebanese government officials, including members of the
judiciary system, involved in the "unlawful detainment, arrest or abuse of any
United States citizen in Lebanon." Sanctions also could apply to family members
and associates of the officials. Amer Fakhoury, 57, a restaurant owner in Dover,
New Hampshire, who became a U.S. citizen last year, has been jailed since Sept.
12 in his native country. He went on vacation to visit family he hadn't seen in
nearly two decades. Fakhoury was once a member of the former Israeli-backed
South Lebanon Army and worked at a former prison described by human rights
groups as a center for torture. His lawyer and family say he fled Lebanon in
2001 through Israel and eventually to the United States, because of death
threats he and many other South Lebanon Army members received after Israel ended
its occupation of Lebanon in 2000. Earlier this month, Fakhoury, who has been
hospitalized with stage 4 lymphoma, was charged by a military investigative
judge with the murder and torture of inmates at the former Khiam Prison.
Lebanon's intelligence services said he confessed during questioning to being a
warden there. But Fakhoury's family and lawyer say that he had no direct contact
with inmates and was never involved in any interrogation or torture. A news
release from Shaheen's office said Fakhoury's cancer symptoms are "exacerbated
by the beating he received at the hands of Lebanese security officials looking
to extract a false confession" from him.
"The U.S. government has provided ample opportunity for Lebanese officials to
free Amer Fakhoury," Shaheen said. "However, Amer is fighting for his life and
time is running out. ... There must be consequences for this flagrant disregard
of international norms and human rights."
The bill does not specifically name Fakhoury, although Shaheen's staff said they
are not aware of any other U.S. citizens being held in Lebanon. "What's
happening right now with Amer Fakhoury is truly a criminal act," said Naz
Durakoglu, Shaheen's senior foreign policy adviser. "To just take someone, and
then to make up allegations and then just hold them while they're gravely ill is
not something that we want to encourage around the world, especially with U.S.
citizens."Durakoglu said it is their understanding that Fakhoury's detention has
been led by Hizbullah. The news release said Fakhoury's case has been exploited
by Hizbullah "in order to exacerbate ethnic and political tensions in Lebanon
during this critical time in the country's history." Lebanon has been in the
middle of an unprecedented economic and political crisis amid nationwide
protests since October, leading to the prime minister's resignation. A new
government has been formed. It was unclear who could address Fakhoury's case.
"Understanding the urgency of the situation, we hope this bill moves quickly
through Congress before it's too late," Fakhoury's family said in a statement.
Rafik Hariri Hospital: 3 Out of 34 Isolated despite Showing No Virus Signs
Naharnet/February 24/2020
The Rafik Hariri University Hospital announced Monday that three out of 34
people examined for the coronavirus over the past 24 hours have been quarantined
although they tested negative. Accordingly, the hospital said the number of
those quarantined has risen to five – four who have “tested negative” and a
45-year-old woman who tested positive and was declared Friday as the country’s
first coronavirus case. The woman “is in a stable condition and is receiving the
necessary treatment,” the state-run hospital added in a daily statement. “Lab
tests were conducted for 29 cases and they all tested negative as three patients
were discharged from hospital after being asked to isolate themselves in their
homes for 14 days,” the hospital said. “They were provided with all the
necessary instructions and prevention means, according to the directions of the
World Health Organization,” the hospital added, noting that the three
individuals had tested negative twice.Two Iranian planes and an Italian plane
landed Monday at Beirut’s airport where they were inspected by Health Ministry
teams. Iran and Italy have emerged as two of the virus’ main hotspots in the
world along with South Korea and the epicenter China. Iran's confirmed death
toll rose to 12 on Monday, with the government promising transparency and
dismissing a lawmaker's claim the toll could be as high as 50. The World Health
Organization said Monday that COVID-19 had "peaked" in China but warned the
surge in cases elsewhere was "deeply concerning" and all countries should
prepare for a "potential pandemic."
Hasan: Lebanon, WHO Coordinated Measures over Virus Threat
Naharnet/February 24/2020
Health Minister Hamad Hasan assured on Monday that precautionary measures taken
by Lebanese authorities to prevent the deadly Coronavirus infection have been
taken in Lebanon in collaboration with the World Health Organization. “We have
taken responsible precautionary measures at Beirut’s airport and we have
coordinated the steps with the WHO organization,” said Hasan in remarks to
reporters after holding talks with President Michel Aoun in Baabda. Hassan said
Lebanon has taken extra precautionary measures mainly for planes arriving from
Italy and Iran, where the virus has killed 50 individuals since its outbreak in
the Islamic republic.To contain the COVID-19 outbreak, “Lebanon has taken
measures that prevent the virus from spreading in case any was found,” added
Hassan. The Lebanese must “trust” the efficacy of measures taken at the
terminal, said Hasan urging them not to panic. “Special dynamics were taken to
evacuate the passengers from Beirut airport," he said.
Coronavirus Measures Taken on Lebanon's Northern Border
with Syria
Naharnet/February 24/2020
Medical and health crews belonging to the Health Ministry are examining all
those arriving from Syria via Lebanon’s northern border crossings as a
precaution against the spread of the novel coronavirus, Lebanon’s National News
Agency reported on Monday. NNA said the measures are being taken in coordination
with UNICEF and the World Health Organization. “Travelers of all ages are being
examined and the health symptoms of each of them are being assessed in addition
to fever measurements,” the agency added. “A daily report about those entering
Lebanon and their health conditions is being submitted to the Health Ministry,”
NNA said, adding that no suspected coronavirus cases have been recorded until
the moment.
Hasan Cancels Airport Tour Linked to Italian Plane Arrival
Naharnet/February 24/2020
Health Minister Hamad Hasan on Monday canceled a planned visit to the Rafik
Hariri International Airport that had been scheduled for 4:50 pm, his office
said. The office did not elaborate on the reason. The National News Agency had
earlier reported that Hasan would head to the airport to follow up on the
arrival of an Italian plane and the measures that will be taken to examine
passengers for coronavirus symptoms. A plane coming from Iran had landed at the
airport in the morning.
Some Brital, Hermel Schools Close over Coronavirus Fears
Naharnet/February 24/2020
A large number of residents in the Baalbek town of Brital refrained from sending
their children to schools on Monday as a precautionary measure, state-run
National News Agency reported. The residents took the precautionary move
“because 10 of the town’s residents were on an Iranian plane” that landed in
Beirut, NNA said. “They were on pilgrimage trips to the cities of Qom and
Mashhad,” the agency added. The parents’ move “prompted some schools to inform
students that classes will be suspended for the next three days,” NNA said. The
administration of the Hermel state-run intermediate school meanwhile announced
that classes were suspended on Monday as a precautionary measure "after it was
confirmed that relatives of some students were on the plane that arrived from
Iran on February 20." "The school will resume classes on Tuesday after following
up on the situations of the aforementioned students," it added.
Iranian, Italian Planes Land in Beirut amid Coronavirus
Fears
Naharnet/February 24/2020
Another plane coming from Iran landed Monday at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri
International Airport despite the outbreak of coronavirus in the Islamic
Republic prompting neighboring countries to close their borders. The National
News Agency said that precautions were put in place for the evacuation mission
and that passengers and crew were subject to examination to manage coronavirus
transmission risk. MTV station's reporter at the airport said another plane will
arrive in Beirut in the afternoon. He added that planes coming from infected
countries will land on distant runways and passengers will be allowed to leave
the airport through special gates dedicated for that purpose. Noting
precautionary measures taken at the terminal, MTV said two equipped security men
will board the Iranian plane to check the passengers and passports. MTV
initially reported that passengers who show no signs of illness would be allowed
to leave on a bus dedicated for travelers coming from infected countries. The TV
network later reported that "all passengers of the Iranian plane left the
airport from its main gate, wearing masks and gloves." A man claiming to be one
of the passengers, Hassan Shahien, meanwhile announced on Facebook that the
passengers left on a bus belonging to the pilgrimage agency and not "special
buses." "They took our names and phone numbers and checked if we had fever. They
asked us whether anyone was feeling any symptoms and allowed us to leave," he
added. Later in the day, an Italian plane landed at the airport and a
specialized team from the Health Ministry carried out the necessary medical
check-ups for those on board. "None of the Italian plane passengers was
quarantined after no one showed any coronavirus symptoms," MTV said.
Renault Files Civil Claim against Ghosn
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 24/2020
French car giant Renault said Monday it was filing a civil claim for damages
against former CEO Carlos Ghosn over alleged financial misconduct. "Renault has
filed a legal action to assert its rights," the company said in a statement,
adding that it reserved the right "to solicit damages with interest" from an
investigation into numerous claims of financial misconduct in France. Renault
added it would cooperate fully with judicial authorities. Lawyers for
Brazilian-born Ghosn, who jumped Japanese bail in December and is now in his
native Lebanon, on Friday delayed a lawsuit seeking a hefty retirement payout
for their client from Renault, saying the company had not given them enough time
to prepare arguments. Ghosn is seeking a 250,000 ($270,000) retirement payout,
which Renault refuses to pay because it says he was forced to quit after his
shock November 2018 arrest in Japan on multiple charges of financial wrongdoing.
The former industry titan claims he retired in due form of his own accord. He
faces a French inquiry into two parties he threw at the Palace of Versailles,
including his opulent 2016 wedding, allegedly financed in part by Renault funds.
A party for his 60th birthday two years earlier, replete with musicians, a top
chef, period costumes for attendees and a firework display ostensibly to mark 15
years of the Reault-Nissan alliance allegedly cost 530,000 euros. Ghosn is also
under investigation by France's tax fraud office over suspicious financial
transactions between Renault and its distributor in the Gulf state of Oman, and
over contracts signed by Renault and Nissan's Dutch subsidiary RNBV, the public
prosecutor said last week. In Japan, he still faces multiple charges including a
claim he under-reported millions of dollars in salary as chairman of Nissan. He
has denied all the charges, but fled while on bail before he could face trial.
Parliament General Secretariat Hits Back at U.N. Coordinator
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 24/2020
Parliament’s General Secretariat on Monday responded to remarks voiced by U.N.
Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis. “We do not need lessons in
legislation and we have never legislated behind closed doors,” the General
Secretariat said in a statement. Kubis had earlier tweeted that “anti-corruption
laws need to be discussed by the Parliament in full transparency, not behind
closed doors.”“Draft laws need to be accessible to public for comments in a
truly inclusive way, not only to few selected ones,” he added.
President Aoun receives Public Health Minister, Former MP
Soukarieh
NNA/February 24/2020
President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, on Monday received Public Health
Minister, Dr. Hamad Hassan, at Baabda Palace.
Hassan briefed Aoun on the latest information concerning the Coronavirus, and
the measures taken for treatment and prevention, in land and air crossings.
Public Health Minister, Dr. Hamad Hassan, said that there is response from
President Aoun to support the health sector in facing the challenges which the
country is going through, revealing that this sector is a redline for everyone.
Hassan called on the Lebanese to trust the measures taken in coordination with
the World Health Organization, to prevent Corona Virus spread, and on the civil
society to cooperate to refute rumors and fake news circulating around it. The
Public Health Minister also stressed that additional measures have been taken
with Iranian and Italian planes, to ensure that the epidemic does not spread.
Hassan revealed that medical supplies are available in the Lebanese market, “But
there are those who monopolize these supplies, which is immoral and illegal and
entails legal prosecution”.
Statement of Health Minister:
“I had the honor to visit the President of the Republic, today, and I discussed
with him several topics related to the Health Ministry’s work, and the new
methodology, and how to draw up a health insurance guarantee plan in a
transparent and fair manner. At the same time, we were able to be up to the
challenges of the stage, especially as there is a pressing economic situation.
Therefore, the issue of fighting corruption is one of the priorities of the
adopted strategy, to develop the health sector and health policies in Lebanon.
The methodology is different and there is a re-examination of the Ministry’s
structure, and we, with support from the President and Prime Minister, are
thinking of some solutions because we know that the law of stopping official
employment and contracting, negatively affects the health sector, its
productivity and effectiveness. Therefore, there is a response from His
Excellency to support this sector in facing the challenges which Lebanon is
going through, including the Corona epidemic, which concerns the whole world.
I want to reassure that today, after my meeting with his Excellency, the
measures were taken at Rafic Hariri International Airport earlier, now and
later, are responsible measures and were taken in direct coordination with the
WHO. The measures we take today, with the Iranian and Italian airplanes are
additional, ensuring that the virus does not spread, if any were present. The
plane landed in the airport, after Iranian authorities conducted a health test
for all travelers. We have subjected the travelers to a second medical
examination, and those who suffer from symptoms will be directly isolated to
Rafic Hariri University Hospital, and those who do not suffer from any symptoms
will be taken to resorts or scout centers, in regions. The way travelers move
from the airport is carried out with the least possible risk to the possibility
of infection for travelers and their families, waiting in the airport hall. So,
the plane has landed, passengers are checked and transported on special buses,
and they will go to summer scout centers, in hospital institutions, or to
isolation if necessary.
Hence, the taken measures are coordinated at Presidential and Governmental
levels, in addition to ministerial crisis cells and the national committee to
combat the spread of the virus. We call on the Lebanese people to trust these
measures and support the civil society to cooperate and interact to refute
rumors and fake news on social media which causes hysteria. I reiterate that
anxiety and fear are legitimate, but hysterical panic is unacceptable,
especially if it results from irresponsible news”.
Questions and Answers:
In response to a question about the scout centers, Minister Hassan said, “We are
in the last period and since the plane landed on the 20th of this month to date,
we are following all passengers. Today we added a new phone application which we
download on phones according to the ability of the traveler, of course, and we
monitor the temperature of travelers every day morning and evening, in daily
contact with the epidemiological surveillance committee. All those who
cooperated with us to secure resorts for observation are thankful for their
facilitation of our work. We hope security forces and local municipal and
federal authorities keep abreast of the plan prepared in the National Committee
to combat Corona, and bear responsibility for monitoring mandatory
self-quarantine in homes for some travelers who wish to remain in their homes in
isolation from the outside perimeter”.
Regarding the fear for schoolchildren, Hassan said: “Since the 20th of this
month, out of 33 or 34 samples, it has been proven that one sample is positive,
and she is the same patient, and no other sample has been registered until now.
That is, 33 samples, including 18 who were on the Iranian plane, on February 20,
showed that they were not HIV-positive, and therefore did not pose a threat to
their families or those around them”.
Asked about not continuing to support imported medicines, Minister Hassan made
it clear that His Excellency the President and Prime Minister, while insisting
on the Governor of the Central Bank, consider that the issue of medicine and
medical supplies is a redline and there is no default towards imported
pharmaceutical institutions or the Association of Drug Importers and importers
of medical supplies. There is a bureaucratic defect, but there is no defect in
this sector. And the health sector is a redline for all”.
Regarding muzzles in the local market, the Public Health Minister replied: “If
we drowned in the classification of their quality and effectiveness, we will be
distracted in commercial details. Prevention is the basis for dealing with these
requirements, and personal protection is essential. The supplies are available
in the Lebanese market, and there are those who monopolize it, which is immoral
and unlawful, resulting in legal prosecutions. We are cooperating with the
Minister of Economy and the Consumer Protection Authority, who was with us
yesterday in the factory which I personally went to, where we raided and got
acquainted with some of the institutions which inform us about the possession of
these supplies and invest them in an illegitimate way. We are following this
issue, and I know, and confirm, that there is a sufficient quantity in the
market, but unfortunately there is an investment, and here I return to repeat
and do not bear responsibility for these traders. This period is a test for all
of us, because the issue is a national issue with distinction, which we should
not approach, not in political, factional, or commercial terms”.
Asked about stopping flights to countries with Corona Virus cases, he replied:
“Every day there is an information update regarding the issue of stopping
flights, and the World Health Organization states that there are no
recommendations, to this date, to stop flights, neither with Iran nor with Italy
or with any Arab country or European. There is only a recommendation to stop
trips to and from endemic areas. As for other regions, they are under the
control and procedures taken by the states and the Lebanese Republic is one of
the countries which adhere to these standards and apply them in a transparent
and accurate manner. Therefore, when there is a recommendation, the issue is
submitted to the Ministerial Committee and to the Government to take such a
decision”.
Former MP Soukarieh:
President Aoun met with Former MP, Ismail Soukarieh, and deliberated with him
the local and regional situation.
Ministerial Crisis Cell tasks municipalities to supervise
self-isolation, prevent travel to affected areas
NNA/February 24/2020
The Ministerial Crisis Cell, headed by Prime Minister Dr. Hassan Diab, based on
the recommendations of the "Follow-up Committee on Coronavirus Preventive
Measures and Procedures" on Monday made the following decisions in light of the
most recent developments involving the virus:
1- Isolate persons showing symptoms of the Coronavirus and those arriving from
affected areas at Rafic Hariri Governmental Hospital.
2- Task municipalities to supervise the implementation of self-isolation
procedures.
3- Prevent Lebanese citizens and other residents from traveling to affected
areas.
4- Stop trips to the affected areas in the following countries: China, South
Korea, Iran, Milan in Italy and other countries, with the exception of necessary
travel cases (for education, work, etc..), and task the Secretary-General of the
Supreme Council of Defense to supervise the implementation of these procedures
in coordination with the Civil Aviation General Directorate, the General
Security General Directorate, and the commander of the airport security
apparatus.
5- Task the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with the ministries of
tourism and health, as well as the General Directorate of Public Security, to
contact the Lebanese in the affected areas, monitor their health conditions,
coordinate with the local authorities to secure the required treatments, and
provide them with the necessary guidance.
6- Task the ministries of economy and health to prevent the export of medical
protective supplies (PPE), follow up on the remaining stock, and secure the
import of the necessary quantities.
7- Raise awareness among sports clubs, schools, nurseries, universities,
airports, airplanes, and other places where citizens gather to commit to the
application of health protection measures and frequent sterilization in
accordance with the Ministry of Health guidelines.
8- Instruct the Ministry of Health to locate a government hospital in each
governorate to be an exclusive center for receiving Coronavirus patients and
equipping it with the required specifications and equipment.
9- Task the Ministry of Information, in coordination with the Disaster Risk
Management Unit at the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Health, to
inform the Lebanese public opinion in a transparent and periodic manner, about
all the procedures, decisions, and developments, in cooperation with the
audio-visual and written media, as well as the social media.
10- Restricting the transfer of Coronavirus patients to the Lebanese Red Cross
only.
Diab meets Ambassador of Syria
NNA/February 24/2020
Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, on Monday welcomed Syria's Ambassador to Lebanon,
Ali Abdel Karim Ali, who said in the wake of the meeting that his visit had been
an occasion to congratulate his host on the formation of the government. During
the visit, the Syrian diplomat also briefed Diab on the situation in Syria,
which is gradually emerging from its crisis.
Touching on the regional situation and the sanctions which have been affecting
Syria and Lebanon, the Syrian Ambassador said that the Lebanese government must
exert pressure in order to lift said sanctions, especially "by countries who
claim to be seeking a solution" to the situation in both Syrian and Lebanon. The
Prime Minister later met with a delegation of owners of private hospitals,
chaired by Sleiman Haroune, who briefed the Premiere on the situation of the
sector.
Diab tackles situation with Ambassador of Qatar
NNA/February 24/2020
Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, on Monday welcomed at the Grand Serail Qatari
Ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Hassan Jaber Al-Jaber, with whom he discussed
the situation in Lebanon and the region, as well as the best means to boost
relations between countries.
Diab meets Hitti, Army's Tripartite Committee team
NNA/February 24/2020
Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, on Monday met at the Grand Serail with Minister
of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Nassif Hitti, with whom he discussed an array
of matters involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Diab also received the Army's Tripartite Committee team, with whom he discussed
the role and task of the committee, and its relationship with the international
forces operating in south Lebanon "UNIFIL".
Berri to Lebanese Industrialists: Needed funds for industrial sector will be
secured
NNA/February 24/2020
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, welcomed this Monday at his Ain El Tineh residence a
delegation of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI), led by Dr. Fady
Gemayel. Speaker Berri assured the delegation that the needed funds for the
industrial sector to overcome the current crisis will be secured, adding that
the government and the concerned Ministry are in the process of finding
solutions in this regard. He said that all of Lebanon's productive sectors are
likely to be restructured in accordance with the challenges and requirements of
the current stage, with the exception of the industrial and agricultural
sectors. "These are the only two sectors that must be protected while ensuring
all means of survival and development for them since they are the main piers to
rebuild a productive national economy," Berri said, adding "this can also create
job opportunities for young Lebanese and reduce unemployment and
immigration."Berri also underlined that "the Lebanese industrialists are capable
through their expertise and capacities, to significantly contribute to offering
solutions to the electricity crisis in Lebanon."
Minister of Information follows up on situation of media
sector, meets TL delegation
NNA/February 24/2020
Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, on Monday held at her
ministerial office a series of meetings during which she followed up on the
general situation, especially in the media sector. In this context, the Minister
met with a delegation from Tele Liban, which she tasked to prepare a modern and
visionary plan to help modernize the state-run television and enable it to
produce media material that meets the requirements of both content and form.
Italian plane arrives at Beirut airport, medical team
performs necessary checkups
NNA /February 24/2020
An Italian airliner on Monday arrived at Rafic Hariri International Airport in
Beirut. Consequently, a specialized medical team from the Ministry of Health and
the competent medical apparatuses at the airport are performing the necessary
medical checkups and examinations for the plane's passengers and crew.
Hariri Hospital: 5 cases quarantined, 4 of which tested
negative
NNA/February 24/2020
Rafic Hariri University Hospital on Monday issued a statement with the latest
updates on Coronavirus in Lebanon. The statement made clear that during the past
24 hours the hospital has received 34 cases in the emergency unit, which has
been designated to test cases suspected of being infected with Coronavirus. All
the aforementioned patients were subjected to the necessary medical tests, and 5
cases had been quarantined so far; 4 of them tested negative while only one
coronavirus case remains in the isolation unit. The statement also highlighted
the fact that the sole Cornavirus patient was in a stable condition.
Foucher visits Shatila camp, confirms France's support for
UNRWA
NNA/February 24/2020
French Ambassador to Lebanon, Bruno Foucher, on Monday visited Shatila camp in
Beirut, along with the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Lebanon, Ashraf
Dabour, and the director of UNRWA, Claudio Cordone. In the wake of the meeting,
Foucher confirmed France's support for UNRWA. "The visit aimed to renew France's
support for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, especially amid the economic crisis
that has hit the camp residents, who are already in a crucial state," a
statement by the French embassy indicated. The French diplomat reiterated
France's commitment to respecting international laws and agreements for
resolving the Palestinian issue. "We regret that the Palestinian issue is no
longer a priority in recent times due to other political issues that concern the
region," the statement added as quoting Foucher. The statement also pointed out
France's boosted support to UNRWA, with a contribution of 20 million euros to
the Agency's global budget in 2019, not to mention the projects funded by the
French Development Agency in Lebanon in the fields of education and water
treatment, which amount to a total of 21 million euros.
Kattar meets Swiss Ambassador, Lebanese Industrialists
Association delegation, LF delegatiuon
NNA/February 24/2020
Environment and Administrative Development Affairs Minister, Damianos Kattar,
received Monday the Swiss Ambassador to Lebanon, Monica Schmutz Kirgoz, with
whom he discussed the general situation in Lebanon and the importance of
following up on programs on climate change in view of their strategic priority.
Ambassador Kirgoz expressed her country's readiness to cooperate with the
Lebanese government. Minister Kattar also met with a delegation from the
Association of Lebanese Industrialists, led by its President, Fadi Gemayel, who
raised with him the demands of industrialists and the cooperation between
several factories and the Pollution Control project "Lepap" within the Ministry
of the Environment. Kattar then received a delegation from the Lebanese Forces
party, including MP Fadi Saad, with whom he reviewed environmental files and
issues related to administrative development.
Mortada chairs Locust Control Operations meeting:
Agriculture Ministry teams fully mobilized
NNA/February 24/2020
Agriculture Minister, Abbas Mortada, on Monday assured the "preparedness of the
concerned teams in the Ministry to implement the preventive control strategy, in
anticipation of any Desert Locust wave.
Minister Mortada chaired the meeting of the Operations Room to Control Desert
Locust, in the context of reviewing the reports of the central region.
The Minister stressed during the meeting the need to maintain high state of
preparedness to deal with any possible damage. The meeting also decided to
conduct an urgent tender to purchase additional quantities of pesticides for
locust control, and to increase the quantities of pesticides to fight wheat bugs
and sandalwood bugs. The Minister also affirmed cooperation with all
governmental and non-governmental departments with transparency and flexibility
to protect the food security of the Lebanese people, in light of the continued
communication with the Premiership and close follow up on this dossier.
Najm discusses judicial cooperation with Ambassadors of
Australia, Mexico
NNA/February 24/2020
Minister of Justice, Marie Claude Najem, on Monday welcomed at her ministerial
office Australian Ambassador to Lebanon, Rebekah Grindlay.
Talks between the pair reportedly touched on the best means to develop bilateral
relations between Lebanon and Australia, especially in the field of judicial
cooperation. Najm also had an audience with Mexican Ambassador to Lebanon, Jose
Madrazo, with whom she discussed the activation of a number of agreements signed
between the two countries in the legal and judicial fields, in addition to the
means to bolster Lebanese-Mexican bilateral relations.
Yammine discusses joint projects with World Bank delegation
NNA/February 24/2020
Labour Minister Lamia Yammine on Monday reviewed with a delegation from the
World Bank, headed by Social Protection, Labour and Gender Affairs in the Middle
East, Haneen Sayed, the means of cooperation between the Ministry and the Bank
over projects related to social security, youth and women. On emerging, Sayed
said that talks touched on means of supporting the Ministry over projects
related to unemployment in light of the difficult financial and economic
conditions.
Minister Yammine later received a delegation from the Air Transport Union,
chaired by Ali Mohsen.
Minister of Energy welcomes Ambassador of Germany
NNA/February 24/2020
Energy and Water Minister, Raymond Ghajar, on Monday received German Ambassador
to Lebanon, Georg Bergelen, who paid him a protocol visit. The meeting had been
an occasion for both men to discuss the electricity and water plan. For his
part, the German diplomat expressed his country's readiness to invest in this
sector.
Kanaan, Kubis discuss financial reforms, anti-corruption
laws
NNA /February 24/2020
Head of the Finance and Budget Committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, on Monday welcomed
United Nations Special Coordinator in Lebanon, Jan Kubis, in a meeting that
lasted more than an hour.
During the meeting, the pair discussed the prevailing situation; especially the
anti-corruption laws, the recovery of looted funds, and lifting immunity off
officials, based on Kanaan's sub-committee's decisions.
Talks also touched on United Nations agreements and cooperation prospects to
attain all the aspired goals for the benefit of Lebanon.
Both men discussed as well the financial situation, and the plans put forward by
the government and parliament seeking the best solutions for Lebanon in terms of
restructuring debt and other financial matters.
Lebanese Journalist Assaulted at Airport, Kubis Defends
Free Speech
Naharnet/February 24/2020
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis on Monday defended the rights of
journalists for free speech, shortly after a journalist got assaulted at Beirut
airport while reporting about flights from Iran amid cornoavirus threats.
“Intimidation and persecution of journalists for expressing their opinion is
often a sign that they touch upon something important,” said Kubis in a tweet.
He added: “Efforts to silence free speech by administrative measures and
harassment will never succeed and usually backfire, notably in times of
crisis.”A video recording at the terminal of Annahar reporter, Asrar Shbaro,
showed a man taking her mobile by force while she was filming passengers of an
Iranian plane making their way out of the airport. Shbaro had also filmed some
interviews with passengers of the plane but those were deleted by the attacker,
who also claimed to be a member of a political party that was not disclosed. The
Iranian plane had arrived from Iran’s city of Qom where an outbreak of the
coronavirus raised concerns. Lebanese were up in arms demanding the suspension
of flights from countries with growing coronavirus disease cases including Iran,
Italy and China. Fears of a global coronavirus pandemic deepened on Monday with
a growing number of deaths in Iran and the worsening of other outbreaks across
Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The first case of coronavirus in Lebanon was
confirmed Saturday in a 45-year-old Lebanese woman who had traveled from Qom in
Iran.
Report: SA, France Affirm Willingness to ‘Back’ Lebanon
Naharnet/February 24/2020
At a two-day meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and France have expressed willingness to support crisis-hit
Lebanon, the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported on Monday. Saudi Finance
Minister Mohammed el-Jadaan said in remarks to reporters after the G20 meeting
that Saudi Arabia is in contact with other states to coordinate any support for
Lebanon on the basis of economic reform. “Saudi Arabia was and still supports
Lebanon and the Lebanese people,” he told reporters. For his part, Bruno Le
Maire, the French finance minister said his country is ready to provide
financial help for Lebanon. “France is always ready to help Lebanon. It has
always been the case in the past, and this will be the case in the future,” he
emphasized. Lebanon's debt burden had been among the largest in the world for
some time but a liquidity crunch has brought the crisis home and banks have
imposed tough restrictions on dollar withdrawals. The government in Beirut faces
a $1.2 billion debt payment on Eurobonds that reach maturity on March 9. The
closing statement of the G20 meeting stressed that despite estimates of global
economy growth for this year, it is still proceeding at a slow pace with risks
to economic prospects, including geopolitical tensions and persistent trade amid
global alarm over rising Coronavirus case.
Lebanese activists and critics of Hezbollah face attacks,
arrest and threats
Najia Houssari/Arab News/February 25/2020
ناجيا حصري/الناشطين والمعارضين لإحتلال وهيمنة وإرهاب حزب الله
يواجهون التهديدات والإعتداءات والملاحقات القضائية الكيدية
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/83495/%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d8%ad%d8%b5%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%b4%d8%b7%d9%8a%d9%86-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b9%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b6%d9%8a%d9%86-%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%ad%d8%aa%d9%84/
Journalist covering arrival of flight from Iran as part of
coronavirus story assaulted at airport
Activist arrested and interrogated over opinions posted on social media
BEIRUT: Activists in Lebanon, in particular those who speak out against
Hezbollah, continue to face physical attacks, arrest, psychological pressure and
threats to their families. The individuals being targeted include lawyers,
journalists, media personalities and writers.
On Monday, Asrar Shebaro, a correspondent for An-Nahar newspaper, was attacked
in a public place. It happened while she was working at Rafic Hariri
International Airport in Beirut covering the arrival of a flight from Iran as
part of a story about the response of Lebanese authorities to the coronavirus
threat.
A video she filmed showed an unidentified young man attacking her and taking her
phone by force. He told her she was not allowed to film in the airport because
these were “families” there, which is a term Hezbollah uses to describe its
supporters. The man deleted a number of videos Shebaro had filmed of passengers
arriving from Iran. When she asked him under whose authority he was acting and
who he represented, he said that he belonged to a political party.
In a message posted on the An-Nahar website, the newspaper said: “The bullying
of the media and the truth will not dissuade this newspaper from completing its
message by accurately conveying information and holding those responsible for
their fragile measures taken to combat the Coronavirus.”
Activists in Lebanon, especially Shiites, have faced threats as the protests
against corruption, the financial crisis in the country, high levels of
unemployment and the lack of basic services escalated. Some told Arab News they
have been prevented from visiting their families in the southern suburbs of
Beirut, and that pressure has been put on their relatives. In some cases,
protesters have been forced to sleep in tents at protest sites or other
locations.
“The pressure and attacks have diminished after a decision was taken to prevent
the supporters of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah from confronting activists in
the protest squares, but this does not stop moral pressure,” said activist
Mohamed Kassem, who is a secondary school teacher.
Protester Mahmoud Fakih, who lives in Beirut, said he avoids neighborhoods
dominated by the Amal Movement and Hezbollah.
“At the beginning of the revolution, the pressure on us was great but it
decreased with the decline of the movement,” he said. “Yet, we are still
cautious. For example, I do not go to my village in the south. There is real
social hostility to us there. We were previously attacked in the Zuqaq Al-Blat
area but nobody documents these attacks.”
Ali Al-Amin, another activist, said: “At the beginning of the protests, a number
of Shiite clerics strongly participated but suddenly they disappeared from the
protest sites. It was found that, in cooperation with security services that
have good relations with Hezbollah, false charges were filed against one of them
related to unpaid taxes, so he was arrested and held in custody for a few days.
Another cleric…is still detained on another charge, and a third was severely
beaten.”
The pressure exerted on activists is not limited to one particular social group.
According to Al-Amin, the situation is “more complicated and linked to a range
of internal and external issues … Everyone who disagrees with Hezbollah is
subject to repression and threats.”
Some protesters have faced arrest and detention as a result of opinions posted
on social media. In the most recent case, activist Charbel Khoury was
interrogated on Monday by the authorities about messages he had posted. His
arrest was ordered by a judge alleged to be a supporter of the Free Patriotic
Movement, while lawyers protested outside the Palace of Justice in Beirut to
demand the independence of the judiciary from political influence.
One of Khoury’s lawyers described his arrest as a “judicial scandal. We have had
enough of the suppression of the revolutionaries and the violation of freedom of
opinion and expression. The Lebanese judiciary is today facing a major test.”
Al-Amin said: “The way in which Hezbollah suppresses militants differs from that
of other parties. Hezbollah is a security party and it does not initiate a
direct reaction; it refers the matter to the ‘family’ environment to exert
pressure. And this (the family) of course does not operate on its own, but there
is an apparatus that manages it and incites it.”
He added: “Despite the iron grip other parties have on their supporters, many of
them came out from under the cloak of those parties and joined the protests and
turned against their parties. But the Shiite community is still governed by a
security apparatus that even controls the security institutions of the state.”
A passenger on a flight from Qom in Iran tested positive for the coronavirus
last Thursday. It was the first case discovered in Lebanon. Hezbollah MP Hassan
Fadlallah said that focusing on the issue of people traveling from Iran to
Lebanon and calling for flights to be grounded “is a politicization of the
issue.”
Lebanon’s dangerous descent into Iran’s sphere of influence
Rami Rayess/The Arab Weekly/February 24/2020
Except for Kuwait, Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab has not received any
congratulatory letters from Gulf countries.
Sunday 23/02/2020
A Hezbollah supporter uses her mobile phone to take a picture of photo of slain
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Major-General Qassem Soleimani during a
ceremony in the southern suburb of Beirut, February 16. (AP)
Backyard for tensions. A Hezbollah supporter uses her mobile phone to take a
picture of photo of slain Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Major-General
Qassem Soleimani during a ceremony in the southern suburb of Beirut, February
16. (AP)
Lebanon’s new cabinet, which only passed a parliamentary vote of confidence by a
slight majority, has yet to introduce its economic reform plan and has not
received signals from the West or Arab countries regarding much-needed financial
support to confront the country’s rising challenges.
Except for Kuwait, Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab has not received any
congratulatory letters from Gulf countries and, very noticeably, not from Saudi
Arabia or the United Arab Emirates.
Lebanon’s relations with the Arab world have severely deteriorated.
Traditionally, this small country relied on Arab tourists and funds from Arab
governments to finance public projects and support its financial situation,
which is on the verge of collapse. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens
work in the Gulf and support their families in Lebanon through regular money
transfers.
Much of this can be attributed to Hezbollah’s grip on power in Lebanon, along
with its strongest ally, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), which culminated
with the election of the FPM leader, Michel Aoun, as president in October 2016.
The current cabinet has been opposed by four major parties and supported by
Hezbollah and a few other allies.
The first foreign guest Diab received was Iranian parliament Speaker Ali
Larijani. Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti, though hosting ambassadors
daily, has not received any requests for meetings from the ambassadors of Saudi
Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, reports in Beirut stated. However, the
Syrian ambassador to Lebanon has been to visit Hitti.
In the face of Arab seclusion from Lebanon, Larijani expressed Iran’s
willingness to extend aid to Lebanon in various economic spheres, although
people in Iran are protesting the deteriorating local economy and international
sanctions on Tehran are on the rise. This was an offer that was not dearly
welcomed in Beirut, especially from opposition parties that failed to offer any
official response.
The first impression a visitor to Lebanon receives is that he is in a country
that is highly affected by Tehran. The highway from the airport to Beirut is
called Imam Khomeini Boulevard and it is adjacent to the Southern Suburbs, an
area that hosts Hezbollah’s headquarters, its TV station and its various social
institutions.
On February 16, Hezbollah proudly inaugurated a grand statue of the late Iranian
Major-General Qassem Soleimani in the southern town of Maroun al-Ras, directly
facing the occupied Palestinian territories. The statue depicts Soleimani
pointing a finger towards those lands.
Although the president of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, has
bluntly said the Diab government does not resemble his party, Hezbollah
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah publicly called for an all-encompassing
collaboration with the new cabinet, including from opposition parties, to save
Lebanon’s economy.
Just a few months ago, after the eruption of mass anti-corruption protests in
Lebanon and calls for drastic changes to the country’s political class,
Nasrallah boasted that Hezbollah could hold on regardless of the expected
financial collapse.
Nasrallah was making insinuations regarding the millions of dollars Hezbollah
receives each month from Tehran to support its fighters in Lebanon and Syria and
to fund its social institutions. Numerous reports in Beirut attributed Lebanon’s
dollar crisis and the lack of liquidity to Hezbollah, given its capacity to
control the proportionally small Lebanese currency market in light of the issue
of supply and demand.
Therefore, politically, culturally and economically, Lebanon is transcending
slowly into the Iranian sphere of influence. It has not officially joined the
so-called axis of resistance but its isolation is contributing to this
proposition. If the new cabinet does not distance itself from this axis it will
suffer economically and financially because many international and regional
donors might abstain from extending aid to Lebanon.
Lebanese foreign policy has traditionally attempted to balance between the
contending regional powers to avoid turning Lebanon, once again, into a
battlefield of proxy wars or the backyard for regional tensions. This famous
disassociation policy has temporarily preserved the country’s fragile stability.
The Bashar Assad regime is regaining power in Syria after years of turmoil and
war while Hezbollah is preserving its strength in the local Lebanese scene
because of Iranian support. At the same time, Arabs are steering away from their
historical presence in Lebanon.
Given this, Lebanon is on its way to finding itself in a position like Iran’s:
sanctions on Hezbollah, limited international relations, confiscated foreign
policy and an economy on the verge of collapse.
Where do we go from here?
*Rami Rayess is a Lebanese writer and journalist. You can follow him on Twitter:
@RamiRayess
Hezbollah wants the dollar-hungry Lebanese to boycott
American goods. The catch? Lebanon could hurt more
Emma Scolding/The New Arab/February 24/2020
Many in Lebanon have responded with derision to Hezbollah leader Hassan
Nasrallah's call last week for a campaign to boycott products manufactured in
the United States.
With the economic situation in Lebanon spiralling out of control, critics
condemned the campaign for being out of touch.
They say ordinary Lebanese have different priorities, especially as the call was
made in the context of avenging the US assassination of Iranian General Qasem
Soleimani in January.
Speaking on February 17 to mark the passage of 40 days since Soleimani's death,
Iran-backed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had called for a boycott of
American products suggesting it was "part of the battle" with Washington.
The speech proved immediately divisive.
Among supporters, photos of alleged US-manufactured goods, including food,
electronics and cleaning products, made their way around pro-Hezbollah pages on
social media, with a caption suggesting that "boycotting American goods" is part
of "awareness and the struggle."
Hezbollah supporters even staged a bizarre video stunt in Beirut's southern
suburbs, dressing up as Orthodox Jews while calling for the boycott of US
products, drawing accusations of anti-Semitism.
Yet as the pressure of economic meltdown bears down on Lebanon’s citizens, many
Lebanese decried the campaign as "delusional".
Lebanese journalist Sahar Mandour was critical of the call. "You have produced a
country that doesn’t produce anything," she wrote, referring to Hezbollah’s role
in enabling Lebanon's bad governance since the end of the civil war in the
1990s.
In a column for the activist media platform Megaphone, she wrote that the
"throw-away" campaign was merely a "distraction" from the poor record of the
Hezbollah-backed government currently in place in the country.
On social media, some mocked Hezbollah and shared a photo of Nasrallah's son
Jawad wearing a Timberland USA.73 sweatshirt with a caption reading: "Before
suggesting to your audience boycotting the US, please remove your son's
sweatshirt and dress him in Iranian [clothing]".
Who would hurt more?
According to US official trade figures, trade between the two countries was
worth $1.19 billion last year. Lebanon's main imports from the US are oil
products, heavy machinery, medical supplies, and aviation parts, with limited
imports of retail goods that ordinary Lebanese can readily boycott.
Supporters of Hezbollah dressed up as Orthodox Jews during a Beirut...
In fact, pro-boycott infographics circulated online by Hezbollah supporters
misidentified the origin of many trade marks. One list contains the logos for
products made by Nestle, a Swiss company, but labelled them as 'American'.
For its part, Lebanon exports $150 million per year to the US, mostly jewelry
and foodstuffs produced by small businesses, which would stand to lose if a
boycott campaign gained traction.
Different priorities
Since the October outbreak of an unprecedented wave of popular protests in
Lebanon, protestors and supporters of Hezbollah have repeatedly been at odds.
Even so, many of the party’s supporters are skeptical about the boycott call.
Amid a snowballing economic crisis, shopkeepers and consumers who spoke to The
New Arab said their priority is to keep prices low despite a de-facto currency
devaluation.
Fatima, who manages a branch of the Rammal supermarket in southern Beirut, said
that her store hadn’t changed its stocks since Nasrallah’s speech, and denied
noticing many customers asking for alternatives.
"If someone’s used to Nestle they’re not going to commit to a boycott" said
Fatima, giving the example of the popular instant coffee powder, despite its
origin being non-American. "Half our products are Nestle anyway," she added.
Both traders and consumers in Lebanon are increasingly feeling the squeeze, as
the country struggles to cope with the worst economic crisis since the end of
the 1975-1990 civil war.
While the central bank maintains a currency peg to fix the Lebanese Lira at
L.L.1,507.5 to the dollar, the exchange rate has diverged heavily in parallel
markets. The dollar has been selling steadily at prices around 1.5 times the
official rate in exchange houses across the country this week, driving up the
cost of imported goods and raw materials.
Product prices change from store to store as a result, as consumers pay the
price for the unstable exchange rate.
On Thursday, protestors gathered outside Lebanon’s Economy Ministry to call for
better government oversight. The ministry responded that it was attempting to
monitor shops and distributors, with 61 files “involving raised prices and
non-compliance with official pricing” sent to the judiciary.
The conditions have pushed many traders to cut their losses. According to a
recent study by InfoPro, 220,000 people have lost their jobs since October,
while half of the companies surveyed had slashed wages by 40 percent. Another
announcement this week noted that 785 companies in the food and beverages
industry have shut their doors since September.
Having opened just a month and a half ago, the market Rachid* runs in south
Beirut’s Ghobeiry neighbourhood represents a rare success story. Despite an
unassuming location near Beirut’s Airport Road, the shop was busy with
customers.
While a sign outside denotes support for the “sayyed,” a term of respect used to
refer to Hassan Nasrallah, Rachid said the shop wasn’t aiming to facilitate the
boycott.
Rachid said his priority is to find cheaper products, wherever they came from.
Now, he is looking to supply his shop with products from lots of sources,
including Egypt, Tunis, Jordan, Turkey, Syria and Iran, in order to offer people
cheaper alternatives.
"I don’t have a problem with anyone,” said Rachid, when asked about the boycott,
and said he did not watch Nasrallah's speech.
But Rachid admitted "some people ask for alternatives," as one customer
approached the counter to check the manufacturer of a large tin of luncheon
meat, which turned out to be Lebanese.
In Khandaq al-Ghamiq, a low-income Beirut neighbourhood considered a bastion of
support for the Hezbollah-allied Shia Amal movement, two shopkeepers told The
New Arab they wouldn’t be changing their stock after Nasrallah’s speech either.
"What speech? If they really want us to boycott they should provide an
alternative."
*Emma Scolding is a freelance journalist working from the Middle East and North
Africa
Lebanon can save its economy, just not with the help of the
IMF
Karim Safieddine/The New Arab/February 24/2020
Since 2019, Lebanon has been grappling with a severe financial crisis made worse
by the explosion of mass protests in late 2019, but contrary to what officials
in the heavily indebted country have claimed, the uprising was the consequence
not the cause of the crisis.
Now, Lebanon has few options left, but most experts agree on one thing:
Resorting again to the IMF and international financial institutions is a
non-starter.
This, they say, would only prolong the same vicious cycle of austerity coupled
with neoliberal policies of privatisation, regressive taxation and increase in
tariffs on utilities, all policies that stifle growth and punish ordinary people
disproportionately.
In truth, many symptoms of Lebanon’s malaise began to surface throughout the
past three years, climaxing in the autumn of 2019 as the fiscal deficit, public
sector strikes in the summer, and a currency crisis coming to a head on 17
October.
Motivated by a lack of funds and drop in telecom revenues, a proposal was set to
enforce a tax on Whatsapp calls, triggering the protests that evolved into an
uprising, which then forced the government to resign towards the end of October.
Prior to and after the formation of a self-proclaimed technocratic cabinet
headed by PM Hassan Diab on 21 January, the country has witnessed attacks and
riots targeting commercial banks amidst a liquidity crisis and strict capital
control procedures imposed on small depositors in the aftermath of the crisis.
In face of these recurrent challenges, the government announced in mid-February
the need for the technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund, as
Lebanon struggles to decide what to do about its massive dollar-denominated debt
obligations this year, but Beirut has stopped short of asking for a bail out
despite its dangerously low foreign currency reserves.
Bring in the IMF!
Three weeks earlier, the Institute of International Finance had claimed Lebanon
would require a $8.5 billion IMF bailout package contingent on reducing interest
rates, instituting privatisation to accommodate fiscal space, and creating a
social fund.
However, Lebanese officials, led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, stressed
Lebanon’s inability to handle certain IMF conditions, restricting the role of
the fund to that of advising for now.
In 2019, the IMF’s consultation on Lebanon had expressed support for raising the
VAT tax rate, eliminating electricity subsidies, and increasing fuel excises.
The consultation further made references to past conferences such as CEDRE and
commended Banque du Liban for its role in ensuring financial stability, despite
rising local anger towards the central bank and the government’s recycled
remedies on which they blame the crisis.
With the IMF recurrently encouraging austerity and privatisation as a panacea
for Lebanon’s crises, protesters have grown frustrated with the ruling class’s
lack of vision. Over the years, such policies have only impoverished lower- and
middle-income earners and reduced the public sector to a shell.
Initially, the government of Hassan Diab insisted that Lebanon pay off a
controversial $1.2 billion Eurobond maturity to maintain international trust,
but this has since become a major headache for the government.
Pressures on dollar reserves, and mounting popular anger calling for
prioritising imports of basic commodities over handing over precious dollars to
bond holders accused of long-profiteering from the country’s debt, have obliged
the government to reconsider.
With the government gradually leaning towards defaulting and restructuring the
public debt, local banks have been in panic, as evident from statements by the
Chairman of Association of Banks in Lebanon Salim Sfeir, calling on President
Michel Aoun not to listen to “pressures from the street”.
Alternatives to the IMF
For many in the country, any long-term resolution is rooted in a dilemma
revolving around who ought to pay the price of Lebanon’s liquidity crisis:
commercial banks and large depositors who made billions from the government’s
dubious Ponzi-like financial engineering schemes, or poorer segments of society
via an IMF-sponsored bail out conditioned on austerity and indirect taxation?
“This IMF expedition may be used as an excuse to…legitimise the desire of
Lebanon’s oligarchy to implement austerity procedures, devalue the currency, cut
wages, eliminate subsidies, and enforce privatisation,” writes economist and
journalist Mohamad Zbeeb.
Local experts have insisted that the reliance on the IMF and similar
international bodies represents a continuity in Lebanon’s economic broken model,
in which the interests of beneficiaries in the banking sector and the top 1%
have been prioritized at the expense of the rest of the Lebanese people for
decades.
And there are altenatives to Lebanon’s history with neoliberal policy. Dr. Jad
Chaaban, a local economist and university professor who has been supplying the
uprising with invaluable economic literacy, suggests on his blog that any plan
ought to incorporate a national job creation task force, progressive taxation,
national funds targeting startups, and the importation of strategic reserves of
major commodities.
"Proposed IMF procedures or bailout can buy time if one is not interested in
structural change, but a genuine solution requires a meaningful and radical
transformation to a productive economy under a completely reorganised financial
system," Beirut-based economics writer Ali Nour told the New Arab.
"Such a project must commence with reconstructing the financial sector not to be
centered around incentivising inflated deposits via high interest rates. This
should be accompanied by a fiscal policy encompassing high taxes on rentier
investments, ranging from interest payments to real estate speculation," he
continued.
A history of neoliberal adjustments
According to the World Inequality Database, Lebanon suffers from a very high
level of income inequality - the top 1% earn approximately 25% of the country’s
GDP.
In the Lebanese context, neoliberal policy has taken a particular
crony-capitalist shape. As a consociational system, sectarian leaders and
politicians have historically accommodated their cronies with corporate
monopolies and interests in unproductive sectors.
According to a World Bank report released in 2016, monopolies connected to
politicians in Lebanon have slowed down competition and hindered diversity in an
economy predominantly fixated on real estate and tourism. The report also
emphasized the country’s relatively high import and export costs, poor
infrastructure, and cumbersome procedures.
On the other hand, in the past two decades, the role of international bodies in
locating solutions to Lebanon’s crisis-prone economic system has been heavily
contested, as evident by proposals forwarded in the meetings of Paris I, II, and
III.
In response to the extensive accumulation of debt during the 1990s, Lebanon’s
first Paris meeting in early 2001 concluded not only with fiscal reforms
relevant to issues of governance and institutions, but also major privatization
initiatives.
In the process, hundreds of public servants were subsequently laid off and their
bargaining contracts cancelled, while major tax breaks were instituted and the
real estate sector bubble further exacerbated.
In late 2002, Paris II proceeded in a similar direction, stipulating the
privatization of the water sector and ports, alongside what was formally
labelled the “corporatization of telecommunication and power companies”.
These initiatives have been promoted following the rationale that “the
privatization of basic public services will improve the quality of services” – a
dubious claim that never materialised in Lebanon.
Four years later in Paris III, in exchange for a ‘generous package’ of grants
and soft loans from 40 international donors, the country’s leaders proclaimed to
commit to extreme measures centered on increasing VAT from 10 to 12%, reducing
fuel subsidies, and completely privatizing electricity and mobile phone sectors.
Since the early 2000s, Lebanon’s experience with these international bodies and
donor conferences has been rather unchanging, with the aforementioned proposals
recycled every few years.
Taking into account recent packages such as CEDRE contingent on similar
conditions, and the latest consultations of the IMF in October, many questions
have been raised on whether the vision set by PM Hassan Diab and the current
cabinet can ever bring about a breakthrough relative to Lebanon’s history with
the international bodies and conferences.
“Technical assistance, which is what the government has asked for so far, is not
binding. And we don’t get any money in return. It’s literally just advice,”
economist Dr. Nisreen Salti told the New Arab.
“My own estimation is that the government’s constant delays in taking a public
position on anything related to the economy indicate that its position will be
one borne more out of practical or political considerations than out of
principle, firm belief, or sound policy,” she continued.
In the meantime, Lebanon’s protests continue, their newest slogans vowing to
give the government no confidence, and to continue pushing to build a different
Lebanon that breaks away with the past, completely.
*Karim Safieddine is a political writer and student living in Lebanon
Lebanese Mock Nasrallah’s Call To Boycott American Products
MEMRI/February 24/2020
https://www.memri.org/reports/lebanese-mock-nasrallah%E2%80%99s-call-boycott-american-products
In a February 16, 2020 speech, Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah
stated that the U.S. economy and the dollar are America’' Achilles heel, and
therefore called to boycott American products as part of the struggle against
the U.S.
Nasrallah's call drew mocking responses from Lebanese media figures and social
media users. Taking to Twitter, they accused Hizbullah of hypocrisy, because its
members and leaders openly use the dollar, American social media platforms and
various American products. They posted many photos showing prominent Hizbullah
members using such products, and similar photos of officials from Iran, which is
Hizbullah’s patron. For example, photos were posted of Nasrallah's son Jawad and
of the late Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani wearing the Timberland brand, as
well as a photo showing the car that carried Soleimani's coffin during his
funeral: a U.S.-manufactured Chevrolet.
The following is a sampling of the reactions in Lebanon to Nasrallah's call for
a boycott on American products.
One of the pictures that went viral as part of the mocking response to
Nasrallah's call was a photo of his son, Jawad, wearing a shirt bearing the logo
of the American Timberland brand. Twitter activist Fatima Eid posted it with the
comment: "Nasrallah: Boycott American Goods. [His son] Jawad Nasrallah: No
way."[1]
User Abu Awadi tweeted two versions of this photo, one titled "before the
boycott" and showing Jawad wearing the shirt, and another titled "after the
boycott," showing him without it.
It should be mentioned that Jawad Nasrallah replied to these tweets with a
sarcastic tweet of his own, saying: "They are responding to the logo on my
shirt. I can't reply, because I am boycotting American products, and I'm about
to sell my iPhone," followed by kiss and wink emojis.[3]
Another picture circulated widely in response to Nasrallah's call showed Qassem
Soleimani, the former commander of Iran's Qods Force, who was recently killed in
a U.S. airstrike and is greatly revered by Nasrallah, wearing a Timberland
jacket. Shi'ite Lebanese media figure Dima Sadek tweeted the photo with the word
"Timberland".[4]
Soleimani's Coffin Was Carried In A Chevy; Hizbullah Uses Envoy Vans And Other
GMC Vehicles
Twitter user Charlotte Halby wrote, "Nasrallah [says], 'why not boycott American
goods? It's part of the struggle." Below this she posted a picture of Nasrallah
giving the speech, along with a picture of the car that carried Soleimani's
coffin during his funeral: a Chevrolet.[5]
User Fadi Nasrallah tweeted: "I swear I can't see the boys from Hizbullah
trading in their [American] Envoy [vans] for [French] Renault Meganes…"[7]
User Gino Raidy from Lebanon tweeted a photo of Nasrallah giving his February
16, 2020 speech, along with a picture of the chair he was sitting on,
manufactured by the American Herman Miller company, and commented in English: "Teb
[ok] if the Sayyed [Nasrallah] sits on an American-made chair worth
1,300-1,500USD while he is demanding we boycott US products, shu mna3mel [what
are we supposed to do]?"[8]
Many users noted that Hizbullah uses American websites and technology. User
Hussein Nasrallah wrote: "The three Hizbullah MPs and the Hizbullah minister
[all] use Twitter, an American website. They also use that icon of American
technology, the iPhone, and a long list [of other products]…"[10]
In another tweet, he alluded to the fact that Hizbullah conducts transactions in
U.S. dollars, commenting: "First boycott the dollars you receive via Latin
America. Lebanon will not boycott any American goods, and whoever has a problem
with that can emigrate. Bless Donald Trump." Below this he posted an image of
imported products sold in Lebanon, many of which are American.[11]
Another user tweeted: "Boycott American goods – sure thing, Nasrallah. Yeah, you
genius. Yeah, [you are really] scaring [the Americans]. Yeah, it took you years
to come up with this big idea. Yeah, you conqueror of American social media.
Yeah, you bury your dead with American Envoy [vans]. Yeah, you import American
dollars [provided by] the Iranians. Yeah, you idiot."[12]
Lebanese journalist Nasrin 'Ajab reacted to Nasrallah's call to boycott American
goods in an article on the Elaph news website titled "Hizbullah and the U.S. –
The Devil and the Compass". She accused Hizbullah of hypocrisy because it curses
the U.S., while some figures close to it "rush into America's arms." She added
that the American dollar is not responsible for the dire situation in Lebanon,
and neither is Lebanon itself; rather, the ones responsible are the politicians,
including Nasrallah's allies, who are robbing the country.
She wrote: "'Why not boycott American goods,' wondered Hizbullah
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, in his [February 16] speech, in which he
brutally attacked the U.S. Yes, that is a legitimate question… But wait a
minute, is it the dollar that turned [Lebanon] into a plundered state? No, it is
the politicians, including Sayyed Nasrallah's closest allies, who have been
diligently looting the country for 30 years and concoct [shady] deals instead of
taking care of its electricity, water and even garbage[-collection
infrastructures]. So before flooding us with declarations against the U.S. and
its economy, let him stop backing his corrupt allies, and then maybe this small
country will regain some of its stolen funds, start paying some of its mounting
debt and find a way out of its economic hell…
"Yes, [the call to boycott American goods] would have been legitimate coming
from someone who has severed all his ties with the one he calls 'the Great
Satan.' But the problem with Hizbullah's handling of this issue is its double
standard: On the one hand, [it treats] America as the Great Satan, who must be
fought, but at the same time, figures close to Hizbullah rush into America's
arms and brag about it…"
The Lebanese Al-Jumhouriya daily, known for its opposition to Hizbullah,
published a cartoon captioned "Nasrallah calls to boycott American goods," in
which a Hizbullah supporter shouts “No, no, no [to American goods], except
dollars, Cherokees and Jeans!!"[13]
[1] Twitter.com/Fatima_Eid9, February 16, 2020.
[2] Twitter.com/Firasg72, February 17, 2020.
[3] Twitter.com/mohammadjdns, February 16, 2020.
[4] Twitter.com/DimaSadek, February 17, 2020.
[5] Twitter.com/HalbyCharlotte, February 17, 2020.
[6] Twitter.com/HAKIMEXX, February 16, 2020.
[7] Twitter.com/Fidodido901, February 16, 2020.
[8] Twitter.com/GinoRaidy, February 17, 2020.
[9] Twitter.com/GrFr39267907, February 17, 2020.
[10] Twitter.com/Hussein_nasrlah, February 17, 2020.
[11] Twitter.com/Hussein_nasrlah, February 16, 2020.
[12] Twitter.com/icomefromrivia, February 16, 2020.
[13] Al-Jumhouriya (Lebanon), February 17, 2020.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on February 24-25/2020
Palestinian Jihad fires more than 80
rockets, calls a sudden end to the blitz
Debkafiles/February 24/2020
Monday, Feb. 2, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad pounded Israel for a second day,
firing 80 rockets – sure that Israel’s reaction would be carefully calibrated a
week before election day. After the first day, the Israeli air force struck
Jihad targets around Damascus as well as scores of its sites in the Gaza Strip.
By going into a second day of rocket fire, the Palestinian terrorist group
directly challenged the IDF. It also made Ashkelon, with its port and industrial
zone, the largest Israeli town under heavy rocket fire. There were no casualties
in the two-day Jihad blitz, although a food factory in Ashkelon took a direct
hit, largely due to the high number of interceptions by Iron Dome defense
batteries. The IDF accompanied the waves of
Palestinian rocket fire with continuous air and tank artillery strikes against
Jihad installations and command centers and hunting down rocket teams. Then,
early Monday evening, Islamic Jihad suddenly announced in a statement that its
retaliatory offensive was at an end. During the day,
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned that if the violence continued, Israeli
would resort to a comprehensive military operation in the Gaza Strip that would
include innovative, surprise tactics never seen in previous IDF counter-terror
operations. Defense Minister Naftali was more
restrained. He told community and town leaders in the south, who had advised the
population to keep schools closed for another day, not to expect the IDF to
embark on a full-scale IDF operation in Gaza before the Marche 2 general
election. The Palestinian Jihad had therefore tossed
the ball over to Israel. If the episode ends at this point, the terrorist
organization may claim to have won the power to call the shots for starting and
ending a confrontation with Israel when it pleases.
The Netanyahu government will almost certainly be guided in its response by an
assessment of the majority voters’ mood next Monday. For the time being, both
the ruling Likud and the opposition Kahol Lavan have called off their election
rallies for the duration of the security crisis in the South.
'Islamic Jihad' Ends 'Military Response' against Israel after 2-Day Flare-up
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 24 February, 2020
The Islamic Jihad announced the end of its "military response" against Israel on
Monday after a two-day exchange of fire just a week before the Jewish state's
March 2 election. There was no immediate confirmation of a ceasefire from
Israel, and AFP correspondents in the Gaza Strip said Israeli airstrikes were
ongoing early Monday evening. The flare-up triggered school, road and train
closures in southern Israel. Israel's army said in a statement that 20
"projectiles" had been fired from the Palestinian enclave on Monday, 18 of them
intercepted by its air defense systems. Speaking to Israel's Army Radio, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he'd conveyed a message to Hamas movement that
if it did not stop Gaza militants behind the attacks, Israel would target Hamas
directly. “If you don't shoot them, we will shoot you. I'm talking about a war,”
he said. “I'm not looking for a war. But we have prepared something you can't
even imagine." Netanyahu's interview was interrupted with news of fresh air raid
sirens warning of incoming rockets, as Palestinian militant fire resumed midday
after a morning lull. Israeli police images showed that at least one of the
projectiles landed in an empty children's playground.
On Sunday, in response to Israel's killing of a Palestinian along the border,
Islamic Jihad launched more than 20 rockets from Gaza into Israel. Israel's
military said it responded to the rockets with airstrikes targeting "terror
sites" throughout Gaza as well as near the Syrian capital.
The Damascus strike killed two Islamic Jihad fighters and four other Iran-backed
militants allied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights. Israel took a series of precautions amid the
rocket fire from Gaza. The education ministry ordered 65,000 students in towns
near Gaza to stay home, postponing exams at universities in Ashkelon, Sderot and
Netivot. The transport ministry canceled trains between Ashkelon and Beersheba,
a major southern city roughly 50 kilometers from Gaza. The military said Zikim
Beach on the Mediterranean Sea just north of Gaza had been closed to visitors.
Islamic Jihad is allied with Hamas that has controlled Gaza since 2007. But it
has not accepted the informal truce the movement has agreed with Israel in
exchange for an easing of the crippling blockade on Gaza.
Israel, Islamic Jihad Exchange Fire for Second Day
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 24/2020
Israel and Islamic Jihad exchanged fire in the Gaza Strip for a second day
Monday, a week before Israel's March 2 election. Islamic Jihad, a militant group
allied to Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas, fired more than 20 rockets and mortars
towards Israel late morning, the Israeli military said, with the majority
intercepted by the country's air defense systems. Israeli fighter jets and
helicopters then targeted a number of Islamic Jihad bases in the strip,
including "a military compound in Khan Yunis used by the Islamic Jihad for
training and weapons storage," the army said, referring to an area in southern
Gaza. There were no immediate reports of casualties on either side but one
projectile from Gaza landed in an empty school playground. Embattled Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is fighting for re-election as well as
preparing to face trial on corruption charges, warned that Israel was prepared
to retaliate with more force. "Hamas and Islamic Jihad need to understand --
this cannot continue," he said in a statement after discussions with his
security chiefs. "If they do not stop the fire completely... we will carry out
the extensive campaign we have prepared."On Sunday, in response to Israel's
killing of a militant along the border, Islamic Jihad launched more than 20
rockets from Gaza into Israel. Israel's army said it then targeted the group
both in Gaza and on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. The Syria
strikes killed two Islamic Jihad fighters and four other Iran-backed militants,
according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor. Since the
start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes
in Syria, mainly targeting Iranian forces and the Tehran-backed Lebanese group
Hezbollah, as well as government troops. Israel rarely confirms responsibility
for such strikes, but did so on Sunday, describing the target as a base "used as
a hub" for Islamic Jihad activities in Syria.
Schools, roads closed -
Israel took a series of precautions amid the rocket fire from Gaza.
The education ministry ordered 65,000 students in towns near Gaza to stay home,
postponing exams at universities in Ashkelon, Sderot and Netivot. The
transport ministry cancelled trains between Ashkelon and Beersheba, a major
southern city roughly 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Gaza.
Sunday's fighting was the most intense between Israel and Islamic Jihad since
November, when Israeli airstrikes killed senior commanders from the group. The
three-day flare-up saw 35 Palestinians killed and more than 100 wounded,
according to official figures. There were no Israeli fatalities despite hundreds
of rockets being fired from the strip. Islamic Jihad has not accepted the
informal truce Hamas has agreed with Israel in exchange for an easing of the
crippling blockade on Gaza. Hamas and Israel last fought a full-scale war in
2014, but smaller flare-ups are relatively common.
- Bulldozed -
The latest escalation with Islamic Jihad came after Israel's military said
Sunday it had killed a militant in Gaza who had tried to plant an explosive
device near the border fence. Israel later confirmed that it extracted the
militant's body with a bulldozer. A video then appeared on social media, later
authenticated by AFP, showing a bulldozer approaching a body while a group of
young, apparently unarmed men tried to retrieve it. The sound of gunfire
is heard and the men run away as the bulldozer scoops up the body. Israel's
hawkish Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has pursued a policy of retaining the
bodies of militants from Gaza as bargaining chips to pressure Hamas, which has
held those of two Israeli soldiers since 2014. Palestinian prime minister
Mohammed Shtayyeh, speaking before a weekly cabinet meeting, called the
bulldozer incident "a heinous crime."
"(Israel's) occupation kills Palestinians in cold blood and with images that
should shame humanity, and in violation of international law which Israel
breaches day and night," he said.
Iraqi Lawmakers Schedule Confidence Vote Amid US Calls for
Protection
Baghdad- Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 24 February, 2020
Iraqi lawmakers on Monday scheduled a confidence vote for the government of
prime minister-designate Mohammad Allawi later this week, as the US called for
the premier to protect its troops. Allawi, who was named as a consensus
candidate by Iraq's divided political parties on February 1, had called for a
Monday vote, following months of protests demanding a complete government
overhaul. His request was backed by his predecessor Adel Abdel Mahdi, deputy
parliament speaker Hassan Karim al-Kaabi, and Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr who
threatened to organize mass rallies outside parliament unless lawmakers back
Allawi's government in a confidence vote this week. Lawmakers decided to
schedule the vote for Thursday, according to a statement from parliament. The
current legislature is Iraq's most divided in recent history, with major
factions split over the fate of the roughly 5,200 US troops stationed in Iraq.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday urged Allawi to protect US troops,
in the first substantive US comment on the premier since his appointment. Pompeo
said he told him by telephone that the United States backed a "strong, sovereign
and prosperous" Iraq.
He "stressed Iraq's obligation to protect US and coalition diplomats, forces and
facilities," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
Pompeo also emphasized "the urgency with which Iraq's next government must put
an end to the killing of protesters, seek justice for those killed and wounded,
and address their legitimate grievances," she said. His remarks came as one
protester was killed Sunday by live fire in Tahrir Square -- the beating heart
of the capital's protest movement. Since demonstrations started in October,
around 550 Iraqis have been killed and 30,000 others wounded, mainly
protesters.But security forces say they are not behind attacks on protesters,
blaming unidentified gunmen.
Soaring tensions
The United States last month outraged Iraqi leaders by killing top Iranian
general Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad airport, an attack widely
seen as a violation of Iraq's sovereignty and sparking demands for US forces to
leave. Tensions had soared after Iranian-linked Iraqi Shiite paramilitaries
repeatedly fired rockets at bases hosting US forces, with further attacks
reported in recent weeks. US leaders have scoffed at Iraqi objections to
Soleimani's killing. President Donald Trump threatened economic sanctions if
Baghdad evicted the 5,200 troops in the country, which was thrown into chaos by
the 2003 US invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. A US-led coalition
fought side-by-side with Iraqi forces in a grueling battle to crush the ISIS
militant group's self-declared caliphate. Pompeo refused a request by outgoing
prime minister Abdel Mahdi to send a delegation to discuss a troop withdrawal,
saying that many Iraqi leaders privately want US forces to stay. Abdel Mahdi
stepped down in December in the face of unprecedented anti-government protests
demanding an end to corruption, an independent prime minister and a total
government overhaul. But protesters have slammed the choice of Allawi as his
successor, saying the two-time former communications minister is too close to
the elite they want to see ousted. The Iraqi prime minister's office described
his conversation with Pompeo as a congratulatory call. The State Department did
not explicitly offer congratulations but described Allawi as the "new prime
minister."
Iraqi Nurse Spends Her Weekends Stitching Wounds at Protest
Site
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 24 February, 2020
Hannaa Jassem bends over a patient in a makeshift clinic on the edge of
Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, one of a handful of women in an overwhelmingly male
world of demonstrations and political confrontation. The 24-year-old works as a
nurse in a hospital in Iraq’s capital during the week, and volunteers at its
main protest site at weekends. As teargas spreads outside, Jassem stitches up
wounds in an open-fronted shack supported by metal poles with walls covered in
national flags, banners, and blue plastic sheeting. She said her brother
initially supported her decision to look after people taking part in the wave of
anti-government protests that have raged across Iraq since Oct. 1. “He was proud
that his sister was a medic in Tahrir,” Reuters quoted her as saying. “But later
he became apprehensive as things got more dangerous.” Almost 500 people have
died in the violence. Some politicians and influential clerics have been
outraged by the sight of young women out in public during the demonstrations in
Baghdad and across the impoverished south. But that hasn’t stopped Jassem.
“Change is what drove me to be a medic and go to protest sites. We are sick of
the current situation in terms of rights or being safe or having any security in
this country.” Since her father passed away in 2016, she and her eight brothers
and sisters have had to contribute to the family income. On top of her nursing
job, she also works part time as a portrait photographer. That still leaves here
the weekends for the protest clinic. “I always say that if I had enough time I
would go to Tahrir every day but my responsibilities at work and home get in the
way.”
Iran accused of coronavirus coverup amid claims of 50
deaths
AP/Arab News/February 25/2020
Iran accused of coronavirus coverup amid claims of 50 deaths
The government announced Iran’s coronavirus death toll had jumped by four to 12
Authorities have ordered the closure of schools, universities and other
educational centers across the country
TEHRAN: Iran’s government vowed Monday to be transparent after being accused of
covering up the deadliest coronavirus outbreak outside China, dismissing a
lawmaker’s claim the toll could be as high as 50.
The authorities in Iran have come under mounting public pressure since it took
days for them to admit to “accidentally” shooting down a Ukrainian airliner last
month, killing 176 people. The government announced Iran’s coronavirus death
toll had jumped by four to 12 — by far the highest outside China — as its
neighbors closed their borders and imposed strict quarantine measures. But Ahmad
Amirabadi Farahani, a lawmaker from the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran,
alleged the government was “lying.”“As of last night, about 50 people have died”
from the coronavirus in Qom alone, ILNA news agency, which is close to
reformists, quoted him as saying after a closed session of parliament on the
crisis. The government rejected the claim. “I ask our brother who declared this
figure of 50 deaths to provide us with a list of their names,” Deputy Health
Minister Iraj Harirchi said.
“If the number of deaths in Qom reaches half or a quarter of this figure, I will
resign.”But people on Tehran’s streets were also suspicious. “State TV gives us
statistics, but when we go to hospitals we see something different. The number
of people who died is much more,” said Elahe Zarabi, 56, a housewife carrying
bags of bleach. Shoaib, a 24-year-old pharmacy employee, said the shop was
running out of stocks as it had gone from selling 500 face masks a day to
10,000. “The mullahs are saying Muslims are immune because of their faith,” he
said. “How will they quarantine a huge city like Tehran when they cannot even
quarantine a hospital?“ Iran has been scrambling to contain the COVID-19
outbreak since Wednesday when it announced the first two deaths in Qom, a center
for Islamic studies and pilgrims, attracting scholars from Iran and beyond.
Progress in Israeli Negotiations With Hamas- Media Reports
Ramallah- Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 24 February, 2020
Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported on Sunday progress in indirect
negotiations between Israel and Hamas and that they were on the path to reaching
broad arrangements. The newspaper quoted Palestinian sources confirming that an
Egyptian security delegation had recently met high-ranking security officials in
both Israel and Gaza. The delegation discussed means to remove obstacles that
have emerged. Israel Hayom said that the recent facilities given to merchants
were a result of the progress achieved in the indirect negotiations. Israel has
decided to increase the cap for permits given to workers and merchants in Gaza
to 7,000, the highest level since Hamas' rule began in 2007. Steps easing
restrictions on Gazans were announced after Hamas informed Israel that it
planned to unilaterally halt the launching of explosive-laden balloons and
rockets at Israel amid talks of a long-term truce.
Israel Hayom sources pointed out that there are also ongoing negotiations on the
issue of the Israeli prisoners held by Hamas, noting that there are secret
contacts in this regard. According to the sources, Hamas will present its
demands on an exchange deal. An exchange deal, if achieved, is expected to see
the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including women and children,
in exchange for the Israeli soldiers or their remains held by Hamas in the Gaza
Strip. Nevertheless, sources suggested that this deal would not be reached
before Israeli legislative elections slated for March 2nd. On another note,
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, met with the Qatari envoy to the Gaza Strip,
Muhamad al-Amadi. They discussed various options to improve the quality of life
for Gaza residents and agreed on a money transfer to the tune of $12 million to
120 families in need, supporting 500 young couples wishing to marry and to
invest $1 million to repair the homes of the poor. Another subject that came up
in their conversation was the transfer of $1 million to support university
graduates. Sinwar's office reported that: “Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip and
the Qatari envoy al-Amadi discussed [the formation of a] a gas line to help
produce electricity”. This is the second time where documentation of Sinwar is
shown in the media in the last three months.
Israeli Leadership Encourages Repressive Measures against
Palestinians
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 24 February, 2020
Israeli peace and human rights activists have warned against a sharp increase in
the number of Palestinians exposed to Israeli oppression. This includes
Palestinians killed or injured by Israeli fire. Israeli brutality has reached a
new height with a video shared on social media showing an Israeli army bulldozer
approaching Palestinians, who were attempting to retrieve the body of Muhammad
Ali al-Naim, in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, and then lifting and
carrying it away while it hangs from its blade. Also taking note of the
escalation of settler attacks in the West Bank, it becomes evident that Israeli
military leaders have adopted the same stances of the far-right whose rhetoric
is intensifying as elections approach. Activists pointed out that the presence
of a right-wing prime minister like Benjamin Netanyahu and a Defense Minister
like Naftali Bennett reinforces extremism against Palestinians. Bennett had
supported the Israeli army’s dealing with al-Naim’s body with a bulldozer. “That
is what is needed and that is how we will act,” he tweeted. “I am tired of the
left’s hypocritical criticisms against the ‘inhumane’ use of a bulldozer to
recover the body,” he added. Bennett was responding to criticism by left-wing
activist Yariv Oppenheimer on Twitter, who argued that the Israeli army taking
the body with a bulldozer was not only “shameful and shocking” but also will not
provide “healing” for the families of Israelis believed to be held in Gaza.
Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain Report Coronavirus Cases
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 24/2020
The new coronavirus hit four more Middle Eastern states on Monday, with Bahrain,
Iraq, Kuwait and Oman reporting new cases and the UAE calling on its citizens
not to travel to Iran and Thailand. Oman also halted flights to and from Iran --
which is battling the deadliest outbreak outside China --with immediate effect.
The move came shortly after two Omani women who had returned from Iran were
diagnosed with the disease. The three cases in Kuwait and the one in Bahrain
were also in individuals who had returned from Iran, where the virus has claimed
the lives of 12 people. Bahrain also shut three schools after a man who had
transported children to the institutions tested positive after returning from
Iran on February 21 via Dubai airport, the health ministry said. In Kuwait, a
53-year-old Kuwaiti, a 61-year-old Saudi national and a 21-year-old stateless
Arab who tested positive had all returned from Iran's holy city of Mashhad, the
Kuwaiti health ministry said. In Iraq, the virus was confirmed in an Iranian
national studying in the southern shrine city of Najaf, health officials said.
All seven bourses in the oil-rich Gulf states were down on Monday as fears of a
pandemic hit crude prices. The Saudi stock exchange led the slide, shedding 2.95
percent.
Travel bans
Iran's confirmed death toll rose to 12 on Monday, with the government vowing to
be transparent and dismissing a lawmaker's claim the toll could be as high as
50. The outbreak has prompted travel bans from nearby countries. Last week,
Kuwait banned entry of all ships from the Islamic republic and suspended flights
to and from the country. Kuwait also banned non-citizens coming from Iran from
entering the Gulf state and operated chartered flights to bring back hundreds of
Kuwaiti Shiite pilgrims from the Islamic republic. Around a third of Kuwait's
1.4 million citizens are Shiite Muslims, who travel regularly to Iran to visit
religious shrines. Kuwait also hosts roughly 50,000 Iranian workers. Over half
of Bahrain's population of under one million are Shiites, who also travel
frequently to Iran. The United Arab Emirates has already announced 13 cases of
the novel coronavirus, all of them foreigners. The latest were a 70-year-old
Iranian man, whose condition is unstable, and his 64-year-old wife. On Monday,
Abu Dhabi authorities called on all UAE citizens "to not travel to Iran and
Thailand at present and up until further notice" as part of its efforts to
monitor and contain the spread of the disease.
UAE airlines have suspended most flights to China -- where the virus first
emerged in December -- except to the capital Beijing, but have not yet taken any
measures to restrict travel to and from Iran. Around half a million Iranians
live and work in the UAE. Two Gulf states -- Saudi Arabia and Qatar -- remain
free of the virus, but all have suspended flights to China. Qatar Airways said
on Monday that people arriving from Iran and South Korea would be asked to stay
in home isolation or a quarantine facility for 14 days. China's death toll from
COVID-19 rose to nearly 2,600 on Monday, while the virus has now spread to more
than 30 countries.
Italy Authorities Urge Calm as Coronavirus Cases Stabilize
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 24/2020
Italy reported its seventh death from the new coronavirus Monday, but officials
called for calm and reported a lower rise in the number of infections after a
spike over the weekend. The number of cases now stood at 229, the head of
Italy's civil protection department Angelo Borelli said at a press conference on
Monday evening, the highest number in Europe. However, this means that only ten
new cases had been added since the previous total on Monday morning, a much
slower rate than the previous few days. "I think the numbers that we have
registered in Italy and in the rest of the world have been confined to
reasonable figures," Borelli said, adding that in his opinion the data did not
point towards an impending pandemic. Six of the dead have been in the northern
Lombardy region, where villages have been put under lockdown and security
measures enforced in a bid to stem the spread of the disease.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said that residents could face weeks in
lockdown in an effort to sit out the virus. Eleven towns -- 10 in Lombardy and
one in neighboring Veneto -- are under lockdown, with some 50,000 residents
prohibited from leaving. Regional authorities have ordered gathering spots, such
as schools, bars, restaurants, cinemas and discos to close. The measures imposed
in the country's north affect some 30 million inhabitants, the Repubblica daily
said. The spread of the virus has disrupted high-profile events including Milan
Fashion Week and the Venice Carnival, while Serie A football matches have been
postponed. Operas have also had to be cancelled at Milan's famed La Scala.
Masses in churches across the affected regions have been cancelled and funerals
limited to immediate relatives only.
'Eye of the storm'
The stock market in Milan was down over 5.0 percent on Monday in a broad-based
sell-off over virus fears. The Italian hotel association said it was "very
worried" about the impact on bookings and that the country was in the "eye of
the storm". Even as far south as Rome some tourists have started to take
precautions, despite the city having no recent cases. "My mother is worried and
is sending me messages constantly," 21-year-old Polish tourist Aleksandra
Moscicka told AFP while sporting a face mask. Most of the cases in Italy are in
Lombardy, a prosperous region in the country's north where Milan is located, and
which borders Switzerland. They can be traced back to a 38-year-old man in the
town of Codogno whom authorities have called "patient one". But the man
initially believed to have given him the virus after returning from Shanghai
later tested negative and authorities say they still do not know who brought the
virus to Codogno. The virus may have spread to the Veneto region via a 60-year
old farmer from Albettone. He had recently traveled to Codogno and is known to
frequent bars in Vo' Euganeo -- where the region's only victim so far lived.
Borelli said that no new centers of infection had been identified aside from
those already known about in Lombardy and Veneto, but admitted that no link
between them had been established.
'Look after the elderly'
Milan mayor Beppe Sala urged people to stay calm and refrain from "dashing to
the supermarkets to grab food. "We should spend time looking after the most
vulnerable, such as old people, who are particularly at risk," he said.
According to Italy's national statistics institute, there are over seven million
people in the country over the age of 75. On Tuesday, Italy will host a meeting
in Rome of health ministers from neighboring countries Austria, Croatia, France,
Germany, Slovenia and Switzerland to discuss the outbreak. Forty passengers from
the affected northern regions on an Alitalia flight from Rome to Mauritius were
returning to Italy on Monday after they were blocked from leaving the plane on
arrival. French officials kept the passengers of a coach from northern Italy on
board for several hours while checking the driver, who was showing flu symptoms.
He tested negative for the coronavirus. Hungarian authorities issued a warning
to citizens travelling to northern Italy, asking them to postpone their trip if
possible. Incoming passengers will be screened at Budapest and Debrecen airports
for fever symptoms. Bulgaria Air said Monday it was cancelling flights between
Sofia and Milan until March 27, while Croatia suspended all school trips to
Italy for a month. The rise in coronavirus cases in Iran, Italy and South Korea
in recent days is "deeply concerning," the head of the World Health Organization
said on Monday.
Libyans Propose Ceasefire, Slam International Inaction
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 24/2020
Libya's warring sides have hashed out a draft ceasefire agreement, the U.N. said
Monday, even as Libyan leaders decried international inaction to rein in
hostilities still raging in the war-ravaged country.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) announced that two rounds
of indirect negotiations in Geneva between Libya's Government of National Accord
(GNA) and eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar's forces had resulted in a
draft ceasefire deal. The text, which will now be discussed by the leadership on
both sides, proposes that the United Nations and a military commission with
members from both sides monitor the safe return of displaced civilians to their
homes. The U.N. said the sides would meet again next month to discuss
implementation terms, but given the state of hostility between the sides,
prospects for a lasting truce remain unclear. The head of Libya's
U.N.-recognized GNA government, Fayez al-Sarraj, slammed Haftar before the U.N.
on Monday as a "war criminal", and decried international inaction to halt the
violence. "The entire world has been able to see the escalation in hostilities
and attacks against the capital Tripoli since April 4, 2019," Sarraj told the UN
Human Rights Council in Geneva. But he lamented that despite large numbers of
people killed and displaced by Haftar's actions, "until today, we have not seen
action by the international community."
'Inhuman'
In the latest outbreak of fighting, Haftar launched his offensive on Tripoli
last April but after rapid advances his forces stalled on the outskirts of the
capital. The fighting has claimed more than 1,000 lives and displaced some
140,000, according to the UN, while GNA says the numbers are far higher.
"We have repeatedly asked that commissions of inquiry be established to
investigate the violations, the forced displacements, the arbitrary detentions,
the extrajudicial killings," Sarraj said. GNA foreign minister Mohamed Taha
Syala meanwhile voiced particular criticism about international inaction to
force an end to Haftar's oil blockade, warning of the dire humanitarian
consequences of cutting off the country's main source of income.
The international community, he said, must "instruct opening the oil fields and
opening the ports to feed the Libyan people." He told reporters in Geneva that
major powers had acted quickly to force an end to a previous attempt by Haftar
to blockade Libya's oil, but that today there seemed to be less interest in
boosting oil supplies on the global market. "I know they don't want the prices
in the market to drop by putting in the market around one million barrels," he
said, suggesting that "maybe this is behind the reason" for the international
inaction. "If it is the reason, this is inhuman," he said. The GNA leaders'
comments came as political talks are set to kick off between the two sides in
Geneva on Wednesday. U.N. envoy Ghassan Salame, who was scheduled to meet with
Sarraj later on Monday, has said the political discussions would go ahead
despite the hostilities on the ground. But Syala said that the GNA had yet to
receive an invitation to attend and that it remained to be seen whether the
talks would go ahead as planned.
Libya Rivals Announce Will Not Take Part in Geneva Talks
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 24/2020
Libya's rival camps announced Monday they had suspended their participation in
U.N.-sponsored peace talks this week in Geneva, although a United Nations
spokesman said negotiations would still go ahead.
A parliament based in eastern Libya, backed by strongman Khalifa Haftar, said it
would not take part because the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL)
had not approved all its 13 representatives. A rival authority in Tripoli, the
High State Council -- the equivalent of a senate -- said it would also not
participate in talks scheduled for Wednesday until progress was made in military
negotiations. "It is in light of conclusions (from military discussions) that
the high council would decide to take part or not in political dialogue," the
Tripoli body said. Haftar's forces launched an offensive against Tripoli, seat
of the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), last April. Stalemate
around the capital's southern suburbs has persisted for months since then. A
joint military commission with five members from each said wound up talks Sunday
in Geneva with a "draft ceasefire agreement" to be finalized in March, according
to the U.N. mission. A spokesman for UNSMIL said Monday that the political
dialogue would still take place. "The Libyan political dialogue will go ahead as
previously scheduled, on 26 February," Jean El Alam told AFP. "Many participants
have already arrived in Geneva and we hope all invited participants follow
suit," he said. But Khaled el-Mechri of the GNA-aligned High State Council said
it would not be bound by the outcome of political talks if they went ahead
"before knowing the military dialogue's conclusions."
Iraqi Lawmakers Schedule Confidence Vote amid US Calls for
Protection
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 24/2020
Iraqi lawmakers on Monday scheduled a confidence vote for the government of
prime minister-designate Mohammad Allawi later this week, as the US called for
the premier to protect its troops. Allawi, who was named as a consensus
candidate by Iraq's divided political parties on February 1, had called for a
Monday vote, following months of protests demanding a complete government
overhaul. His request was backed by his predecessor Adel Abdel Mahdi, deputy
parliament speaker Hassan Karim al-Kaabi, and Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr who
threatened to organise mass rallies outside parliament unless lawmakers back
Allawi's government in a confidence vote this week. Lawmakers decided to
schedule the vote for Thursday, according to a statement from parliament. The
current legislature is Iraq's most divided in recent history, with major
factions split over the fate of the roughly 5,200 US troops stationed in Iraq.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday urged Allawi to protect US troops,
in the first substantive US comment on the premier since his appointment. Pompeo
said he told him by telephone that the United States backed a "strong, sovereign
and prosperous" Iraq.
He "stressed Iraq's obligation to protect US and coalition diplomats, forces and
facilities," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
Pompeo also emphasised "the urgency with which Iraq's next government must put
an end to the killing of protesters, seek justice for those killed and wounded,
and address their legitimate grievances," she said. His remarks came as one
protester was killed Sunday by live fire in Tahrir Square -- the beating heart
of the capital's protest movement.
Since demonstrations started in October, around 550 Iraqis have been killed and
30,000 others wounded, mainly protesters. An AFP photographer was among those
wounded last week, shot in the leg by security forces. But security forces say
they are not behind attacks on protesters, blaming unidentified gunmen.
Soaring tensions
The United States last month outraged Iraqi leaders by killing top Iranian
general Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad airport, an attack widely
seen as a violation of Iraq's sovereignty and sparking demands for US forces to
leave. Tensions had soared after Iranian-linked Iraqi Shiite paramilitaries
repeatedly fired rockets at bases hosting US forces, with further attacks
reported in recent weeks. US leaders have scoffed at Iraqi objections to
Soleimani's killing. President Donald Trump threatened economic sanctions if
Baghdad evicted the 5,200 troops in the country, which was thrown into chaos by
the 2003 US invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. A US-led coalition
fought side-by-side with Iraqi forces in a gruelling battle to crush the Islamic
State jihadist group's self-declared caliphate. Pompeo refused a request by
outgoing prime minister Abdel Mahdi to send a delegation to discuss a troop
withdrawal, saying that many Iraqi leaders privately want US forces to stay.
Abdel Mahdi stepped down in December in the face of unprecedented
anti-government protests demanding an end to corruption, an independent prime
minister and a total government overhaul.
But protesters have slammed the choice of Allawi as his successor, saying the
two-time former communications minister is too close to the elite they want to
see ousted. The Iraqi prime minister's office described his conversation with
Pompeo as a congratulatory call. The State Department did not explicitly offer
congratulations but described Allawi as the "new prime minister."
Four Killed in India Clash ahead of Trump Arrival
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 24/2020
A policeman was among at least four people killed in New Delhi on Monday during
violent clashes over a contentious citizenship law, local media said, hours
before U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in the Indian capital for an official
visit. Protesters torched at least two houses and shops before later setting a
tire market on fire, the Press Trust of India said. Local TV channels showed
plumes of black smoke billowing from buildings. One video posted on social
media showed crowds of men shouting "Jai Shree Ram" or "Hail Lord Ram", a
revered Hindu deity, as they went on a rampage. Protests have broken out across
India since the citizenship law came into force in December, leaving at least 30
people killed in clashes with police. Critics say the law discriminates against
Muslims. The new law has raised worries abroad -- including in Washington
-- that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to remold secular India into a Hindu
nation while marginalizing the country's 200 million Muslims, a claim he denies.
The latest unrest erupted between several hundred supporters and opponents of
the law in a Muslim-dominated area of northeast Delhi on Sunday, and continued
Monday. A constable died after receiving a critical head injury, while another
senior officer was among the injured. Local media said three civilians also died
and many people were hurt. "Please renounce violence. Nobody benefits from this.
All problems will be solved by peace," Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
tweeted.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted that schools in the capital's
northeast would be shut on Tuesday and exams postponed. Trump arrived in the
western state of Gujarat on Monday and addressed about 100,000 people at a rally
with Modi before he visited the Taj Mahal monument in Agra. Later Monday the
U.S. president landed in Delhi before official talks in the city on Tuesday. A
senior U.S. official told reporters that Trump would raise concerns about
religious freedom in the Hindu-majority nation during the trip, calling them
"extremely important to this administration."
US Presses Yemen's Huthis to Drop Baha'i Charges
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 24/2020
The United States has urged Yemen's Huthi rebels to drop charges targeting the
Baha'i community, which said that 24 believers of the faith will face a new
trial session Tuesday. Sam Brownback, the US ambassador-at-large for
international religious freedom, voiced concern at reports that a court in
Yemen's Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa is again summoning the Baha'is who in
2018 were slapped with charges that include apostasy and espionage. "We urge
them to drop these allegations, release those arbitrarily detained, and respect
religious freedom for all," he wrote on Twitter. According to the Baha'i
community, one member among the 24 to be tried Tuesday -- five of whom are
already detained -- said that a prosecutor made clear that his arrest was due to
his religion. "The Baha'is that are held in Sanaa are innocent and the physical
and mental torture they are experiencing is designed to force them to admit to
crimes they have not committed," Bani Dugal, principal representative of the
Baha'i International Community, said in a statement. The Huthis are allied with
Iran's Shiite clerical regime, which restricts the rights of Baha'is despite
allowing freedom of religion for Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians. Baha'is
consider the Baha'u'llah, born in 1817 in Iran, to be a prophet, a sharp
contrast from the orthodox Islamic view that Mohammed was God's final messenger.
Several thousand Baha'is are estimated to live in Yemen. Among them is Hamed bin
Haydara, who was sentenced in 2018 to execution with appeals in his case under
review. The concern about Huthi treatment of the Baha'is comes amid widespread
condemnation of the Saudi-led operation against the rebels over the heavy toll
on civilians, including notoriously a 2018 air strike on a school bus.
Around 30 Hurt as Car Rams Germany Carnival Procession
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 24/2020
Some 30 people including children were injured Monday when a car plowed into a
carnival procession in the small German town of Volkmarsen, with police
arresting the driver but declining to speculate on a motive. Prosecutors in
Frankfurt said the 29-year-old suspect was a German national who faces charges
of attempted homicide over the incident in the western state of Hesse. The
investigation was continuing "in all directions", they said in a statement,
after police stopped short of calling the incident an attack. The drama came as
Germany remains on high alert following a shooting spree by a far-right gunman
in the city of Hanau, also in Hesse, last Wednesday, who killed 10 people.
Eyewitness reports at the carnival parade described the driver plowing through a
barrier in a silver car and driving straight through the crowd at high speed.
"It appears to have been an intentional act," a local police spokesman told
reporters, but said the incident was not being classified as an attack until
investigators had more information. Around 30 people were injured, some of them
seriously, the Frankfurt prosecutors said. Children were among those hurt. The
driver was also injured and was receiving medical care, prosecutors added.
Citing sources close to the investigation, Spiegel weekly said the driver had
apparently "consumed a high level of alcohol". Chancellor Angela Merkel said her
thoughts are with family of the victims, as she wished them "a speedy and
complete recovery", according to her spokeswoman on Twitter. Hesse state premier
Volker Bouffier said he was "shocked at the terrible act". But he added: "The
circumstances surrounding this act remain unclear and I urge you not to
speculate about possible motives."
'In shock'
As in many parts of the country, residents in Volkmarsen were celebrating Rose
Monday, a highlight of annual carnival festivities that sees adults and children
dress up and attend parades where people play music and throw candies from
floats. Steffen Roettger said his two daughters were at the parade and called
him right after the incident happened at around 1330 GMT. "My 10-year-old was
pulled aside and only narrowly avoided being hit," he told NTV broadcaster. He
said the girl was "in shock" and needed medical attention after seeing people
"lying around everywhere". "She won't get those images out of her head in a
hurry." Elmar Schulten, a reporter for the local Waldeckische Landeszeitung
newspaper, told the Bild daily that locals in the town of some 7,000 people were
in disbelief. "We always thought this kind of thing only happened elsewhere," he
said. Images from the scene showed police officers and rescue vehicles next to a
silver Mercedes hatchback, having apparently come to a halt outside a Rewe
supermarket. A pile of debris can be seen on the road next to the car, including
a broken wooden cart, a knocked-over traffic cone and bottles of sparkling wine.
Several dozen people were pictured milling around on the sidewalk, many in
colorful costumes, before the area was sealed off by police. Police in Hesse
announced on Twitter that all carnival parades across the state had been
cancelled as a precaution.
More police
In last week's attack in Hanau, the gunman -- who left behind a racist manifesto
-- first opened fire at a shisha bar and a cafe, killing nine people, before
shooting dead his mother and himself. The rampage fueled concerns over Germany's
increasingly emboldened far-right scene, after a pro-migrant politician was
murdered in June and an anti-Semitic attack on a synagogue left two dead in the
city of Halle last October. Germany's deadliest terror attack in recent history
took place in 2016 when a jihadist drove his truck into a crowded Berlin
Christmas market, killing 12 people. The attacker, a failed Tunisian asylum
seeker, had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. The Christmas market
assault prompted police across Germany to tighten security at public
gatherings.After the Hanau shootings, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Friday
vowed to put more police at mosques, train stations, airports and borders.
WHO says it no longer uses 'pandemic' category, but virus
still emergency
NNA /Reuters/February 24/2020
The World Health Organization no longer uses the classification pandemic, but
the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak remains an international emergency that is
likely to spread further, a spokesman said on Monday. Fears of a coronavirus
pandemic grew after sharp rises in new cases reported in Iran, Italy and South
Korea, although China relaxed restrictions on movement in several places
including Beijing as its rates of new infections eased.
The Geneva-based WHO declared the 2009 H1N1 swine flu outbreak a
pandemic, which turned out to be mild, leading to some criticism after
pharmaceutical companies rushed development of vaccines and drugs.
WHO declared the novel coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, China, in
December a public health emergency of international concern, known as a PHEIC,
on Jan. 30. The designation, which remains in place, was aimed at helping
countries with weaker health systems shore up their defense, especially in
Africa. Since then the virus has spread, with more
than 77,000 known infections in China, including 2,445 deaths, and 1,769 cases
and 17 deaths in 28 other countries, the latest WHO figures show. South Korea,
Japan and Italy are experiencing large outbreaks. "There is no official category
(for a pandemic)," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said.
"For the sake of clarification, WHO does not use the old system of 6 phases --
that ranged from phase 1 (no reports of animal influenza causing human
infections) to phase 6 (a pandemic) -- that some people may be familiar with
from H1N1 in 2009," he said. Colloquially, pandemic is used to denote the
outbreak of a new pathogen that spreads easily person-to-person across the
globe, Jasarevic said.-
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on February 24-25/2020
Analysis/Israel Needs Qatar to Prevent Gaza From Spiraling, and Hamas Knows How
to Exploit It
Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/February 24/2020
زفي برئيل/هآرتس: إسرائيل تحتاج مساعدات قطرية لمنع تفاقم الأوضاع في غزة وحماس
تعرف كيفية استغلال هذا الوضع
Israel could untie this Gordian knot by lifting the Gaza blockade, perceived by
Jerusalem as a red line that cannot be crossed, even though its efficiency in
reducing violence is doubtful.
The volley of rockets launched by Islamic Jihad at southern Israel on Sunday
didn’t take Israel's general election on March 2 into account. It considerably
narrowed the gap between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s desire to maintain
quiet in Gaza – at least until the election – and the pressure and threats of
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, who is seeking to demonstrate the combative
difference between himself and his predecessor, Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor
Lieberman.
Netanyahu has until now succeeded in calming Hamas by extricating from his
partner, Qatar, a promise to continue aiding the organization and Gaza residents
even after March 2 – a promise that came with a $12 million grant to be given to
needy Gaza families. But Islamic Jihad isn’t a party to that deal. It has a
different account to settle, not just against Israel but against Hamas, which
over the weekend praised Qatar’s generosity from which Islamic Jihad will not
benefit.
Lieberman’s revelation on Saturday that a “procurement” delegation headed by
Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen and Israeli military's chief of Southern Command Herzl
Halevi met with senior officials in Qatar to "beg the Qataris to keep funneling
money to Hamas," wasn’t just the exposure of classified information known “only”
to the prime minister, his aides, Hamas, Qatar and Egypt.
It was aimed at embarrassing Netanyahu and portraying the “hero of the war
against terror” as the ally of a terror organization and as the one who has
humiliated Israel by begging Qatar, which only strengths Hamas’ position in the
Strip. But at the same time, Lieberman's exposure clarifies the degree to which
Hamas has become a tool in the intra-Arab diplomatic game, with the power to
create alliances and influence processes beyond the local arena.
Israel has allowed Qatar, which it has labeled as a terror-supporting country in
the past, to enter the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians in
exchange for the millions of dollars it gives Hamas. Thus Qatar has achieved a
similar, albeit not identical, status to that of its bitter rival Egypt, and has
inserted itself deeply into the Palestinian issue.
The result is that Qatar and Egypt are informally sharing the diplomatic
workload. While Egypt is responsible for conducting tactical negotiations with
Hamas and is investing efforts to reach a long-term calm along the Gaza fence,
Qatar provides the financial cushion that helps curb violence against Israel
emanating from the enclave.
Cairo has permanent leverage over Hamas in the form of the Rafah Border
Crossing, which serves as a major lifeline for the movement of people and goods
between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and from there to the world. Egypt's
threatening ability to close and open the crossing forces Hamas to comply with
most of Cairo's demands, which represent Israel’s demands.
But Egypt doesn't financially support Hamas or the Gaza Strip. Qatar,
theoretically, can exert pressure through the entry permits it gives senior
Hamas officials. But so far Qatar has not threatened to employ this measure. If
Egypt holds a carrot and a stick, Qatar holds a carton of carrots whose use
depends on Israel’s wishes. Therefore, a balance of interests is created in
which Israel and two Arab states hostile to one another cooperate against an
organization that knows how to exploit the balance of violence it maintains with
Israel.
Qatar and Turkey are alleys and both countries see eye to eye on how to handle
Hamas. Like Qatar, Turkey is helping Hamas and allows its senior officials and
operatives to conduct business in its territory. Iran is also a partner in the
Turkish-Qatari axis; it maintains close ties with both countries and continues
to fund Islamic Jihad, but gives Hamas the cold shoulder.
Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia see this tripartite axis as a regional threat
that weakens the struggle against Iran and undermines the position of the United
States in the region. But it’s actually Gaza that forces both axes to naintain a
double policy – conflict and threats in the Arab and international arena, and
cooperation in Gaza to prevent an uncontrollable deterioration.
Israel could untie this Gordian knot by lifting the Gaza blockade or by coming
to a long-term arrangement that would reduce Hamas’ political leeway and limit
it to correct relations with Israel and Egypt.
Such a move would also make it unnecessary to beg favors from Qatar, which is
perceived in Israel as military and political laxity and restores Hamas’ circle
of influence in the region. But totally rescinding the closure is considered by
Israel to be a red line that cannot be crossed, even though during the 12 years
of its existence, the siege hasn’t succeeded in preventing violent clashes and
the large-scale operations that Israel has carried out in Gaza. The blockade has
become a symbol of Israel’s anti-terror policy, and it's doubtful that after the
election, the government, whether centrist or right-wing, will agree to
re-examine its efficiency.
A arrangement between Israel and Hamas, by contrast, is perceived as a
legitimate move, even if it requires indirect negotiations with the organization
and provides significant economic concessions that deeply erode the blockade
policy. The problem is that such an arrangement is being marketed in Israel as
the ultimate way to assure complete quiet. This is a far-reaching ambition that
is liable to considerably short the life of such an arrangement if and when it
is reached, if only because it allows the small Palestinian factions in the
Strip to scuffle with Hamas on Israel’s back.
Israel's most realistic demand that can be met is a considerable reduction in
the violence. The term “violence reduction” is being used as a strategy on the
Syrian battlefields and recently in the agreements between the United States and
the Taliban. It is based on a sober assessment of what can really be achieved in
power struggles between rivals who’ve been quarreling for years.
Once Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and rejects the option of reaching any
diplomatic solution, and in the absence of a diplomatic process with the
Palestinian Authority, violence reduction is a legitimate goal. It doesn’t
obligate the government to give up its political principles, but will obligate
it to either accept violations or respond to them in a very measured fashion.
A secret Mossad Qatar trip, Hamas outreach to Egypt and
Iran’s threat
Jerusalem Post/February 24/2020
رحلة سرية لموساد قطر ، وتواصل حماس مع مصر وتهديد إيران
جيروساليم بوست: رحلة سرية لقيادات من الموساد الإسرائيلي إلى قطر وتهديدات تواصل
حماس مع مصر وإيران
In Israel, the Mossad-Qatar-Hamas story was revealed by Yisrael Beytenu leader
Avigdor Liberman over the weekend and was reported locally.
Saudi news channel Al Arabiya is very interested in what a previously unknown
“Mossad trip to Qatar” means for the region. “Egypt and Qatar are angry with
Hamas, and they intended to cut ties with it,” the network reported, while
noting the significance of recent Israeli discussions with Doha about continuing
to fund Gaza. Hamas also thinks this is noteworthy, bragging over the weekend
that it met with Qatar’s envoy Mohammed al-Emadi, and that $15 million was
distributed in Gaza.
In Israel, the Mossad-Qatar-Hamas story was revealed by Yisrael Beytenu leader
Avigdor Liberman over the weekend, and was reported locally. The story goes that
Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and IDF Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Herzi Halevi met
with top Qatari officials.
Halevi was in the news last month, when he commented on the killing of IRGC
general Qasem Soleimani, saying that “we must look at the assassination as part
of a fight between Iran and the US over Iraq’s character.” Halevi is known for
his achievements in a three-year term running Military Intelligence. He has
spoken about using deterrence in a way that does not escalate the situation, and
of the importance of information supremacy over Israel’s enemies, according to
an article at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies in 2018. This is a
key to Israel’s “campaign between the wars,” in which Israel must prepare for a
future struggle with Iran and its allies.
Israel now has a dedicated headquarters for the “third circle” threat of Iran,
in light of the IDF’s new Momentum Plan to enhance the IDF’s capabilities. It is
worth grasping this larger picture to understand some of what Hamas is up to in
Gaza. While Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad both are supported by Iran, PIJ
is an Iranian proxy whereas Hamas is more an ally. Hamas, however, has been
isolated over the years, and has failed to achieve results in confrontation with
Israel. Some 2,600 rockets fired over the last two years achieved little, and
its “Great March of Return,” launched in 2018, also failed. In March 2018,
former Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah survived an assassination
attempt in Gaza. Today Hamas is bragging about opposing the US “Deal of the
Century.”
It is important to consider that calculus to see the larger picture of Qatar’s
role in Gaza. Qatar has supported Gaza for more than a decade, and the Emir of
Qatar even visited Gaza in 2012. In January 2019, the third $15m. payment via
Israel to Gaza was made by Qatar, as part of a 2018 deal. Mohammed al-Emadi has
been Doha’s point man throughout. He has visited Israel more than two dozen
times, according to a Reuters interview in 2018. He also cited talks between
Israel and Hamas in that year. Qatar has said its aid to Gaza helps prevent a
conflict. Emadi, however, has sometimes ruffled feathers in Gaza due to his
outspokenness.
All of the ruffled feathers were forgotten when Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya
Sinwar, met Emadi at the end of last week to discuss a gas pipeline and
financial aid. Twelve million was given to 120,000 families, $2m. for 500
Palestinians to get married, $1m. for tuition and another million for housing
for the poor, according to a statement from Hamas.
Hamas has done well internationally in the past few months. A delegation led by
senior Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh went to Turkey, Malaysia, Qatar,
and several other countries in December and January. Now Hamas says that its
political bureau chief, Saleh al-Arouri, was in Egypt over the weekend of
February 21 to discuss major issues. At the same time that Arouri was in Egypt,
another Hamas delegation in Lebanon claimed to have met the head of Lebanese
military intelligence for southern Lebanon. Hamas put out a press release naming
their meetings with Lebanon’s Brig.-Gen. Fawzi Hamada, where they discussed the
“Deal of the Century” and other issues.
It is also known that senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh may remain outside Gaza
for some time. He was in Iran for the funeral of Soleimani in January. Arouri,
the deputy leader of Hamas, had only returned to Gaza in 2018 after eight years
abroad. Now he is shuttling back and forth for the organization, having
previously been based in Qatar, Lebanon and Turkey. He left Turkey in 2015.
If we add all this up, what do we get? Hamas has struggled in Gaza since 2006,
and has been isolated and broken down by numerous wars in 2009, 2012 and 2014.
After tens of thousands of rockets built and fired, tunnels constructed and sea
commandos trained, Hamas has little to show for it all, and wants a long-term
deal.
In Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority and its leaders in Fatah have been
skeptical of what is going on in Qatar. Al Arabiya notes that the financial
support, only $15m. in installments from Qatar every few months, seeks to divide
the Palestinians further. Emadi is said to be working for a long-term deal or
“calm,” and Hamas pays lip service to Palestinian unity, especially in the wake
of the “Deal of the Century” announced in January, but it wants to use this
“unity” to grow back its roots in the West Bank. Ramallah doesn’t want that.
Saudi media says that other Qatari figures met with the Mossad head, including
Mohammed bin Ahmed al-Misnad, who Al Arabiya calls the head of Qatari
intelligence, and an adviser to the Emir. His official title is adviser for
National Security. “The Mossad chief’s visit to Doha is the second in six
months,” according to Al Arabiya’s sources. The report also notes that Qatar
wanted to end funding for Gaza on March 30.
The overall picture is that Israel has elections coming up, Qatar is still in
the middle of a dispute with other Gulf states, Iran wants to try to pressure
Israel and there is opposition to Trump’s deal from Turkey and the PA. These
reports come after Hamas’s globe-trotting in December and January, and prior to
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s trip to Saudi Arabia on February 20. In
addition, the reports emerged after a spate of rumors in early February about
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting Arab leaders in Cairo, which Saudi
Arabia denied.
Overall, the meeting of key Israeli officials in Doha could be part of the
growing relations between Israel and regional states. Turkey’s Anadolu news
calls this the “Arab-Israeli normalization picking up pace in 2020.” It could
just be a pragmatic way to keep funds flowing to Gaza, it could be linked to
Iran’s pressure and Israel’s stated focus on Iran’s threats during the campaign
between the wars and it is clearly linked to Hamas wanting more international
attention. Israel has cautioned Hamas to stop attacks, after rocket fire and
tensions in early February, warning of a “surprise.” It appears all around,
regardless of the larger puzzle of Iran and the region, that it is in everyone’s
interests to have some calm.
How Should the West Respond to the Iranian Protesters?
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/February 24/2020
"Right now people are mad, not just because of their own government... People
are furious about the Western reaction, with the silence of the world. When they
see that people are getting killed, but still the Western governments do not
dare to openly support human rights and ask the United Nations to make an open
investigation into the killings and about the 7,000 people in prison." — Masih
Alinejad, Iranian journalist,
The UN Secretary-General, who declared war on "hate-speech" six months ago,
apparently could not bring himself to condemn hateful actions of actual state
violence against unarmed, innocent citizens.
How should the West respond to the Iranian protests that erupted after the
Iranian regime admitted to unintentionally downing the Ukrainian jetliner? US
President Donald J. Trump publicly supported the protesters:
"To the leaders of Iran - DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already
been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly,
the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free!
Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!"
By contrast, on January 14, Democrats blocked a House resolution that supported
the anti-regime protesters in Iran. On January 28, however, House Resolution
752, was passed, "Supporting the rights of the people of Iran to free
expression, condemning the Iranian regime for its crackdown on legitimate
protests, and for other purposes". The resolution had already been introduced in
December 2019 as a response to the protests in Iran in November.
The House Resolution further "urges the Administration to work to convene
emergency sessions of the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations
Human Rights Council to condemn the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated
by the Iranian regime and establish a mechanism by which the Security Council
can monitor such violations".
Several academics recently warned against backing the protesters claiming that
Trump's support could "make things worse". "The regime will consider it is an
international plot, that the United States are intervening in the local affairs
of Iran, so I don't think it's a very good thing," Cedomir Nestorovic, professor
of geopolitics at the French ESSEC Business School in Singapore, told CNBC.
"When the Iranian people are upset with their government for blatantly lying
about shooting down a plane, he should have taken the high road and send his
condolences to the families," said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East
Program at Center for Strategic and International Studies. "By seeming to make
it about him, he de-legitimizes the protesters and allows the government to
portray the protests as a U.S. plot."
According to Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow in the Middle East program at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace:
"The reality is when Obama offered only tepid support to Iranian protesters in
2009, the regime still called them American agents and crushed them. If the
Trump administration offers more enthusiastic support, the regime will call them
American agents and attempt to crush them."
"The best thing any U.S. administration can do is inhibit the regime's ability
to shut down the internet and repress people in darkness."
Iranian protesters appeared to disagree. "Right now people are mad, not just
because of their own government," Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad
told Anthony Furey from the Toronto Sun on January 13.
"People are furious about the Western reaction, with the silence of the world.
When they see that people are getting killed, but still the Western governments
do not dare to openly support human rights and ask the United Nations to make an
open investigation into the killings and about the 7,000 people in prison."
US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell recently asked "our European friends to
speak out very clearly on the Iranian regime's actions, too".
Unfortunately, however, the plight of 80 million Iranians has never really
managed to capture the attention of a world that has mainly brushed off the 41
years of oppression that Iranians have had to endure at the hands of its
theocratic regime.
Now that there is an opportunity to support the people of Iran, who have taken
to the streets to shout "Death to the dictator" and "They are lying that our
enemy is America; our enemy is right here" -- while refusing to walk on American
and Israeli flags -- all that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres could bring
his spokesperson to say about the protests was: "reports of violence against
those protesting the downing of a civilian airliner were 'worrying'".
"We're obviously following very closely the demonstrations that have been taking
place today and over the weekend in Iran and the Secretary-General recalls the
rights to freedom of expression and association in peaceful assembly of people,"
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The UN Secretary-General, who declared war on "hate-speech" six months ago,
apparently could not bring himself to condemn hateful actions of actual state
violence against unarmed, innocent citizens.
The EU has released no statements regarding the most recent protests. The last
time the EU spoke out was on December 8, 2019, when the High Representative
noted:
"A growing body of evidence indicates that despite repeated calls for restraint,
the Iranian security forces' disproportionate response to recent demonstrations
has led to high numbers of deaths and injuries. For the European Union and its
Member States, the widespread and disproportionate use of force against
nonviolent protestors is unacceptable".
It also noted that "The European Union addresses all issues of concern in its
bilateral exchanges with Iran, including human rights, and will continue doing
so".
The last time France 'spoke out' was during the November 2019 protests. At the
time, France's foreign ministry spokesperson Agnes von der Muhll, in a daily
online briefing, told reporters, "France calls on Iran to respect its
international human rights obligations." That comment, however, made no sense:
the Iranian regime has never respected any of its human rights obligations in
the 41 years of its existence.
On January 30, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party brought two Iranians
living in exile in Germany to the Bundestag. One of them, speaking under the
pseudonym "Amir Firus" for security reasons, had the following to say:
"In November 2019, the mullah regime released fire on the demonstrators. In the
course of three days, 1,500 people were shot by security forces with submachine
guns and shotguns. Seven thousand arrested have disappeared. To this day, nobody
knows where they are... In the case of Saudi-Turkish lobbyist Kashoggi, Merkel
made a statement, but she is still silent about the 1,500 deaths."
In 2019, German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier offered "congratulations" on
the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution, "also in the
name of my compatriots".
The neglect of the Iranian protests only highlights the insincerity of many in
the West who proclaim their dedication to human rights.
*Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished
Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
The Fortunate Arabs in the Middle East
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/February 24/2020
Meanwhile, there are other Arabs in the region who are more fortunate than the
Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: the Arab citizens of Israel. These
citizens are lucky that they do not live under the rule of the corrupt and
incompetent leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. These Arab citizens
are fortunate because they live in Israel.
Here is more unwelcome good news regarding the Arab citizens of Israel: The
Israeli government announced in 2018 that in the last two years, it has invested
4.5 billion shekels ($1.3 billion) in the Arab regions. The government also
announced that it would invest 20 million shekels ($5.6 million) in the Arab
high-tech market. Overall, the government has decided to invest 15 billion
shekels ($4.3 billion) in the Arab-Israeli sector by the end of 2020....
The $50 billion dollars the Trump plan offered the Palestinians will end up
being withheld because Palestinian leaders have something else on their minds:
to continue enriching their own bank accounts at the expense of their people. No
wonder, then, that when Arabs -- including Palestinians -- dream of a better
life, they often dream of moving to Israel. No wonder, as well, that most Arab
Israelis do not want to become part of a Palestinian state, and have been
demanding to stay in Israel.
The two million Arab citizens of Israel have become the subject of envy by their
Palestinian brothers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. An example of the
successful and thriving life of Israeli Arabs can be seen in Arraba (pictured),
a town located in the Galilee region in northern Israel. With a population of
26,000, Arraba is now one of the leading communities in the world in the number
of physicians.
Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and
Hamas in the Gaza Strip can only dream about the quality of life their Arab
brethren enjoy in Israel.
Thanks to the current leaders in the PA and Hamas, the Palestinian people are
sunk in abysmal living conditions. Poverty, unemployment, and repression have
been their lot for decade after decade. This is because the PA and Hamas have
repeatedly rejected peace plans that offer prosperity to the Palestinians.
Recently, the PA and Hamas rejected US President Donald Trump's plan for Mideast
peace, which includes a $50 billion investment and infrastructure proposal to
create at least a million new jobs for Palestinians. The plan calls for projects
worth $27.5 billion in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and $9.1 billion for
Palestinians in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. Projects "envisioned include those in
the health care, education, power, water, high-tech, tourism, and agriculture
sectors."
Palestinian leaders, however, have said "no" to the Trump plan, and dubbed it an
"American-Zionist conspiracy to liquidate the Palestinian issue and Palestinian
people's rights."
These leaders, who rejected the Trump plan even before they saw it, clearly care
nothing for the well-being of their people. By refusing the $50 billion offer,
Palestinian leaders have again proven that they prefer to see their people
continue to live in poverty and misery than accept a proposal to fund various
economic projects and provide jobs for the many unemployed Palestinians. The
real losers of the Palestinian leaders' inveterate rejectionism are, tragically,
the Palestinian people.
Meanwhile, there are other Arabs in the region who are more fortunate than the
Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: the Arab citizens of Israel. These
citizens are lucky that they do not live under the rule of the corrupt and
incompetent leaders of the PA and Hamas. These Arab citizens are fortunate
because they live in Israel.
The two million Arab citizens of Israel have even become the subject of envy by
their Palestinian brothers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Hardly a day passes
without the Palestinians receiving yet another reminder of the good and
comfortable life of the Arab citizens of Israel.
The latest example of their successful and thriving life can be seen in Arraba,
a town located in the Galilee region in northern Israel. With a population of
26,000, Arraba is now one of the leading communities in the world in the number
of physicians.
"There are 400 physicians in Arraba," said Dr. Tarek al-Sa'di, an internist from
the town working at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, which was founded in 1938, 10
years before the establishment of the State of Israel. "Arraba has the highest
number of physicians in the world. We are talking about 15 physicians for every
15,000 residents. This is a very high percentage."
Plastic surgeon Yusef Nassar, also a resident of Arraba, remarked: "Something
strange is happening in our town. In every home, you will find three or four
physicians. I have several clinics all over the country. Who comes to my
clinics? From many cities and villages, Jews and Arabs alike."
Saeed Yassin, a veteran family physician from Arraba, is the proud father of
three physicians – two boys and a girl. "I also have two other sons who are
pharmacists," he said.
In addition, Dr. Yassin pointed out, his 10 brothers and sisters are all
physicians. "Every six months, you hear the fireworks being launched to
celebrate the graduation of another 15 or 20 physicians who passed the medical
exams," he added. "It is not even rare to see that one family has physicians,
lawyers and engineers. It has become normal for us."
Arab women in Israel also seem to have more opportunities than those living
under the PA and Hamas. The residents of Arraba note that the number of female
physicians in the town is even higher than that of males.
Dr. Wuroud Yassin, who works at the Carmel Hospital in Haifa, graduated from the
prestigious Technion – the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.
"I studied at Technion together with people from various backgrounds and
religions, including Arabs and Jews," she said. "I was the only girl in my
family, and I was taught that there is no difference between a boy and a girl. I
was also taught that nothing is impossible if you work hard."
Another story of success in Arraba is that of psychologist Saleh Kana'neh,
founder and director of El-Razi Center for Diagnosis, Treatment and
Rehabilitation, the first center of its kind to group a professional staff to
diagnose disabled children and young adults and develop innovative remedies that
suit the Arab community in full coordination with the government, the health
departments and the local authorities.
Considered the mecca of mental diagnosis and treatments of Arab children: the
center has provided nearly 50,000 treatments for 1,500 children in daycare
facilities and has supervised 20,000 diagnoses in the diagnosis centers, in
addition to providing thousands of hours of guidance for the patients and the
staff.
"We also provide treatment to Jews," Dr. Kana'neh stated. "We are proud that
most of our employees are women. You won't find one home in Arraba that does not
have at least one academic. This brings pride to our Arab community. In Arraba,
we have 100 psychologists. That means we have one for every 2,500 residents of
the town."
Such stories of success of Arabs tend to be ignored by the international media
and community. These individuals, who are living in Israel, are obviously
comfortable.
If they were living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and complaining about Israel
every day, they would have received the attention of the entire world.
International journalists covering the Middle East and many international
organizations prefer to turn a blind eye to such stories because they show the
positive aspect of life in Israel.
Here is more unwelcome good news regarding the Arab citizens of Israel: The
Israeli government announced in 2018 that in the last two years, it has invested
4.5 billion shekels ($1.3 billion) in the Arab regions. The government also
announced that it would invest 20 million shekels ($5.6 million) in the
high-tech Arab market. Overall, the government has decided to invest 15 billion
shekels ($4.3 billion) in the Arab-Israeli sector by the end of 2020 in order to
"reduce the social and economic gaps between the minority sectors and the
general population through changing the mechanisms for allocation of funds."
While the Israeli government is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to
improve the living conditions of its Arab citizens, the leaders of the
Palestinian Authority and Hamas are continuing to deprive their people of
foreign aid, a better future and hope.
The $50 billion dollars the Trump plan offered the Palestinians will end up
being withheld because Palestinian leaders have something else on their minds:
to continue enriching their own bank accounts at the expense of their people. No
wonder, then, that when Arabs -- including Palestinians -- dream of a better
life, they often dream of moving to Israel. No wonder, as well, that most Arab
Israelis do not want to become part of a Palestinian state, and have been
demanding to stay in Israel.
*Bassam Tawil is based in the Middle East.
© 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.
Why Does The Islamic Republic Of Iran Hold Elections?
Saeed Ghasseminejad/FDD/February 24/2020
This week, the Islamic Republic in Iran will hold an unfree and unfair election
for the 290 seats in its national parliament, the Islamic Consultative Assembly.
Over the last four decades, on average, the regime has held one major election
per year, all of which it rigged in more or less obvious ways. If the Islamist
regime in Tehran is as authoritarian as its critics claim, why does it hold so
many elections, and why does it let voters determine some of the outcomes?
In part, Tehran maintains a democratic façade to increase its prestige on the
global stage. More importantly, the regime wants to keep alive millions of
Iranians’ hope that reform is possible without mass demonstrations or violence.
The third and least understood motive for elections is to distribute power and
wealth to regime loyalists while creating the impression that voters chose to do
so, rather than the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Spokesmen for the regime insist that it practices Islamic democracy. More
sophisticated apologists concede that Iran’s elections are less than free and
fair, but evolving gradually in the right direction. Yet since the Islamists
seized power in 1979, there has been no progress toward democratization.
Instead, the regime has oscillated between pure dictatorship and what political
scientists call a hybrid regime or competitive authoritarianism.
By handpicking the candidates for every election, the regime drastically narrows
the range of competition. The 12 members of the Guardian Council approve safe
candidates and disqualify numerous others, yet the Council is just a tool of the
supreme leader; he directly appoints six of its members, while the head of the
judiciary—himself appointed by the supreme leader—recommends the other six.
Competition also presents few risks because the Guardian Council must approve
any measure passed by the Consultative Assembly before it becomes law. Khamenei
has further restricted the power of elected officials by creating parallel
institutions and transferring executive and legislative power to them.
Additionally, through a sham privatization process Khamenei has transferred
billions of dollars of assets, previously controlled by the executive branch, to
the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and his own business empire.
For all these reasons, elections are a safe bet. Besides, as the regime made
clear following the presidential election of 2009, it has the ability to falsify
results and violently suppress the ensuing demonstrations.
Yet maintaining a democratic façade is safer than risking such explosions. The
competition between pro-regime factions even leads many foreign observers to
believe that there are meaningful differences between so-called “reformist” and
“hardline” elements. The regime can also portray foreign pressure as
illegitimate political warfare against an elected government.
Holding elections also preserves Iranians’ hope that reform is feasible through
the ballot box. This charade was more convincing before the violence of 2009,
but any kind of hope for peaceful change can be seductive when the alternative
is to risk one’s life taking to the streets. The cost-benefit analysis only
became clearer late last year, when the regime killed 1,500 protesters in less
than a week.
To nurture false hopes, the regime does have to sacrifice some pawns on
occasion, but even this sacrifice may be temporary. For example, General
Mohammad Esmail Kowsari, the head of the Consultative Assembly’s defense and
national security committee, lost his seat in the 2016 election. The supreme
leader immediately appointed Kowsari as deputy commander of the IRGC’s powerful
Sar-Allah Garrison, which is in charge of Tehran’s security. Kowsari then played
a prominent role in crushing protests in 2017 and 2019, which resulted in
hundreds of deaths. His replacements in the parliament did nothing to hold him
accountable on behalf of their constituency.
Finally, elections provide a mechanism to distribute power and wealth among
regime loyalists while relieving the supreme leader of responsibility for the
outcome. Khamenei has absolute power, but knows that wielding that power to
address every matter before the government would make him vulnerable. Khamenei
depends on the pervasive corruption of the Iranian political system to reward
regime loyalists, but elections make it seem that voters were the ones who gave
power to corrupt individuals.
The Islamic Republic in Iran holds elections because the process benefits the
regime. By allowing a limited competition among loyalists while controlling the
participants and outcome, the regime grows more resilient in the face of
pressure and more respectable abroad. With Khamenei at the height of his power
and still healthy enough to be in charge, it is clear that the 2020 elections in
Iran will lead to no fundamental political change.
*Dr. Saeed Ghasseminejad is a senior Iran and financial economics advisor at FDD
specializing in Iran’s economy and financial markets, sanctions and illicit
finance.
FATF Reimposes Countermeasures on Iran for Failing to Meet
Anti-Money Laundering Standards
Toby Dershowitz/FDD/February 24/2020
Today, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) followed through on its October
2019 commitment to re-impose due-diligence countermeasures on Iran if Tehran
failed – as it has since 2016 – to complete a mutually agreed-upon action plan
to address its well-known money laundering and terrorism finance concerns.
Re-imposition of these measures further isolates Iran financially, making its
desired reintegration into the global financial system more difficult.
FATF, the global anti-money laundering (AML) standard-setting body, now under
the rotating presidency of China, had temporarily suspended the countermeasures
since 2016, instead giving Iran more time to meet FATF’s standards. Even during
the suspension of countermeasures, though, Iran remained on the blacklist.
Today, however, countries – including Russia, China, and the E3 – that had
previously supported extending the deadline for Iran, understood that Iran did
not require more time but had made a strategic decision to defy FATF’s concerns.
FATF’s action sends a clear message to bank and corporate risk managers and
others responsible for ensuring their institutions are not exposed to Iran’s
illicit activities that they must reassess ties to Iran’s entire financial
sector. Given Iran’s willful failure to uphold AML and terror finance standards,
doing business with any Iranian bank, insurance company, or other financial
institution, whether sanctioned or not, comes with heavy risks and high costs.
FATF identified six items Iran still has not completed that it “should fully
address,” including adequately criminalizing terrorist financing; identifying
and freezing terrorist assets in line with UN Security Council resolutions;
demonstrating how authorities are identifying and sanctioning unlicensed
money/value-transfer service providers; and ensuring that financial institutions
verify that wire transfers contain complete originator and beneficiary
information.
FATF also required Iran to ratify and implement specified AML legislation.
Iran’s Majlis, or parliament, had previously passed such legislation. However,
the Guardian Council, which screens prospective laws for fidelity to the
regime’s Islamist ideology, rejected the bills. The bills then moved to the
Expediency Council, the arbitration body that settles disputes between the
parliament and the Guardian Council, which has taken no action.
Still, the legislation passed has loopholes for terrorist organizations Iran
wants to continue to bankroll. FATF does not permit these carve-outs.
Iran’s defiance of FATF did not buy Tehran more good will. On the contrary, FATF
said that even if Iran does ratify the required legislation, “FATF will decide
on next steps, including whether to suspend countermeasures.” In other words,
ratification of the legislation alone will not necessarily lead to the
suspension of countermeasures.
These loopholes are not simply legal oversights or small matters. Iran openly
funds Hamas and Hezbollah. In addition, as noted in successive State Department
Country Reports on Terrorism since 2012, Iran has permitted al-Qaeda
facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran since at least
2009, enabling the terrorist group to move funds and fighters to South Asia and
Syria.
In 2018, the UN Security Council released a report highlighting al-Qaeda’s role
in Iran. Based on intelligence from UN member states, the report concluded that
al-Qaeda leaders in Iran “have grown more prominent, working with [current
al-Qaeda leader] Aiman al-Zawahiri and projecting his authority more effectively
than he could previously.”
FATF is a technical, not political, body and aims to protect the international
financial system. The “countermeasures” are akin to required due-diligence
measures rather than punitive sanctions and are steps that FATF urges entities
to take in their own self-interest. The goal is to ensure no one involved in the
financial sector gets entangled in a web of malign actors that could put the
integrity and safety of the financial system at risk.
Mindful of FATF’s determination on Iran and its reimposed countermeasures, the
U.S. Treasury Department should now formally require enhanced auditing and
enhanced due diligence for all foreign banks and companies doing business with
Iran. Currently, even some of the larger auditing firms are following a lower
standard of due diligence and auditing that exposes the auditor and the company
to serious risks and compromising the integrity of the global financial system.
FATF has urged countries and financial institutions to review, amend, and
potentially terminate correspondent account relationships with Iranian financial
institutions. FATF should now also impose increased audit requirements for
financial institutions with branches or subsidiaries located in Iran and ensure
that their financial institutions limit business relationships and financial
transactions with Iran. While Iran is subject to an extensive framework of
economic sanctions, FATF underscored that countries around the world must take
additional steps to counteract the serious money-laundering risks emanating from
the country.
*Toby Dershowitz is senior vice president for government relations and strategy
at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where she also contributes
to FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). For more analysis from
Toby and CEFP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Toby on Twitter @TobyDersh. Follow
FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan
research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
Iran Does Not Lie… But it Lives in a Different Universe
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 24/2020
The scene was like one from an Almodovar movie and another by Quentin Tarantino.
The scene of a black American Chevrolet, a car that is both beautiful and
intimidating, making its way between huge crowds chanting: death to America. The
car was carrying the remains of Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a drone,
also American.
The major irony of Soleimani's funeral in Tehran drew countless comments on
social media. Most of them were derisive, but that did not stop Hezbollah
Secretary General Hassan Nassrallah from calling for… a boycott of American
products.
A world of absurdity is spectacularly unfolding before our eyes. Major General
Hossein Salami, the new commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, told 'Al-Mayadeen'
TV channel that current conditions are unsuitable for the eradication Israel.
Tomorrow perhaps. This was said hours after new Israeli strikes targeted the
suburbs of Damascus; apparently, they hit Iranian positions. Meanwhile, Ali
Larijani, head of the Iranian Consultative Assembly (parliament), visits Beirut
and tells the Lebanese people that his state is ready to provide them with
economic assistance.
It is known that his state, which is being subjected to extremely harsh
sanctions, is in need of any kind of assistance. It might be more credible for
Lebanon, which is collapsing financially, to volunteer to help Iran. In any
case, Nassrallah has already advised the Lebanese to ask China for financial
assistance.
Also, official Iran bragged about the example for democracy that it sets for the
rest of the world, in reference to the elections held last Friday. However, the
Guardian Council banned 80 percent of the “reformist” candidates from running,
and then pro-Iranian media reiterated that “the reformists’ defeat is
inevitable”. An extremely objective conclusion.
On the other hand, the world says that the Syrian province of Idlib witnessed
the displacement of up to a million people in the last few days, in one of the
largest waves of displacement in history. Pro-Iranian media outlets, in
contrast, speak of historical victories in Idlib. Of course, Iranian officials
remind us, from time to time, that the earth shattering response to Soleimani's
assassination is on its way. Apparently, something wrong happened along the way!
Indeed, most of those who studied tight ideological regimes observed that lying,
especially through propaganda, was an essential feature of how those regimes
function. They lie as they breath. However, those critics focused chiefly on
Nazism and Stalinism, and wrote about them in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then,
rival parts of the world were isolated from one another, and this was brought to
a head by the Second World War and then the Cold War. At the time, the lies were
credible because of this particular isolation and the curtailment of the media's
reach that accompanied it, as well as the censors' ability to disrupt radios and
televisions and so on. Part of the world was living behind an 'Iron Curtain’ as
Churchill famously put it.
Thus it would have been possible for a lie about shooting down dozens of Israeli
warplanes on the morning of June 5, 1967, to be believed for hours before the
few among us who listened to the BBC and other western radio stations exposed
it. Change started with the Helsinki Summit of 1975 and the expansion of the
phenomenon of Soviet dissidents. Opponents were beginning to learn of what had
been happening beyond the borders. Afterward, globalization and the revolution
in communications pushed us much further in that direction. Today, believing
lies, even for a few hours, as had happened to us in 1967, has become difficult:
events are witnessed as they happen, as the famous cliché goes.
So what is Iran doing, and why is it lying?
During this age of media accessibility, it is doubtful that their discourse is
propaganda in the Nazi or Stalinist sense of the word. Lies, precisely because
of how quickly they are dispelled, now have the opposite effect to that which
they are intended to have.
Iran, then, probably does not lie, but it does not tell the truth either. What
motivates it is to establish an alternative reality and try to live in it. This
desire was perhaps brought to life with its 1979 revolution: by holding the
diplomats of the American embassy in Tehran hostage, it broke with the diplomacy
we are familiar with. Its infallible leadership, both spiritual and temporal,
which is tied to Wilayat al-Faqih, is not like other leadership. Its elections
are not like other elections...
As for living on another world, it is not an assurance, and it is certainly not
a good argument. Loyalty, even faith, is no longer enough of reason, not even
for Iran’s supporters, to continue to believe the unbelievable.
The New Killer Is Not the Big Killer
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 24/2020
The new killer has grabbed people’s attention. It has become the main concern of
officials and health authorities around the globe.
It is not the first time the world has faced such a murderer. What is new is
that its crimes are committed in our modern era.
If the new Coronavirus appeared half a century ago, things would be different.
Its victims could have been hunted amid strict official secrecy. The epidemic
would not be revealed, neither to citizens nor to the world.
Perhaps we would have read stories about it decades later, in diaries of people
who lived through its fears and hid its details in their papers.
But we live in another era, where there is no room for secrets. The little spy
phone is an international reporter. A brief picture or message is enough to show
the entire world what is happening in a forgotten faraway village.
The world of silence no longer exists. All secrets are posted on the internet.
But what is terrifying is that social media has also opened the way for rumors,
exaggerations, and scenarios of intimidation and misinformation.
Streams of messages and videos flow around the clock. Their validity and
accuracy are very difficult to verify, especially when it comes to a pandemic,
which laboratories have not yet succeeded in understanding its source and its
treatment methods.
Humanity cannot be blamed for worrying about it. The story began in Wuhan,
China, but soon proved to be very dangerous. Every day, a new victims’ list is
published.
As in thriller stories, every day, information and rumors emerge about the virus
infiltrating a new location.
It is enough to hear the story of the Diamond Princess, which was put in
quarantine off the Japanese coast, and was considered the main center of the
epidemic outside China. Much will be written later on the suffering of those who
died in hospitals, of those who waited for death in their homes, and others who
transmitted the infection to members of their families.
The virus unleashed a state of unprecedented panic, despite the harshness of
wars and conflicts in various parts of the world. Fear prevailed at airports,
trains and ships, and in schools, universities, and hospitals.
Governments felt the pressure of painful news. Thus, flights were canceled, and
certain nationalities were not allowed to enter. Sports matches have been
postponed until further notice.
The spread of the virus revealed the fragility of the world. It does not need a
fierce war to drown in anxiety. Fear doubled when the new killer emerged in
other countries, such as South Korea, Iran, Italy, and others.
It was a tough exam for these countries’ health infrastructure. The World Health
Organization moved quickly, providing capabilities and means, but the
confrontation ultimately depends on the readiness of each country and its
ability to provide a rapid response to the “number-one enemy.”
The Coronavirus has caused huge economic losses so far, especially as it
originated from China – the “world’s factory”. Losses in industry, commerce, and
tourism will hit Italy, then Iran. The virus has also caused traumatic scenes in
a world of exchange, travels, and inter-relations: a passenger refused to sit
next to a Chinese on a plane or train; a citizen of a faraway country refused to
go to the Chinese restaurant he used to visit frequently… The virus has created
a state of isolation around individuals and among countries.
But a tormenting question is raised: If a country with China’s capabilities is
unable to contain the virus quickly, what would happen if the epidemic broke out
in a war-torn state or with few capabilities and old institutions? What happens,
for example, if the new killer appears in refugee camps that do not already have
the minimum level of health care to cope with regular illnesses? What if the
world had to live for months with news on the virus proliferation and the
increasing number of victims?
The first message that must be assimilated is the need for governments to
empower institutions that defend the lives of people, i.e. health institutions,
firefighting services, and civil defense, and every organization concerned with
dealing with epidemics and disasters of all kinds.
No task is more vital than protecting the lives of people. It is evident that a
lot of money that governments spend in less important areas must be directed to
strengthening these institutions to enable them to save those infected or
threatened.
It is crucial that the world raise its voice, warning of the danger of the new
killer, and for the media to contribute to awareness, warning, and guidance, and
for everyone to conclude that our planet is more interconnected than ever, and
that the arteries of the global village are intertwined.
It is a state of human solidarity that offers some consolation, at a time when
identity crises are spreading, and many people are digging the wells of hatred
and intolerance.
Despite the prevailing panic, it is important to be realistic. The new killer is
not the big killer. Its figures are very modest, compared to the outcome of the
bloody wars in our countries…The wars of eroded states, perforated maps,
interventions, and violations...
The new Coronavirus is a hideous killer, but the scale of its crimes does not
rise to the size of the massacres that terrorize our countries.
If only the world would raise its voice against the waves of hatred and open
human slaughterhouses and the arrogant policies that spilled blood over broken
countries…
Patriot Missiles and Erdogan’s Bluff
Bobby Ghosh/Bloomberg/February 24/2020
Given President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s penchant for political gamesmanship, it
is hard to know how seriously to take Turkey’s request for US Patriot missile-defense
batteries to be deployed on its southern border with Syria. The request was
relayed last week to James Jeffrey, the American envoy for Syria engagement.
Ostensibly, the Patriots are meant to deter — or punish — the Russian air force,
which has been providing cover for the forces of Bashar al-Assad in the
intensifying battle for Idlib.
But there is a strong possibility that the request is a ruse, and that the
message is meant for Moscow, not Washington. Erdogan may be signaling to
President Vladimir Putin that the new Turkish-Russian relationship is at peril
over Idlib.
The symbolism is hardly subtle. Erdogan’s decision last year to buy Russian
S-400 missile-defense systems instead of the Patriots offered by the US marked
Turkey’s turn away from its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
and toward their adversary. He may want Moscow to believe that Russia’s actions
in Idlib could force Turkey back into the Western fold.
If it is indeed a bluff, Putin is unlikely to be taken in — and the US should
call it.
The Russian leader, a more skilled brinkmaster, knows that Erdogan cannot easily
extract himself from a relationship in which the Turkish president has invested
enormous political capital. Just as important, Russia is already a key economic
partner, in areas ranging from energy to tourism.
Putin has already ignored Erdogan’s aggressive rhetoric over Idlib. Russian jets
are pounding positions held by Turkey and its allies in the Syrian rebellion. By
Ankara’s reckoning, about 40,000 rebels are cornered in Idlib — plus 20,000
fighters linked to al-Qaeda. Russia makes little distinction between the two,
and says they are being supported by Turkish artillery.
Quite apart from casualties among the proxies, regular Turkish soldiers have
died in the fighting — two were killed recently in an airstrike.
The US has expressed support for Turkey’s position, but the Trump administration
has not committed any American firepower, in the air or on the ground. “We are
working together on seeing what can be done,” Trump said earlier in the week.
By asking for the US to deploy the Patriots, Turkey is in effect calling for
American boots on the ground in the middle of the conflict. That is a big ask
during a presidential election cycle in which Trump has been playing up his
“success” in greatly reducing the American footprint in Syria. The president’s
claims may not be borne out by the statistics, but they resonate with his base.
But Trump also genuinely seems to like Erdogan, and has responded favorably to
his demands, especially when they are made directly, president-to-president. He
can ignore a request for Patriots made through Jeffrey, but should Erdogan,
responding to continued Russian action against Turkey and its proxies, get on
the phone to the White House… anything is possible.
If it comes to that, Trump should set firm conditions for the Patriots. Turkey
should mothball — ideally, return to sender — the S-400 systems it has received,
and agree not to order more. Erdogan should commit to peace talks with US-allied
Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria. And he should stop threatening to unleash
waves of refugees on Europe. (For good measure, Trump should call on the
Europeans to provide greater assistance to Turkey as the fighting in Idlib sends
hundreds of thousands of refugees across the border.)
If Turkey’s request for Patriots is indeed a bluff, Erdogan will reject these
demands. He must then lie in the bed he has made in Syria. But if he genuinely
wants to bring Turkey back into the Western fold, in spirit as well as in
theory, the price for readmission must be clearly posted at the entrance.
Iran regime’s persecution of its minorities generating
anger
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/February 25/2020
Although one wouldn’t realize it from the Tehran regime’s media narrative,
Iranian society is a diverse mosaic composed of numerous racial, religious and
sectarian minorities. Race and ethnicity play a crucial role in wealth
distribution, access to opportunities, and in shaping the regime’s hierarchy and
domestic policies. In addition, they are critical issues in determining the
relationship between the central government in Tehran and minorities across the
country.
By ensuring that global human rights organizations are banned from Iran, the
regime has been able to impose draconian policies on marginalized ethnic and
religious minorities in the country, inflicting multiple forms of oppression on
them. In eastern and southeastern Iran, Baloch residents of Sistan and
Balochistan suffer from horrendous injustice and marginalization in every sphere
of life. They experience poor living conditions, low investment and are denied
access to education and senior positions in government institutions.
The share of the state budget allocated to the region is disproportionately low
— it is the lowest of any Iranian province, despite Sistan and Balochistan being
the second largest province in the country. Any attempt by residents to
peacefully protest against these injustices and blatant racism is swiftly
crushed, with protesters detained, imprisoned and, in many cases, executed. In
the Arab region of Ahwaz, present-day Khuzestan, in south and southwest Iran,
the situation is even worse. Despite being the most resource-rich region in
Iran, where 90 percent of the country’s oil and gas resources are located, most
of its residents live in dire poverty.
Even though most Ahwazis practice the Twelver form of Shiism adopted by the
Iranian regime, this has not prevented or reduced the level of the regime’s
persecution, with Ahwazis routinely imprisoned and killed for any protest or
dissent. In terms of infrastructure and investment, the region suffers from
complete negligence by the Iranian regime, with drug abuse widespread among the
young due to chronic unemployment and despair. In addition, the residents of the
province suffer from a policy of deliberate demographic change carried out by
the authorities. The regime often forces local residents from their homes,
transfers them to central provinces and replaces them with Persian nationals.
The regime has refused to listen to their grievances or to warnings of the
terrible consequences of its policies
Ahwaz also suffers from devastating environmental damage, caused by a
combination of unchecked oil and gas drilling and the regime’s rerouting of the
region’s three massive rivers to other areas of Iran via massive dams and a vast
network of pipelines, leading to widespread desertification. Along with climate
change, these disastrous and very deliberate policies mean that this once-leafy
region, which was formerly a regional breadbasket where fishing and farming
flourished, is now heavily polluted, with large areas being uninhabitable. Ahwaz
is now classified as having the worst air pollution in the world, intensifying
the suffering of residents, especially the most vulnerable — children and the
elderly — with chronic diseases now prevalent. The pollution has regularly led
to schools and some government departments in the province closing.
This pollution is exacerbated by ill-advised and deliberately instituted
industrial projects established by consecutive Iranian governments, particularly
over the last decade, including iron and steel factories, petrochemical
factories and sugarcane farming and refinery projects on the banks of the Karun
River. The pollution worsened after the Iranian government established more dams
on the rivers flowing from the Zagros Mountains toward the province. Ahwazi
activists have posted pictures on social media displaying the miserable
situation in the region, with all indicators suggesting that an environmental
catastrophe is underway. Ahwazi environmentalists have held protests, with
banners adorned with slogans including “The province is dead,” “We are created
from dust, and to which we shall return,” “This land will be in our hearts as
long as we live,” “All we want in this world is to breathe fresh air,” and
“Fresh air is a legitimate right for all of us.” Through these slogans, they
have expressed their anger and despair at the regime’s horrendous policies. As
usual, the regime has refused to listen to their grievances or to warnings of
the terrible consequences of its policies.
Some years ago, the International Agency for Research on Cancer announced that
air pollution was the main factor behind the high rates of cancer and other
diseases in Ahwaz. As ever, the regime has ignored these warnings. In this
respect, the former head of the oncology department at Ahwaz’s Shafa Hospital
warned of the increasing number of cancer cases. Figures show that the number of
cancer cases is rising as the already horrendous pollution worsens, with a 500
percent increase in cancer rates between 1996 and 2013 due to water and air
pollution, as well as food chain contamination. Residents have been warned to
expect a “tsunami” of cancer cases in the years to come.
The regime’s persecution of the residents of Sistan and Balochistan and Ahwaz,
as well as the devastation of their land and resources, is only a glimpse of its
disdain for and overt discrimination against Iran’s ethnic minorities, which
include Kurds, Turkmen and others, who collectively make up half of the
country’s population. This brutal oppression has, unsurprisingly, led to
widespread anger that could have a significant impact on the country’s stability
if the regime chooses to continue its abuse of its minority populations.
*-Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is Head of the International Institute for Iranian
Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami
Iranian opacity increases coronavirus threat in region
Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/February 25/2020
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) last week convened an emergency meeting of
ministers of health to coordinate their response to the novel coronavirus, in
cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO has been working
around the clock to deal with this global emergency. GCC worries were further
heightened this week, when several people arriving from Iran were diagnosed with
the disease, in addition to those previously diagnosed who had traveled from
China.
On Sunday, finance officials from the G20 discussed in Riyadh how to limit the
economic impact of the pandemic on the international economy, which is already
weakened following months of trade disputes. The G20 ministers of finance and
central bank governors were especially concerned about the growing fallout from
the spread of the disease, as the International Monetary Fund predicted it would
reduce global growth by a tenth of 1 percent during 2020.
In addition to the rapidly growing human toll that the virus has exacted, China
and its neighbors have borne the brunt of its economic spillovers, with reduced
economic activity and curtailed tourism. The economic repercussions of the
disease have come on top of a significant slowdown triggered by the China-US
trade war.
In sum, health authorities everywhere are trying to deal with the rapid spread
of the disease, while economists try to mitigate its economic costs.
However, for Iran and its regional allies, the disease has become a political
issue. False rumors, most likely originating elsewhere, have found a receptive
audience. One conspiracy theory cited widely in the pro-Iranian media suggests
that the virus was produced deliberately by the US to weaken China in its
confrontation with Washington. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei blamed media
“manipulation” of the disease for the low turnout — the lowest in decades — in
the parliamentary elections held last week.
Iranian officials at first denied the presence of the disease in the country,
but then released drips of contradictory information when they could not keep it
secret any longer. Having lost credibility after it mishandled the shooting down
of the Ukrainian airliner in January, Iran’s statements were met with skepticism
at home and abroad. For example, at one point it was officially announced that
there had been eight fatalities out of a total of 43 cases — meaning a mortality
rate of about 19 percent, compared to China’s rate of less than 3 percent and
Japan’s 1 percent. This high mortality rate in Iran indicates either a sharp
deterioration in health services or the extreme under-reporting of cases.
While the virus was first seen in the city of Qom, it has since spread elsewhere
in the country, including Tehran, where a member of the city council was
confirmed as suffering from the virus. Dealing with the spread of the disease as
a political embarrassment rather than a public health issue, Tehran is delaying
taking the steps required to stop its spread among its population and to
neighboring countries, which require greater transparency about its prevalence
in Iran.
Many people visit Iran from abroad during the religious occasions that it hosts
or organizes, including in Qom, where infections were first diagnosed. Some of
these visitors have returned home carrying the virus. During the coming weeks
and months, Iran will host more such religious festivals, providing more
possibilities for spreading the disease.
Many countries have either banned travel to or from Iran or stopped direct
flights. They have imposed tests on arrival for those who have traveled to Iran
and enforced quarantines when needed. However, Iran’s allies in neighboring
countries have resisted such measures or applied them half-heartedly. In
Lebanon, for example, the Hezbollah-dominated government has applied only
limited measures following the diagnosis of the virus in a traveler returning
from Iran. It dismissed the risks Lebanon faces with its active contacts with
Iran. For example, health officials failed to test travelers coming from Iran
even after one of them was diagnosed with an active infection, and dismissed
calls for the quarantine of those travelers or for stopping direct flights to
Iranian cities other than Qom.
Tehran is delaying taking the steps required to stop the virus’ spread among its
population and to neighboring countries.
With such lax approaches to controlling the spread of the disease, the risk of
its further spread in the region is quite serious. Festivals and the gathering
of large crowds are quite common, requiring vigilance against spreading the
infection and quick action once it does spread in a particular location.
The danger is especially acute in countries with weak health systems, such as
Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iraq, all of which have extensive
contacts with Iran. If the disease spreads to any of these, their health
facilities would not be able to cope.
For these reasons, transparency is rule No. 1. Iran and its regional allies
should be open about any and all cases. As China found out, with transparency
comes international aid and expertise to help contain the disease, because it is
an international challenge. If we fail, there will be untold consequences
throughout the region and beyond.
*Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the Gulf Cooperation Council’s assistant
secretary-general for political affairs and negotiation, and a columnist for
Arab News. The views expressed in this piece are personal and do not necessarily
represent those of the GCC. Twitter: @abuhamad1
G20 meeting: Global priorities meet Vision 2030 aims
Cornelia Meyer/Arab News/February 25/2020
Saudi Arabia chairs this year’s G20, which brings the world’s 20 largest
economies together — accounting for 85 percent of global GDP and 64 percent of
the world’s population. This is not just an important moment for the Kingdom,
but for the world as a whole.
Saudi Arabia is one of only three majority Muslim nations in the club alongside
Indonesia and Turkey. It is also the only Arab member state. Therefore, the
significance of Saudi Arabia acting as the host of the meetings throughout the
year cannot be overstated.
Like all economic gatherings since January, last weekend’s meeting of the G20
finance ministers and central bank governors was affected by the fears over the
spread of the coronavirus and its effect on the global economy. International
Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva warned last week that the virus could
shave 0.1 percent off global growth by the end of the year. This would leave
global growth at 3.3 percent. Better than last year, but still on the anemic
side. These forecasts have to be taken with a pinch of salt, because if the
virus morphs into a pandemic its impact on the global economy could be far
greater. It is too early to tell at this stage.
The other effect the virus had on the meetings was that the discourse shifted
away from the usual belligerent rhetoric on trade tensions. They were barely
mentioned in the final communique. On one hand, this can be attributed in part
to the conclusion of the first phase of a US-China Trade Agreement. On the other
hand it was underpinned by uncertainties related to the coronavirus, which is
speeding up the decoupling of supply chains.
Communiques are not just about what is mentioned and what is left out. They are
also about the order in which agenda points land. The focus on strong,
sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth is important. Sustainability and
inclusiveness clearly played a key role. The communique mentions financial and
economic inclusion several times, highlighting women and the youth in
particular. While these are global priorities, they are also cornerstones of
Vision 2030. The heavy focus on infrastructure and technology was also
reminiscent of the key topics of last year’s Future Investment Initiate in
Riyadh.
There was a clear communique, which is not always the case — particularly when
the largest economies are at odds on certain issues.
The role of multilateral development banks (MDBs) was noteworthy in all aspects
of global economic activities ranging from supporting the role of the private
sector in development and fostering local currency bond markets to MDB insurance
schemes as well as addressing the plight of fragile states. Well done on the MDB
community for having brought their agenda points up front and center.
Ayman Sejiny, the CEO for the Development of the Private Sector, a private
sector entity of the Islamic Development Bank, stressed the importance of
examining the implications of climate change on financial stability in the
bank’s member countries as well as in the world.
Major economies were particularly interested in the issues surrounding “base
erosion and profit shifting,” which is about where and by how much multinational
companies, especially in the tech sector, should be taxed.
The debate has been raging between Europe (particularly France) and the US. On
Monday, French Finance Minister Bruno le Maire was categorical on Bloomberg TV
that the announced solutions on taxing revenue where it is earned and a minimal
corporation tax in all jurisdictions had to be reached by the end of the year,
just as it was announced in the communique.
All in all, this meeting of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors
can be seen as a success. There was a clear communique, which is not always the
case — particularly when the largest economies are at odds on certain issues.
The communique was also balanced in what was important to major economies, while
shining a spotlight on development issues, sustainability and inclusion.
• Cornelia Meyer is a business consultant, macro-economist and energy expert.
Twitter: @MeyerResources