LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 02.2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Circumcision of Jesus
Luke 02/21-32: And when eight days were completed [g]for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
Jesus Presented in the Temple
Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Simeon Sees God’s Salvation
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 01-02/2020
Love Unites Not Enmity/Elias Bejjani/January 01/2020
The accused is innocent until proven guilty/Elias Bejjani/January 01/2020
Resolutions For the new year of 2020/Elias Bejjani/January 01/2020
Contracts of Cellular Companies Not Extended
Trump to Have 'Lebanese Son-in Law'
Serhan transmits judicial cooperation request on bank transfers to Swiss authorities
Rahi heads New Year's mass in Bkirki
Lebanese Foreign Ministry: Circumstances of Ghosn's departure from Japan and his arrival in Beirut are unknown
Sectarian Obstacles Hinder Formation of New Govt.
By Jumping Bail, Fugitive Ghosn Burns Bridges to Japan
Japan Media Blasts 'Cowardly' Ghosn after Escape
Ghosn met Lebanese president after fleeing Japan, say sources
What's Next for Carlos Ghosn?
Carlos Ghosn is now free to speak; what will he say?/Brian Bremner and Young-Sam Cho/Bloomberg/January 01/2019
Lebanon’s justice minister tells Arab News Japan no extradition request received for Ghosn/Najia Houssari/January 01/2020
A daring escape: Ex-Nissan chief flees Japan ahead of trial/Associated Press/January 01/2020
End of the party: why Lebanon’s debt crisis has left it vulnerable/The Financial Times/January 01/2020
What protests in Lebanon can tell us about inequality worldwide/Mona Fawaz/Al Jazeera/January 01/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 01-02/2020
Pro-Iran Protesters Leave U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
Trump says he does not want, nor foresee, war with Iran
Trump says Iran will ‘pay a very big price’ if lives are lost at any US facility
Pentagon says sending 750 troops to Mideast after embassy attack in Iraq
Pompeo says ‘terrorists’ behind US embassy attack in Iraq, names them
US bombings in Iraq and Syria targeted a key Iranian unit
Popular Mobilization Forces leader threatens attacks on Saudi, UAE, Bahraini embassies
Iran’s Khamenei condemns US response in Iraq, accuses it of creating ISIS
US embassy in Baghdad says all public consular operations suspended
Pro-Iran protesters fully withdraw from US embassy in Baghdad
Iran summons Swiss envoy over US “warmongering statements”
Iraqi paramilitary groups tell supporters to withdraw from US Embassy perimeter
Iraqi militiamen hurl stones at US Embassy, prepare for extended stay
Iran Summons Envoy over U.S. 'Warmongering'
NYE Celebratory Gunfire Injures Five; 4 Arrested
Turkey may not send forces to Libya if conflict eases
Shelling hit school killing 6 in rebel-held Syrian village

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 01-02/2020
US sees 'direct links' between Iran and attack on Baghdad embassy/Joyce Karam and Khaled Yacoub Oweis/The National/January 02/2020
Trump’s dilemma, how to deal with Iran?/Shmirit Meir/Ynetnews/January 01/2020
West Africa has ditched its colonial currency. Now the future is crypto/Joseph Dana/Arab News/January 01, 2020
Why Iraq is a key battleground for Tehran in 2020/Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Arab News/January 01, 2020
Iraqis must stop their country from becoming a proxy battlefield/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/January 01, 2020
Europe: Anti-Christian Attacks Reach All-Time High in 2019/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/January 01/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 01-02/2020
Love Unites Not Enmity
Elias Bejjani/January 01/2020
Hizbullah, which is mere hostility and hatred, is striving to unite the Lebanese by force on the principle of enmity, while there is neither unity nor unification except on the basis of love.

The accused is innocent until proven guilty
Elias Bejjani/January 01/2020
Carlos Ghosn is accused, not convicted yet. His case is so complicated and intertwined with international political conflicts. Have mercy on the man and stop stoning him The accused is innocent until proven guilty

Resolutions For the new year of 2020
Elias Bejjani/January 01/2020
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/81879/elias-bejjani-resolutions-for-the-new-year-of-2020/
How healthy and fruitful would it be if each and every one of us is fully ready to welcome the new year of 2010 with a clear conscience and a joyful reconciliation with himself/herself, as well and with all others, especially those who are the beloved ones, e.g, parents, family members, friends, etc.
How self gratifying would be for any faithful and wise person to enter the new year of 2020 and he/she is completely free from all past heavy and worrying loads of hostility, hatred, enmities, grudges, strives and jealousy.
And because our life is very short on this mortal-perishable earthly world.
And due to fact that, Our Heavenly Father, Almighty God may at any moment take back His Gift of life from any one of us.
Because of all these solid facts and realities, we are ought to leave behind all the 2019 hardships, pains and disappointments with no regrets at all.
We are ought to happily welcome and enter the 2020 new year with a totally empty page of our lives….ready for a new start.
Hopefully, every wise, loving, caring and faithful person would feel better in striving to begin this new year of 2020 with love, forgiveness, faith, hope, extended hands, open heart, and self-confidence.
Happy, Happy new Year

Contracts of Cellular Companies Not Extended
Naharnet/January 01/2020
Caretaker Minister of Finance, Ali Hassan Khalil, on Tuesday said that he had refused the extension of Lebanon's state-owned operating cell phone companies' mandate shortly before the Media and Communications Parliamentary Committee convened and rejected the extension.
"Someone has ignorantly or deliberately spread a rumor saying that the Minister of Finance has inked a mandate extension decree for cell phone companies," Khalil said in a tweet. "The news fabricated and unfounded and the entire idea of extension has been originally rejected by me," he added. The Media and Communications Committee announced that contracts of the two Lebanese cellular companies Alpha and Touch had not been extended. Groups of protesters have gathered outside the Parliament in line with the meeting in an attempt to voice objection against the extension.

Trump to Have 'Lebanese Son-in Law'
Naharnet/January 01/2020
A young man of Lebanese descent will get engaged to U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter Tiffany on January 11, according to invitations sent out by their two families. “The story of Michael Charbel Boulos and Tiffany Donald Trump started in the summer of 2018, as they were vacationing on the Mykonos Island in Greece,” Lebanon’s MTV reported. Tiffany, 26, is Trump’s daughter from his former marriage to Marla Maples. She is the youngest among his daughters. Boulos, 25, grew up in Nigeria, where his family owns a multibillion-dollar company that trades in vehicles, equipment, retail and construction.
According to media reports, Boulos’ father owns the conglomerate SCOA Nigeria PLC, which has its hand in almost every major industry in Nigeria, including automobile, construction, agriculture, food and drink and infrastructure, according to its stock profile. Boulos recently attended the White House Christmas party with his parents Massad and Sarah Boulos. On Tuesday, the young man and Tiffany Trump celebrated New Year’s Eve at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. According to MTV, Boulos likely has four citizenships, including the American. The engagement party will be held in Florida on January 11 amid “strict security measures,” MTV reported.

Serhan transmits judicial cooperation request on bank transfers to Swiss authorities
NNA/January 01/2020
Caretaker Minister of Justice Albert Serhan's media bureau, announced that the Minister "transmitted to the Swiss judicial authorities, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, the letter of the Prosecutor General, Ghassan Oweidat, on the subject of requesting judicial assistance regarding information about transferring funds from Lebanon to bank accounts in Switzerland" .The statement stressed that "the Lebanese authorities have pledged to maintain the confidentiality of the investigation and to refrain from using the information provided by the Swiss judicial authorities except for the purposes of this investigation."The statement concluded that the request for legal aid also included reporting "the total amount of the funds transferred, with reference to their source, and whether they are considered to be suspicious or not."

Rahi heads New Year's mass in Bkirki
NNA/January 01/2020
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rahi, reiterated Wednesday during New Year's message the need to "form a mini-government of non-partisan ministers who would be capable of implementing a financial, economic, social and administrative reform program for the sake of the country." Rahi urged politicians to make necessary reforms and development at the economic, financial and social levels, away from political disputes. "Lebanese officials must show responsibility in carrying out the necessary reforms in public sector and reduce the deficit away from the political sectarian interference," he added. The prelate concluded his words by saying, "The approach to quotas in political action must be changed."

Lebanese Foreign Ministry: Circumstances of Ghosn's departure from Japan and his arrival in Beirut are unknown
NNA/January 01/2020
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants said in a statement Tuesday that Mr. Carlos Ghosn has entered Lebanon legally at dawn yesterday, as confirmed by the Lebanese General Security. The Ministry said that the circumstances of Ghosn's departure from Japan and his arrival in Beirut were unknown. The statement indicated that the Ministry has sent several correspondences to the Japanese government regarding Ghosn over the past year, but remained unanswered. The Ministry also noted that Lebanon does not have judicial cooperation agreement with Japan. The Foreign Ministry underlined Lebanon's keenness on best relations with the Japanese state.

Sectarian Obstacles Hinder Formation of New Govt.
Naharnet/January 01/2020
Disagreements over the representation of the various sects are still hindering the formation of Hassan Diab’s government, media reports said.
“A Druze obstacle emerged yesterday after (Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid) Jumblat and other (Druze) officials criticized that they will be represented through the nonessential environment portfolio,” An-Nahar newspaper reported on Sunday. “Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has insisted that the (only) Druze minister (in the 18-seat government) should be affiliated with his ally, MP Talal Arslan,” the daily added. Bassil fears that a Druze minister close to Jumblat might resign later, stripping the government of its Druze component and consequently of its conformity with the 1943 National Pact, an unwritten agreement that set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state.
“The candidate who has been proposed for the ministerial post is the physician Ramzi Msharrafiyeh,” An-Nahar quoted political sources informed on the formation process as saying.
Diab has meanwhile been unable to find Sunni candidates who hail from the capital Beirut. “An indirect contact took place between the PM-designate and Dr. Halima Qaaqour, an activist from the Watani coalition, with the aim of allotting the education portfolio to her,” the sources said.
“She inquired about the government’s program and plan, but it turned out that she was not eager to take part in the government and will likely refuse,” the sources added. Dr. Tarek Mohammed al-Majzoub, who hails from Sidon, is meanwhile being considered for the portfolio.
“Othman Sultan, who hails from Tripoli and is not known in the political arena, has been proposed for the telecom portfolio,” An-Nahar said.
The interior portfolio is meanwhile one of the main obstacles that are delaying the formation of the government. The chances of two retired officers – Bassem Khaled and Hosni Daher – have decreased, the daily added. The parties are meanwhile seriously considering retired Brig. Gen. Mohammed Fahmi for the post. Retired officers are also being mulled to occupy the defense portfolio after Shadi Masaad was “totally excluded.”
The sources also noted that the Shiite parties – Hizbullah and AMAL – are insisting on renominating Jamil Jabaq and Hasan al-Laqqis should Bassil cling to returning Nada Bustani and Mansour Bteish to the government. The sources also revealed that the government’s line-up was supposed to be announced on Monday, prior to the meeting of the Sunni Islamic Council scheduled for next Saturday, noting that Bassil “obstructed the announcement and preferred to wait, pending the resolution of the remaining obstacles.”

By Jumping Bail, Fugitive Ghosn Burns Bridges to Japan
Associated Press/Naharnet/January 01/2020
By jumping bail, former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who had long insisted on his innocence, has now committed a clear offense and can never return to Japan without going to jail. "So he now has burned his bridges to Japan," Stephen Givens, a lawyer and expert on Japan's legal and corporate systems, said Wednesday. "This is going to end in basically a stalemate with him spending the rest of his life in Lebanon."How exactly Ghosn fled surveillance in Japan and popped up in Lebanon, or who might have directed the dramatic escape, remains unclear. The Tokyo District Court revoked his bail, Japanese media reports said, meaning authorities would seize the 1.5 billion yen ($14 million) Ghosn had posted on two separate instances to get out of detention. Ghosn was first arrested in November 2018, released and then rearrested. The court was closed for the New Year's holidays and could not be immediately reached for comment.
Ghosn had been out on bail while awaiting trial on various financial misconduct allegations. The trial was expected to start in April. The date had not been set. How the Japanese authorities might investigate Ghosn's escape and what action they might take on the apparent security lapses remains unclear.
Ghosn, who is of Lebanese origin and holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian passports, disclosed his location in a statement through his representatives but did not say how he managed to flee Japan. He promised to talk to reporters next week. He said he wanted to avoid "injustice and political persecution."
"I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied, in flagrant disregard of Japan's legal obligations under international law and treaties it is bound to uphold," the statement said.
His lawyer Junichiro Hironaka denied all knowledge of the escape, saying he was stunned. He said he didn't expect Ghosn to return to Japan. When asked if Ghosn had taken any of the documents being prepared for the trial, Hironaka acknowledged he hadn't checked but said he seriously doubted Ghosn would care about a trial he had taken such pains to avoid. Japanese media reports said Wednesday there were no official records of Ghosn's departure from the country, but a private jet had left from a regional airport to Turkey. One report said he sneaked out from his Tokyo home hiding in a case for a musical instrument. Lebanon's caretaker minister for presidential affairs, Salim Jreissati, told the An-Nahar newspaper that Ghosn entered legally at the airport with a French passport and Lebanese ID. France has reacted with surprise and confusion, denying any knowledge. Speculation is rife that a foreign or Japanese government, or both, might have been involved, or maybe just looked the other way to allow the escape to rid the public of a potentially embarrassing trial. With him missing, Ghosn's trial is suspended.
But a trial is still pending against Nissan as a company and Greg Kelly, another Nissan executive. Kelly, an American, has said he is innocent. Kelly's allegations overlap with those charges against Ghosn related to the underreporting of Ghosn's future compensation. Those charges are less serious than the additional breach of trust accusations against Ghosn. Ghosn has been charged with breach of trust in having Nissan shoulder his personal investment losses, and diverting payments in Saudi Arabia and Oman for personal gain. He has repeatedly asserted his innocence, saying authorities trumped up the charges to prevent a fuller merger between Nissan and alliance partner Renault SA.

Japan Media Blasts 'Cowardly' Ghosn after Escape
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 01/2020
The usually staid Japanese media lambasted the "cowardly" Carlos Ghosn on Wednesday, after the tycoon jumped bail and fled to Lebanon to avoid trial in Japan. "Running away is a cowardly act that mocks Japan's justice system," said the Yomiuri Shimbun, with Ghosn facing multiple charges of financial misconduct -- all of which he denies. By leaving the country, Ghosn has "lost the opportunity to prove his innocence and vindicate his honor," the paper added, noting that the court, his defense lawyers and immigration control officials also bore some blame in the affair.
The liberal Tokyo Shimbun also said Ghosn's actions had made a mockery of the Japanese justice system. "The defendant Ghosn insists he escaped political persecution... but traveling abroad without permission is against the conditions of his bail, and mocks the Japanese justice system," the paper wrote."There is a high probability that the trial will not be held, and his argument that he wants to prove his innocence is now in question."Some media noted that the decision to give him bail -- seen by some as unusual at the time -- now looks unwise. Prosecutors had argued at the time that he was a flight risk with powerful connections, but Ghosn himself had said he wanted to be tried to prove his innocence. One of his defense lawyers at the time has said he was such a famous face that there was no chance he would be able to slip away undetected. The conservative Sankei Shimbun noted that prosecutors believed the court had yielded to "foreign pressure" by offering him bail, amid widespread criticism in the global media of Japan's "hostage justice system" that allows for lengthy and repeated detention. In December 2018, the court declined prosecutors' request to extend Ghosn's detention by 10 days -- a surprising decision as the extension is usually almost automatic. And in fact Ghosn was bailed twice, once in March and a second time after he was re-arrested in April. "All of these were rare decisions," said the Sankei. The center-left Mainichi Shimbun quoted a senior prosecutor as saying: "This is what we predicted." "This has ruined the prosecutors' painstaking work" of collecting evidence in Japan and abroad against him.The Asahi Shimbun also quoted a former Nissan executive voicing his disappointment at Ghosn's actions. "The entrepreneur who ran Nissan for so many years and was well-known internationally turns out to be this kind of person. My jaw hit the floor. I can't find the words to express myself."

Ghosn met Lebanese president after fleeing Japan, say sources
Reuters/Al Jazeera/January 01/2020
Ghosn was greeted warmly by President Michel Aoun on Monday after flying into Beirut via Istanbul, sources tell Reuters.
Fugitive former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn met Lebanon's president after escaping from Japan, where he was smuggled out of house arrest by a private security company, two sources close to Ghosn said on Wednesday. One of the sources said that Ghosn was greeted warmly by President Michel Aoun on Monday after flying into Beirut via Istanbul - and that he was now in a buoyant and combative mood and feeling secure. In his meeting with the president, Ghosn thanked Aoun for the support he had given him and his wife Carole while he was in detention, the sources said. He now needs the protection and security of his government after fleeing Japan, they added. A media adviser to the president's office denied the two men had met. Lebanese officials have said there would be no need to take legal measures against Ghosn because he entered the country legally on a French passport, although Ghosn's French, Lebanese and Brazilian passports are with lawyers in Japan. The French and Lebanese foreign ministries have said they were unaware of the circumstances of his journey. Lebanon has no extradition agreement with Japan, where Ghosn faced trial on charges of financial misconduct, which he denied. Under the terms of his bail, he had been confined to his house in Tokyo and had to have cameras installed at the entrance. He was prevented from communicating with his wife, and had his use of the internet and other communications curtailed.
The sources said the Lebanese ambassador to Japan had visited him daily while he was in detention.
'Pure fiction'
While some Lebanese media outlets have floated a Houdini-like account of Ghosn being packed in a wooden container for musical instruments after a private concert in his home, his wife called the account pure fiction when contacted by Reuters News Agency. She declined to provide details of the exit of one of the most recognisable titans of industry. The accounts of the two sources suggest a carefully planned escape of which few people were aware. Sources said a private security firm oversaw the plan, which was three months in the making and involved shuttling Ghosn out via a private jet to Istanbul before pushing onward to Beirut, with even the pilot unaware of Ghosn's presence on board. "It was a very professional operation from start to finish" said one of the sources. The other source said Ghosn was in good health. In a written statement, Ghosn said after his arrival that he had "escaped injustice and political persecution" and would begin communicating with media next week. Sources close to him said he was unwilling to share details of his escape so as not to jeopardise those who aided him in Japan. He is staying at the home of a relative of his wife, but plans to return soon to a gated villa in the upscale Beirut neighbourhood of Achrafieh, one of the sources said. Ghosn was first arrested in Tokyo in November 2018 and faces four charges - which he denies - including hiding income and enriching himself through payments to dealerships in the Middle East. Nissan sacked him as chairman saying internal investigations revealed misconduct including understating his salary while he was the company's chief executive, and transferring $5m of Nissan funds to an account in which he had an interest. Ghosn has enjoyed an outpouring of support from Lebanese people since his 2018 arrest, with billboards proclaiming "We are all Carlos Ghosn" erected in the country in solidarity with his case. Locally he is considered a poster boy for success in a country where rampant unemployment pushes young Lebanese abroad to find work and the economy relies heavily on remittances amid a deep financial crisis that has sparked a wave of protests.
Ghosn was born in Brazil but is of Lebanese descent, and lived in Lebanon as a child. He oversaw a turnaround at French carmaker Renault that won him the nickname "Le Cost Killer" and used similar methods to revive Nissan.

What's Next for Carlos Ghosn?
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 01/2020
Former car magnate Carlos Ghosn's stunning departure from Japan, where he was facing trial on financial misconduct charges, poses numerous questions as to where his story goes next. Venerated French cartoonist Plantu of Le Monde newspaper portrayed the 65-year-old Tuesday with a smile on his face, a party hat on his head and relaxing in a hammock. The look of insouciance contrasted with the consternation in Japan after his arrival in Beirut via Istanbul. Sprung out in music case? The exact circumstances of Ghosn's daring escape from Japan, where he had been released on bail in April pending trial after 130 days in prison, remain unclear, though colorful rumors abound. One claim in the Lebanese media is that the auto mogul, who holds Lebanese, French and Brazilian nationalities, was sprung from his Tokyo residence in a musical instrument case -- a story a source in his entourage denied. A Lebanese presidential source said the former Nissan and Renault boss had landed in Turkey before an early hours onward flight to Lebanon. The stunt left his Japanese lawyer Junichiro Hironaka dumbfounded -- Hironaka says the mogul's three passports remain in Japan. Lebanon's foreign ministry said Tuesday that Ghosn entered the country legally. The country's General Security apparatus said that "there are no measures that warrant taking steps against him or prosecuting him."
Can he be extradited?
"There is no extradition accord between Lebanon and Japan," a source at the Lebanese ministry of justice told AFP. Though that is the case, one expert in international relations told AFP that "the absence of (an extradition) convention does not in itself preclude extraditing an individual.
"But certain states, Lebanon included, do not extradite their nationals," the expert added. Former Lebanese justice minister, Ibrahim Najjar, said that if Interpol were to become engaged in the case Ghosn's name would be communicated to border authorities in member countries with a view to his arrest. "But Interpol cannot have him arrested by force or impose any decision on Lebanon."The international relations expert noted that a Lebanese court could try Ghosn "if he has committed a crime punishable by Lebanese law" but "Lebanon cannot judge a person accused of tax fraud committed in a foreign country."
Tokyo trial outlook
Arrested in Tokyo in November 2018, Ghosn, who insists he is fleeing "injustice and political persecution," faced going on trial in April on four charges including under-reporting salary, allegedly trying to have Nissan cover personal foreign exchange losses and using millions of Nissan funds transferred to a dealership in Oman for his own use. But his departure, which his defense counsel labelled inexcusable, has thrown the process up in the air. "The defense team has totally lost face," having earlier promised Ghosn would not leave the country, former prosecutor Nobuo Gohara, a lawyer, told AFP. "For the prosecutors it is an extremely serious situation. Nissan must be afraid. And the prosecutors as well."France also has a legal action against Ghosn opened last April over alleged financial wrongdoing but "his absconding should not have any consequences for our investigation," French prosecutor Catherine Denis told AFP on Tuesday. What next for Ghosn? Ghosn, now in his Beirut home with his wife according to a family friend, has vowed to communicate "freely" with the media "starting next week" and put his side of an episode which has divided the city where he grew up. Lebanese writer and film director Lucien Bourjeily waxed ironic on Twitter, observing wryly that Ghosn "has come for the comfort and 'efficiency' of a Lebanese judicial system which has never put a politician in jail for corruption."That, in a country where the populace are currently up in arms against a political class they see as venal.

Carlos Ghosn is now free to speak; what will he say?
Brian Bremner and Young-Sam Cho/Bloomberg/January 01/2019
Former Nissan CEO and white collar fugitive is expected to make a blistering public relations assault.
Carlos Ghosn has spent more than a year trapped in a Japanese legal odyssey that's transfixed the automotive world and thrown his life into chaos. Now, having pulled off a daring escape from Japan to Lebanon, he's an international fugitive.
But the executive is also free to speak his mind fully, without legal filtering, for the first time since his surprise arrest on the tarmac at Haneda airport back in November 2018. And this much seems likely: The former head of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA has stories to tell and scores to settle.
At stake is Ghosn's entire legacy. Will he be remembered as the brilliant, cost-cutting manager who rescued Nissan and built one of mightiest auto alliances in the industry? Or will he be just another name in a hall of infamy of white-collar fugitives?
Ghosn said in his statement from Lebanon on Tuesday that he would "finally communicate freely with the media, and look forward to starting next week." So get ready for what's likely to be a blistering public relations assault, starting with an expected press conference, that will rattle some cages in both Japan and France. Based on past statements by Ghosn and his wife Carole, here's a guide to what may be in store.
Japan's legal system
"I have not fled justice," Ghosn said in the first emailed statement after his remarkable exit from Japan. "I have escaped injustice and political persecution." An even more robust indictment of the nation's legal system is likely in the weeks ahead.
Ghosn's arrest revived long-standing concerns about the fairness of Japan's judicial system, where prosecutors can grill suspects repeatedly without their lawyers present and enjoy an almost 100% conviction rate.
Under the terms of the executive's bail, the courts restricted contact with his family. In his Dec. 31 statement, Ghosn called the Japanese justice system rigged and said his "basic human rights" had been denied, including the presumption of innocence. Those are issues that he almost certainly would have put on the world stage had his case come to trial.
Unholy trinity
For months, Ghosn's attorneys have been arguing that all of the charges against their client were bogus, the result of a broad conspiracy among nationalistic Nissan officials, Japanese prosecutors and the government itself.
The goal, according to Ghosn, was to smear him in order to prevent the executive from further integrating Nissan and France's Renault, a plan that threatened the Japanese carmaker's autonomy and was vehemently opposed in the highest echelons of Tokyo officialdom.
Corporate assassins
In April, Ghosn was detained before a scheduled tell-all press conference, prompting his camp to release a pre-recorded video for such an eventuality.
In it, Ghosn spoke of several Nissan executives whom he claimed turned on him to advance their own interests. The original video named the people; that segment was edited out in the version released to the public.
"I'm talking here about a few executives who, obviously for their own interests and for their own selfish fears, are creating a lot of value destruction. Names? You know them," Ghosn hinted in his video. Now, Ghosn may really be ready to disclose names.
Nissan's slide
In his video, Ghosn also criticized Nissan's management for the company's poor performance, saying they lost sight of the need to move the alliance with Renault forward.
"I'm worried because obviously the performance of Nissan is declining, but also I'm worried because I don't think there is any vision for the alliance being built," Ghosn said in the video.
Nissan's earnings have tumbled to the lowest level in a decade and the stock was the worst performer on the Bloomberg World Auto Manufacturers Index last year (the second-worst was Renault), so he may hit that note again.
French establishment
In several interviews, Ghosn's wife, Carole, lashed out at the French establishment for not doing more to help the former head of Renault, who also is a French citizen.
In an interview with the Journal du Dimanche, she said President Emmanuel Macron hasn't answered her pleas for help. "The silence from the Elysee Palace is deafening," she said. "I thought France was a country that defended the presumption of innocence. They've all forgotten everything Carlos did for France's economy and for Renault." It remains to be seen which talking points Ghosn will hit the hardest. Yet this much is clear: He is a fighter, and he has everything to lose if he can't pull ahead in the PR war. That suggests his approach won't be subtle.

Lebanon’s justice minister tells Arab News Japan no extradition request received for Ghosn
Najia Houssari/January 01/2020
BEIRUT: Lebanese Minister of Justice Albert Serhan told Arab News Japan on Wednesday that Japan has not filed an official extradition request for former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, who fled Japan for Lebanon via Turkey on Dec. 30.
Ghosn, a Brazilian-born French businessman of Lebanese ancestry, was arrested in Japan in November 2018 over allegations that he had under-reported his earnings and misused company assets. He was re-arrested under new charges of misappropriation of funds while out on bail in April. Ghosn has broken the terms of his bail by fleeing to Lebanon.
Serhan said: “Ghosn has Lebanese citizenship, and — according to the principles and laws — is thus treated as a Lebanese citizen. According to our applicable laws, a Lebanese man will be tried before Lebanese courts unless there is an extradition treaty, and there is none between Lebanon and Japan. In any case, we will not jump to conclusions. Until now, the Japanese government has not sent any request to have him returned.”
Lebanon accepted an extradition request from the US earlier this year, despite the fact that it has no extradition treaty with America. Ali Salameh, who holds dual Lebanese and American citizenship and was accused of kidnapping his four-year-old son from the United States and taking him to Lebanon following a dispute with his wife over his custody, was handed over the to FBI. However, Serhan stressed: “That man had dual citizenship. Carlos Ghosn does not have Japanese citizenship. Every case is different.”
Asked whether Ghosn fleeing to Lebanon would affect Lebanese-Japanese relations, Serhan said: “We hope (not). If principles are followed and laws are respected, this case cannot affect the relations between the two countries.”
He stressed that Lebanon is keen to maintain good relations with all countries, and that it respects international law. “Lebanon needs Japan, which is one of the largest economies, and it provides us with assistance,” he said. “We hope that Japan understands, especially with regard to Lebanese laws.”
Ghosn is believed to be planning a press conference in Beirut on Jan. 8, saying in a statement on New Year’s Eve, “I can now finally communicate freely with the media and look forward to starting next week.”
Serhan said that Ghosn could hold the press conference but only if he did not damage relations between Lebanon and Japan.
“Ghosn is a Lebanese citizen who enjoys (the same rights as all citizens),” Serhan said. “He may hold his press conference as long as he does not criticize any state and does not affect relations between our two countries.”
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry stressed in a statement that it wishes to maintain “the best relations with the Japanese State,” but added that Ghosn entered Lebanon “in a legal manner.”
The ministry explained that, a year ago, Lebanon sent a number of official communiqués to the Japanese government in relation to Ghosn’s case, but no response was received. During the visit of Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Keisuke Suzuki to Lebanon a few days ago, a complete file on the case was handed to the Lebanese government. During Suzuki’s visit — the first by a Japanese state minister to Lebanon in three years — he said: “Japan believes that peace and stability in Lebanon is of great importance for the entirety of the Middle East and, therefore, Japan is committed to supporting Lebanon.”

A daring escape: Ex-Nissan chief flees Japan ahead of trial
Associated Press/January 01/2020
TOKYO: In a daring escape that confounded authorities, Nissan’s former Chairman Carlos Ghosn skipped bail while awaiting trial in Japan on allegations of financial misconduct and reappeared in Lebanon, where he said Tuesday that he had fled to avoid “political persecution.”
Ghosn, who is of Lebanese origin and holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian passports, disclosed his location in a statement through his representatives but did not say how he managed to get out of Japan, where he had been under surveillance. He promised to talk to reporters next week.
“I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied, in flagrant disregard of Japan’s legal obligations under international law and treaties it is bound to uphold,” the statement said.
Speaking anonymously, prosecutors in Japan told Japanese media they did not know how Ghosn got out. His lawyer also denied all knowledge of the escape, saying he was stunned. Japan does not have an extradition treaty with Lebanon, which said Ghosn had entered the country legally and there was no reason to take any action against him.
“He is home,” Ghosn’s friend, television host Ricardo Karam said in a message. “It’s a big adventure.”
Karam said Ghosn arrived in Lebanon on Monday morning, but declined to elaborate. The Lebanon-based newspaper Al-Joumhouriya said Ghosn arrived in Beirut from Turkey aboard a private jet.
Ghosn was arrested in November 2018 and was expected to face trial in April 2020. He posted 1.5 billion yen ($14 million) bail on two separate instances after he was arrested a second time on additional charges, and released again.
Prosecutors fought his release, but a court granted him bail on condition that he be monitored and not meet with his wife, Carole, who is also of Lebanese origin. Recently, the court allowed them to speak by video.
Ghosn, who was charged with under-reporting his future compensation and breach of trust, has repeatedly asserted his innocence, saying authorities trumped-up charges to prevent a possible fuller merger between Nissan Motor Co. and alliance partner Renault SA.
“Maybe he thought he won’t get a fair trial,” said his lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, stressing that he continues to believe Ghosn is innocent. “I can’t blame him for thinking that way.”
The charges Ghosn faces carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
How Ghosn managed to flee was, publicly at least, a mystery. Hironaka said the lawyers were holding Ghosn’s three passports, yet Lebanon’s minister for presidential affairs, Selim Jreissati, told the An-Nahar newspaper that Ghosn entered legally at the airport with a French passport and Lebanese ID.
France reacted with surprise and some confusion.
The French foreign ministry said in a statement that French authorities “have heard from the press about the arrival of Carlos Ghosn to Lebanon.” They “have not been informed of his departure from Japan and have no knowledge of the circumstances of his departure,” the statement said.
Agnes Pannier-Runacher, a junior finance minister, told broadcaster BFM-TV that “I was surprised as you when I learned about this escape.”
Ghosn’s lawyer, Hironaka, said he last spoke with his client on Christmas Day and was never consulted about leaving for Lebanon. However, he said the circumstances of Ghosn’s arrest, the seizure of evidence and the strict bail conditions were unfair.
Jreissati told An-Naharhe he had asked Japan to hand Ghosn over to be tried in Lebanon according to international anti-corruption laws. However, since there was no official word from Tokyo and it was not yet clear how Ghosn came to Lebanon, Beirut wouldn’t take a formal position. Jreissati did not immediately respond to calls from The Associated Press.
People in Lebanon take special pride in the auto industry icon, who is credited with leading a spectacular turnaround at Nissan beginning in the late 1990s, and rescued the automaker from near-bankruptcy.
Ghosn speaks fluent Arabic and visited the country regularly. Born in Brazil, where his Lebanese grandfather had sought his fortune, Ghosn grew up in Beirut, where he spent part of his childhood at a Jesuit school.
Before his fall from grace, Ghosn was also a celebrity in Japan, where he was revered for his managerial acumen.
Nissan did not have immediate comment Tuesday. The Japanese automaker of the March subcompact, Leaf electric car, and Infiniti luxury models have also been charged as a company in relation to Ghosn’s alleged financial crimes.
Japanese securities regulators recently recommended Nissan be fined 2.4 billion yen ($22 million) over disclosure documents from 2014 to 2017. Nissan has said it accepted the penalty and corrected its securities documents in May.
The company’s sales and profits have tumbled and its brand image is tarnished. It has acknowledged lapses in its governance and has promised to improve its transparency.
Another former Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, an American, was arrested at the same time as Ghosn and is awaiting trial. He has said he is innocent.
Hiroto Saikawa, who replaced Ghosn as head of Nissan, announced his resignation in September after financial misconduct allegations surfaced against him related to his income. He has not been charged with any crime.
The conviction rate in Japan exceeds 99% and winning an acquittal through a lengthy appeals process could take years. Rights activists in Japan and abroad say Japan’s judicial system does not presume innocence enough and relies on long detentions that lead to false confessions.
In addition to under-reporting his future compensation, Ghosn is accused of diverting Nissan money and having it shoulder his personal investment losses. Other allegations against him involve payments to a Saudi dealership, as well as funds paid to an Oman business that were purportedly diverted to entities run by Ghosn. Ghosn has said that the compensation was never decided, that Nissan never suffered losses from the investments and that all the payments were for legitimate business services.
*El Deeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Zeina Karam in Beirut, and Sylvie Corbet and John Leicester in Paris contributed.

End of the party: why Lebanon’s debt crisis has left it vulnerable
The Financial Times/January 01/2020
Once known for its resilience, the country’s fragile financial system has triggered angry protests
Chloe Cornish in Beirut
In 2008, as mountains of bad debt collapsed and economies around the world crumbled, carefree gamblers at the central bank-owned Casino du Liban rolled dice and spun roulette wheels. Unscathed by the global financial crisis, Beirut glittered as the Middle East’s party capital and purveyor of discrete financial services.Lebanon offered wealthy investors something they could not get elsewhere — high interest rates for low risk investments. While the rest of the world’s central banks tried to boost post-crisis recovery by holding borrowing costs at 1 per cent or less, the Banque du Liban pushed rates up so high that returns of more than 10 per cent became common for depositors. The central bank paid so much because it badly needed a constant supply of dollars to maintain a currency peg against the US dollar, pay for imports and fund the government. “Lebanon relies on remittances,” Riad Salame, central bank governor, told the FT in 2018.
That reliance on money from overseas left the government vulnerable and sliding ever further into debt, especially as economic growth has been sluggish since the start of the Arab spring in 2011. A bungled October effort at raising funds via a tax on WhatsApp calls triggered Lebanon’s biggest protests in over a decade, adding to the political paralysis and deepening the economic crisis. Now the debt-fuelled crash Beirut avoided in 2008 could have finally arrived. Rating agency Fitch is predicting default on $88bn of Lebanese public borrowing. The country’s apparent powers of resilience, even as it was surrounded by instability, suddenly look more like luck — and Lebanon is in its most precarious position since its civil war ended in 1990.
A harsh economic collapse at the heart of the tumultuous Middle East would hurt Lebanon’s poorest most, at a time when public opinion is already enraged by perceived corruption and cronyism. “It will be very very hard,” says Sibylle Rizk, public policy director at Kulluna Irada, a lobby group, “and the possibility of violence and social unrest is high.”
With its nearly 7m population of Christians and Sunni and Shia Muslims, including over 1m refugees, Lebanon is surrounded by trouble — civil war has raged in next door Syria since 2011 and tensions with neighbouring Israel are continuous. Iran-backed Shia Islamist paramilitary and political party Hizbollah, seen by many Lebanese as a defender against Israel but viewed by Washington as a terrorist group, now forms an integral part of Lebanon’s government, souring relations with Gulf countries that were once Lebanon’s sponsors.
Yet even amid these tensions, Beirut’s high life, yacht-friendly marina and banking secrecy made it a playground for the Middle East’s wealthy.
The central bank borrowed from Lebanese commercial banks, who borrowed from their clients. Lenders “could generate profits at very low risk”, says Nasser Saidi, a former central bank vice-governor. “For each bank it looked like this was paradise.” The banks’ deposits with the central bank grew by over 70 per cent from 2017 to August 2019 to 229trn Lebanese lira.
For some observers, the numbers did not add up. “What could the central bank be investing in to pay those rates?” says Mr Saidi. But as banks paid out dividends to shareholders, many of whom were politicians, Lebanon’s political elites were happy to go along with it. “Everybody got greedy,” shrugs one bank board member.
Meanwhile politicians were spending the country deep into the red, buying votes by expanding public hiring and wasting cash on unsustainable solutions for Lebanon’s chronically malfunctioning electricity sector, while its trade deficit ballooned.
Lebanon’s biggest protests in a decade forced the resignation of prime minister Saad al-Hariri’s government at the end of October. Hassan Diab, a computer sciences professor, appointed prime minister designate, must now corral Lebanon’s multi-confessional political parties — shifting alliances between Christian, Sunni and Shia Muslim factions — into forming a cabinet to steer the country out of crisis.
Amid the growing warnings about a looming default, Mr Hariri had begun to beseech international allies for help and started talks with the IMF. The west has little interest in seeing this crucible of regional tensions explode. The rise of Iran-backed Hizbollah means it can no longer depends on Gulf bailouts.
But while many capitals from Paris to Tehran want influence in the strategic Mediterranean nation, no state has so far offered to foot the bill. Asked whether an aid packaged was on the table, David Schenker, the State Department’s assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, told the Associated Press: “Lebanon is not being saved from its financial mess.”
Lebanon’s drastic downturn came slowly then suddenly. After months of economic slowdown and a dollar liquidity squeeze, rampant wildfires erupted across the mountains in central Lebanon, unchecked in part because the state had failed to maintain expensive helicopters. Days later, in an austerity measure to curb its deepening fiscal deficit, politicians proposed taxing WhatsApp calls. Lebanon snapped.
Hundreds of thousands have demonstrated since mid-October against political corruption, bad governance, poor infrastructure, and economic unfairness. Beirut’s downtown area, where bank headquarters are concentrated, has been filled with graffiti and tear gas.
This “so called revolution” took the lenders by surprise, says Riad Obegi, chairman and general manager of Banque Bemo, a Lebanese bank. The disruption of the protests “creates lack of confidence,” he adds, which led to a rush of depositors trying to send money abroad. But banks had put half of their assets in the central bank to earn high rates, which meant that honouring the transfer requests would have gutted the country’s reserves.
In October, the country’s banks, which had managed to stay open during Lebanon’s bloody civil war, closed for two weeks. The union of banking workers said it was for safety; economists suspected they were low on dollars and trying to avert a bank run. But by closing, argues Mr Saidi, the banks themselves triggered panic, while their informal capital restrictions generated an “accusation that the big depositors were able to get out”.
When they reopened, guarded by soldiers, clerks told panicked customers they could not send money abroad, nor withdraw large sums in dollars. “We’re all in it together,” bankers told clients — but rumours swirled that the politically connected mega-rich had already got their money out, even as customers could withdraw only $200 per week in cash.
Amid fears about whether their leaders can protect their savings, many Lebanese worry that the government might choose to prioritise foreign creditors, who hold nearly $12bn worth of Lebanon’s debt.
So far the central bank has managed to cover the government’s repayments to its creditors — who are mostly domestic banks. However, multiple downgrades of Lebanon’s sovereign debt in the past few months suggest time could be running out.
Locking down Lebanon’s traditionally open economy with informal capital controls further discourages the all-important inflow of dollars. Indeed, the country had already been witnessing a net capital outflow since January 2018, according to Goldman Sachs research. And it has throttled businesses. According to Infopro Research in Beirut, 160,000 jobs have been lost since the beginning of October and one in 10 companies have closed. Hospitals are strained after losing bank overdrafts which they had used to cover money they are owed by the government.
For years, Lebanese had been assured that their banking sector was safe, and the sense of betrayal is palpable. Protesters have splattered the locked Association of Banks in blood red paint. People spend hours in banks trying to extract their own money to pay rent.
“You see people how shocked they are by the fact that they can’t access their money,” says Ms Rizk. “It’s because they have been simply deceived.”
The foundations of Lebanon’s crisis were laid three decades ago, when 15 years of fratricidal civil war finally came to an end in 1990. Before he became Lebanon’s prime minister in 1992, Rafiq al-Hariri — who was assassinated in 2005 — was a construction tycoon who controlled Lebanese lender BankMed. (Saad al-Hariri, the recently resigned premier, is his son).
To attract investment for postwar reconstruction — and having made his fortune in Saudi Arabia — the billionaire enlisted Gulf petrodollars to invest in Lebanon. And although Lebanon was variously occupied by Israel and Syria until 2005, confidence in Mr Hariri’s vision grew, and money and people returned to Lebanon during the 1990s and early 2000s. Mr Hariri started borrowing from international markets, and his successors did the same.
By 2019 the state was using almost half its revenues to service external and domestic debt — the other half largely went on public wages. Warlords-turned-politicians had bought votes by hiring public sector workers from their constituencies. Meanwhile corruption flourished, as the state ran opaque tenders for government contracts.
Despite all the money which came to Lebanon, says Ms Rizk, “we have no infrastructure, no productive sector. We have nothing. All this money was burnt on consumption . . . through imports and real estate, which is a bubble, and to defend the peg.”
Holding the currency peg had helped to stabilise the economy, but it is not known at what cost — and the potential impact of devaluation will fall most heavily on ordinary Lebanese savers who kept their money in Lebanese pounds. The IMF says the pound is around 50 per cent overvalued.
When asked this month where the exchange rate was going, Mr Salame responded: “no one knows”.
Along with politicians, Mr Salame, once Rafic al-Hariri’s personal banker, has become a figure of fury for the protesters. A banker at Merrill Lynch for two decades he returned to Beirut in 1993 to lead the Banque du Liban — and never left.
As governor, Mr Salame is credited with stabilising an erratic currency by establishing a pegged exchange rate between the US dollar and the Lebanese pound. “His whole legacy, his whole metric of success in his mind and the people’s mind, is the peg,” says Dan Azzi, a Harvard fellow and former top banker with Standard Chartered in Lebanon.
But from 2011, the dollar flow he needed to defend the pound started to ebb as neighbouring oil economies, home to the bulk of Lebanese expatriates remitting dollars back to Beirut, slowed down. War in neighbouring Syria has also increased Lebanon’s vulnerability. The government continued to rack up debt, and imports grew. Mr Salame had to come up with something drastic.
In 2016 he began a succession of unorthodox measures which he called “financial engineering”. Put simply, banks lent their customers’ dollars to the central bank at sky high interest rates in return for buying up swaths of government debt in swap operations — on terms that generated profit for Lebanese banks.
The central bank and Lebanon’s commercial banks’ balance sheets became overlapping. “We say there is one bank in Lebanon with 40 branches,” joked the bank board member. In his interview with the FT, Mr Salame said that all deposits in the central bank — including those of commercial banks — were its legal property.
But by 2016, argues former IMF official and economist Toufic Gaspard, who anticipated the crisis in a 2017 paper, the central bank “became a Ponzi scheme. It was borrowing from banks to pay them their interest.”
Mr Salame rejects this accusation. The financial engineering was to buy time, he said, for politicians to reform the bloated government and curb spending. But the stability it bought “is not a pretext not to do reforms”, he insists. He warned that Banque du Liban should not be used for politics: “The central bank is not an instrument to be used in order to force certain changes.”
The state depends on the central bank to meet its dollar debt servicing obligations, which will cost around $4bn next year. But rating agencies say that on a net basis, the bank’s foreign currency holdings are negative. Its forex reserves will be $28bn by the end of the year, yet Fitch estimates that the central bank’s dollar liabilities to Lebanese banks stand at $67bn.
Moody’s says requests to the IMF are “credit positive”, and a new government — under Mr Diab — may start talks about a new loan programme, which could provide some much-needed financial stability. But first the fractious political factions — including Hizbollah — have to form a government.
They will also need to win back the support of a sceptical public. “The whole political system was bought with this Ponzi scheme,” says Ms Rizk.
Once known for its resilience, the country’s fragile financial system has triggered angry protests
The Financial Times

What protests in Lebanon can tell us about inequality worldwide
Mona Fawaz/Al Jazeera/January 01/2020
Confronting inequalities is not about merely bridging gaps, it requires confronting entrenched interests.
Lebanon is more than two months into the wave of protests rocking the country. Chief among the grievances driving people onto the streets are entrenched inequalities and compromised human dignity. Even given the notorious vacuum of data, Lebanon is clearly a highly unequal place where nearly a quarter of income is held by the richest 1 percent, a larger share than in, for example, South Africa and the US. Poverty is staggering and is well recognised as the outcome of public policymaking driven by elite interests. This is why protesters no longer call for policy reform. Denouncing the deeply entrenched private interests that tie the main pillars of Lebanon's failing economy to the ruling elite, they are demanding a radical transformation of the political system. They have evidence from the UN to back them up; the just-launched Human Development Report focuses on inequality and supports radical reforms to change the fundamentals of how our societies, economies and political systems work. It calls for confronting elite interests to stop the distribution of political power mirroring that of economic power.
Lebanon's protests are led by a young generation dissatisfied with the lack of options to work and live with dignity. They are revolted by a status quo that destines them to emigration, as the future suppliers of remittances that will balance the notorious deficit of public coffers. Like many in the Middle East, they have had to live through wars, large waves of forced displacement and undemocratic rule.
Unlike older generations, today's protesters are unwilling to compromise, unafraid to defy, and outraged by structural inequalities that they associate openly with crony capitalism, sectarianism, patriarchy, and homophobia. They have loudly made their points clear in marches, chants and graffiti. Their complete loss of confidence in government has made #no_trust one of the most trending hashtags in the past weeks.
But the most precarious populations - refugees, migrant workers, and the poorest Lebanese families - have not been able to join the predominantly middle-class protesters. Effectively disenfranchised, they have neither been able to visibly join the protests nor demonstrate their anger.
The first heavy rains of the season have flooded the streets and homes of the informal settlements where they live. Neglected for decades, these precarious neighbourhoods are overflowing with people who cannot find alternative shelters in cities ravaged by the financialisation of land.
Once considered self-help neighbourhoods in the making, on a trajectory to become legitimate parts of the city, informal urban settlements have become reservoirs of populations deemed superfluous, with no recognised entitlements.
Owing to climate change, downpours are heavier and their effects on precarious neighbourhoods are more dramatic. Roofs have crumbled, a family died and homes have overflowed. Their enforced silence means the protesters only represent the very tip of the iceberg of deprivation.
As the Human Development Report argues, income alone fails to account for the lifelong disadvantages these shadow city-dwellers face. Nationality and parental income effectively define someone's lifelong access to adequate healthcare and education - or lack thereof. Some divides cross borders; women are at a disadvantage everywhere. Beginning at birth, inequity defines the freedom and opportunities of children, adults and elders.
Confronting such inequalities is not about merely bridging gaps, it requires confronting entrenched interests. Citizens in Lebanon are denouncing today's elites using their wealth to capture government and mould policies to their will. Their claims are well-documented in scholarly works.
Economist Nisrine Salti recently connected rising poverty levels to the unfair tax system. Facundo Alvaredo, Lydia Assouad and Thomas Piketty have identified the Middle East as the most inequitable region of the world, arguing for a closer examination of fiscal injustices to determine the true extent of inequality and their roots in subverted policy-making. Unjustly levied taxes are part and parcel of the model of government denounced by protesters in Lebanon for sustaining the wealthy, their banks, and the political system at the expense of the majority.
My fellow citizens caught the world's attention by prompting a prime minister to quit. With all eyes on them, they now have the opportunity to outline an ambitious programme for reform, which would never happen if left to the whim of those at the top. I hope to see reforms that meaningfully tackle inequality for current and future generations, which provide opportunities throughout people's lives. Such a palette of interventions should include investments in higher education, quality healthcare and ensuring access to technology (and reliable electricity to power it).
Through taking to the streets, Lebanon's protesters have woken up a nation. By plotting a path of prosperity for all, they can lift it up.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
*Mona Fawaz is a Professor of Urban Studies & Planning at the American University of Beirut.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 01-02/2020

Pro-Iran Protesters Leave U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 01/2020
Pro-Iran demonstrators left the besieged U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday after the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force ordered them to withdraw a day after their dramatic incursion. Thousands of Iraqi supporters of the largely Iranian-trained Hashed had encircled and vandalized the embassy compound Tuesday, outraged by U.S. air strikes that killed 25 Hashed fighters over the weekend. They marched unimpeded through the checkpoints of the usually high-security Green Zone to the embassy gates, where they broke through a reception area, chanting "Death to America" and spraying pro-Iran graffiti on the walls. Iraq's caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi called on the angry crowd to leave the embassy but most spent the night in dozens of tents set up outside the perimeter wall. On Wednesday morning, crowds of men brandished the Hashed's colors, torched U.S. flags and hurled rocks towards the compound. Security personnel inside responded with tear gas, wounding at least 20 people, the Hashed said. By the afternoon, the Hashed called on its supporters to leave the embassy and regroup outside the Green Zone "out of respect for the state." "You delivered your message," it said in a statement.
AFP's photographer saw protesters dismantling their tents and leaving the Green Zone. "We burned them!" they said, streaming back out of checkpoints they had breezed through on Tuesday. Kataeb Hezbollah, the group targeted in the U.S. raids, initially told AFP it would stay at the embassy. But the group's spokesman Mohammad Mohyeddin later said it had decided to abide by the Hashed's order. "We scored a huge win: we arrived to the US embassy, which no one had done before," he told AFP. "Now, the ball is in parliament's court," Moyheddin added, referring to lawmakers' efforts to revoke the legal cover for 5,200 U.S. troops to deploy in Iraq.
'You can't do a thing'
Tuesday's embassy attack was the latest episode in spiraling tensions between the United States and Iran since Washington abandoned a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018. Many of those tensions have played out in Iraq, which has close ties with both governments.
U.S. forces have faced a spate of rocket attacks in recent months, blaming them on pro-Iran Hashed factions. Last week, one of those attacks killed a U.S. contractor, prompting the retaliatory U.S. air strikes that killed 25 fighters from Kataeb Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades). President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials have blamed Iran for attacks on US forces and the embassy. "They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat," Trump wrote on Twitter, adding "Happy New Year!"Iran's supreme leader Wednesday condemned U.S. strikes on Iraq and warned his country was ready to hit back."First of all, you can't do a damn thing! This has nothing to do with Iran," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech on state television. "If the Islamic republic decides to oppose or fight against a country, it will do this explicitly," he said. Tehran's foreign ministry said it had summoned an official from the Swiss embassy, which represents US interests in Iran, over American "warmongering" in Iraq.
'Our hands are tied'
By Wednesday, Iraqi forces had reimposed normal security measures around the perimeter of the Green Zone, usually inaccessible without a badge. U.S. officials were alarmed that protesters crossed checkpoints so easily on Tuesday. An Iraqi special forces fighter assigned to guard the Green Zone told AFP his units had no orders to intervene. "If I had had orders to act, I could have fired and stopped the storming of the embassy," he said. "But after what happened, our hands are tied. We can't prevent the situation from deteriorating," he added. U.S. officials have pressured Iraqi authorities to step up security and sent a rapid response team of marines overnight to help guard the compound. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said around 750 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division were prepared to deploy to the region in the coming days. No U.S. personnel were injured in the attack and U.S. officials said they had no plans to evacuate. Ambassador Matthew Tueller was said to be on his way back to Baghdad from holiday but had yet to arrive on Wednesday afternoon. The attack highlighted new strains in the U.S.-Iraqi relationship, which officials from both countries have described to AFP as the "coldest" in years. The U.S. led the 2003 invasion against then-dictator Saddam Hussein and has worked closely with Iraqi officials since, but its influence has waned compared with Tehran's growing clout. Tuesday's dramatic scenes at the embassy sparked comparisons with both the 1979 hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran and the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya's second city Benghazi.

Trump says he does not want, nor foresee, war with Iran
Reuters/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he does not want, or foresee, war with Iran, after he earlier threatened to retaliate against the country following violent protests led by Iranian-backed militias at the US embassy in Baghdad. Asked about the possibility of tensions spiraling into a war with Iran, Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida: “Do I want to? No. I want to have peace. I like peace. And Iran should want to have peace more than anybody. So I don’t see that happening.”

Trump says Iran will ‘pay a very big price’ if lives are lost at any US facility
Reuters, Washington/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iran will be held accountable for lives lost in attacks on any US facilities. “Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat,” Trump wrote on Twitter hours after protesters angry about US air strikes on Iraq hurled stones and torched a security post at the US Embassy in Baghdad. “The US Embassy in Iraq is, & has been for hours, SAFE! Many of our great Warfighters, together with the most lethal military equipment in the world, was immediately rushed to the site,” Trump said. He also thanked Iraqi authorities: “Thank you to the President & Prime Minister of Iraq for their rapid response upon request.”

Pentagon says sending 750 troops to Mideast after embassy attack in Iraq

AFP, Washington/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
The United States is sending around 750 more troops to the Middle East immediately, following an attack by pro-Iranian demonstrators on the US embassy in Baghdad, the Pentagon said Tuesday. More troops from a rapid response unit of the 82nd Airborne Division are prepared to deploy over the next several days, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a statement. “This deployment is an appropriate and precautionary action taken in response to increased threat levels against US personnel and facilities, such as we witnessed in Baghdad today,” he said. “The United States will protect our people and interests anywhere they are found around the world.” The US has deployed hundreds of troops to Kuwait after the attack, an American official had said earlier, telling AFP they would likely be sent to neighboring Iraq. “At least 500 members of the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division have left Fort Bragg in the US, and up to 4,000 may ultimately be deployed,” the official said. Hundreds of angry supporters of an Iraqi Shia militia broke into the US embassy compound on Tuesday as gunshots and sirens rang out. Security guards inside the US embassy fired stun grenades at protesters outside the gates of the compound. The protesters torched the security kiosk at the entrance of the compound, according to Reuters. Iraqi security forces outside the embassy fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, which had ignored calls over megaphones to back away from the embassy.

Pompeo says ‘terrorists’ behind US embassy attack in Iraq, names them
AFP, Washington/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that the attack on the US embassy in Iraq was organized by terrorists, and he named those he said were behind it. “The attack today was orchestrated by terrorists – Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qays al-Khazali – and abetted by Iranian proxies – Hadi al-Amari and Faleh al-Fayyadh,” Pompeo said in a tweet. The tweet included photos that Pompeo said showed all four men outside the US embassy, which was stormed Tuesday by pro-Iranian protesters enraged by US airstrikes against an Iranian backed militant group on Sunday.

US bombings in Iraq and Syria targeted a key Iranian unit
Tom Ashby, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
The US bombings of Kataib Hezbollah bases in Iraq and Syria have been criticized by Iran, Russia, and Iraq itself, which has said it would review its relationship with Washington.
Sunday’s bombing targeted Kataib Hezbollah bases including weapons arsenals and command and control locations, killing 27 people, according to local media reports. The Pentagon said it was in response to repeated attacks by Kataib Hezbollah on US coalition forces based in Iraq, the latest of which was on Friday, when Kataib Hezbollah fired 30 rockets at a US base in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, killing an American contractor. Iraq’s National Security Council said the US bombing had “pushed Iraq to review its relationship” with Washington to “preserve the country’s sovereignty and security and protect the souls of its sons”.“The Iraqi government condemns this act and considers it a violation of Iraqi sovereignty,” the council said in a statement after meeting on Monday. However, the situation on the ground in Iraq is complex. Since the collapse of ISIS’s so-called caliphate in 2017, the country has been over-run with militia groups backed by Iran, led by people who are designated as terrorists by Western powers. Kataib Hezbollah is commanded by Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, who is also the commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq. He is designated as a terrorist by the United States and in this two-year-old video, is shown pledging allegiance to General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - Quds Force. In the video interview, al-Mohandes is asked: “Whom do you like the most among the Iranians?” “Well, the Supreme Leader is not only Iranian, he belongs to everyone,” comes the reply. He is then asked, apart from the Supreme Leader, which Iranian does he like, and he replies: “Qassem Soleimani.”Soleimani is regarded as Iran’s principal military strategist and is designated as a terrorist by the United States, the European Union, and Switzerland.
Asked the reason for his liking Soleimani, al-Mohandes says, smiling: “I don’t know. There are a lot of reasons.”Asked further to explain his relationship with Soleimani, al-Mohandes replies: “It’s the relationship of a soldier.”When the reporter expresses his surprise, al-Mohandes affirms what he said and says: “I’m proud of it.”Al-Mohandes is also a senior commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, which mostly consists of Iranian-backed Shia militias that were integrated into Iraq’s armed forces. The Popular Mobilization Forces bolstered Iraq’s security forces during their battle to retake a third of the country from ISIS insurgents and were later folded into Iraq’s official security structure. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps trains some of the Iraqi militias, including Kataib Hezbollah.- With agencies

Popular Mobilization Forces leader threatens attacks on Saudi, UAE, Bahraini embassies
Leen Alfaisal, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
Secretary-General of the Iraqi Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), a branch of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces, has threatened attacks on the embassies of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain - similar to that of the US embassy. “When the Popular Mobilization Forces are capable of besieging the embassy of evil in Baghdad on this day, then they will soon besiege all the US military bases in Iraq – they will even besiege the embassies of countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and others,” the PMF leader Abo Alaa al-Walae said in a tweet on Tuesday. Hundreds of angry supporters of an Iraqi Shia militia broke down the US embassy gate door on Tuesday, storming inside the compound as gunshots and sirens rang out. “Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat,” Trump wrote on Twitter hours after protesters angry about US airstrikes on Iraq hurled stones and torched a security post at the US embassy in Baghdad. However, Trump later said that he does not want, or foresee, war with Iran. The US bombing targeted Kataib Hezbollah bases including weapons arsenals, and command and control locations, killing 27 people, according to local media reports. The Pentagon said it was in response to repeated attacks by Kataib Hezbollah on US coalition forces based in Iraq, the latest of which was on Friday, when Kataib Hezbollah fired 30 rockets at a US base in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, killing an American contractor.

Iran’s Khamenei condemns US response in Iraq, accuses it of creating ISIS

AFP, Tehran/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
Iran’s supreme leader Wednesday strongly condemned deadly US strikes on Iraq and accused the US of creating ISIS. “I and the government and the nation of Iran strongly condemn this American crime,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech broadcast on state television. They were his first remarks since Sunday’s deadly US strikes on Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militias in western Iraq. He said the US actions in Syria and Iraq were intended to take “revenge” on the PMU “for defeating ISIS.”Since the PMU “crippled and destroyed ISIS - which the US had created - they’re taking revenge,” said Khamenei in a tweet. The United States carried out the raids in retaliation for rocket fire that killed an American civilian contractor at a base in northern Iraq on Friday. In a tweet on Tuesday, Trump accused Iran of “orchestrating” that day’s storming of the US embassy in Baghdad by protesters angry at the American air strikes.In response, Khamenei retweeted the post and said: “That guy has tweeted that we (the United States) see Iran responsible for the events in Baghdad and we will respond to Iran. “First of all, you can’t do a damn thing! This has nothing to do with Iran,” the supreme leader in his televised address. “Secondly, be logical... The people of this region hate America. Why don’t Americans understand this?” he said. “You Americans have committed crimes in Iraq, you have committed crimes in Afghanistan. You have killed people.” Khamenei said Iran was ready to respond to any threat. “If the Islamic republic decides to oppose or fight against a country, it will do this explicitly,” he said. “We are strongly committed to the interests of our country... We are strongly committed to the dignity of our nation. We are strongly committed to the progress and greatness of the nation of Iran. “Should anyone threaten these, we will confront him without any hesitation and will strike our blow,” Khamenei said. “We will never... drag the country towards war. But if others want to impose anything on this country, we will stand against them with all our might.”

US embassy in Baghdad says all public consular operations suspended
Reuters, Baghdad/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
The US Embassy in Baghdad said on Wednesday that all public consular operations were suspended, a day after Iran-backed militias and their supporters stormed its outer perimeter, setting fires, throwing rocks, and smashing surveillance cameras. “Due to militia attacks at the US Embassy compound, all public consular operations are suspended until further notice. All future appointments are cancelled. US citizens are advised to not approach the embassy,” it said in a statement.

Pro-Iran protesters fully withdraw from US embassy in Baghdad
Agencies/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
Pro-Iran demonstrators Wednesday ended a sit-in at the US embassy in Iraq’s capital after an order from the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militias, an AFP correspondent said, a day after their dramatic incursion. “We burned them!” the demonstrators shouted as they streamed out of the high-security Green Zone housing the embassy just as easily as they had walked in on Tuesday. Trucks picked up the tents and makeshift barricades that had been brought in for the planned sit-in. Hundreds of Iraqi militiamen and their supporters hurled stones at the US Embassy in Baghdad for a second day on Wednesday and security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to drive them away. Crowds had rallied on Tuesday to protest against deadly US air strikes on militia bases, setting fires, throwing rocks and smashing surveillance cameras. They did not breach the huge embassy’s main compound, however. The strikes were retaliation for the killing of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, which Washington blamed on Kataib Hezbollah. More than 5,000 US troops are stationed in Iraq supporting local forces. The air strikes have galvanized calls inside Iraq to expel US forces, not just from Iran-backed militias but also their political rivals.

Iran summons Swiss envoy over US “warmongering statements”

Reuters/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
Iran protested on Wednesday to a Swiss envoy representing US interests in Tehran over what it called “warmongering statements” by American officials, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said. The Foreign Ministry summoned the Swiss charge d’affaires and issued “Iran’s strong protest against warmongering statements in violation of the United Nations Charter by US officials,” the ministry said on its website. US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iran will be held accountable for lives lost in attacks on any US facilities. “Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat,” Trump wrote on Twitter hours after protesters angry about US air strikes on Iraq hurled stones and torched a security post at the US Embassy in Baghdad.

Iraqi paramilitary groups tell supporters to withdraw from US Embassy perimeter

Agencies/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
Paramilitary groups who have been protesting against US air strikes in Iraq told their supporters to withdraw from the perimeter of the US Embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday. The crowd did not actually begin withdrawing, according to a Reuters witness. The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU) umbrella group made the call in response to the Iraqi government’s call for the protesters to disperse, it said in a statement. “You delivered your message,” the PMU said in a statement addressed to the crowds encircling the embassy since Tuesday in outrage over deadly American air strikes on a pro-Iran PMU faction at the weekend. It called on supporters to regroup outside the high-security Green Zone where the mission is located, but a leading commander in Kataeb Hezbollah, the group targeted in the US raids, told AFP they would “remain” at the embassy.

Iraqi militiamen hurl stones at US Embassy, prepare for extended stay
Reuters, Baghdad/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
Hundreds of Iraqi militiamen and their supporters hurled stones at the US Embassy in Baghdad for a second day on Wednesday and security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to drive them away. The protests, led by Iranian-backed militias, mark a new turn in the shadow war between Washington and Tehran playing out across the Middle East. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to retaliate against Iran but said later he did not want to go to war. The protests also cast uncertainty over the continued presence of US troops in Iraq. Crowds had rallied on Tuesday to protest against deadly US air strikes on militia bases, setting fires, throwing rocks and smashing surveillance cameras. They did not breach the huge embassy’s main compound, however. Overnight, demonstrators pitched tents and camped outside the embassy walls. On Wednesday morning, they were bringing in food supplies, cooking equipment and mattresses, Reuters witnesses said, suggesting they intended to stay for a long time. Senior Iraqi army officers had negotiated with those gathered outside the embassy in an attempt to convince them to leave but failed to do so. Washington is putting pressure on Iraqi leaders to ensure the security of its staff. The incident marked a sharp escalation of the proxy conflict between Washington and Tehran - both influential players in Iraq - while mass protests are challenging Iraq’s own political system nearly 17 years after the US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The protests followed US air strikes on Sunday on bases operated by the Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah inside Iraq which killed at least 25 fighters and wounded 55. The strikes were retaliation for the killing of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, which Washington blamed on Kataib Hezbollah. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday condemned the US attacks. “The Iranian government, nation and I strongly condemn the attacks,” Iranian state TV quoted Khamenei as saying. Trump accused Iran of orchestrating the violence at the US Embassy and said Tehran would be held responsible. Iran rejected the accusation. More US troops were being sent to the embassy, US officials said. The 750 troops would initially be based out of Kuwait. The officials said that as many as 4,000 troops could be sent to the region in the coming days if needed. More than 5,000 US troops are stationed in Iraq supporting local forces. The air strikes have galvanized calls inside Iraq to expel US forces, not just from Iran-backed militias but also their political rivals.

Iran Summons Envoy over U.S. 'Warmongering'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 01/2020
Tehran summoned an official from the Swiss embassy, which represents U.S. interests in Iran, to complain about American "warmongering" in neighboring Iraq, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. "The Swiss charge d'affaires was summoned to the foreign ministry... over stances of American officials with regards to developments in Iraq," the ministry said. "The Islamic Republic of Iran conveyed its strong protest... over warmongering remarks made by American officials which are in violation of the United Nations Charter," it added.

NYE Celebratory Gunfire Injures Five; 4 Arrested
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 01/2020
Celebratory gunfire wounded five people in Lebanon on New Year’s Eve, the Internal Security Forces said on Wednesday. “Five people were injured in al-Qobbeh, el-Mina and al-Nour Square (in Tripoli), and on the Sayyed Hadi Nasrallah Highway and Choueifat” in Beirut’s suburbs, an ISF statement said. “A number of shooters have been identified while four have been arrested and investigations are still ongoing to apprehend the others,” the ISF added. It also urged citizens to “send documented information about the shooters (pictures or videos)” via the ISF’s website or social media pages, promising that the identity of senders would remain confidential.

Turkey may not send forces to Libya if conflict eases
Reuters, Istanbul/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
Turkey may hold off from sending troops to Libya if the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar halt their offensive against the UN-recognized government in Tripoli and pull back, the Turkish vice president said on Wednesday. The Turkish parliament is due to debate and vote on a bill mandating the deployment of military forces to Libya on Thursday after Fayez al-Serraj's Government of National Accord (GNA) requested support as part of a military cooperation agreement. “After the bill passed from the parliament...it might happen that we would see something different, a different stance and they would say ‘okay, we are withdrawing, dropping the offensive,’” Fuat Oktay said in an interview with Andalou news agency. “Then, why would we go there?”Oktay also said that Ankara hoped the Turkish bill would send a deterrent message to the warring parties. Ankara has already sent military supplies to the GNA despite a United Nations embargo, according to a UN report seen by Reuters, and has said it will continue to support it. The LNA has received support from Russia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

Shelling hit school killing 6 in rebel-held Syrian village
The Associated Press, Beirut/Wednesday, 1 January 2020
Syrian government forces shelled a rebel-held village in the country’s northwest on Wednesday, hitting a school and killing at least six people, opposition activists said. The attack in Idlib province, the last rebel stronghold Syria, was part of an ongoing offensive in which Syrian troops have captured more than 40 villages and hamlets over the past two weeks. Idlib is dominated by al-Qaeda-linked militants and is also home to 3 million civilians. The United Nations has warned of the growing risk of a humanitarian catastrophe in the region, which lies along the Turkish border.
A war-monitoring group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said a teacher and four students were killed in Sunday’s government shelling of the village of Sarmin. Hadi Abdullah, an Idlib-based opposition activists, gave a slightly higher death toll, saying seven people were killed, including a woman and four children. Different death tolls are common in the immediate aftermath of bombings.Syrian troops have been bombarding parts of Idlib since last month, with the shelling and airstrikes intensifying since the ground offensive began on Dec. 19. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that as a result of hostilities, more than 235,000 people had been displaced between Dec. 12 and Dec. 25. Many of them have fled from the town of Maaret al-Numan, toward which the Syrian troops have been steadily advancing. Elsewhere in northern Syria, a car bombing on Wednesday in the town of Suluk, controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters, killed three people, according to Syrian state media and the Observatory. Areas controlled by Turkey-backed fighters have witnessed several explosions, with dozens killed and wounded in the past weeks. Turkey has blamed Syrian Kurdish fighters for the attacks. They deny the charges.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 01-02/2020
US sees 'direct links' between Iran and attack on Baghdad embassy
Joyce Karam and Khaled Yacoub Oweis/The National/January 02/2020
Special representative for Iran Brian Hook welcomed withdrawal of protesters but said Tehran could expect more sanctions
Pro-Iranian militiamen and their supporters load trucks with items from dismantled tents, in front of the US embassy, in Baghdad, Iraq. AP Photo
The US sees a direct operational link between the attack on its embassy in Iraq and Tehran, its special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, said on Wednesday.
Iran-backed Iraqi militia members and supporters on Wednesday withdrew from the mission by order of their leaders, ending a 24-hour siege after the arrival overnight of more American troops.
"The attack on our embassy yesterday was orchestrated by Iran,” Mr Hook told The National.
He said the Trump administration saw a direct operational link between the attack on Tuesday and the government in Tehran.
“Iran organises, trains and equips Shiite military proxies and we do not make a distinction between the Iranian regime and Iranian militias," Mr Hook said.“Any attack by an Iranian militia, the Iranian regime will be held accountable." Mr Hook said the decision by Iraqi militias to withdraw their supporters from the embassy’s perimeter as “a positive development”. He said the situation was “relatively calm”, and that the US troops sent to Baghdad and Iraqi military posted at the embassy would improve security. Mr Hook said he expected more sanctions to be imposed on Iran, whose government was “isolated, running out of money and in a state of panicked aggression”.
The attack on the embassy and the withdrawal order from the Popular Mobilisation Forces, the umbrella body of Iraqi militias mainly answering to Iran, highlighted Tehran’s reach in Iraq.
It threatened to raise tension with the US to a level where violence could be difficult to control.
“We call on all of the crowds present near the US embassy to withdraw in deference to the order by the Iraqi government and to preserve the prestige of the state,” the PMF said, according to Russia Today TV.
The Iraqi military later said: "All protesters have withdrawn, tents dismantled and other forms of demonstrating that accompanied these protests have ended, and the Iraqi security forces have completely secured the embassy perimeter."
Militia members and supporters remained camped outside the embassy despite tear gas and stun grenades fired at them earlier on Wednesday by Iraqi or US forces.
US President Donald Trump said earlier that Iran would be held “fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities”.
Despite the ease with which the crowd entered Baghdad's high-security Green Zone to attack the embassy on Tuesday, their action appeared to be planned to avoid a full assault on the compound or loss of life.
That was in line with a strategy by Washington and Tehran to keep a check on any escalation between the two.
An Iraqi special forces fighter assigned to guard the Green Zone told AFP his units had no orders to intervene.
"If I had had orders to act, I could have fired and stopped the storming of the embassy," he said. Some buildings outside the embassy compound were set on fire and members of the crowd, some in military fatigues, again hurled stones at the embassy on Wednesday.
The attack recalled the 1979 hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran and the 2012 attack on the US mission in the Libyan city of Benghazi.
US military released video of troops being flown in to the embassy after Defence Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday that about 750 more soldiers would be sent immediately to Baghdad.
The embassy was attacked in retaliation to US air strikes on Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia sites in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, in which at least 25 of its members were killed and dozens more wounded.
The Pentagon said the raids were in response to a rocket attack on an American base in Kirkuk last week, in which an American contractor was killed. It was the latest in a series of attacks on US targets in Iraq since Washington intensified sanctions on Iran in mid-2019.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Wednesday said on Twitter that he strongly condemned “the US's malice" in the raids on the militia. Kataib Hezbollah is one of the militias most loyal to Iran in the PMF. Although the paramilitary forces are nominally integrated into the Iraqi state, some often operate under orders from Iran, the US and Iraqis say."Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the US embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible," Mr Trump said on Twitter.
A spokesman for Kataib Hezbollah said its supporters intended to lay siege to the embassy until it was shut down and US diplomats left Iraq.
The US State Department said all personnel at the embassy were safe and there were no plans to evacuate the compound. Ambassador Matthew Tueller was said to be on his way back to Baghdad from holidays but had yet to arrive on Wednesday afternoon.

Trump’s dilemma, how to deal with Iran?
Shmirit Meir/Ynetnews/January 01/2020
معضلة ترامب تكمن في كيفية التعامل مع إيران؟
شميريت مئير/يديعوت أحرونوت/01 كانون الثاني/2020
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/81939/%d8%b4%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%aa-%d9%85%d8%a6%d9%8a%d8%b1-%d9%8a%d8%af%d9%8a%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%aa-%d8%a3%d8%ad%d8%b1%d9%88%d9%86%d9%88%d8%aa-%d9%85%d8%b9%d8%b6%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%85/
Opinion: Iran reverted to the tried and tested method of attacking an American diplomatic mission in order to humiliate the superpower and rekindle traumas from the past.
U.S. President Donald Trump is faced with the same question that has been vexing Israel for the past few decades: how to deal with Iranian aggression and their propensity to up the stakes when their backs seem to be against the wall.
Iran’s back is indeed against the wall. This has been a challenging year for the Iranians, perhaps the most challenging since the Islamic revolution in 1979, with crippling American sanctions, an economy in ruins, anti-government protests that required the use of brutal force along with blocking access to the internet, trouble in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
Iran has transitioned from an expansionist policy to a defensive one.
The goal of the well-organized riots outside the American embassy in Baghdad was not to kill Americans. The purpose was to embarrass Donald Trump, to indicate to the American public that his Iran policy has failed and that he is bringing his country to the brink of war in the Middle East -during an election year.
U.S. media is on automatic pilot fulfilling to role designated by Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani – the most influential person in the region for the past few years.
But Iran’s hysterics are an indication that the “maximum pressure” campaign is working. Iran is in a downward spiral, losing control, and firing randomly in all directions.
The Iranians are not very creative, so it was an old trick they had up their sleeve that they used – protesting masses outside an American embassy, shouting “death to America.”
Washington was wise to remove most personnel not already on Christmas vacation out of the Baghdad embassy compound.
Still, the pictures out of Iraq were meant to remind Americans of the 1979 siege of their embassy in Tehran as well as the attack on the consulate in Benghazi in 2012 that resulted in American deaths and an inescapable albatross around Hillary Clinton’s neck.
The pictures were meant to erase the fact that for weeks now Iraqi protesters have been demanding the Islamic Republic remove itself from their country’s politics.
On Tuesday night, Tahrir Square in Baghdad was alight with fireworks, balloons and partying youths celebrating the new year while around them the city was ablaze.
What will Trump do?
From the moment the danger to Americans in the Baghdad embassy is removed, the administration should exact a heavy price from Iran for the humiliation caused by the pro-Iranian protesters.
Trump had already taken disproportionate steps by killing 25 militiamen in response to one American casualty.
Observers in Israel say the Iranians should be made to pay dearly so as to dissuade them from trying anything like this for years to come, but the decision ultimately lies in the hands of one man – and we await his tweet.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/Sy5hlV9k8

West Africa has ditched its colonial currency. Now the future is crypto
Joseph Dana/Arab News/January 01, 2020
Last month, the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union announced it was replacing its currency, the CFA franc, with the “eco.” In this way, the francophone members of the region are seeking to chart a future truly independent of France. To achieve that, however, they may also want to look toward a landscape increasingly defined by blockchain and cryptocurrency technology.
The CFA franc was established in 1945 by Charles de Gaulle as an instrument of monetary and financial control over France’s African colonies. It has been used by Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo for more than seven decades. Six Central African countries — Gabon, Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea — also use a similar but different version of the CFA franc, but there is no word yet on whether they will follow suit and ditch it.
The question for the former colonies is this: Will a new currency increase prosperity? Or is there yet another step to consider?
The official reason given for doing away with the CFA franc is to encourage new growth and markets, but the move is as much about decolonization, and establishing monetary and financial independence.
In establishing the CFA franc, France set some fairly exacting conditions. After gaining independence, countries using the currency were obliged to keep all their foreign exchange reserves in France. This was reduced to 65 percent in 1965 and to 50 percent in 2005. In return for retaining half the reserves of its former colonies, France pays them 0.75 percent in interest.
The arrangement was highly convenient for postwar France, as it meant the former colonies were effectively providing cheap loans. In addition, France could use the deposits from Africa to help shore up its own currency. The CFA franc, meanwhile, benefited from French backing, which gave it stability.
But times have changed. Today, the arrangement might well be described as a form of monetary ransom. There is no data available for the amount of African reserves held at the French treasury over each of the past 70 years. Yet it is safe to say that France surely benefited from the arrangement. As an indication, Ivory Coast’s reserves alone totaled roughly the equivalent of $6 billion throughout 2018.
Under the new plan, the West African Monetary Union will maintain a peg to the euro during the transition to the eco. But French representatives will no longer sit on the board of its central bank.
Now that the former French colonies have a new currency, the key to putting the past firmly behind is to innovate it in ways that money has not been treated before.
This monetary uncoupling comes at a time of rising anti-French sentiment across the region. French troops who were initially welcomed in Mali in 2013 are now viewed in a far less positive light. French flags now are regularly burned in the streets as the French are increasingly seen to have overstayed their welcome and even to have been engaging in neocolonialism.
The Senegalese development economist Ndongo Samba Sylla sees the CFA franc as a tool that France has used to dominate its former colonies. The currency, he said, “operates as a political tool to control African economies and polities, and also as a device for transferring, with minimal risk, economic surpluses from the African continent to France and Europe. The mechanisms laid during the colonial era remain essentially unchanged.”
Reform of the CFA franc is now underway, but what else must these African countries do to ensure that the mechanisms of colonialism are left well and truly in the past? How can they build a truly independent monetary and fiscal policy while continuing with the process of decolonization?
The first major decision — whether to create independent currencies for each individual country or to keep the monetary union established by the French — has already been made. The eight-member West African economic bloc will remain in place and the currency essentially left intact, albeit with a new name. The more difficult issue is one of unity. Just as the varying degrees of political unity and fiscal coordination in the EU affect the EU’s monetary policy and the stability of its euro currency, unity in West Africa will determine whether the eco succeeds or fails.
The economic trajectories have not been encouraging. While there has been growth, nine of the 14 CFA franc member-countries are classified by the UN as “less developed.” For some, per capita GDP is actually lower now than in the 1970s.
The way forward for these West African nations lies in carefully comporting themselves toward global demand. First, incentives for international manufacturers to import new technology will bring much-needed capital and quality jobs. Next, and just as importantly, embracing digital currency technology could help ease fears among foreign investors of monetary surprises such as devaluations and currency controls. A digital eco operating on a secure blockchain platform would also be a useful currency to serve the interest of mobile workers across the region, benefitting not only francophone Africa.
Indeed, a new financial architecture underpinned by monetary innovations afforded by cryptocurrency principles — free of the possibility that governments might manipulate the currency — will go some way toward assuaging concerns that have plagued African nations’ management of their currencies. This is not to say that it will be easy to accomplish. However, a development that has not been widely appreciated outside the continent has been the rise of fintech. Africa has the talent to figure it out.
Now that these former French colonies have a new currency, the key to putting the past firmly behind is to innovate it in ways that money has not been treated before. The eco offers an opportunity for their economies to prosper by leapfrogging conventional norms through blockchain technology. They should be bold and break through the paradigm as they have broken with France.
*Joseph Dana, based between South Africa and the Middle East, is editor-in-chief of emerge85, a lab that explores change in emerging markets and its global impact.
Copyright: Syndication Bureau

Why Iraq is a key battleground for Tehran in 2020
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Arab News/January 01, 2020
The Iranian regime is balancing on a tightrope. Recent protests may have subsided after the brutal crackdown, which has already left an estimated 1,500 dead, but this lull is expected to be only temporary as the protesters reorganize and build up to be one of the most significant uprisings in Iran yet.
Meanwhile, Tehran is teetering on the edge of war in the Arabian Gulf with the US. Though unlikely, any conflict that would strangle the flow of about a quarter of the world’s oil requirements would have devastating consequences for the global economy. And the key to how this entire situation may unfold in 2020 lies with Iraq. The US war in Iraq achieved exactly the opposite of what it was meant to: Instead of creating a staunch and reliable partner to help encircle Iran, it has created an ally of Tehran.
This is not to mention that Iran was much more helpful to Baghdad in the latter’s fight against Daesh in the Sunni-dominated northwest of the country in the 2010s than was the US, and so the Iraqi government owes a debt of gratitude to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and their Shiite militia proxies in Iraq for that help.After almost two decades of war, Iraqi politicians are increasingly putting the needs of the country before their sectarian allegiances, and former alliances with foreign sponsors and backers.
At this point, it may be more a matter of self-preservation than anything else since this political realignment is driven largely by popular protest, but the shift is nonetheless profoundly significant in the broader geopolitics of the Middle East. It turns out that after years of bitter insurgency against the US occupation, and having fought off Daesh, the people of Iraq are in no mood to be pawns in Iran’s geopolitical games either.
This may well turn out to be an existential problem for Iran. The current protests in the country are a consequence of decades of economic mismanagement — further exacerbated by US sanctions under the Trump administration’s policy of maximum pressure.
After years of bitter insurgency against US occupation, and having fought off Daesh, the people of Iraq are in no mood to be pawns in Iran’s geopolitical games.
Tehran aims to use allied countries as conduits for foreign trade in order to circumvent US embargoes and ease economic pressures at home. Iraq would be perfect to this end since the US would be reluctant to impose penalties on the country, even if it is aiding Iran, for fear of once again destabilizing it and igniting another anti-American powder keg in the Middle East.
The Iranians seem to be repeating the mistakes of the US in Iraq, overplaying their hand regarding how much leverage they have in the country, and how much they should try to exert. They are trying to force choice into positions of power — choice militias, choice political parties and choice local leaders. Instead of courting the friendship and alliance of the country as a whole, they are opting to throw their weight around on the Iraqi political stage. And this is backfiring badly.
That is not to say the approach is bound to fail. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are a political-military force with no equivalent in the West. It has already proved extremely effective on the ground in the Middle East, and was a pivotal factor in the survival of Bashar Assad’s regime against all odds.
The Revolutionary Guards are believed to command as many as 100,000 troops and local auxiliaries in Iraq, and are working hard to derail the emergence of an autonomous and nationalistic political consensus among Iraq’s leadership in Baghdad. If they succeed, Iran should be able to use Iraq as a conduit for its international trade and stabilize the economic situation at home in the coming months.
Yet the heavy-handed, hard-power approach Tehran is taking with Iraq may well end up boomeranging if the Shiite leaders of political forces in Baghdad side with the pro-autonomy popular protests in the country, rather than yielding to the menacing presence of the Revolutionary Guards. Hence, we have seen Iranian militia leaders such as Qais Al-Khazali, chief of Asaeb Ahl Al-Haq; Abu Mahdi Al-Mohandes, the Hashd Al-Shaabi leader; and Hadi Al-Ameri from the Badr Corps attempting to hijack the protests by directing crowds to breach the US Embassy.
It is too early to call which way this situation will go in 2020. But it is profoundly ironic that as things stand, it is the mullahs in Baghdad who hold the fate of Iran in their hands, rather than the other way around.
*Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is a research professor at the Strategic Studies Institute at the US Army War College, and author of “The Prospective Foreign Policy of a Corbyn Government and US National Security Implications” (Hudson, September 2019). Twitter: @AzeemIbrahim

Iraqis must stop their country from becoming a proxy battlefield

Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/January 01, 2020
Iraq is experiencing an escalation of armed violence between Iran-backed militias and US forces. The rocket attack that targeted a military base in Kirkuk, killing an American and injuring Americans and Iraqis, followed previous attempts targeting the vicinity of US military bases or the US embassy in Baghdad without resulting in injuries or casualties. But the latest attack crossed America’s declared red lines and exposed its personnel to a direct attack.
US forces launched “precision defensive strikes” against five facilities of the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq and Syria, killing at least 25 people and injuring 51 others. As a result, the leaders and members of the Iran-affiliated Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) attempted to ignite Iraqis against the US and threatened to carry out retaliatory military operations.
Protests were held outside the US embassy in the Green Zone on Tuesday. The outer fence of the embassy was set alight, and protesters attempted to break in, prompting Iraqi security forces to intervene. The most prominent leaders of the PMF and Hezbollah Brigades participated in this protest.
Why have these developments come about, and how are they linked to anti-government protests, discontent with the political elite as well as Iranian interference in Iraq? It is clear that Iran is very worried about the continuity of the protests that prevented it from appointing a prime minister affiliated with it.
These protests have also destroyed the facilities of its militias, its diplomatic and consulate headquarters, and affected its exports to Iraq, which is a serious danger to Iran’s influence in Iraq. By attacking the US military base, Iran wanted to shuffle the cards to achieve two goals, the first of which is to urge pro-Iran parties to exert pressure to end the protests — a major headache for the Iranian leadership — by convincing people that the country is at war with the US and the protests must stop.
Iran’s second goal is to pressure for removal of US forces from Iraq, close the embassy in Baghdad, and inflame Iraqi anger to provoke a US reaction, which would, consequently, bring Iraq back to the Iranian axis. The editor-in-chief of Iran’s Kayhan newspaper, Hossein Shariatmadari, in October called on Iraqis to occupy the US embassy in Baghdad.
It remains important to observe the developments that Iraq will experience in the next week to see which course the crisis will take.
It seems the US was expecting escalation inside Iraq, but it could never ignore the attack, the crossing of red lines, and the undermining of its authority. A press release from the US Department of Defense emphasized there were unlikely to be long-term strikes against the PMF, and that the reactions of the US military depended on what the group did in the future. The press release was a truce with the PMF as it mentioned that the attacks came in response to repeated attacks by Hezbollah Brigades on Iraqi bases. It also stressed that Iran and its affiliated forces must stop their attacks against the US and coalition forces, and respect the sovereignty of Iraq to ​​avoid any additional defensive actions by US forces.
That is why the only victim in this process will be the Iraqi civil movement because pro-Iran political forces in Iraq would have managed to shuffle the cards, especially after the attack on the embassy. Based on this, they will exert all pressure to end the anti-Iranian protest movement and make it seem like the reason has been the greater battle.
These developments can also lead to sympathies for PMF factions by the ruling political elite and the constituencies close to it.
A sympathy campaign has already appeared on social media and, most importantly, the former prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, announced three days of mourning for those killed in the US military operation.
The decisive matter, however, will be the stance of Najaf authorities. On a political level, the strike will encourage the political elite to take positions that are far from Iran’s impositions regarding the nomination of the prime minister. That is because if many of the Iraqi elite sense that Iran cannot act in Iraq with complete freedom as it did before, their stances toward Iran will change.
It remains important to observe the developments that Iraq will experience in the next week to see which course the crisis will take, and the impact of these transformations in the Iraqi political scene on civil protests. Also, America’s calculations on how to deal with these developments, in light of the electoral climate that dominates the US political scene and the current administration, will contribute to determining the course of the crisis.
We count on the wise and patriotic people of Iraq to ensure their country does not fully turn into a battlefield for a proxy war between Iran and the US. Moreover, if the Iranian hegemony over Iraq returns more strongly than before, the future of the Iraqi people will be similar to the isolation, persecution and international sanctions that Iranian people suffer due to a war in which they have no stake.
*Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is Head of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami

Europe: Anti-Christian Attacks Reach All-Time High in 2019
سورين كرّين/معهد كايتستون: العداء ضد المسيحيين في أوروبا تصاعد بشكل كبير خلال العام 2019
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/January 01/2020
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/81936/%d8%b3%d9%88%d8%b1%d9%8a%d9%86-%d9%83%d8%b1%d9%91%d9%8a%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d9%83%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%b6%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84/

The issue of anti-Christian vandalism was rarely reported by the European media until February 2019, when vandals attacked nine churches within the space of two weeks. The issue made headlines again in April 2019, when a suspicious fire gutted the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Since then, however, the European media are once again shrouding facts in silence.
"Seeking to destroy or damage Christian buildings is a way of 'wiping the slate clean' of the past." — Annie Genevard, MP, Republicans Party, in an interview in Le Figaro, April 2, 2019.
"In the past, even if one was not a Christian, the expression of the sacred was respected. We are facing a serious threat to the expression of religious freedom. Secularism must not be a rejection of the religious, but a principle of neutrality that gives everyone the freedom to express his faith." — Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, in an interview with the Italian magazine Il Timone, August 5, 2019.
"We are witnessing the convergence of laicism — conceived as secularism, which relegates the faithful only to the private sphere and where every religious denomination is banal or stigmatized — with the overwhelming emergence of Islam, which attacks the infidels and those who reject the Koran. On one hand, we are mocked by the media ... and on the other, there is the strengthening of Islamic fundamentalism. These are two joint realities." — Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, in an interview with the Italian magazine Il Timone, August 5, 2019.
Anti-Christian hostility is sweeping across Western Europe, where, during 2019, Christian churches and symbols were deliberately attacked day after day. The issue made headlines in April 2019, when a suspicious fire gutted the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (pictured). Since then, however, the European media are once again shrouding facts in silence. (Photo by Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images)
Anti-Christian hostility is sweeping across Western Europe, where, during 2019, Christian churches and symbols were deliberately attacked day after day.
Gatestone Institute reviewed thousands of newspaper reports, police blotters, parliamentary inquiries, social media posts and specialized blogs from Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The research shows (see appendices below) that roughly 3,000 Christian churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments were vandalized, looted or defaced in Europe during 2019 — which is on track to becoming a record year for anti-Christian sacrilege on the continent.
Violence against Christian sites is most widespread in France, where churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments are being vandalized, desecrated and burned at an average rate of three per day, according to government statistics. In Germany, attacks against Christian churches are occurring at an average rate of two per day, according to police blotters.
Attacks on Christian churches and symbols are also commonplace in Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The attacks overwhelmingly involve Roman Catholic sites and symbols, although in Germany, Protestant churches are also being targeted.
The perpetrators of anti-Christian attacks — which include acts of arson, defecation, desecration, looting, mockery, profanation, Satanism, theft, urination and vandalism — are rarely caught. When they are, police and media often censor information about their identities and ethnic backgrounds. Many suspects are said to have mental disorders; as a result, many anti-Christian attacks are not categorized as hate crimes.
In France and Germany, the spike in anti-Christian attacks dovetails with the recent mass immigration from the Muslim world. The lack of official statistics on perpetrators and motives makes it impossible to know precisely how many attacks can be attributed to Muslim anti-Christianism or the jihadist cause.
In Spain, by contrast, attacks against churches and crosses are overwhelmingly carried out by anarchists, radical feminists and other far-left activists, who appear to be striving for Christianity to be permanently removed from the public square.
The motives behind the anti-Christian attacks, which are often met with public indifference, seem to fall into four broad categories:
Vandalism. Most attacks against Christian sites in Europe consist of acts of vandalism. These often lack explicit anti-Christian intent, but cross over into profanation and desecration when they target objects and symbols sacred to Christians. From a strictly legal perspective, such crimes are difficult to prosecute as hate crimes: according to the laws of most European countries, prosecutors must prove that the vandalism was specifically motivated by an animosity toward Christians or Christianity.
Theft. Many attacks have financial motives. In France, Germany and elsewhere, thieves have stolen church bells, sacred metal objects and even drain pipes, apparently with the aim of selling those items to scrap dealers. In Britain, nearly half of all churches on the National Historical List for England have been ransacked. Many of the crimes are being attributed to highly organized gangs which use drones, online maps and global positioning systems first to identify their targets through aerial footage and then plot their own escape routes. The plunder is dominated by thefts of metal, with entire roofs being removed from historic places of worship, according to the heritage agency, Historic England.
Politics. Some attacks, especially those against Roman Catholicism, which some radical feminists and radical secularists perceive to be a symbol of patriarchal power and authority, are political in nature. Such attacks include defacing churches and religious symbols with political graffiti, much of it anarchist or feminist in nature. In Geneva, Switzerland, for instance, the iconic International Monument to the Protestant Reformation, also known as the Reformation Wall, was vandalized with multi-colored paint forming a rainbow, a symbol of the LGBT groups.
Religion. Many attacks that appear to be religious or spiritual in nature reflect a deep-seated hostility toward Christianity. Such attacks include smearing feces on representations of Jesus Christ or statues of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Other attacks involve the defilement or theft of Communion wafers, which Roman Catholics believe are transformed into the real presence of Christ when consecrated. Some of these attacks may be the work of Satanists, who use the consecrated host in a ritual called the Black Mass.
Such attacks, especially on the essence of Roman Catholic beliefs, appear to be aimed at intimidating or harassing Catholics or preventing them from practicing their faith. These attacks, which do meet the definition of hate crimes, pose a direct threat to the freedom of religion in Europe, but prosecutions are rare.
Writing for the Spanish newspaper ABC, Juan Pedro Quiñonero, its Paris correspondent for more than 35 years, explained:
"The desecrations have an evident anti-Christian character. Drunk with fierce hatred, the vandals want to give their actions a clear anti-religious dimension. In recent months, anti-Semitic gangs have desecrated Jewish cemeteries, 'signing' their actions with swastikas. In the case of the desecration of Catholic churches, vandalism is not 'signed.' It speaks for itself: heinous mockeries of the figure of Christ on the cross and the desecration of high altars."
European media outlets, which often amplify attacks on Muslims, have tended to downplay malicious acts against Christians. The issue of anti-Christian vandalism was rarely reported by the European media until February 2019, when vandals attacked nine churches within the space of two weeks. The issue made headlines again in April 2019, when a suspicious fire gutted the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Since then, however, the European media are once again shrouding facts in silence.
The French newspaper Le Monde has disputed the government's use of the term "anti-Christian acts" and warned politicians not to "instrumentalize" the issue:
"More than a thousand acts a year, an average of three per day: the number is high, but what does it cover? Can we really speak of 'profanations' — a strong term — which implies an attack on the sacredness of a place of worship?
"Ideological motivations are in the minority: it is mainly about thefts and vandalism. The perpetrators often are minors."
Annie Genevard, a French MP for the center-right Republicans party, has called for a parliamentary investigation in order better to understand the nature and motivations of anti-Christian attacks. In an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro, she said:
"Recently, two terribly serious acts of vandalism were committed in symbolic places and shocked me greatly. A few days ago, the fire in the Church of Saint Sulpice, a church that houses remarkable works: there is nearly a million euros of damage and works are irretrievably lost! And some time ago, vandals broke into the Basilica of Saint Denis and damaged stained-glass windows and the organ. Saint Denis it is not only a place of Christian worship, it is the necropolis of the kings of France! It is a meeting place between our national history and our Christian roots. That one dares to attack this monument is really shocking not only for Christians but for many citizens, whatever their convictions. When an anti-Christian act is committed, we turn our backs on the history of France, which has an intimate connection with the Christian religion.
"To attack a Christian tomb or a church, whatever the motivation of the author, is a way to attack one part of our collective identity, because Christianity and its monuments have shaped our culture, our history and our landscapes. Seeking to destroy or damage Christian buildings is a way of 'wiping the slate clean' of the past. In an era where the most absolute cultural relativism reigns, it is all the more serious that some of our oldest and most valuable landmarks are endangered. A civilization that would deny and turn away from its past would be a civilization that would be lost. I think this is worrying, and there is a need for a strong political response."
In an interview with the Italian magazine Il Timone, the Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, Dominique Rey, said that the attacks against churches in Europe are taking place within the context of a European society marked by secularism, nihilism, hedonism, cultural and moral relativism, consumerism, and the widespread loss of the sense of the sacred. He noted:
"In the past, even those who said they were non-Christian lived in a cultural context marked by Christianity.... roots that have been abandoned by our culture and by our societies. Once the Christian roots, which were the common denominator, were removed, people turned to communitarianism, which led to a social fragmentation that is leading to a break. To find a common base of values and points of reference, Europe must restore centrality to its Christian roots....
"There is an evolution of acts of profanation against monuments, but also against the Catholic faith itself. In the past, even if one was not a Christian, the expression of the sacred was respected. We are facing a serious threat to the expression of religious freedom. Secularism must not be a rejection of the religious, but a principle of neutrality that gives everyone the freedom to express his faith.
"We are witnessing the convergence of laicism — conceived as secularism, which relegates the faithful only to the private sphere and where every religious denomination is banal or stigmatized — with the overwhelming emergence of Islam, which attacks the infidels and those who reject the Koran. On one hand, we are mocked by the media ... and on the other, there is the strengthening of Islamic fundamentalism. These are two joint realities."
The French political analyst Jérôme Fourquet, in his book — French Archipelago: Birth of a Multiple and Divided Nation — shows how the de-Christianization of France is taking place within the context of mass migration from the Muslim world. He provides extensive statistical data — for instance, that less than 5% of French people regularly attend Mass on Sundays — to show that France's detachment from Christianity is so far-reaching that the country now is effectively "post-Christian." He writes:
"There is a growing de-Christianization, which is leading to the 'terminal phase' of the Catholic religion.... For hundreds of years the Catholic religion profoundly structured the collective conscience of French society. Today this society is the shadow of what it once was. A great civilizational change is underway."
Appendix I: Attacks on Christian Churches and Symbols in Europe in 2019
Gatestone Institute reviewed thousands of newspaper reports, police blotters, parliamentary inquiries, social media posts and specialized blogs from Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The research found that approximately 3,000 Christian churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments were vandalized, burned, looted or defaced in Europe during 2019 — at more than five a day, a record year for anti-Christian hostility on the continent.
Suspicious Fires at Churches in Europe in 2019:
December 15. Saint-Just-en-Bas, France. A suspicious fire destroyed the roof of the town's 15th century church. More than three dozen worshippers who were in the building when the fire broke out were evacuated. The church's roof had been renovated during the summer at a cost of €200,000 ($225,000).
December 5, Lyon, France. An arsonist set fire to the doors of the Church of Saint-Georges.
November 16. Buschhoven, Germany. Arsonists set fire to the Catholic Church of St. Katharina. It was the second arson attack on the church in as many weeks. Arsonists also set fire to a nearby Protestant church, the Versöhnungskirche.
November 13. Chios, Greece. Arsonists set fire to three churches in the village of Chalkios: The attacks against the Agios Haralambos Church, the Church of Panagia and the Church Agios Petros and Pavlos were attributed to illegal migrants, who are being house at a migrant camp situated 500 meters from one of the churches.
November 12. Éauze, France. Two 15-year-olds set fire to the Éauze Cathedral. The Gothic church, a national heritage site, sustained significant damage.
November 8. Lleida, Spain. Arsonists set two fires inside the Church of Sant Joan.
September 20. Olivenza, Spain. Arsonists set fire to the front doors of the Convent of San Juan de Dios. In August, the convent's chapel was defaced with graffiti.
October 10. Naples, Italy. Arsonists set fire to the historic Basilica of San Giovanni Maggiore.
September 10. Froncles, France. Arsonists set fire to the Church of Saint-Joseph.
September 9. Witzenhausen, Germany. Arsonists tried to burn down Christuskirche, a Lutheran church.
September 4. Wimbotsham, England. St. Mary the Virgin Church, an historic church in Wimbotsham, was gutted by a fire. The church, originally built in 1175, was "100% damaged" and all furniture was lost, including an altar table dating to 1638. "The history and heritage lost in this fire is irreplaceable and the costs of repairing the physical damage will be substantial," said Peter Aiers, of the Churches Conservation Trust. An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.
August 30. Wildeshausen, Germany. Arsonists set fire to St. Peter Catholic Church, causing more than €100,000 ($112,000) in damage.
August 21. Rheine-Schotthock, Germany. Arsonists tried to burn down St. Ludgeruskirche Catholic Church. Previously, thieves broke into the church on August 6.
August 24. Saint-Amand-sur-Sèvre, France. A suspicious fire broke out at the church of Saint-Amand, which dates to the 11th century.
July 30. Bad Schussenried, Germany. An arsonist set fire to a church in the Schussenried Abbey, a former monastery founded in 1183.
July 29. Kippenheim, Germany. An arsonist set fire to hymnals in St. Mauritius Catholic Church.
July 19. Hyvinkää, Finland. Arsonists set fire to the Old Church. The church was saved but an adjacent storage facility was completely destroyed.
June 30. Bourg-Achard, France. Arsonists set fire to the organ at the Church of Saint-Lô. The organ was completely destroyed. On June 26, arsonists set fire to an altar cloth at the same church, which has now been closed.
June 12. Vienna, Austria. Arsonists set fire to the Dominican Church of St. Rotunda. A tourist used holy water to put out the fire.
June 1. Ankum, Germany. Arsonists set two fires simultaneously at St. Nicholas Church.
May 24. Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Holy Family Church in Ballymagroarty was set on fire and completely destroyed. CCTV footage showed a group of unidentified youths starting the fire.
May 16. Nordhausen, Germany. Arsonists set fire to the historic St. Blasii church, originally built in the 12th century. The ante-chamber to the church was burned.
April 21. Eyguières, France. A suspicious fire damaged the confessional of the Church of Notre Dame de Grace.
April 15. Paris, France. A suspicious fire gutted the iconic 12th century Notre Dame Cathedral.
April 19. Heek, Germany. Vandals attempted to set fire to a church in Nienborg.
March 19. Senigallia, Italy. An arsonist tried — twice on the same day — to set fire to the Cathedral of San Pietro.
March 17. Paris, France. A suspicious fire destroyed the entrance to the Church of Saint Sulpice, the second-largest church in Paris. Police said that the fire was not accidental.
March 5. Skegness, England. St. Matthew's Church was damaged in an arson attack.
February 21. Hellenthal, Germany. An arsonist set fire to the Trinitatis Lutheran Church. The church's roof was completely destroyed.
January 29. Sainte-Foy-Lès-Lyon, France. A 40-year-old man with a long criminal record was arrested for trying to burn down the Church of Saint Foy. He was placed in a psychiatric ward.
January 20, Almería, Spain. Arsonists attempted to burn down the hermitage of Torregarcía; arsonists previously tried to burn down the chapel on January 11.
January 17. Grenoble, France. The Church of Saint Jacques was completely destroyed by fire. Only the bell tower was left standing. Police initially had concluded that the fire was an accident, caused by in an electric short circuit in the roof of the church. On October 8, however, Grenoble Prosecutor Eric Vaillant said that an anarchist group had deliberately started the fire, although the perpetrators had not yet been identified.
January 10. Rovereto, Italy. Arsonists attempted to burn down the Church of Sant Rocco. The attack was believed to be a response to the church's opposition to abortion.
Attacks on Christian Historical Sites in Europe in 2019:
December 5. Valdecilla, Spain. Vandals destroyed a 16th century stone cross at the Church of Solares-Valdecilla. A 14-year-old vandal broke his leg when part of the stone fell on him.
November 4. Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France. Thieves rammed a car into the doors of the Cathedral of Oloron-Sainte-Marie, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and stole silverware, a monstrance, a chalice and liturgical garments from the 16th century. Mayor Hervé Lucbéreilh said: "It is a considerable loss. Some pieces are unique, like the monstrance of Saint Grat, and no insurance will replace them. The thieves were obviously connoisseurs...they only stole the most precious items which dated from the 16th century. Beyond the market value, the inhabitants find themselves amputated of part of their history and their heritage."
October 16. Bois-de-Céné, France. Three teenagers were arrested for stealing relics from the Church of Bois-de-Céné, a national historical monument which dates to the 14th century.
September 9. Seville, Spain. Vandals destroyed the historic Cross of the Inquisition at the City Hall. Mayor Juan Espadas condemned the "absolutely inexplicable vandal destruction" of a the "jewel" of Seville's heritage.
August 19. Brue-Auriac, France. Thieves stole an 85-kg (187-pound) bronze church bell from a Romanesque chapel. Mayor André Rousselet said that he believed that the bell was melted, and the metal was sold, possibly yielding up to €500 ($560) for the thief.
July 19. Ginasservis, France. Thieves stole two bells from two chapels in the village. The 80-kg bell of the Chapelle Saint-Damase dates from 1867; the 53-kg bell of the Chapelle des Pénitents dates from 1737. The latter chapel is classified as a national historic monument. Mayor Hervé Philibert said that the bells were carefully removed and that nothing was broken. He said that he believes that the purpose of the theft is "resale to a collector."
February 27. Hochheim, Germany. Vandals ransacked the St. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church, an iconic landmark built in 1730. In January 2016, the church was set on fire by an arsonist, causing more than half-a-million-euros in damage.
February 26. Hanover, Germany. A burglar smashed the windows of the Kreuzkirche, a medieval church consecrated in 1333.
February 23. Dublin, Ireland. A 36-year-old Dublin man, Brian Bridgeman desecrated several mummies at St. Michan's, a church that dates to 1095. He opened crypts in the church's vaults and twisted the head of a nun who had lived 400 years ago. He also decapitated an 800-year-old crusader and removed his head from the site. The skull was later found by police and returned to the church. Bridgeman, who was identified on CCTV and admitted guilt, was sentenced to 28 months in prison. "It's a sad day for the church and a sad day for humanity that someone would do such a thing," said Archdeacon David Pierpoint.
February 5. Lavaur, France. Two teenagers desecrated the Cathedral of St. Alain, which dates to the 13th century. They then set fire to a nativity scene that was still in place from the Christmas holidays. The fire caused extensive smoke damage to the cathedral, which had just undergone a five-year, multi-million-euro renovation. The teenagers were identified through CCTV footage.
January 18. Minden, Germany. Vandals smashed the stained-glass windows of St. Simeon's Lutheran Church, which was consecrated in 1214. In November 2018, the church was defaced with graffiti; in March 2017, vandals smashed a 19th century stained-glass window.
January 10. Ripley, England: Thieves stole the lead roof of All Saints Church, which dates to 1390. During the course of the theft the thieves caused extensive damage to the stone parapet on the roof. The damage was estimated at tens of thousands of pounds.
Desecrations of Cemeteries in Europe in 2019:
December 23. Villeroux, Belgium. More than a dozen graves at a local cemetery were desecrated. Gravestones were knocked over and crosses were smashed.
December 14. Aron, France. Vandals desecrated 30 graves at a local cemetery. They smashed crosses, stole marble plates as well as a statue of Jesus Christ.
November 30. Saint-Priest-la-Prugne, France. A local cemetery was ransacked.
November 24. Buré, France. A local cemetery was desecrated. Gravestones were knocked over and crosses were smashed.
October 27. Zabrze Helence, Poland. A total of 29 tombstones and 22 crosses were destroyed at the cemetery of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church.
August 30. Vals-près-le-Puy, France. Tombstones were overturned in three different cemeteries in the town. Police said the attacks were not religiously motivated.
July 21. North Jutland, Denmark. A 45-year-old man spray-painted the number '666' on 87 gravestones at Hadsund Cemetery.
June 20. Evesham, England. Vandals defaced tombstones at St. Andrews Parish Church Cemetery with satanic graffiti. On June 16, vandals desecrated more than 100 graves at the same cemetery.
February 14, Madrid, Spain. Gravestones were defaced at the cemetery of the Almudena Cathedral.
February 6. Kamień Krajeński, Poland. Vandals ransacked a local cemetery. Tombstones were destroyed, crosses were knocked down and a statue of Jesus was destroyed.
Urination, Defecation and Exhibitionism at Christian Sites in Europe in 2019:
November 20. Tarbes, France. Vandals ransacked the Church of Saint-Jean. They broke open the doors, smashed statues and burned hymn books. They also urinated and defecated on the church floors and used Bibles and hymn books as toilet paper.
October 27. Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre, France. Five teenagers vandalized a local church. They urinated on confessionals and holy water fonts and set fire to alter cloths and hymn books.
August 28. Montefiascone, Italy. The Church of the Madonna dell'Arco was equipped with security cameras after vandals left excrement, vomit, condoms, cigarettes and beer cans scattered throughout the building. The church, which dates to 1796, has also been spray-painted with Satanist graffiti.
August 25. Argenthal, Germany. An exhibitionist exposed himself to worshippers at a Catholic Mass.
August 20. Giovo, Italy. The doors of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta di Verla were smeared with excrement.
August 1. Crebio, Italy. The Church of Sant Antonio was desecrated with excrement that was smeared on the doors, walls and holy water fonts.
July 26. Jaén, Spain. An 18-year-old man defecated in front of the altar of the Roman Catholic Santuario de la Fuensanta de Villanueva and then smeared his feces on a statue of Jesus Christ. The act was captured on CCTV.
May 31. Lahntal-Caldern, Germany. Vandals broke into the Nikolaikirche, a Lutheran church, set fire to a Bible and a hymnal and left a pile of feces at the entranceway.
May 17. Großholbach, Germany. Vandals ransacked the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, burned a Jesus statue and urinated on the pews. "This hurts," said Mayor Michael Kohlhass. "These are values ​​that have simply been trampled upon."
February 5. Nîmes, France. Vandals broke into the Notre Dame des Enfants church, forced open the tabernacle which houses the Eucharist, scattered consecrated hosts and spread excrement on the walls and inside and outside the church.
Anarcho-Feminist-Satanist and Politically-Motivated Attacks on Churches in Europe in 2019:
December 5. Munich, Germany. Four churches in the Munich area were defaced with political graffiti.
November 27. Mordelles, France. The Church of Saint-Pierre was defaced with anarchist graffiti.
November 26. Rennes, France. November 26. Vandals defaced the Church of Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle with Satanist graffiti.
November 13. Segovia, Spain. November 13. The Church of San Agustín, which dates to the 16th century, was spray-painted with anarchist graffiti. An "anti-fascist" group called Yesca claimed responsibility for the vandalism.
August 18. Singen, Germany. Vandals spray-painted Herz-Jesu Catholic Church with the number, "666."
June 19. London, England. Vandals lit fires outside the doors of four churches in east London. At each church, occult symbols and messages including pentagrams, spirals, the number 666 and the word "hell" were etched into the doors.
March 8. Madrid, Spain. The Church of Santa Mónica in Rivas Vaciamadrid was spray-painted with anti-Catholic and radical feminist graffiti to mark International Women's Day.
March 8. Logroño, Spain. The Cathedral of Santa María de la Redonda was defaced with feminist propaganda.
March 8. Seville, Spain. The Church of San Roque was defaced with anarcho-feminist graffiti.
March 8. Valladolid, Spain. Radical feminists broke into the archbishopric of Valladolid.
March 5. Reichstett, France. Vandals smashed the stained-glass windows of a Catholic church and painted "666" and "Satan" on the church walls.
March 4. Alicante, Spain. Satanists performed an occultist ceremony in front of an evangelical church. They then defaced the entrance to the church with Satanist graffiti.
February 22. Katowice, Poland. Four local chapels and churches were defaced with Satanist graffiti.
January 31. Vendôme, France. Thieves broke into the Church of Madeleine and stole a wooden tabernacle containing a ciborium and consecrated hosts. "The consecrated hosts are sometimes used during black magic rituals," said Father Pierre Cabarat. "This theft is a profanation, an assault on the Christian community."
January 16. Córdoba, Spain. The Santa Victoria de Córdoba Roman Catholic school was defaced with anarchist graffiti.
Attacks on Nativity Scenes in Europe in 2019:
December 25. Ourense, Spain. A municipal nativity scene was damaged and a statue of the Christ Child was stolen. The same nativity scene was damaged on December 21.
December 19. Dijon, France. A nativity scene at the Church of Notre-Dame was destroyed.
December 18. Saint-Éloy-les-Mines, France. A municipal nativity scene was damaged. Mayor Marie-Thérèse Sikora said: "We are still a Judeo-Christian country. It is deplorable to attack a crib and decorations. We do this for the children, but this morning, they were devastated in front of the crib."
December 17. Torrelavega, Spain. Vandals a municipal nativity scene was ransacked and a statue of the Christ Child was decapitated.
December 16, Tárrega, Spain. Town councilors representing the far-left parties ERC and CUP dismantled the municipal nativity scene in order to "preserve the secular character" of the municipality.
November 26, Vienna, Austria. A statue of the Christ Child was stolen twice from a nativity scene at a Christmas market in the Simmering district.
January 1. Valencia, Spain. An historic nativity scene in Callosa de Segura was destroyed.
Islam-related Attacks on Christians and Christian Sites in Europe in 2019:
December 6. Bandol, France. Vandals defaced with spray paint a memorial to Franco-Armenian friendship. The graffiti included the word "Turk." In a statement, the city said: "The mayor and the elected officials condemn with the utmost firmness this act which stains the memory of Armenians. Armenia was the victim of an atrocious genocide which resulted in more than a million victims between 1915 and 1916. France recognized this genocide in 2001."
November 30. Marienthal, France. A 23-year-old man who claimed to be wearing a suicide vest ransacked a chapel adjacent to the Convent of Carmel of the Sacred Heart. Sister Donata, prioress of Carmel, explained: "A young man came to see us. He was calm. He asked to go to the chapel to pray, and there, at one point, madness took him. He started to ransack everything. He knocked over the crucifix and the statue of the Sacred Heart, which he damaged. He knocked down the candlesticks as well as the stalls. He chipped the altar. He attacked everything. Never has such a thing happened here." The Strasbourg public prosecutor's office requested a psychiatric assessment of the man, whose identity has not been made public.
November 27. Trondheim, Norway. Four Muslim men threatened to kill a Christian street preacher unless he converted to Islam.
September 6. Marseille, France. A teenager armed with a knife entered the La Pauline elementary school, stabbed the canteen manager, and shouted, "I am a Muslim. Today I am going to kill all Christians. 'Allahu Akbar!'" (Allah is greater [than your God!]).
June 19. Graz, Austria. A 45-year-old Iraqi man set fire to four churches in the city.
May 5. Toulouse, France. The Notre Dame du Taur church was defaced with the words, "Allahu Akbar!" ("Allah is greater [than your God]!")
April 21. Rome, Italy. A Moroccan man stabbed a Georgian man for wearing a crucifix. "Italian Catholic Sh*t," the Moroccan shouted as he tried to cut the man's throat. The incident took place near Termini Station, the main railway station in Rome.
April 17. Seville, Spain. A 23-year-old Moroccan jihadi plotted to attack Holy Week processions.
April 1. Hendaye, France. Three Lebanese teenagers vandalized St. Vincent's nursery school. They ransacked eight classrooms, destroyed computers and covered the walls and floors with paint.
Appendix 2: Country-by-Country Attacks on Christian Churches and Symbols in Europe in 2019
1. France
The French government recorded 1,063 anti-Christian attacks in 2018, compared to 1,038 such attacks in 2017 and 949 in 2016. Overall, the number of attacks surged by 245% between 2008 and 2016, according to the Interior Ministry, which noted that attacks on Christian sites account for approximately 90% of all attacks on places of worship in France.
The trend shows no signs of abating. There were more than 1,000 anti-Christian attacks in France during 2019, according to data compiled by Daniel Hamiche, Editor-in-Chief of the blog, Observatory of Christianophobia. Hamiche has been an indefatigable chronicler of the destruction of Christian heritage in France. Gatestone Institute also consulted hundreds of national and local newspapers, as well as dozens of blogs, specialized websites and police blotters. Following are a few examples of anti-Christian attacks in 2019:
Billy-sous-Mangiennes, December 20. Vandals destroyed the stained-glass windows at the Church of Saint-Loup.
Aire-sur-l'Adour, December 19. A man set fire to an altar at the Cathedral of Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'Aire.
Amiens, December 16. Vandals destroyed a statue of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes at the Amiens Cathedral.
La Douze, December 11. Thieves stole copper pipes from the Church of Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens, a Gothic church dating to the 14th century.
Châtillon-sur-Seine, December 4. Thieves broke into the Church of Saint-Nicolas.
Rennes, November 24. Thieves broke into two churches on the same night: offering boxes were stolen at the Church of Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine and the Basilica of Saint-Sauveur.
Avolsheim, November 23. Vandals defaced the grotto of the Church of Dompeter, one of the oldest churches in Alsace.
Porto-Vecchio, November 21. Vandals desecrated an open-air oratory at the Church of San Ciprianu.
Tournissan, November 16. Thieves ransacked the Church of Saint-Adrien. They then covered the site with bleach, apparently in an effort to erase traces of DNA.
Marseille, November 9. Vandals defaced the Red Cross Mission Cross adjacent to the Church of Saint-Patrice. The cross was defaced a total of six times in 2019.
Tonnay-Charente, November 9. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint-Etienne. Crosses were overturned, the tabernacle was broken, the hosts were scattered on the ground and the lunette containing a host for worship was stolen.
Carentan-les-Marais, November 5. Vandals broke into the Church of Notre-Dame de Carentan. The same church was vandalized in July 2019.
Clermont-Ferrand, October 21. Three teenagers ransacked the Church of Notre-Dame de Prospérité de Montferrand.
Renazé, October 14. Thieves broke into the Church of Renazé and stole the tabernacle, which stores the consecrated hosts.
Veynes, September 13. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint-Sauveur and stole the ciborium, a chalice used to hold consecrated communion wafers.
Saint-Christol-de-Rodières, September 7. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint Christophe and stole the ciborium.
Les Houches, August 24. Vandals broke into the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church and overturned pews, broke windows, destroyed a confessional booth and spray-painted anti-religious insults on the walls.
Clermont, August 14. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint-Samson. Hosts were scattered and stolen, and the ciborium which contained them was also stolen.
Compiègne, August 10. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint Éloi and stole the ciborium and other liturgical items.
Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, July 17. A 44-year-old man was arrested for vandalizing several churches in the area. He decapitated religious statues, including one of Jesus, smashed stained-glass windows and destroyed paintings. Police discarded an "anti-Christian motif" because the man "operated alone, on impulse and without any real organization."
Bois de Cené, April 4. Vandals ransacked the Church of Saint-Etienne.
Uffholtz, March 30. Vandals destroyed a crucifix.
Péronne, March 27. A 40-year-old man was arrested for stealing at least 30 objects from the Church of Saint Jean Baptiste.
Strasbourg, March 11. Vandals ransacked the Catholic Church of St. Louis de la Robertsau.
Angoulême, March 9. Vandals ransacked the Hope & Life Evangelical Church and caused more than €10,000 ($11,000) in damage. The vandalism was aimed at "defiling, destroying and preventing worship services from taking place," according to Pastor Joseph Miall.
Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, February 25. Vandals ransacked two churches: The Church of Saint-Gilles and the Church of Saint-Croix. They overturned statues and smashed stained-glass windows.
Maisons-Laffitte, February 10. Vandals ransacked the Saint Nicolas church.
Dijon, February 9. Vandals desecrated the Notre Dame church and stole the consecrated hosts.
Houilles, February 4. Vandals ransacked the Church of Saint Nicolas and destroyed a statue dating to the 19th century. It was the third attack at the church in ten days.
Lusignan, February 3. Thieves broke into the Chapel of St. Anne, forced open the tabernacle and stole the ciborium. The consecrated hosts were strewn across the floor.
2. Germany
Aue-Bad Schlema, December 25. A parish worker was stabbed to death when he tried to stop a fight between a Syrian and an Iranian migrant.
Mettlach, December 23. Vandals ransacked the Church of Sankt Martin.
Schwenningen, September 23. Vandals ransacked the St. Franziskus-Mariä Himmelfahrt Kirche, a Catholic church.
Herxheim, September 13. Vandals damaged the front door of St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church.
Goch, September 12. Thieves forcibly ripped out and stole the copper water pipes from inside the walls of Maria Magdalena-Kirche, a Catholic church.
Iserlohn, September 11. Thieves dismantled and stole the copper drainpipes of St. Gertrudis Kirche, a Catholic church.
Coesfeld, September 11. Vandals broke into St. Lamberti Catholic Church and poured a strong-smelling liquid into the holy water font.
Sulingen, September 9. Thieves broke into St. Nicolai-Kirche, a Lutheran church.
Koblenz, September 9. Thieves broke into New Apostolic Church.
Weilburg, September 8. Thieves broke into a church on Limburger Straße.
Neustadt/Orla, September 8. Thieves broke into a church and stole property worth €1,000 ($1,120).
Lahr, September 6. Thieves broke into Peter und Paul Kirche, a Roman Catholic church.
Kusel, September 5. Vandals smashed the windows of a Protestant church.
Kirchhatten, September 4. Vandals damaged property at St. Ansgari Church.
Runkel, September 3. Vandals ransacked the Heilig Geist church.
Eisenach, September 3. Vandals spray-painted a statue at St. Elisabeth Catholic Church.
Gosheim, September 3. Vandals broke into Längenberg Chapel.
Apolda, September 2. Thieves dismantled and stole the lightning rods and cables of St. Bonifatius Catholic Church.
Velen-Ramsdorf, September 1. Vandals spray-painted the façade of St. Walburga Catholic Church.
Pirmasens, August 31. Vandals ransacked Luther Church. The total damage is estimated at €5,000 ($5,600).
Clingen, August 30. Thieves stole an outdoor pavilion from St. Gumbert Lutheran Church.
Kevelaer-Winnekendonk, August 29. Thieves dismantled and stole copper pipes from St. Antonius Catholic Church.
Mettmann, August 29. Thieves broke into St. Johannes Catholic Church.
Stuttgart-Möhringen, August 25. Thieves broke into a church and kindergarten.
Bochum, August 24. Thieves broke into St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.
Altenhagen, August 21. Thieves broke into a Lutheran Church and tried to steal the organ pipes, apparently to sell them as scrap metal for cash.
Ganderkesee, August 19. Thieves broke into St. Hedwig Catholic Church.
Ostbevern, August 19. Vandals desecrated St. Ambrosius Catholic Church; vandals attacked the same church a day earlier.
Bad Waldsee, August 18. Vandals spray-painted St. Peter Catholic Church with the words, "God is Dead."
Herne, August 18. Thieves broke into Cranger Kirche, a Lutheran church.
Kirchhundem, August 17. Vandals broke into the St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church.
Greven-Reckenfeld, August 16. Vandals smashed the windows of St. Franziskus Catholic Church.
Brakel, August 16. Vandals broke into St. Michael's Catholic Church.
Bösensell, August 16. Thieves broke into a church and stole intercession letters from a mailbox.
Rheine-Schotthock, August 6. Thieves broke into St. Ludgeruskirche Catholic Church.
Lahn, August 13. A man broke into St. Martinus Catholic Church and tried to steal money.
Gevelsberg, August 12. Thieves entered St. Engelbert Catholic Church and stole the tabernacle, a box holding consecrated hosts.
Karlsruhe, August 12. A thief tried to steal money from donation boxes at St. Stephen's Catholic Church.
Greiz, August 11. Vandals broke into the Gottesackerkirche.
Zell im Wiesental, August 10. Thieves looted the Evangelical Church.
Lauenbrück, July 31. Thieves broke into Martin-Luther-Kirchengemeinde, a Protestant church; they damaged windows and doors and stole donation money.
Heiden, July 23. Vandals attacked St. Paulus Kirche, an evangelical church. They broke windows, spray-painted the walls and destroyed furniture.
Lübbecke, July 5. Vandals broke into St. Nikolaus Lutheran Church. The church has been the target of repeated attacks and there are fears that the vandalism will escalate to the point that arsonists try to burn it down.
Albstadt-Ebingen, June 9. Vandals ransacked a shrine at St. Joseph's Church.
Esslingen, May 31. Thieves broke into the Osterfeldkirche, a Lutheran church in Berkheim, and stole property valued at €1,000 ($1,120).
Löffingen, May 24. Vandals ransacked St. Michael's Catholic Church. They damaged or destroyed paintings, statues, the altar and the organ.
Kronach, May 22. Vandals spray-painted graffiti on the doors of the Cristuskirche, a Lutheran church.
Rudolstadt, May 7. Vandals spray-painted the walls of the Lutheran Stadtkirche.
Winnweiler, May 6. Vandals broke into the Herz-Jesu-Kirche, a Roman Catholic church, built a campfire and defaced the walls.
Hoxel, May 5. Vandals smashed a stained-glass window at a Roman Catholic chapel in Morbach-Hoxel.
Bad Oldesloe, May 4. A thief broke into the Peter-Paul Lutheran Church stole an intricately-carved wooden cross valued at €5,000 ($5,600).
Mannheim, April 29. Vandals ransacked the Liebfrauenkirche, a Roman Catholic church.
Kirchberg, April 25. Vandals spray-painted graffiti on the doors of St. Margaret Lutheran Church.
Wilhelmshaven, April 24. Vandals smashed nine windows in a downtown church.
Ennepetal, April 20. Vandals smashed the windows of Herz-Jesu Roman Catholic Church.
Dillenburg, April 14. Vandals ransacked the Herz-Jesu Roman Catholic Church.
Ratingen-Hösel, April 11. Burglars broke into the Adolf-Clarenbach-Kirche, a Lutheran church, and physically removed the safe.
Bremerhaven, April 8. A burglar broke into St. Mary's Catholic Church and stole several weeks' worth of donations.
Oberschopfheim, April 7. Vandals destroyed the restrooms of the St. Leodegar Catholic Church.
Münster, April 6. Vandals spray-painted the front door of a Roman Catholic church.
Bösensell, April 5. Vandals ransacked the St.-Johannes-Kirche, a Roman Catholic church. The church has been the target of repeated attacks. "We do not want just to accept this anymore," a church member said.
Hamburg, March 14. A swastika was spray-painted on the front door of the Kreuzkirche, a Lutheran church in the Wandsbeck district. State prosecutors launched a criminal investigation.
Wenden, March 11. Vandals ransacked the St. Elisabeth of Schönau Roman Catholic Church.
Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock, February 24. Vandals damaged the St. Ursula Roman Catholic Church.
Kaiserslautern, February 2. The Christuskirche Lutheran Church was defaced with graffiti.
3. Ireland
Dublin, November 11. Vandals desecrated the Star of the Sea Carmelite Nuns monastery in Malahide. They broke into the monastery in broad daylight, spray-painted a chapel with graffiti and shouted offensive slurs against the nuns.
Longford, August 1. Vandals smashed the stained-glass windows of St. Michael's, the oldest serving Catholic church building in the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise. This was the second attack on the church in two years.
Clonmel, July 30. The Holy Year Cross, a Catholic holy site in Tipperary, was spray-painted with swastikas days before an annual pilgrimage. This is not the first time the site was attacked in the days running up to the annual pilgrimage; in 2011 someone vandalized the altar and burned statues.
Dundalk, July 21. Several people were injured when a man drove a car at high speed into a crowd of people at St. Patrick's Cemetery. The man was charged with reckless driving.
Thurles, June 27. Vandals decapitated a marble statue of Archbishop Patrick Leahy outside the Cathedral of the Assumption, where the archbishop was buried in 1875. Thurles Police Superintendent Pat Murphy said that the statue is "a piece of the fabric of Thurles" and appealed to the public for information related to the attack.
4. Italy
Scorrano, November 18. A thief broke into the Church of the Transfiguration and stole a collection box as well as a gold necklace from a statue of Mary. He then urinated on the altar. The crime was captured on CCTV.
Comacchio, September 9. Vandals destroyed donation boxes at the Church of the Blessed Virgin of Sorrows. No money was taken.
Ceriano Laghetto, August 25. Vandals broke into the shrine of the Madonna del Santo Rosario and spray-painted a painting depicting Jesus and Mary.
Naples, August 23. Vandals damaged a statue of San Gennaro at the Church of Santa Croce.
Lecco, June 29. Vandals destroyed the outdoor lights of the Monumental Cemetery.
Lecco, June 3. Vandals uprooted crosses at Monte Magnodeno.
Montebelluna, May 25. The Church of Santa Maria in Colle was defaced with graffiti. The church was previously defaced with graffiti in April.
Santorso, May 17. Vandals spray-painted the front of the Church of Sant Orso. They were filmed by CCTV and two individuals, aged 27 and 17, were subsequently arrested after they boasted about the crime on social media.
Orvieto, May 12. The Church of San Giovenale, which dates to the year 1004, was defaced with blasphemous graffiti.
Narni, May 5. The Church of San Girolamo was ransacked by vandals who threw down a large statue of Jesus and damaged sacred books.
Cesena, April 28. The church of the Istituto Lugaresi was ransacked during a scuffle between two Romanians who were drunk. "Two immigrants entered the church 'Dei Lugaresi,' reducing it to this state," said Massimo Bitonci, representative of the Lega party. "There are no words to describe so much barbarism."
Sasso della Vecchia, April 23. Vandals destroyed an iconic statue of Mary and Jesus.
Trieste, April 21. A man entered the Church of San Giovanni on Easter Sunday, took a communion wafer and began cursing Roman Catholicism.
Naples, April 8. An arsonist tried to set fire to an evangelical church. The attack was captured on CCTV.
San Fior, April 5. Vandals ransacked the sacristy of the church of San Fior. Three Romanians were arrested in connection with the crime.
Calolziocorte, March 27. Vandals damaged the walls of an old church in Sala.
Montevaccino, February 20. The Church of San Leonardo was damaged by vandals who broke crosses, statues and windows.
San Fior, February 19. Vandals defaced the walls of the Church of Castello Roganzuolo.
Rome, February 12. Vandals destroyed a marble plaque of the Martin Luther square. The square was named in 2015 in recognition of the role that the Protestant reformer played both in the church and in European culture. "We lament this act of vandalism, which shows the lack of values we breath and the climate of deterioration in which we live," said Leonardo de Chirico of the Italian Evangelical Alliance.
Farra di Soligo, February 6. The Chapel of San Michele was ransacked by vandals who broke open the iron gate and smashed statues.
5. United Kingdom
In Northern Ireland, churches and cemeteries are attacked, on average, every other day, according to police statistics obtained in August 2019 under the Freedom of Information Act. A total of 445 crimes were recorded as criminal damage to religious buildings, churchyards or cemeteries across Northern Ireland's 11 policing districts during the last three years, according to data obtained by Christian Action Research and Education (Care NI) from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Incidents in 2019 include:
Abertridwr, September 16. Vandals damaged the Church of St. Ilan Eglwysilan, which dates to the year 1188.
Hamble, September 4. Vandals destroyed a fence at St. Andrew's, a 900-year-old church.
Ebbw Vale, August 30. Vandals broke into Christ Church.
Ballyclare, August 23. Unidentified vandals destroyed a large section of the wooden walls of Ballyclare Free Presbyterian Church. Several of the church's windows were smashed in a separate incident in late December. The church has been attacked four times during the past year.
Glasgow, August 21. Vandals ransacked Carnwadric Church of Scotland.
Kimberley, August 11. Vandals smashed windows of Holy Trinity Church.
Scarborough, August 13. Thieves broke into the Church of the Holy Nativity, stole items from inside the building and spray-painted the steps.
Liverpool, August 3. Vandals defaced St. Oswald King & Martyr Catholic Church with graffiti and smashed windows.
Tamworth, June 14. Vandals defaced St. Editha's Church, one of the oldest churches in the West Midlands, with anti-Christian graffiti. Among the messages scrawled were, "God has failed," "Deliver us to evil," and "Lucifer runs this capitalist ruin." Church warden Dawn Perry said: "We are totally shocked, saddened and angered by this."
South Cerney, June 12. Vandals smashed a stained-glass window at All Hallows Church.
Sussex, May 9. Vandals destroyed an historic lychgate at St. John the Evangelist Church in Copthorne.
Glasgow, April 29. A bus stop in front of Holy Family Parish Church in Mossend in North Lanarkshire was defaced with anti-Catholic graffiti. On 26 March, vandals smashed the windows of Holy Family Primary School, which is next door to the church.
Glasgow, April 28. St. Simon's Catholic Church was ransacked by vandals in a daytime attack. Police said that there was significant damage to the inside of the church, including damage to the altar area of the church as well as to a shrine which has been in the church since the 1940 and caters to the Polish parishioners who attend mass in their native language.
Bacup, April 26. Vandals ransacked St. Saviour's Church. The historic building was defaced with graffiti, the stained-glass windows were smashed, and its organ was stripped bare.
Willesden, April 21. Vandals destroyed the windows of Elim Pentecostal Church on Easter Sunday.
Belfast, April 21. Sacred Heart Church in Ballyclare was vandalized with paint on Easter Sunday. Police, who described the incident as a hate crime, arrested a 26-year-old man who was later released on bail.
Bath, February 16. Vandals toppled a one-ton stone sculpture of loaves and fishes at St. Philip and St. James' Church.
West Midlands, January 16. More than a dozen churches received anonymous letters threatening attacks. "Stop all your services straight away," warned one letter sent to a church in Sheffield. "If you don't your church will be petrol bombed while in service. Continue behind closed doors and your congregation members will be stabbed one by one. Blood on your hands. You have been warned."
Cirencester, January 13. Burglars smashed stained-glass windows and stole the collection box at Cirencester Parish Church.
6. Spain
Granada, December 12. The Church of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores was spray-painted with anti-Catholic graffiti.
Barcelona, November 27. A Roman Catholic seminary was spray-painted with anti-Catholic graffiti.
Zaragoza, November 16. Vandals ransacked the Chapel of the Santo Sepulcro de Tauste and set fire to a statue of Jesus.
Madrid, November 11. The Church of Santa Catalina de Alejandría was spray-painted with Satanist graffiti.
Zamora, October 28. The Church of San Esteban, which dates to the 11th century, was defaced with graffiti.
Seville, October 28. The Basilica de la Macarena was defaced with graffiti.
Valencia, October 24. The Church of San Nicolás was defaced with graffiti.
Madrid, October 21. The Cathedral de la Almudena and several other churches in the capital were defaced with graffiti.
Barcelona, October 18. The Church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario was defaced with political graffiti.
Barcelona, October 14. The Church of San Juan Bautista de Gracia was defaced with Satanist graffiti.
Córdoba, October 5. Vandals desecrated the Chapel of Rosa de Montilla.
Cuenca, October 1. Thieves broke into the Church of La Concepción de Casas de Fernando Alonso and stole the tabernacle.
Madrid, September 27. The Church of San Miguel de Fuencarral was spray-painted with anti-Catholic graffiti.
Carbonero, September 6. Vandals overturned large granite bollards in front of the Church of San Juan Bautista.
Almería, August 31. The Church of Santiago Apóstol was defaced with graffiti.
Cambrils, July 25. A man repeatedly defaced the Church of Sant Pere with graffiti. He was arrested when police observed him carrying paint and walking toward the church.
Guadalajara, July 20. Vandals broke into the Church of Santiago Apostle and stole the consecrated host.
Castellón, July 18. The Cross of the Fallen was defaced with graffiti.
Buelna, July 17. The Cross of the Fallen, a monument in the town center, was defaced with anti-religious and pro-Communist graffiti.
Salamanca, July 16. The historic Church of San Marcos was defaced with paint.
San Cristóbal de La Laguna, June 21. Vandals defaced several churches with graffiti.
Soria, June 23. Vandals damaged the Chapel of San Bartolomé, a 12th Century Romanesque church that is currently undergoing renovations.
Córdoba, May 31. Thieves broke into a Roman Catholic fraternity and stole gold crowns from several statues.
Málaga, May 24. Vandals broke into a Roman Catholic fraternity and defaced a statue of Jesus with spray paint.
Almería, April 21. A Roman Catholic fraternity was defaced with anarchist graffiti.
Segovia, April 18. Vandals threw eggs on a Holy Week procession.
Andújar, April 16. Vandals broke off the legs of a historic stone statue known as Cristo del Altozano de Santiago.
Orense, April 14. On Palm Sunday, a Catholic church in Meside was defaced with far-left anti-religious graffiti.
Tavernes de la Valldigna, April 1. Vandals defaced the Church of St Pere with anarchist graffiti.
Madrid, March 29. Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena removed all references to Christianity from the city's Holy Week celebrations. "We seek to transcend the immediate significance of Holy Week to delve into the timeless feeling and universal emotions that this period of recollection arouses," according to the City Hall.
Seville, March 19. Two women broke into the sacristy of the Church of San Julián and then left the building wearing vestments used by priests to officiate the mass. The incident was captured on CCTV.
Málaga, March 13. Vandals broke into the Sagrada Familia chapel in El Copo.
Santiago de Compostela, March 12. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a World Heritage Site, was defaced with anti-religious graffiti. The cathedral was previously defaced in August 2018; the cost of removing the graffiti exceeded €10,000 ($11,200).
Málaga, March 11. Thieves broke into the Holy Trinity of Antequera church and stole the consecrated host, the sacred bread used in the Roman Catholic Mass.
Madrid, March 10. Vandals caused significant damage to the Parish of San Rafael Arnáiz in Sanchinarro. They also stole the consecrated host.
Ávila, March 10. Vandals defaced the Chapel of the Risen One.
Barcelona, March 8. The entrance to a Christian radio station was spray-painted with anti-religious graffiti.
Córdoba, March 6. Arsonists threw a Molotov cocktail against the Parish of San Miguel. The wick was burned but the device did not explode.
Camargo, March 5. A cross was defaced with anarchist and Communist graffiti.
Gijón, March 2. Vandals destroyed a marble railing in the Church of San José.
Jaén, February 18. Vandals broke into the Parish of Santa Isabel and stole the consecrated host.
Seville, February 11. Vandals spray-painted the Church of San Martin with the words, "The only church that illuminates is the one that burns."
Ávila, February 10. Vandals spray-painted two Roman Catholic churches with anti-religious, pro-anarchist graffiti.
Cimadevilla, February 7. Vandals defaced the Church of San Juan Bautista with graffiti.
Córdoba, January 30. The Trinidad Roman Catholic school in Vistalegre was defaced with anti-religious graffiti.
Vigo, January 22. Two youths broke into a chapel at Álvaro Cunqueiro Hospital and stole the consecrated host.
Pasaia, January 22. Vandals threw a Jesus statue into the town's harbor.
Almería, January 20. Arsonists attempted to burn down the hermitage of Torregarcía; arsonists previously tried to burn down the chapel on January 11.
Ondarroa, January 14. Basque separatists destroyed a large cross raised by the Franco regime in 1958 to honor "the children of Ondarroa who heroically gave their lives for God and Spain."
Soria, January 4. The Church of Santa María la Mayor was spray-painted with graffiti.
Córdoba, January 2. Vandals destroyed a cross commemorating the Spanish Civil War at a cemetery in Puente Genil.
Appendix 3: Select Commentary and Reflections on Church Attacks in Europe in 2019
December 18, Saint-Éloy-les-Mines, France: "We are still a Judeo-Christian country. It is deplorable to attack a nativity scene and decorations. We do this for the children, but this morning, they were devastated in front of the crib." — Marie-Thérèse Sikora, Mayor of Saint-Éloy-les-Mines.
November 21, Porto-Vecchio, Italy: "This attack reflects a deep lack of respect in a sacred place. It is not normal to degrade a statue of piety in this way. This should not happen in Corsica, a Christian land." — Frédéric Constant, Priest, Church of San Ciprianu, Porto-Vecchio.
November 21, Tarbes, France: "The desecration of the Church of Saint Jean in Tarbes takes place in a continuum of a devastating number of abominations of chapels and churches. There is hardly a day when we do not learn of such facts, illustrating an unprecedented increase since the French Revolution of anti-Catholic hatred in France." — The general alliance against racism and for the respect of French and Christian identity (AGRIF).
November 16, Zaragoza, Spain: "This has been an attack on a religious and cultural symbol of our people. It is not a simple act of vandalism. It is a place where our ancestors, family and friends have met for centuries." — Miguel Angel Francés Carbonel, Mayor of Tauste.
November 16, Zaragoza, Spain: "This time it was not a robbery, it was evil. On other occasions they came to steal but today it was to destroy." — Javier Francés, Custodian, Chapel of the Santo Sepulcro de Tauste.
November 9, Tonnay-Charente, France: "This attack is an expression of hatred against Christ and his Church, a manifestation of violence, cowardice and stupidity." — Monsignor Georges Colomb, Bishop of La Rochelle and Saintes.
November 4, Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France: "These serious incivilities and this total lack of respect for a sacred heritage are increasing in France. This raises deep concerns about the civilizational values ​​that characterize our society." — Monsignor Marc Aillet, Bishop of Bayonne.
August 20, Giovo, Italy. "It is clear that anyone who has performed such an act does not know our values. Such contempt for this place, a religious symbol of yesterday and today that embodies the sensitivity of our people, discredits those who have done this by acting in the shadows, in the illusion that darkness can hide from its own cowardice." — Michael Moser, local resident.
August 14, Clermont, France: "As Catholic Christians, this new event saddens us more, insofar as it suggests that people make churches a target to satisfy their addiction or to appease their greed." — Monsignor Jacques Raymond Germain Benoit-Gonnin, Bishop of Beauvais, Senlis and Noyon.
August 10, Compiègne, France: "The most essential issue for us is that the tabernacle was forced open, and that the Blessed Sacrament, the presence of Christ was touched and stolen. This is a profanation for us." — Julien Serey, Communications Director, Diocese of Oise.
August 1, Longford, Ireland: "Let there be no ambiguity, this is not a victimless crime. Vandalism of this kind is profoundly disrespectful to people of faith and to places of worship. It is threatening and distressing. In a truly pluralist society these examples of vandalism are of concern to our whole community." — Bishop Francis Duffy.
May 21, Madrid, Spain: "It is very worrying that, year after year, attacks against churches increase. This can cause fear in believers when they go to pray or practice their faith. Religious freedom is the acid test of human rights. A democracy like ours cannot allow such a high number of attacks on religious freedom to occur. Religious freedom is a person's most intimate right because it involves the conscience." — María García, President, Observatory for Religious Freedom (Observatorio para la Libertad Religiosa y de Conciencia, OLRC).
May 24, Belfast, Northern Ireland: "All attacks on property are to be condemned, but the deliberate targeting of a church is particularly heinous. Apart from the obvious danger to life, attacks on churches cause a special revulsion because of their historical role in providing sanctuary and a normally safe place for worship.... This was not only an attack on a church, but as a peace-hungry society, this was an attack on all of us." — The Belfast Telegraph.
May 17, Großholbach, Germany: "This hurts. These are values that have simply been trampled upon." — Michael Kohlhass, Mayor of Großholbach .
April 4, Bois de Cené, France: "I condemn with the utmost firmness the degradations committed in the church of Bois-de-Céné. They are absolutely unbearable. Whether malicious or anti-Christian, such acts deeply hurt believers who have the right to be able to freely live their faith. Places of worship are places of meditation. Those who profane them at the same time attack secularism which allows 'those who believe in heaven and those who do not believe' to live together with respect for freedom of conscience." — Yves Auvinet, President of the Departmental Council of Bois de Cené.
April 2, Paris, France: "The Church has occupied a very important place in French society for so long that some people do not want to pay attention to the attacks of which it is the victim." — Jérôme Fourquet, Director of Opinion, Ifop polling agency.
April 2, Paris, France: "Christians, hostages of the war of civilizations in the Middle East, are part of that which rages quietly in our regions." — Elisabeth Lévy, Editor-in-Chief, Causeur magazine.
March 23, Leoben, Austria: "This was no simple act of vandalism. It was spiritual anarchism. It is evil. They urinated at the altar and poured out the holy water. This was a manifestation of their attitude toward the church." — Markus Plöbst, Parish Priest, Stadtpfarrkirche Leoben.
March 11, Strasbourg, France: "This lack of respect for the sacred in our society is very disturbing." —Alain Fontanel, Deputy Mayor of Strasbourg.
March 5, Reichstett, France: "It's a question of respect for religious buildings. On Halloween the Protestant church was targeted, and now it's the Catholic church. It's an attack on the freedom of worship." — Georges Schuler, Mayor of Reichstett.
February 25, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, France: "It is the moral prejudice that is important, that is to say that it was an attack on the place of worship, an attack on religion, in a somewhat complicated context in France. Therefore, effectively, the moral prejudice is much more important than financial harm." — François Blanchet, Mayor of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.
February 11, Ávila, Spain: "These acts of vandalism threaten first of all the heritage of our city," said in a statement. Above all, however, they threaten respect and religious freedom, recognized and protected in the Constitution, and that must be the guarantor of a healthy and free peaceful coexistence in Spanish society." — Bishopric of Ávila.
February 10, Maisons-Laffitte, France: "This vandalism is an attack on the freedom of worship because it is attacking what is at the heart of belief." — Jean-Jacques Brot, Prefect, Yvelines department.
February 5, Lavaur, France: "God will forgive, I will not. I expect justice, an exemplary sanction for these acts of Christianophobia that have upset and outraged the people of Lavaur and, well beyond this, the French who are proud of their religious and cultural heritage." — Bernard Carayon, Mayor of Lavaur.
January 17, Grenoble, France: "This criminal action is an attack on freedom of conscience, freedom of worship, and the value of coexistence," — Bishop of Grenoble-Vienne, Guy de Kerimel.
January 10, Rovereto, Italy: "Expressing one's thoughts with violence and arrogance by damaging the symbols and property of others is always wrong. In a democracy there are other ways to express one's ideas. Whoever set fire to the entrance of the church of San Rocco is the enemy of dialogue and peaceful debate." — Maurizio Fugatti, President of the Autonomous Province of Trento.
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
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