LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 29/19

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 19/01-10: “He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 28-29/19
Watch Out & Strive Not To Be An Obstacle
Netanyahu Warns 'Hezbollah' of Israel’s 'Lethal' Power
Berri Calls for Parliament Bureau Meeting
Bassil Agrees to 'Modify' His Govt. Ideas, Rejects '3 Tens Format'
Lassen Meets Hariri, Warns over 'Continued Absence of Govt.'
Hizbullah Slams Bahrain Dissidents' Jail Sentences, Urges Dialogue
Samad Reiterates Call for Consultative Gathering’s Representation
Zasypkin Rules Out 'War between Israel, Resistance Axis'
Tragic Apartment Fire Kills Three-Year-Old Boy
Beirut Airport Website Hacked
Report: France 'Discourages' Israeli Aggression against Lebanon, 'Halts' Army Support
UN Report: Lebanon's Economy Grew by Only 0.9% in 2018
SSSS
Analysis/Hezbollah Caught Between Desire to Strengthen Iran and Need to Reinforce Its Domestic Power

Litles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 28-29/19
Pope Francis: Priest celibacy not ‘optional’
Iran Announces Offensive Strategy against Threats
UN Envoy Discusses Syrian Political Deadlock with Egyptian FM
Jordan Invites Syria to Attend Meeting of Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union
ISIS Resumes Counter Attacks East of Euphrates
Iraq: Scores Injured, Several Dead in Salahuddin's Twin Bombing
Defying U.S., European Union Nations Set Out to Help Companies Trade With Iran
Trump warns Europeans not to try to evade Iran sanctions
Venezuela's Guaido Calls for New Anti-Maduro Protests
Palestinian PM Willing to Quit if President Abbas Wishes, Says Spokesman
UN Judicial Expert in Turkey to Probe Khashoggi Murder

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 28-29/19
Watch Out & Strive Not To Be An Obstacle/Elias Bejjani/January 28/19
SSSS/Dan Azzi/Annahar/January 28/19
Analysis/Hezbollah Caught Between Desire to Strengthen Iran and Need to Reinforce Its Domestic Power/Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/January 28/19
Pope Francis: Priest celibacy not ‘optional’/AFP/January 28, 2019
Defying U.S., European Union Nations Set Out to Help Companies Trade With Iran/Bloomberg/Monday 28th January 2019
Trump warns Europeans not to try to evade Iran sanctions/Associated Press/January 28/19
Turkey: Imprisoning Dissidents while Bidding for EU Membership/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/January 28/19
The Palestinian Jihad Against Peace/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/January 28/19
The Davos Forum and the Ethiopian Guest/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat//January, 28/19
Brexit Will Make the US and Europe Less Safe/James Stavridis/Bloomberg View/January, 28/19
The 'Russian bear's' juggling act in Syria/Charles Bybelezer/The Media Line/Jerusalem Post/January 28/2019
Iran, Hizballah, Hamas use threats of escalation to meddle in Israel’s election/Debka File/January 28/19
Criticism of Pompeo’s religious beliefs carry no weight/Peter Welby/Arab News/January 28/19
Hypocritical Iran regime increasing its foreign spies’ activities/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 28/19

Latest LCCC English Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 28-29/19
Watch Out & Strive Not To Be An Obstacle
اجتهد بتقوى وإيمان حتى لا تكون عثرة لأحد
Elias Bejjani/January 28/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71585/watch-out-strive-not-to-an-obstacle-%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%88%D9%89-%D9%88%D8%A5%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%89-%D9%84%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D9%83%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%B9/
Almighty God sees and knows every thing and He is the One who shall Judge those who are righteous, as well as those who set traps for others and inflict pain on them.
He will put on trial those who mislead, deceive, create divisions, and enjoy being obstacles for any thing and every thing that is peace, tranquility or harmony.
He will make accountable all those who worship earthly treasures, hold onto grudges, harbour intentions of revenge, and know no love or forgiveness.
Because “Faith without Acts is a dead faith, like the body without a soul”, we all must keep an eye on all those hypocrites and chameleons who viciously sneak into our lives and do all their best to lead us into temptations.
We have to be very cautious when dealing with these trouble makers and corruptors because they pretend to be religious and Samarians, while in reality they are possessed and obsessed with hatred, revenge and grudges.
They love nobody, and care about nobody but themselves.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and self-indulgence”. (Matthew 23:25)
The Godly and courageous people can not even engage into a fruitful debate with these impulsive narcissists who are boastful and full of arrogance.
They hear only their own voices, see only themselves, and have no human insight or understanding for the consequences of their venomous conduct.
They think and act with wicked motives and are driven by deeply rooted revenge, hatred and grudges.
They are obnoxious, cowards, ashamed to witness for the truth and alienate themselves from every thing that is moral , righteous, gratitude and ethical obligations.
They possess no love for their own countries, families and people, and do not fear God. They continuously cause pitfalls for the meek and faithful.
Because evil always contains the seeds of its own destruction, these people always reap what they sow and are cursed, damned and condemned.
Almighty God warns them of harsh judgment.
“If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose his faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the deep sea. How terrible for the world that there are things that make people lose their faith! Such things will always happen—but how terrible for the one who causes them” (Matthew 18/06-07)
When people become slaves to their instincts, abandon God and renegade against His commandments and become evil and do every thing that is evil.
Saint Peter has depicted vividly the conduct of such people.
“Remember that there will be difficult times in the last days. People will be selfish, greedy, boastful, and conceited; they will be insulting, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and irreligious; they will be unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, and fierce; they will hate the good; they will be treacherous, reckless, and swollen with pride; they will love pleasure rather than God; they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power. Keep away from such people. Some of them go into people’s houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires, women who are always trying to learn but who can never come to know the truth. As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so too these people are opposed to the truth—people whose minds do not function and who are failures in the faith. But they will not get very far, because everyone will see how stupid they are. That is just what happened to Jannes and Jambres”
As the Holy Bible teaches us, these wicked hypocrites will be judged on the Day of Judgment and thrown into Gehenna. There, the fire is unquenchable, torture has no end, the worm dieth not, and there will be endless lamentation, weeping and grinding of teeth”. (Peter’s second letter to Timothy (3/01-08).
Among these evil doers are numerous high ranking clergy, politicians and officials. These liars and savages abandon their people, their countries, their families, the martyrs and all that is righteous and Godly.
They do not worship God, but money and perishable earthly treasures like power, fame, property etc.
They fall into the devil’s hands and traps and end worshiping money and not God.
“You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 06/24)
In their hearts is venomous lust, deceit, malice, licentiousness, envy, arrogance, folly, greed and evil thoughts. Because of the lowliness of their hearts and minds they have sided with Satan.
They have no conscious, no values, and no code of ethics. Accordingly, they act with the mentality of ruthless merchants of death who are willing to sell absolutely everything for the price of silver.
Nothing is off limits in what they will sell for an earthly profit, including their self-respect, dignity, honour and their own countries and people.
They happily accept their status as merchants of death and have no problem selling their souls to whomever offers the highest price.
They change loyalties as they change their clothes because they do not fear God. Their hearts are petrified and the humanity in them that was created on God’s image has died. Their punishment is God’s work.
“Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Romans 12/19).
Hell and its demons will be eagerly waiting to swallow those of us who do not know what is love, do not fear God, do not do His work, hurt others and enjoy seeing every body else but themselves entrapped and suffering.
Meanwhile these same ones who mercilessly and vigorously fight for earthly riches, become mere slaves for their instincts, and commit all kinds of deadly sins will have no choice but to leave all that is earthly on the earth once God takes back the gift of life from them. Although they might delude themselves that they are strong, winners and rich, but in fact they are big time losers and will not be able to carry with them to the Judgment Day, but their deeds according to which they will be accountable.
Do we gain anything if we win the whole world but lose our life? Of course not!
Let us sincerely pray for the salvation of all those who are entrapped in evil temptations and have failed to understand that God is love and that love knows no hatred, no grudges, no revenge and no selfishness.

Netanyahu Warns 'Hezbollah' of Israel’s 'Lethal' Power
Occupied Jerusalem - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 January, 2019
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned the Hezbollah leader of the Israeli army’s “lethal” force, in response to Hassan Nasrallah’s cautioning Israel against further strikes in Syria. “The lethal striking force of the Israeli army stands facing Hezbollah,” the Israeli premier said at the beginning of a cabinet meeting. In an interview with Al-Mayadeen channel on Saturday evening, the Hezbollah chief warned Israel against launching more military strikes on Syrian territory, a week after it attacked several positions across the war-torn country.
Nasrallah also said: “Don’t make an error of judgment and don’t lead the region towards war or a major clash,” adding that Hezbollah possessed “high-precision missiles” capable of hitting anywhere in Israel. “We have had the ability to carry out the operation for years, and it became easier after our experience in Syria,” he added. Since the start of the conflict in Syria in 2011, Israel repeatedly bombed military targets belonging to the Syrian army, Hezbollah and Iranian fighters. The latest attack occurred a week ago, when the Israeli army said it targeted warehouses and intelligence and training centers belonging to the Iranian Quds Force, in addition to ammunition warehouses, and a location at Damascus International Airport. Netanyahu said Nasrallah was experiencing “great consternation” over Israel’s recent operation to uncover and destroy tunnels from Lebanon to Israel. He also spoke of what he called Hezbollah’s "financial distress". “Believe me, Nasrallah has good reasons not to want to feel the might of our arm,” he told the cabinet meeting. A month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in July 2006 led to the killing of around 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers.

Berri Calls for Parliament Bureau Meeting
Naharnet/January 28/19/Speaker Nabih Berri called the Parliament Bureau for a meeting on Wednesday at noon, the National News Agency reported on Monday. Earlier, and in remarks he made to An Nahar daily, Berri had said that the Parliament will take the necessary steps in light of the government formation stalemate dragging the country and endangering its economy. “The Parliament will take action and will call the Parliament bureau for a meeting in order to schedule a parliamentary session. Many issues have to be tackled. It is necessary to raise the budget issue,” Berri told the newspaper. “I won’t stand idle and watch the country collapse,” he added. Concerns have surfaced that Lebanon's inability to form a government was endangering the tiny multi-confessional country and its ailing economy. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has been pushing to form a government since May 24 but disagreements among Lebanon’s political parties over shares and quotas have delayed his mission so far.

Bassil Agrees to 'Modify' His Govt. Ideas, Rejects '3 Tens Format'
Naharnet/January 28/19/Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil is clinging to his five proposals for overcoming the government formation crisis, a source close to him said. “We reject the three tens format and all reports claiming that Bassil has given up the 11-minister demand are baseless,” al-Jadeed TV quoted the source as saying on Monday. MTV meanwhile reported that Bassil and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri agreed in their Paris meeting that the PM-designate would meet in Beirut with Speaker Nabih Berri, Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat and the Lebanese Forces while the FPM chief would consult with President Michel Aoun and Hizbullah.“The Hariri-Bassil talks in Paris were not negative and resulted in an agreement on modifying Bassil's ideas,” MTV quoted informed sources as saying.

Lassen Meets Hariri, Warns over 'Continued Absence of Govt.'
Naharnet/January 28/19/EU Ambassador to Lebanon Christina Lassen met Monday evening with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to discuss "the latest progress in the consultation efforts led by the Prime Minister-designate to form a new government," her office said. "The continued absence of a government is starting to negatively impact Lebanon's economic situation and the lives of so many Lebanese," Lassen said and wished the PM-designate success with his latest efforts. In the meeting, Lassen and Hariri exchanged views on the economic situation and the follow-up efforts to the CEDRE conference. Lassen underlined the need to make progress on the reforms proposed by the government in April and said the European Union "stands ready to support Lebanon in the implementation of these reforms."
Lassen finally informed the Prime Minister-designate about the preparations for the upcoming Brussels III Conference.

Hizbullah Slams Bahrain Dissidents' Jail Sentences, Urges Dialogue
Naharnet/January 28/19/Hizbullah on Monday condemned a Bahraini court's confirmation of life sentences against opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman and ex-MPs Ali al-Aswad and Hassan Sultan, as it stressed that “dialogue is the only way to resolve” the kingdom's disputes.
“The ruling is an escalation of the practices of injustice and tyranny against the honorable Bahraini people,” Hizbullah said in a statement. “Instead of rectifying its mistakes, the Bahraini regime is resorting to further recklessness and political malice against Bahraini citizens calling for their rights,” it added.
“The court's false accusations against Sheikh Salman and his two associates will not weaken the free people of Bahrain but will rather increase their firmness and determination to cling to their legitimate rights and noble goals,” Hizbullah said. The Iran-backed party also emphasized that “the real gateway for resolving the crisis in Bahrain begins by the release of political prisoners, the halt of repression activities against citizens and the adoption of the approach of dialogue as the only way to resolve the current problems away from the dictations of the neighboring countries.”Earlier on Monday, Bahrain's supreme court upheld a life sentence for Salman for spying for Gulf rival Qatar, a decision his party slammed as "political revenge."Salman, who headed the Shiite al-Wefaq group, was convicted by an appeals court in November in a ruling that rights groups called a travesty.The supreme court confirmed the verdict against Salman and two of his aides for "spying for a foreign state in order to... overthrow the government," according to a statement released by public prosecutor Osama al-Awfi. Bahrain in 2017 cut all ties with Qatar as part of a Saudi-led boycott in response to what Riyadh and its allies say are Doha's policies on Iran and Islamist groups. A tiny Gulf archipelago, allied with the U.S. and located between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, the kingdom of Bahrain has been hit by waves of unrest since 2011, when security forces crushed Shiite-led protests demanding an elected prime minister. Hundreds of activists have since been jailed and some stripped of citizenship over what the government says is "terrorism" linked to Iran. Human rights groups have frequently said cases against activists in Bahrain -- men and women, religious and secular -- fail to meet the basic standards of fair trials. Salman's opposition group, Al-Wefaq, was dissolved by court order in 2016. The cleric is currently serving a four-year sentence in a separate case on charges of "inciting hatred" in the kingdom.

Samad Reiterates Call for Consultative Gathering’s Representation
Naharnet/January 28/19/MP Jihad al-Samad of the pro-Hizbullah Consultative Gathering, blamed Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri for what he described as “flaw” in the government formation process, and reiterated demands to be represented in the government .
“Hariri bears the responsibility of that flaw in the formation process because he refuses to meet with the Consultative Gathering MPs. Instead he prefered to go to Paris for consultations,” Samad told VDL radio (93.3). He was referring to Hariri’s reported “meetings” last week in Paris with Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea. Samad, an MP of a new grouping of six Sunni MPs which has insisted on getting a seat in the new government, said the group should be given a share as “part of the Sunni representation in a national unity government.”Samad said the Consultative Gathering refuses a call that allows them to name a Sunni MP of President Michel Aoun’s share, or from Hariri’s share.

Zasypkin Rules Out 'War between Israel, Resistance Axis'
Naharnet/January 28/19/Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin on Monday ruled out an imminent war between Israel and the Iran-led axis in the region, following talks with caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil. “We always call for pacifying things and I do not see a possibility for such a war, but we must influence the situation so that it remains calm instead of escalating,” Zasypkin said in response to a reporter's question about Israel's raids in Syria and the cross-border tunnels on the Lebanese-Israeli frontier. Separately, the ambassador said he put Bassil in the picture of “some Russian steps in Syria that aim to normalize things, achieve stability, security and a political settlement, continue the eradication of terrorism, return refugees and reconstruct the country.” Zasypkin also described as “very good” and “economically important for Lebanon” a contract signed with Russia's oil giant Rosneft to upgrade and operate storage installations in the northern city of Tripoli. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday warned Israel against continuing strikes in Syria targeting mainly Iranian positions, saying it could fuel war in the region. Israel's army has since 2013 claimed hundreds of attacks on what it says are Iranian military targets and arms deliveries to Tehran-backed Hizbullah, with the goal of stopping its main enemy Iran from entrenching itself militarily in neighboring Syria. "At any moment the Syrian leadership and the axis of resistance can take a decision to deal with the Israeli aggression in a different manner," Nasrallah said, referring to the alliance between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, Iran and its ally Hizbullah.

Tragic Apartment Fire Kills Three-Year-Old Boy
Kataeb.org/Monday 28th January 2019/A three-year-old boy died after sustaining injuries in a fire that broke out overnight at his parents' apartment, the National News Agency reported on Monday. David Khalil was injured along with his eight-year-old brother and mother when a fire erupted at their apartment in Keserwan’s Kaslik. While his brother and mother survived, David soon succumbed to his injuries.

Beirut Airport Website Hacked
Naharnet/January 28/19/The website of the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut was hacked by a group naming itself the “Syrian Revolutionary Group”, media reports said on Monday. The hackers posted a message on the website saying their move came in “retaliation” for what they claimed were “assaults against the Syrian refugees” living in Lebanon. The group also said that parties allegedly “involved in the death” accident of a Syrian child, named Ahmed al-Zoubi, must be held accountable for their act. Director General of civil aviation at Beirut airport, Mohammed Shihabuddin, said in press statements that the airport's website was exposed to a hack. He assured that "the matter is being addressed.”The death of al-Zoubi sparked controversy in Lebanon following video footage, circulating on media outlets, showing elements of Beirut Municipality chasing Zoubi before he was found dead later after falling in a ventilation shaft in one of the buildings.

Report: France 'Discourages' Israeli Aggression against Lebanon, 'Halts' Army Support
Naharnet/January 28/19/France has reportedly “halted” its military support for Lebanon's army in protest at Hizbullah’s “military acts,” and asked Israel to “refrain from any aggression” against the Mediterranean country before it forms a government, An Nahar daily reported on Monday. The daily said, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has told Israeli Maarvi newspaper that “he and a number of French officials had asked Israeli President Reuven Rivlin during his visit to France, that Israel should not take military action against Lebanon before the latter forms a government.”“France has halted all military support for the Lebanese army," the daily quoted the French minister as saying, "the French President has canceled a planned visit to Lebanon next month in rejection at the military action of Iranian-backed Hizbullah," he reportedly added. "We told the Israeli president that the Lebanese themselves would overcome their political dispute in order to line up a government soon," the daily quoted the Minister as telling Maarvi. On Sunday, media reports said that France has warned that President Emmanuel Macron could call off his visit to Lebanon that is scheduled for the second half of February should the new Lebanese government not be formed within a week. The sources said Le Drian has given Lebanon a one-week ultimatum to reach consensus that would allow for the formation of the cabinet.

UN Report: Lebanon's Economy Grew by Only 0.9% in 2018
Kataeb.org/Monday 28th January 2019/Lebanon's economy is estimated to have grown by only 0.9 per cent in 2018 and forecast to grow by 1.7 per cent in 2019, according to a report released by the United Nations. In its "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2019" report, the UN noted that Lebanon faces the challenge of tackling rapidly rising public debt, warning that the fiscal stance is expected to remain tight for 2019 and 2020. "Stagnant intraregional trade, a decelerating inflow of both workers’ remittances and foreign investments negatively impacted Lebanon’s economy in 2018," it pointed out. "Business sentiment deteriorated with stagnation in the real estate sector."However, the UN report noted, acceleration of economic reconstruction activities in Syria is projected to impact the Lebanese economy positively.

SSSS
Dan Azzi/Annahar/January 28/19
SSSS means you’ve been flagged for “Secondary Security Screening Selection” by the US Transportation Security Authority (TSA)
Weird title, right? You probably have no idea what it means. Well you should, because it concerns you. Chances are that if you’re reading this article, then you’re one of the thousands of Lebanese who travel, or will travel, to the United States.
It means you’ve been flagged for “Secondary Security Screening Selection” by the US Transportation Security Authority (TSA), the division within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) entrusted with air travel safety. DHS was created after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. TSA is basically the people who make you take your shoes off at US airports and go through the giant Startrek-looking X-ray machine, while you clasp your hands above your head. Then the machine takes an intrusive picture of your body, effectively rendering you naked.
The way you know you’ve been selected for the special reception right before you board, is that SSSS is stamped on your boarding pass, and that’s when you get pulled aside from the rest of the pack for some additional questions and searches. Latex gloves and Vaseline jars might also give it away.
According to leaked internal TSA documents, including their 93-page manual, excerpts of which were published in Wired Magazine, you are selected for SSSS based on several criteria of (presumably) suspicious behavior. Like purchasing a one-way ticket or paying cash for it. Or wearing a heavy coat in the middle of summer, with protruding wires and lumps. You could also be selected randomly, which is why you sometimes see little old ladies going through the procedure. If you’re on the no-fly list, you could also be selected, that is, if you’re a minor with a similar name to an adult on the list, otherwise, by definition, you couldn’t fly.
Finally, you could also be a national of a very exclusive club that only 6% of the world’s countries qualify for. Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen or Algeria. Oh, and one more, Lebanon. That’s when you get the SSSS treatment every single time. To you, it might look random, because you’re usually transiting to the US, and meld into a larger non-suspicious crowd in London or Paris or the GCC, but every single person with a Lebanese passport gets it.
It’s pretty obvious why Iran, North Korea, and Cuba are on there — no diplomatic representation. Nothing necessarily to do with their potential for blowing up a plane. In fact, as far as I know, no national of those countries has ever done that. Some of the other countries are in a state of war, with a significant presence of Al-Qaeda or their offshoots, like ISIS, and since that was the impetus for setting up the DHS in the first place, it sort of makes sense. Besides, those countries have more important things to worry about than the ease of travel of their citizenry.
Actually, this isn’t the first time something like this happens, while our leadership sits by, idly. In 1986, during our civil war, after Lebanese militias hijacked one airplane too many, the US banned direct flights from Beirut to the US, so that now we’re the only country (not at war) in this neighborhood, without direct flights. Istanbul, Athens, Amman, Cairo, and the Unmentionable One, all have direct flights, but not one of our leaders or diplomats took it upon himself to ask for a meeting with Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama, or Trump, to ask the question, “What do we have to do to have you lift this ban?”
More recently, a couple of years ago, the US banned electronic devices (like iPads) on flights from a bunch of the same countries, plus some Gulf states. They didn’t include Lebanon, only because with no direct flights, it wasn’t applicable. The next day, as the UK always does after a US decision, it followed suit, but wisely excluded the GCC countries, which spend some serious cash in London, and added Lebanon instead. Within a few weeks, the GCC countries had inquired about the conditions for removal of the ban, accommodated them, and got it lifted. Lebanon? It took around six months, a quintessential example of a success story, albeit last in class.
What now?
If we had some vigilant diplomatic representation, someone who takes the time out of his busy schedule to meet with the American authorities, we could perhaps negotiate our removal from this list or the flight ban. Maybe, in between press interviews, announcing that we’re about to default on our government bonds, we could trade teaching the US government how to run their country without a budget, in return for removing us from this dreaded list.
SSSS means something else. It’s a gentle version of Shshsh, or be quiet. Don’t hold your government representatives accountable. Keep electing them, while you remain one of the twelve designated pariah states ...at least according to the TSA screening procedures.
**Dan Azzi is a regular contributor to Annahar. He has recently been invited to be an Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow at Harvard University, a program for senior executives to leverage their experience and apply it to a problem with social impact. Dan’s research focus at Harvard will be economic and political reform in a hypothetical small country riddled with corruption and negligence. Previously, he was the Chairman and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Lebanon.

Analysis/Hezbollah Caught Between Desire to Strengthen Iran and Need to Reinforce Its Domestic Power
زفي بارئيل من الهآرتس: حزب الله عالق بين رغبة في تقوية إيران وبين حاجته إلى تعزيز قوته المحلية
Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/January 28/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71593/zvi-barel-haaretz-hezbollah-caught-between-desire-to-strengthen-iran-and-need-to-reinforce-its-domestic-power-%D8%B2%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87/
The group's concept of 'resistance,' which is the foundation of its military existence, is subservient to political and diplomatic considerations if it wishes to help Syria and Iran
Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil was asked in a recent interview on CNN whether the situation on the Israel-Lebanon border keeps him up at night.
“What’s keeping me awake at night is the silence that is accompanying the daily Israeli breaches of our independence and sovereignty... We have more than 150 air and land breaches of Resolution 1701 [which ended the Second Lebanon War]... If Israel wants to really assure its security, and that is its right, it should stop aggressing against other countries,” Bassil responded.
As expected, Bassil’s recognition of Israel’s right to defend itself sparked a huge storm in political circles and on social media – both of which reminded Bassil that he is meant to support the “resistance” and Hezbollah.
But Bassil, who heads the Free Patriotic Movement established by Lebanese President Michel Aoun, did not backtrack on his statement. His present concern is not with the public response, but rather international measures, including sanctions on Iran and the anti-Iranian conference called by Donald Trump that is slated to take place in Warsaw in February. This is a concern shared by Hezbollah, as these steps could impact Lebanon and Hezbollah’s standing in Lebanese politics.
Since Lebanon’s election in May, Beirut’s transitional government, headed by Saad Hariri, has failed to reach an agreement over the establishment of a new coalition. Therefore, it has been unable to make essential decisions regarding security and the economy.
The main obstacles faced by the transitional government have been the distribution of ministerial portfolios, which determine the distribution of power within the parliament. According to the Lebanese constitution, a two-thirds majority is necessary to pass votes on major issues. This means that any bloc with at least one-third (plus one) of the parliamentary seats has the power to defeat significant votes.
Hezbollah and its supporters have, in the past, held the one-third of seats necessary to block votes. Naturally, they want to retain this power. Hezbollah has stopped ministerial appointments and insists on adding a Sunni minister ally at the expense of the president’s quota or the prime minister – a demand that has been rejected by both leaders.
But last week, new voices from within Hezbollah seemed to be willing to allow Bassil’s movement to retain their veto power, which may finally presage an end to the political crisis. Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah believes that he can cooperate with Bassil, particularly because of the foreign minister’s intention to step away from the government’s and its prime minister's declared policy and visit President Bashar Assad in Syria
Hezbollah does not need to publicly declare renewed ties between Syria and Lebanon to obtain weapons and logistical support. Israel, and not the diplomatic freeze with Syria, prevents Lebanon from operating a safe conduit for equipment and arms. But a lack of diplomatic dialogue between Syria and Lebanon is delaying the repatriation of about a million Syrians from Lebanon and strengthening the anti-Iranian position of Hezbollah’s opponents in the government.
Hezbollah is now caught between its desire to strengthen the status of Iran and Syria and the need to reinforce its domestic political power, which allows it to dictate the government’s position as it sees fit. But in the absence of a government, Hezbollah has no real leverage, and its insistence on dictating the government’s makeup also places it in the way of Lebanon overcoming its severe economic crisis.
Details that were released last week in the Hezbollah-affiliated daily Al-Akhbar about discussions of Lebanon’s High Defense Council, headed by the president, also attest to the military limits weighing on the government.
For example, the army’s commander, who is a council member, demanded instructions from the government on how to act in light of Israel’s breaches, especially regarding the defensive wall Israel is building along the border. The answer he received from the politicians was: “Get by with your forces in the area and we’ll discuss the response.” That is, do nothing.
Antoine Mansour, the Lebanese army intelligence chief, questioned the commotion over the wall, considering that a barbed-wire fence had already been in place to which Lebanon had not objected. “From now on they won’t see us and we won’t see them,” Mansour, who opposes a military response to Israeli breaches, reportedly told the council. “And in case of a response, the army won’t last more than 24 hours,” he added.
The prime minister has said that he is in favor of a military response, and any response must receive his approval and that of the president – not of the army, and certainly not Hezbollah, even though those two bodies would decide the nature of the response, if any.
Beyond recognizing the inability of the Lebanese army to face off against Israel, which is not new, it is clear that Hezbollah will have to restrain its response in order to avoid further complicating the formation of the government and the damage that an Israeli strike could cause Lebanon. It must also be very careful not to move Israeli military action from Syria to Lebanon.
Thus, even Hezbollah’s concept of “resistance,” which is the foundation of its military existence, is subservient to political and diplomatic considerations if it wishes to help Syria and Iran. However, these obligations are not set in stone. Their fabric depends on Israel’s intentions and its actions in Syria and Lebanon. Hezbollah is willing to give Lebanon the right to sleep peacefully as long as Israel does not keep it awake at night.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on January 28-29/19
Pope Francis: Priest celibacy not ‘optional’
AFP/January 28, 2019
Pope Francis has repeatedly said there is no doctrinal prohibition on married men becoming priests, and therefore the discipline could be changed. (AFP)
‘Personally, I think that celibacy is a gift to the Church’
‘Secondly, I don’t think optional celibacy should be allowed. No’
ABOARD PAPAL PLANE: Pope Francis said Monday celibacy for priests was a “gift to the Church” and not “optional,” nixing the prospect of married men being ordained. “Personally, I think that celibacy is a gift to the Church,” the pope told journalists aboard his plane returning to the Vatican from Panama. “Secondly, I don’t think optional celibacy should be allowed. No,” he said. The pope nevertheless conceded “some possibilities for far flung places,” such as Pacific islands or the Amazon where “there is a pastoral necessity.” “This is something being discussed by theologians, it’s not my decision,” he said. The Argentine pontiff has repeatedly said there is no doctrinal prohibition on married men becoming priests, and therefore the discipline could be changed. Saint Peter, the church’s first pope, had a mother-in-law, according to the bible. Celibacy was imposed in the 11th century, possibly partly to prevent descendants of priests inheriting church property. Some within the church believe it is time to join many eastern rites Catholic Churches in permitting married men to take the cloth. Married Anglican priests keen to convert to Catholicism have already been welcomed over. The Vatican’s number two, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, suggested in an interview last year that the church could “gradually look in depth” at the issue, while ruling out any “drastic change.”Some 60,000 priests have given up their vocation over the past few decades, often to marry. Pope Paul VI’s refusal to open the door to the use of the pill in the Swinging Sixties saw many priests abandon their calling. Pope Francis suggested in 2017 that the church “reflect” on the question of ordaining “viri probati,” married men of proven virtue, particularly in far-flung places where priests are thin on the ground. The idea is likely to be on the table at a synod this year dedicated to the Amazon, an immense territory where clergy are scarce. Sensing a possible shift in attitude, some 300 married, former priests in Italy sent a letter to Francis last year offering to take up the cloth once more should he need them.

Iran Announces Offensive Strategy against Threats
London - Adil Al-Salmil/Asharq Al Awsat//January, 28/19/Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri announced on Sunday that Iran would change its defense strategy to “offensive” to defend its national interests. He stressed that his country will not remain idle against any threat, denying any ambitions to impose hegemony on the interests and territories of other countries. Speaking to reporters, Bagheri said Iran has no intention of attacking any country, stressing that “our defense strategy is to protect the independence, territorial integrity and national interests of our country.”Should Tehran sense any sign or evidence of any imminent attack against its territory, it would adopt an offensive approach in confronting it, he added, hinting at the possibility of preemptive strikes against targets Iran regards as a threat. “If there is any intention of attack against our interests, and we see evidence of it, we will not remain passive and allow the country’s security and peace to be threatened,” he warned. Moreover, he stressed that his country’s military behavior is “defensive, not impulsive,” claiming that switching to an offensive approach does not mean violating, attacking or having an interest in the territory of any other country. Bagheri’s comments were made as the US prepares to hold a conference on the Middle East in Warsaw in February. The conference has deepened concerns in Tehran, especially as it coincided with controversy over the US decision to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan and Syria, an issue that has proven to be divisive among Iranians. On the one hand, circles close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) saw the US move as evidence of the progress of Iran's regional strategy, while on the other, nationalist circles involved in the reformist movement expressed fears that Washington may launch strikes against Iran. This is not the first time that Iran announces a shift in defense strategies. In August 2016, and in response to US President Donald Trump’s electoral campaign speeches, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for changing the armed forces’ approach, by boosting their offensive capabilities and not betting on negotiations.“It is wrong to believe we can reach an agreement and common understanding through negotiations,” he said at the time. He attributed his orders to "the sensitivity of the situation in West Asia" and called on senior commanders of the armed forces to produce different weapons other than chemical. He did, however, point out to the importance of producing what he considered the "defensive" aspect of chemical weapons.

UN Envoy Discusses Syrian Political Deadlock with Egyptian FM
Cairo – Sawsan Abou Hussein/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 January, 2019/Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri received in Cairo on Sunday United Nations special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, who is on a tour of the region. The two officials discussed the latest developments in the war-torn country, stressing the need to “revive the stalled political process.” A foreign ministry spokesman said that Cairo is keen on restring the unity and stability of Syria. A political solution, he continued, must be based on UN Security Council resolution 2254 and be implemented away from foreign meddling that undermines Syria’s stability. These measures must coincide with efforts to combat terrorist and extremist groups in Syria, he added. Moreover, Shoukri emphasized the need to direct greater international attention towards the humanitarian situation in several Syrian regions. Pedersen said that he looks forward to maintaining coordination with Egypt on Syria in the future, revealed the spokesman. The envoy later held talks with Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit, who called for ceasing foreign meddling in Syria. He echoed Shoukri’s demands for reaching a political solution, said the Arab League spokesman Mahmoud Afifi. Abul Gheit underscored to the envoy the central role his organization is playing in tackling the crisis, saying that the issue concerns first and foremost an Arab country. Pedersen is set to travel to Lebanon on Tuesday. Last week, the envoy had held talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. On January 21, he met in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, stressing the need to implement resolution 2254 to ensure the safe return of refugees to their homes.
Pedersen had kicked off his duties earlier this month by holding talks with Syrian officials in Damascus.

Jordan Invites Syria to Attend Meeting of Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union
Amman - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 January, 2019/Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh announced Sunday that Jordan has officially invited Syria to attend the 29th meeting of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, which will be held in Amman in March. “We are aware of the importance of coordination and cooperation between Jordan and Syria, especially in parliamentary matters, so we invited head of Syrian People’s Assembly,” said Tarawneh while receiving Syria’s Bar Association chief Nizar Skeif and his accompanying delegation. The Jordanian news agency Petra quoted Tarawneh as saying that it is necessary to "push cooperation steps forward."“No party has any interest in a disintegrated, torn Syria in which terrorists and foreign intervention are present," he added. Skeif, for his part, said his country looks forward to strengthen bilateral relations in all fields. He pointed out that inviting head of the Syrian People’s Assembly has political implications and has prospects that will find a response from Damascus, according to AFP. Syria was suspended from the Arab League since the beginning of its conflict in 2011 and Arab states vary in their opinions regarding its return. There is already controversy over Syria’s return, especially after regime forces regained control over areas that were seized by terrorists and opposition forces. Iraq, Lebanon and Tunisia have called for Syria’s return to the Arab League, and the UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus in late 2018 after cutting diplomatic ties with the country since 2012. A technical delegation from Jordan headed to Damascus on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of reusing Syrian airspace by Jordanian airlines. Last week, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry announced the appointment of a new chargé d'affaires at the Kingdom’s embassy in Syria. Jordan is among few Arab states that maintained its relations and contacts with Syria following the outbreak of the conflict in 2011. The Kingdom hosts about 650,000 Syrian refugees, registered in the United Nations, while Amman estimates the number of those who have resorted to the country to about 1.3 million Syrians. The two countries reopened the main Jaber-Naseeb border crossing on October 15, nearly three years after closing it.

ISIS Resumes Counter Attacks East of Euphrates
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 January, 2019 /ISIS has renewed its counter offensive by the eastern banks of the Euphrates River through its remaining suicide attackers. The latest round of bombings has left 34 ISIS members and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters dead. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the death of 19 ISIS terrorists and four more suicide bombers. At least 11 SDF fighters were killed in the attacks. The latest figures bring the total ISIS casualties killed in air strikes and fighting to 1,273, while the SDF lost 669 members since September 10. The Observatory documented 401 civilian deaths, including 144 children and 86 women from Syria. They were killed in bombardment of an ISIS pocket. In addition, the Observatory monitored the entry of 35 truck transporting people from ISIS-held regions to safety. Even more trucks are expected in the future given US-led coalition strikes on the area. It noted that bombardment overnight Saturday was the fiercest in some two weeks. It also said that since December, some 30,600 people had fled ISIS pockets. The terrorist group has meanwhile executed more than 713 captives, who were arrested on various charges, added the Observatory.

Iraq: Scores Injured, Several Dead in Salahuddin's Twin Bombing
Baghdad - Hamza Mustafa/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 28 January, 2019 /At least 15 people have been killed and injured in a twin bombing in Iraq’s northern province of Salahuddin on Sunday, the Iraqi official and security sources announced. The first explosive went off near the village of Khanouka, south of Sharqat, targeting a bus carrying policemen on their way to work, killing two people and injuring eight others. A second blast near al-Missili village killing two and wounding three, in addition to a war journalist who was reporting on the attacks. Spokesman of Salahuddin Provincial Council, Marwan al-Jabra, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the attack in al-Sharqat is “not strange.”“We have repeatedly demanded, on various occasions, for a military operation to search these areas especially the Khanouka area where the incident took place,” he added. Jabra explained that the areas south-west of the desert, all the way to the desert on the Iraqi-Syrian border, need a real military operation, whether for inspection or to take control of the area. The spokesman admitted that the military units in that region are not enough to cover the vast area and rugged terrain, where ISIS terrorists are taking a safe haven, which enables them to carry out terrorist attacks every now and then. Political issues in the Baghdad are the reason for this situation in the attacked region, according to Jabra, calling to include the area residents in the security units. In turn, specialized security expert Fadel Abu Raghef also told Asharq Al-Awsat that it is natural to have security incidents in such vast places, which had recently been cleansed from ISIS control. He indicated that there are sleeper cells there waiting the chance for terrorist attacks, noting that Sharqat’s attack was done in a haste aiming to create a state of confusion and chaos. He mentioned that a security operation recently took place in the area raiding several ISIS locations. In response to a question about responsibility for this security breach, Abu Raghef admitted that security services and citizens, as well as the small number of units in control of certain regions, can be held responsible. In neighboring Diyala province, police announced a security plan to target sleeper cells around the province, especially in areas not reached by the security forces in Waqf basin’s orchids. The security situation in Abu Sida is stable, but there are still several ISIS terrorist elements targeting innocent people, Diyala Police Chief Maj-Gen Faisal al-Abadi told a press conference Sunday. Diyala MP Burhan al-Mamouri, stated there are still some areas infiltrated by terrorists who carry out operations such as bombings or sniper attacks that mainly target security services. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Maamouri called on the authorities to “increase operations in areas that continue to witness violations.”

Defying U.S., European Union Nations Set Out to Help Companies Trade With Iran
Bloomberg/Monday 28th January 2019
Three key European Union nations are set to make good on a pledge to help their companies trade with Iran despite U.S. sanctions, a move that could help to salvage a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic but may have more political symbolism than economic impact. The announcement of the so-called special purpose vehicle could come as soon as Monday, two diplomats familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified as last-minute negotiations on the wording of the EU statement continued. The mechanism is key to the EU’s effort to keep Iran from quitting the 2015 accord to constrain its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. The U.S. pulled out of the deal in May and has since reimposed sanctions. A draft EU statement seen by Bloomberg welcomes the initiative by U.K, France and Germany as providing “a positive impact on trade and economic relations with Iran, but most importantly on the lives of Iranian people.” The statement is going to be discussed by EU government envoys in Brussels on Monday morning and may be released soon after, if all 28 member states approve. The initiative reflects both European determination to uphold the Iran deal and growing concerns in Europe about the dollar’s clout in the international financial system. The mechanism is supposed help protect European companies keen to do business in Iran from U.S. sanctions that could result from dollar-based transactions. The vehicle would theoretically receive payments from companies that want to continue doing business with Iran, either by receiving waivers for oil imports or permissible trade in goods like food and medicine. With no direct transfer of funds between Iran and European actors, it would, theoretically at least, insulate firms from U.S. penalties. The Trump administration has deemed the channel an attempt to evade its “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, while casting doubt on its ability to circumvent U.S. restrictions. In December, the U.S. Treasury’s top sanctions official Sigal Mandelker, said she’s not concerned “at all” that the mechanism can sidestep sanctions. Since the U.S. left the nuclear accord, the deal’s remaining powers — China, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. — have struggled to provide the sanctions relief promised when Iran agreed to limits on its nuclear activities. The mechanism proposed by the European nations faced delays and skepticism that it can successfully persuade companies to trade. Iran’s nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, said last week that Iran is ready to re-start its enrichment program using more advanced technology if the nuclear agreement fails, according to Iranian newswires. The country is considering the manufacture of nuclear fuel used in naval propulsion systems, implying it may ramp up uranium enrichment levels closer to the purity needed for weapons.

Trump warns Europeans not to try to evade Iran sanctions
Associated Press/January 28/19
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is closely eyeing efforts in Europe to set up an alternative money payment channel to ease doing business with Iran and avoid running afoul of sanctions the U.S. has levied on the Islamic republic. The White House is putting the Europeans on notice, saying that if they try to do an end-run around U.S. sanctions on Iran, they will be subject to stiff fines and penalties. Unfazed, the European Union is marching forward with the plan, which, if implemented, could further strain trans-Atlantic relations. A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said preparations for the alternative system were “at an advanced stage.”“I hope that we can announce the launch very soon,” Maja Kocijancic told reporters late last week in Brussels. Getting out ahead of a possible announcement, a senior administration official told The Associated Press on Friday that the U.S. will fully enforce its sanctions and hold individuals and entities accountable for undermining them. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue. “The choice is whether to do business with Iran or the United States,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told the AP. “I hope our European allies choose wisely.”
The U.S. joined China, France, Germany, Russia and Britain in signing a pact with Iran in 2015 that offered to lift economic sanctions in exchange for Tehran’s pledge to rein in its nuclear weapons program. President Donald Trump called it a “horrible, one-sided deal.” He pulled out of the pact last year and restored punishing U.S. sanctions on Iran. Tehran, which denies wanting nuclear weapons, continues to abide by the agreement, and the remaining five nations in the pact are trying to keep it intact. Restoring the sanctions regime is part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure campaign” on the Iranians to force them to radically alter their policies on developing ballistic missiles, supporting regional militant groups and violating human rights. The U.S. has many concerns about the alternative payment system, according to an outside Trump administration adviser. The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the key U.S. worries. Long-term, the U.S. worries that the alternative money payment system could become successful enough to compete with the international bank transfer system known as SWIFT. The fear is that it could eventually supplant SWIFT as the leading global institution for financial institutions to send and receive information about banking transactions.
Secondly, the U.S. is concerned that other countries might try to route transactions through the European system just to circumvent U.S. sanctions, the adviser said. Thirdly, while the Europeans have signaled that the alternative money transfer system would be used only for humanitarian transactions, the U.S. is suspicious that it could be used for non-humanitarian transactions to evade U.S. sanctions, the adviser said. “We should oppose efforts to create foreign financial channels that Iran could use to circumvent America’s maximum pressure campaign against it, especially when humanitarian exceptions are already in U.S. sanctions laws,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told the AP. As the administration prepares for the potential fallout from the possible the European move, it is pressing ahead with its sanctions campaign against Iran and preparing to co-host with Poland next month a conference that will focus on combatting Iranian threats.On Thursday, Treasury imposed sanctions on two Iran-backed militias in Syria and on Qeshm Fars Air, an Iranian civilian airline it accuses of ferrying weapons and personnel to Syria to support President Bashar Assad’s government. The sanctions block any assets those targeted might have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them. At the same time, the State Department told Congress earlier this month that it would waive some Iranian sanctions to allow U.S. companies to sell spare parts to Iranian airlines, which need them to operate aging, American-built Boeing jets.
The waivers raised questions on Capitol Hill because some lawmakers are weighing legislation to specifically target Iran’s civilian aviation sector. And Iran hawks outside the administration have expressed concern too. Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said Iran’s aviation sector is being used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian military that has ties to militant networks, which Iran uses to expand its influence in the region and abroad. “What effective controls does the administration have in place to ensure that the aircraft receiving these licensed services are not facilitating Iran’s support for these destructive activities?” he asked

Venezuela's Guaido Calls for New Anti-Maduro Protests
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 28/19/Venezuela's self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido called Sunday for two new protests, in an effort to push the military to turn against leader Nicolas Maduro and back a European ultimatum demanding free elections within the week.
In a video posted on Twitter, the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly said the first of the nationwide strikes, on Wednesday from noon to 2:00 pm (1600-1800 GMT), would be one "to demand that the armed forces side with the people."The second, on Saturday, will be a "big national and international rally to back the support of the European Union and the ultimatum" from Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands that they would recognize Guaido as interim president unless Maduro calls elections by February 3.
The EU was more vague, saying it would take "further actions" if elections were not called in the coming days, including the issue of recognition of the country's "leadership."Australia, meanwhile, said it "recognizes and supports" Guaido as interim president pending elections. And Italy has called for "a rapid return to democratic legitimacy."The United States separately warned there would be a "significant response" if US diplomats, Guaido or the opposition-controlled National Assembly were targeted with violence and intimidation. Maduro so far has not budged from his position, telling CNN Turk: "No one can give us an ultimatum."Nearly 30 people have been killed and more than 350 arrested in clashes with security forces over the past week.
Appeals to the military
Encouraged by the international support for his cause, Guaido is on a mission to weaken the military's support of Maduro, which has been essential to keeping him in power since 2013. His appeals have included promises of amnesty, and mass protests to dramatize the depth of popular opposition to Maduro, who has presided over a virtual collapse of the economy and a severe humanitarian crisis, with shortages of food and medicines. Supporters circulated copies of amnesty measures approved by the National Assembly to friends and relatives in the military, but some soldiers burned or ripped up the document. Venezuela's military attache in Washington, Army Colonel Jose Luis Silva, switched his support to Guaido in a video that called on his brothers in arms to follow his lead. Maduro appeared at a military exercise in the state of Carabobo where he called for "union, discipline and cohesion" to defeat what he called an "attempted coup d'etat.""Traitors never, loyal always," he exhorted the military audience. Televised images showed tanks lined up in a row and soldiers firing their weapons. "Are you coup-backers or are you constitutionalists? Are you pro-imperialist or anti-imperialists?" Maduro asked. Thus far, the military has backed the leftist regime, which was ushered into power more than 20 years ago by the late Hugo Chavez, but there have been some signs of unrest.
Playing down military intervention
Guaido, 35, heads the opposition-controlled National Assembly and declared himself acting president in Caracas on Wednesday during an anti-government rally by tens of thousands of people. He contends that Maduro's reelection to a second six-year term was fraudulent.
His bid was swiftly endorsed by Canada, the United States and many Latin American countries. "Any violence and intimidation against US diplomatic personnel, Venezuela's democratic leader, Juan Guaido, or the National Assembly itself would represent a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response," US National Security Advisor John Bolton tweeted, without specifying what kind of response he meant. The warning didn't address specific groups or individuals, but Bolton noted in a linked tweet that Cuba's "support and control over Maduro's security and paramilitary forces" was well known. Washington also accepted exiled opposition leader Carlos Vecchio as Venezuela's new charge d'affaires to the United States after he was tapped by Guaido. Pope Francis, winding up a trip to Panama, said he was praying that "a just and peaceful solution is reached to overcome the crisis, respecting human rights."Maduro has received backing from China, Russia, Syria and Turkey, as well as longtime allies Cuba and Bolivia. In Washington, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, considered a key architect of the US policy on Venezuela, played down the possibility of a military intervention despite his and Trump's warnings earlier in the week that "all options are on the table." The Venezuelan leader earlier had given US diplomats until late Saturday to leave the country. But as the deadline expired, Maduro said he had begun negotiations to set up within 30 days an Interests Section in Caracas to maintain a minimum level of diplomatic contact, similar to the arrangement the US had with Cuba until their 2015 rapprochement.

Palestinian PM Willing to Quit if President Abbas Wishes, Says Spokesman
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 28/19/Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah on Monday offered to resign, his spokesman said, amid efforts by president Mahmud Abbas to form a new government. Such bids are seen as part of attempts by Abbas to further isolate his political rivals Hamas amid a deepening of a decade-long split in Palestinian politics. Hamdallah has "put his government at the disposal of President Mahmud Abbas," the prime minister's spokesman Yussef al-Mahmud said in a statement. It came after the central committee of Abbas's Fatah movement recommended late Sunday the formation of a new government that would comprise members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Hamdallah's West Bank-based government welcomed plans for a new government, his spokesman said. The Islamist movement Hamas is not part of the PLO.
It seized control of Gaza from Abbas's forces in a 2007 near civil war, a year after winning parliamentary elections. Since then Abbas's governments have maintained limited self rule in the occupied West Bank, but the split between the two has remained.
In June 2014 Hamdallah formed what was labelled a national unity government after a landmark reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas. The deal has since broken down and the government has no control in Hamas-controlled Gaza. Abbas was elected in 2005 for an initial four-year term but no elections have been held since then due to the Fatah-Hamas split.

UN Judicial Expert in Turkey to Probe Khashoggi Murder
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 28/19/Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday met with a UN judicial expert who is looking into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Ankara calls for an international inquiry.The UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, will be in Turkey until Saturday for a series of meetings with authorities including the Istanbul chief prosecutor. Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and Saudi regime critic, was murdered on October 2 in Turkey in what Riyadh called a "rogue" operation, tipping the kingdom into one of its worst diplomatic crises. Turkish authorities have called for an international probe into the killing which took place at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, complaining of Saudi Arabia's failure to cooperate. "Met with @AgnesCallamard, #UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions, who is in #Turkey to investigate the murder of Jamal Khashoggi," Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter, sharing a picture from his meeting in Ankara. In an interview with Turkish media last week, Cavusoglu said the Khashoggi case was "not a part of bilateral ties" with Riyadh. "We believe this case should be brought to the international arena," he said. "It is time for an international probe." Nearly four months later, the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body remains unknown and Turkish officials accuse Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of orchestrating the killing -- an allegation Saudi authorities categorically refute.
Earlier this month a trial of 11 accused in the murder opened in Saudi Arabia with the attorney general seeking the death penalty for five defendants. During her mission, Callemard is due to meet with Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Istanbul chief prosecutor Irfan Fidan, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 28-29/19
Turkey: Imprisoning Dissidents while Bidding for EU Membership
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/January 28/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13607/turkey-imprisoning-dissidents
Erdogan did not hide the fact that his statements promising "freedom of faith, freedom of thought and freedom of opinion" were part of his "preparations for the 2019 local elections." The Turkish president did, however, hide the fact that his words were completely false.
On December 19, Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV), was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for being one of 2,212 signatories to an "Academics for Peace" petition in 2016. The petition called on the Turkish government to cease its violence against the Kurds in southeastern Turkey. Fincancı is one of 429 academics who, as of December 19, have stood on trial since December 5.
Erdoğan was not telling the truth when he declared that everyone in Turkey would enjoy "freedom of faith, freedom of thought and freedom of opinion." In fact, Turkish jails and prisons are so packed with people imprisoned for expressing their beliefs, that the government just announced it will be building 228 more prisons over the next five years to accommodate the overflow.
Simultaneously, Turkey is stepping up its decades-long bid to become a member of the European Union. As part of this bid, Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul announced on December 11 that he would be unveiling a new strategy for judicial reform. Under no circumstances should the EU allow itself to be duped by such a transparently deceptive and deceitful move.
On December 19, Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for being one of 2,212 signatories to an "Academics for Peace" petition, which called on the Turkish government to cease its violence against the Kurds in southeastern Turkey. Pictured: Fincancı receives the Physicians for Human Rights award in New York City on April 18, 2017. (Photo by Andrew Toth/Getty Images for Physicians for Human Rights)
At a rally in Ankara over the summer, held by the women's branch of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced:
"From now on, there will be no fight for freedom of faith, freedom of thought and freedom of opinion. Everyone will be free in their own faith [and] be free to live accordingly. [Everyone will be at liberty to] say whatever he [or she] believes in."
Erdogan did not hide the fact that his statements at the August gathering were part of his "preparations for the 2019 local elections," scheduled for March 31. The Turkish president did, however, hide the fact that his words were completely false. To illustrate, let us review some of the human-rights abuses in Erdoğan's Turkey that took place in one month, December 2018, alone.
On December 19, the 40th anniversary of the Maraş Massacre -- in which 111 Alevis were slaughtered in the southeastern city of Kahramanmaraş -- the governor of Kahramanmaraş declared a ban on commemorative events for the victims. The reason cited for the prohibition -- similar to that imposed in 2017, ahead of the 39th anniversary of the massacre -- was to avoid a "disruption of public order."
On December 17, Hamide Yiğit, a columnist at the left-wing opposition news site Sendika.org, was sentenced to seven and a half months in prison for "openly denigrating the state and government of the Republic of Turkey," by sharing on social media the cover of the third edition of her book, AKP'nin Suriye Savaşı ("The AKP's Syria War"). Among other "criminal" posts by Yiğit -- who was previously sentenced to more than a year in jail for "insulting the president" -- was the statement: "A free press cannot be silenced."
Access to Sendika.org itself was blocked on December 5 -- for the 62nd time -- by Turkey's Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA). To circumvent the block, it used a different web address, sendika63.org. On December 6, the site announced that the ICTA had lifted the block.
Sendika.org applied in 2017 to be listed in the Guinness World Records book as "the most-blocked website."
As of December 14, at least 169 members of the media remained in Turkish prisons, either in pre-trial detention or serving sentences, according to a report by the Platform for Independent Journalists. Many of these were arrested for articles and social media posts deemed "insulting" to Erdoğan. Berivan Bila, a journalism student at Karadeniz Technical University, for instance, was detained on December 6 -- after police raided her home and seized her computer, mobile phone, newspapers and books -- over an op-ed she had penned in 2017, titled: "School of Journalism -- Lesson one: Journalism is not a Crime."
On December 19, Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV), was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for being one of 2,212 signatories to an "Academics for Peace" petition in 2016. The petition, titled "We will not be a party to this crime," called on the Turkish government to cease its violence against the Kurds in southeastern Turkey. The assaults have resulted in the destruction of large portions of many predominantly Kurdish towns.
According to the Bianet News Agency, Fincancı is one of 429 academics who, as of December 19, have stood trial since December 5.
On December 21, Serhat Parlak, brother of imprisoned journalist Ferhat Parlak, was detained by Diyarbakir police -- and then fined before being released -- for "provoking the public" and engaging in "propaganda for a terrorist organization." Parlak's crime? Hanging banners on behalf of his brother, who was "targeted by police and soldiers for news reports he has written about the military curfews imposed on the town of Silvan in 2015 and the corruption at the municipality."
Serhat's and Ferhat's father, Yaşar Parlak, also a journalist, was murdered in Diyarbakir in 2004. To this day, his killers remain "unidentified".
Three events scheduled for December 19 at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara were canceled by the president of the university and by the Ankara governorship. On December 20, METU students received an e-mail from the administration explaining the move. The e-mail read, in part:
"During the current electoral process in our country, the panel discussions and/or meetings to be held by political parties, communities, institutions or organizations outside our university or by the groups that are not official communities in our university will not be allowed."
The METU administration also shut down the university's "Media Group," which reported on recent bans of student events and demonstrations.
During the week of December 3-10, Turkey's Interior Ministry investigated 310 social media accounts and took legal action against 238 users for offenses such as "insulting state officials" and hindering the "state's indivisible integrity."
On December 11, at the 5th International Cybercrimes Workshop in Ankara, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said:
"We formed virtual patrols working 24/7 for the purpose of investigating criminal content on the internet... Within this context, about 110,000 social media accounts have been investigated in 2018; the users of 45,000 accounts have been identified, and 7,000 have been caught and sent to judicial authorities."
All of the above clearly show that Erdoğan was not telling the truth when he declared, just five months ago, that everyone in Turkey would enjoy "freedom of faith, freedom of thought and freedom of opinion." In fact, Turkish jails and prisons are so packed with people imprisoned for expressing their beliefs, that the government just announced it will be building 228 more prisons over the next five years to accommodate the overflow.
Simultaneously, Turkey is stepping up its decades-long bid to become a member of the European Union. As part of this bid, Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul announced on December 11 that he would be unveiling a new strategy for judicial reform. Under no circumstances should the EU allow itself to be duped by such a transparently deceptive and deceitful move. *Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute and currently based in Washington D.C.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

The Palestinian Jihad Against Peace
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/January 28/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13631/palestinians-jihad-against-peace
According to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, an upcoming US-sponsored global summit to discuss the Middle East and Iran will "bring together dozens of countries from all around the world, from Asia, from Africa, from Western Hemisphere countries, Europe too, the Middle East of course."
The Palestinian strategy is now based on inciting Arabs against their leaders. This is the message that Abbas and his officials are sending to the Arabs: "You need to join us in our campaign to stop our leaders from making peace with Israel. You must condemn any leader who seeks normalization with Israel as a traitor."Other senior Palestinian officials have gone further by warning the Arab countries that any form of normalization with Israel would be considered an act of treason
It now remains to be seen whether the Arab countries will surrender to the latest campaign of Palestinian incitement and intimidation.
As part of the "anti-normalization" campaign, Palestinian leaders are putting pressure on Arab countries to boycott a US-sponsored global summit to discuss the Middle East and Iran. According to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (center), the summit will "bring together dozens of countries from all around the world, from Asia, from Africa, from Western Hemisphere countries, Europe too, the Middle East of course."  Palestinian leaders have recently stepped up their efforts to stop Arab countries from normalizing their relations -- or even signing peace agreements -- with Israel.
The campaign comes against a backdrop of reports about the warming of relations between Israel and some Arab countries, including a recent visit to Oman by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The specter of peace between the Arab countries and Israel has become a nightmare for Palestinian leaders. Instead of worrying about building a better future -- which the Palestinians desperately need -- Palestinian leaders are feverishly working to thwart any attempt to bring the Arab countries closer to Israel.
As part of the "anti-normalization" campaign, the Palestinian leaders in the West Bank are now putting pressure on the Arab countries to boycott a US-sponsored global summit to discuss the Middle East and Iran, which is scheduled for next month in Poland.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a televised interview that the meeting would "focus on Middle East stability and peace and freedom and security here in this region, and that includes an important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence."
The meeting, Pompeo said, will "bring together dozens of countries from all around the world, from Asia, from Africa, from Western Hemisphere countries, Europe too, the Middle East of course."
Palestinian leaders are apparently convinced that the upcoming conference is part of a US effort to normalize relations between the Arab countries and Israel. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and his senior officials and spokesmen in Ramallah consider anything the US Administration does or says as a "conspiracy designed to liquidate the Palestinian cause and national rights."
Abbas and his Palestinian Authority have been boycotting the US Administration ever since President Donald Trump's December 2017 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Since then, they have exploited every opportunity to voice their condemnation of Trump's yet-to-be-announced plan for peace in the Middle East, also known as the "deal of the century."On January 23, Palestinian leaders who met in Ramallah, the de facto West Bank Palestinian capital, rejected the US plan to hold the conference in Poland and also called on the Arab countries not to participate in the conference. They asked instead that that they reaffirm their commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative, a 10-sentence proposal for ending the Arab-Israeli conflict that was endorsed by the Arab League in 2002.
Israel has expressed reservations about the Arab League peace plan, especially the demand to retreat to the indefensible pre-1967 lines with territorial adjustments, including a withdrawal from the Golan Heights, as well as the "right of return" for refugees and their descendants to their former homes in Israel. Flooding Israel with millions of Palestinians will turn the Jews into a minority -- as is presumably the plan.
In other words, the Arab Peace Initiative is actually demanding the creation of two Palestinian states: one in Israel, and another in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been quoted as saying that the only positive part of the plan is the willingness of the Arab nations to achieve peace and normalization with Israel. The Palestinian leaders did not find time to discuss ways of improving the living conditions of their people. They did not discuss the ongoing "economic and humanitarian crisis" in the Gaza Strip. Those issues never made it onto their list of priorities.
What is dogging Abbas and his Palestinian Authority is the talk of rapprochement between some Arab countries and Israel.
PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat, who has devoted the past two decades of his life to condemning Israel and the US, was one of the first Palestinian leaders to sound the alarm about the US Administration's upcoming conference.
In keeping with the long-standing Palestinian tradition of denouncing everything related to Israel and the US as a "conspiracy," Erekat said that the Poland conference was "aimed at deepening divisions in the region."
Erekat seems particularly worried that some Arab countries will attend the conference and speak on behalf of the Palestinians, or even normalize their relations with Israel. The PLO, he said, is the only party authorized to speak on behalf of the Palestinians in any negotiations pertaining to the Palestinian issue.
Other senior Palestinian officials have gone further by warning Arab countries that any form of normalization with Israel would be considered an act of treason. Abbas Zaki, for instance, a veteran leader of Abbas's ruling Fatah faction, said about the apparent rapprochement between Israel and some Arab countries: "The normalization of some Arab countries with Israel is an act of treason and cowardice." In another statement, Zaki condemned recent visits by some Arabs to Israel as a "deep stabbing of the Palestinian national struggle." The apparent rapprochement between Israel and some Arab countries, he added, was part of a conspiracy to facilitate Israel's control and hegemony over Arab resources.
Mohammed Shtayyeh, another senior Fatah official and former member of the Palestinian negotiating team with Israel, said that the Palestinians were frustrated and saddened by the normalization of relations between the Arabs and Israel. In an interview with the Palestinian Authority's Voice of Palestine radio station, Shtayyeh attributed the apparent rapprochement between Israel and some Arabs to the "state of decline" in the Arab and Islamic countries. Three Palestinian groups — the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and Hamas — have also called on the Arabs to resist any attempt by their leaders to make peace with Israel, and said that the time has come to take "serious measures to confront the dangers of normalization with Israel."
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah also joined the chorus, by urging the Arabs to refrain from any form of normalization with Israel. In a speech before an Arab economic conference in Lebanon on January 20, Hamdallah said that Arab normalization with Israel should not happen before the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with east Jerusalem as its capital, on the pre-1967 lines. He called on all Arab institutions and companies to abide by Arab League instructions to boycott Israel.
It is, at the very least, pure hypocrisy for the Palestinian Authority and its leaders to demand that Arabs boycott Israel when they themselves are speaking and working with Israel. The same Hamdallah who is calling on Arabs to boycott Israel, holds regular meetings with Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon in Jerusalem. Another Palestinian minister who holds regular meetings with Israeli officials is Hussein al-Sheikh, who is also a senior Fatah official.
The Palestinian strategy is now based on inciting Arabs against their leaders. This is the message that Abbas and his officials are sending to the Arabs: "You need to join us in our campaign to stop Arab leaders from making peace with Israel. You must condemn any leader who seeks normalization with Israel as a traitor."The Palestinians' "anti-normalization" campaign is also part of their effort to thwart Trump's "deal of the century," which, according to some reports, will call for normalization between the Arabs and Israel. The Palestinians say that they are determined to foil Trump's unseen peace plan and its attempt to normalize relations between the Arab countries and Israel. This, then, is what Palestinian "diplomacy" boils down to these days: foiling peace plans and Israeli-Arab normalization. That is what happens when Mahmoud Abbas and his officials have nothing good to offer their people. It now remains to be seen whether the Arab countries will surrender to the latest campaign of Palestinian incitement and intimidation.
*Bassam Tawil, a Muslim Arab, is based in the Middle East.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

The Davos Forum and the Ethiopian Guest
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat//January, 28/19
Backwardness is not an inescapable fate. A people, who have long suffered, can change the course of events if they had the will, vision and leadership. Ethiopia could have remained stuck in the wars of the past. It could have remained embroiled in endless ethnic and border conflicts and compounded its poverty and hunger. It instead chose to go against this path. It chose to belong to this era and hop on to the train that is headed towards the future. This is what officials at the World Economic Forum in Davos sensed when they listened to what Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had to say. This leader knows his country. He has witnessed the catastrophic impact two decades of war with Eritrea have had on his country. Prior to that, he witnessed the heavy price paid over the Ogaden war with Somalia. He also witnessed the terrible failure of Mengistu Haile Mariam when he rose up against dictatorship. Moreover, he saw the suffering and hunger among the people and their longing for an end to their misery.
Abiy Ahmed derived lessons from the past. Poverty, not Eritrea, was the main enemy. What good is a victory against a neighboring country when you are being defeated at home by poverty and backwardness? He also realized that victory by one ethnic group against the other was meaningless as long as hunger and unemployment persisted. He learned that the solution lies in getting out of the wars of the past and forging partnerships with the future through creating opportunities and raising hope.
Abiy Ahmed realized that he had to make a major decision between remaining in the catastrophe of the past and becoming an additional burden on Africa and the world or between becoming part of the cycle of development and making a decisive move that completely breaks free of the past. This is how coexistence prevailed over conflict. Ethiopia turned towards development, progress and investment in an effort to join the successive technological revolutions. His motto became “breaking down walls and building bridges.” He shunned wars with neighbors and instead opened partnerships with them. In Ethiopia, he built a country of law, institutions, respect of human rights and transition of power that is attractive to investors.
Abiy Ahmed knew that the time for change was now and that countries did not have the luxury to keep stalling forever. This is why, ten months ago, he launched a series of reforms. But most importantly, he revived hope among his people. The Ethiopians, who had given up on their country, started to return. This was demonstrated by the figures Abiy Ahmed presented at Davos this week that revealed Ethiopia as the fastest developing country in Africa. His figures showed that Addis Ababa had put behind it the phase of censorship and arrest of journalists and political opponents. He proved that the war on corruption will not spare anyone. Another African caught the attention of Davos participants when he sounded the alarm over the situation in his country. This was the first time that Somalia’s Mohammed Hassan Mahmoud, 28, saw snow when he landed in Davos. He recounted a painful story about being born amid civil war in his country. He fled with his mother and siblings to Kenya after his father was killed. He moved from refugee camp to another until the Kakuma camp became his new country. He could not go to university because he lacked the necessary identification papers. In the camp, he became the liaison between the UN refugee agency and Kenyan government.
Addressing the gatherers, he said: “There are 60 million refugees in the world today. I want to be part of the last generation of refugees who have been stuck in camps for 20 years.” He called on countries to change their views on this issue. “It is time for refugees to be treated as partners in development efforts instead of a burden on governments. There are people among them who boast talents and competencies. They can become productive partners if they are given the chance,” he pleaded.
Abiy Ahmed and the refugee’s remarks were not the highlight of the Davos forum, but I chose to speak about them because a sizable amount of our countries are still living in the war and delusions of the past. “Small wars” are still depleting budgets and eating away at stability. Corruption rears its ugly head whenever a government attempts to uproot it from state institutions. I spoke about the refugee’s testimony because some of our countries produce refugees, while others, who eye them warily, are tasked with hosting them.
Davos 2019 was weighed down with many concerns. From the moment of its opening and until its conclusion, concerns were rife over the eruption of an open trade war between the United States and China. The gatherers warned that the price of this war will not be limited to the globe’s top two economies, but the entire world. The Chinese vice president’s speech was clear when he said that the trade war cannot create winners and that any confrontation will harm all sides. He attempted to ease mounting fears over signs that the Chinese economy was slowing down, stressing that it will continue to achieve sustainable growth. Other issues preoccupied the participants. The fourth industrial revolution and the changes it will create, especially in artificial intelligence, and its impact on job opportunities and unemployment. Another issue was the ambiguous situation in Britain over Brexit. Some attention was given to the marginalized, who have been forgotten by globalization and persistence of high poverty rates in the world. This may lead to political and security unrest and massive migration waves that have started to spark populist movements and severe identity crises. Climate change was present more than ever before amid warnings that the world could no longer keep hesitating in this issue, especially since the majority of governments were not doing enough to combat this phenomenon.
The speeches at Davos revealed that officials prioritize their governments and countries. Discussions revealed ongoing concern that the world will be divided between those who hold technology and the keys to the future and those who are still stuck in the past and refuse to swallow the bitter pill and turn to the future.

Brexit Will Make the US and Europe Less Safe
James Stavridis/Bloomberg View/January, 28/19
London this week has been anxious under chalky skies with prolonged drizzle, apt conditions for a nation grappling with an unruly process to (probably) depart the European Union. The debate here is largely over how Brexit will affect the political and economic relations between the UK and Europe. Largely ignored, by both Brits and Americans, is how Brexit is a tragic geopolitical loss for the US and the trans-Atlantic alliance. When the nations of Western Europe operate together they represent a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product and the world’s second-largest defense budget. But individually, none is remotely as important a US partner as they are collectively. An old saw attributed to Henry Kissinger holds that there is no way to “call Europe” and ask for help in foreign policy. Yet the steps over the past 20 years by the EU — including forming a diplomatic service and a coordinated foreign and defense policy — began the process of providing that single number to reach America’s staunchest allies. Brexit imperils those gains, pulling the second-largest economy in the European bloc out of the continental trade agreement and disconnecting it politically and militarily from the rest of Europe.
Moreover, it drives a wedge between the UK and the Franco-German entente that is increasingly dominating European policies and positions. That hurts Washington’s ability to build coherent coalitions to deal with the big global problems, from censuring Iran to sanctioning Russia to dealing with climate change. For NATO specifically, there is actually some good news. The British military, which now tends to divide its participation between EU and NATO missions, will shift to the latter after a Brexit. The bad news: This would make it likely that the French and Germans would simply increase their support for EU military priorities at the expense of NATO. (Consider French President Emmanuel Macron’s misguided call for a “European army.”) Even if Brexit had a neutral effect in terms of force structure, it would psychologically weaken the alliance overall.
At the darkest end of the spectrum, Brexit could accelerate the overall collapse of the “European project” and the security blanket it provides. Other forces here include the election in Italy of an anti-EU populist government; the anti-democratic governments in Poland and Hungary that have been censured by the EU; the dwindling political capital of lame-duck German Chancellor Angela Merkel; and the Yellow Jacket street protests in France that undermine the sentiments of a unified Europe.
What should the US do? First, Washington should stay on the sidelines in the British debate. The Trump administration has been vaguely supportive of Brexit, implying the US would provide a new bilateral trade agreement. But, rightly, there have been no concrete steps in that direction. This is an issue that must be decided by the people of Great Britain. Finally, the White House needs to plan out the policy choices for aiding a newly isolated UK. The biggest threats are not military but economic and diplomatic. In addition to a new free-trade association, the US needs to provide Britain with a stronger bilateral military-to-military engagement policy; adapt its intelligence cooperation to make up for what the UK will lose from its former EU partners; and act as an honest broker between the UK and EU until the initial round of mutual resentment and bitterness subsides.

The 'Russian bear's' juggling act in Syria
تشارلز بيليزر/جيروزاليم بوست/لعبة "الدب الروسي" في سوريا
Charles Bybelezer/The Media Line/Jerusalem Post/January 28/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/71596/charles-bybelezer-the-media-line-jerusalem-post-the-russian-bears-juggling-act-in-syria-%d8%aa%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%84%d8%b2-%d8%a8%d9%8a%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%b2%d8%b1-%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%b2/
"The Russian estimate about Syria was wrong from the beginning but the military convinced Putin that it would be a very quick operation." former Kremlin adviser Alexander Nekrassov said.
Russia stormed back into the Middle East in 2015 riding a proverbial high-horse to the rescue of Bashar al-Assad's then-crumbling regime in Syria. More than three years later, Moscow's predicament perhaps is better depicted by the circus-like image of a Russian Bear pedaling a tricycle while juggling the competing interests of countries whose apparent irreconcilability accounts for the absence of order now desperately being sought.
"The Russian estimate about Syria was wrong from the beginning but the military convinced [President Vladimir] Putin that it would be a very quick operation. This is a multi-sided conflict with complex and unpredictable developments and Moscow was bound to get bogged down," former Kremlin adviser Alexander Nekrassov told The Media Line.
"The whole adventure was surprising given that Putin has a much bigger problem—ten times larger—in Ukraine. The Russian army should have learned from its wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya that the type of enemy it’s fighting in Syria cannot be totally defeated. Presently, there is no coherent plan other than to respond to incidents and try to save face despite the disastrous situation."
The intricacy of Russia's conundrum—that is, seemingly impossible balancing act—was evidenced last week by the intersection of events involving all major players in Syria. The cascade began Sunday when Iran's Quds Force responded to a rare Israeli day-time strike in and around Damascus by firing a powerful missile towards the Mount Hermon ski resort. While intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, the Israel Defense Forces, in turn, launched a significant cross-border operation, reportedly destroying more than three dozen targets and killing up to 12 Iranians in the process.
The altercation came against the backdrop of reports that Quds Force boss Qasem Soleimani earlier this month visited southern Syria and may have pre-planned the rocket attack. This raised the collective eyebrow of Israel's political and defense establishments given that Russia previously vowed to bar Iranian soldiers and their Shiite underlings from operating within about 60 miles of the shared frontier.
Irrespective, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman immediately denounced the "practice of arbitrary strikes on the territory of a sovereign state…[which] should be ruled out.” Russia's ambassador to Israel echoed the sentiment while suggesting that Jerusalem’s recent policy of claiming responsibility for attacks in Syria is politically-motivated and connected to the April 9 elections.
Then, in a total about-face, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov vehemently rejected even the implication that Moscow and Tehran are allies. In an interview with CNN, he also stressed that the Kremlin "in no way underestimate[s] the importance of measures [read air strikes] that would ensure [the] very strong security of the state of Israel,” adding that upholding this "top priority" is known not only to the Iranians but also to the United States, Turkey and the Syrian regime.
As this was unfolding, Putin hosted his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Moscow amid threats by Ankara to annihilate Kurdish YPG units, the ground force most responsible for the demise of Islamic State. The Syrian Kurds—which Erdogan considers an extension of the banned PKK in next-door Iraq—are backed by Washington, Russia's primary geopolitical foe, which further complicated matters for Moscow by walking back the declared prospect of a complete troop withdrawal from Syria.
Adding to the complexity is that Idlib Province—which Syrian-led forces last year aimed to reconquer until a supposed agreement transformed the region into a "de-escalation zone"—has almost entirely been overrun by the al-Qa’ida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, raising the specter of another major battle in a sensitive area straddling the Turkish border and Assad's coastal Alawite stronghold. Finally, Russia's nightmarish week ended with Hassan Nasrallah—chief of Iran's Lebanon-based Hizbullah proxy—warning that his terror army, portions of which are stationed in Syria, is liable to begin responding militarily to Israeli air strikes.
Notwithstanding the quagmire, some observers still argue that Russia has not bitten off more than it can chew and that the relatively limited military resources invested in Syria have enabled the Kremlin to project a disproportionate amount of power globally.
"Russia's goal to stabilize the Assad regime has been quite successful and it is now looking to expand the territory Damascus controls. Meanwhile, Moscow has secured access to a warm-water [military] port in the Mediterranean and created an air force base in the Latakia region," Yaakov Lappin, a Middle East specialist at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, explained to The Media Line.
"Nevertheless, this was achieved by teaming up with the Iranian axis which is starting to create problems. Russia's interests are starting to diverge from those of Tehran and there are public signs of this, including the statement by the deputy foreign minister about not being aligned with [the Islamic Republic]. Forcing Iran out of Syria is likely to be Russia's most difficult challenge as [the mullahs] have no intention of leaving. This also means that the shadow war between Israel and Tehran will continue and might lead to serious consequences."
Indeed, the combustible status quo that has persisted in Syria for some time can at any point unravel, with Russia primed to bear the brunt of the responsibility. Whatever the result Moscow is liable to learn the hard way what all relevant parties have long known: namely, that peace and quiet is a dynamic as foreign to this region as the Russian Bear was for the better part of four decades.

Iran, Hizballah, Hamas use threats of escalation to meddle in Israel’s election
Debka File/January 28/19
Hamas bulldozers leveled Gaza border ground, Nasrallah brandished his missiles, Palestinian extremists clashed with settlers and Iran switched to the “offensive,” as Israel’s April 9 election campaign got underway.
On Monday, Jan. 28, the Palestinian extremist Hamas released photos of bulldozers clearing the ground along the Gaza-Israeli border to prepare for more of the mass riots that have plagued Israeli border forces for ten months. Its spokesmen moreover announced preparations to renew the incendiary balloon and glider attacks against Israeli border communities, as well as keeping up terrorist gang attempts to smash through the border. By this tactic, Hamas sought to show up as wasted effort Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s deal for channeling Qatar’s Gaza funding to humanitarian needs rather than the Hamas payroll. The Palestinian terrorists had managed to outmaneuver this deal. Hamas now controls the Qatari allocations, while retaining the option for escalating its cross-border attacks, in breach of its ceasefire bargain with Qatar. Indeed, there is nothing to stop Hamas from reverting to rocket attacks at any time it chooses. Hamas therefore holds a strong lever for disrupting the Likud and Netanyahu’s campaign for re-election by exercising its initiative for generating violence.
Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah also laid claim to this lever when on Saturday, Jan. 26 he finally broke his silence over Israel’s November operation to destroy his cross-border tunnels. The Israeli minister Yuval Steinitz described Nasrallah as pale and faltering in this appearance and ex-chief of staff Gady Eisenkot insisted that every last tunnel had been destroyed or blocked. But the fact remains that the IDF cannot know absolutely that there are no tunnels left. And, moreover, there was no Israeli response to the key element in the Hizballah chief’s long harangue: an explicit threat to use his new precise missiles, stressing that he has enough of them, if he so decides, to strike every target in Israel. Nasrallah went on to arrogantly confirmed as true the allegations by Netanyahu and Eisenkot. that Hizballah had a scheme for capturing parts of Galilee. Tehran is also aware that Netanyahu and his party are fighting an election and is checking to see if threats can do some damage. On Sunday, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, IRGC commander and Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, threatened to switch from its “defense policy to offensive tactics” if its national interests came under threat. “We will attack first if we feel or see evidence that Iran may be under attack,” he said.
An effort to spark a major headline-grabbing outbreaks to coincide with the election campaign was staged on Saturday in another combustible sector: Judea and Samaria. It led to a Palestinian death in the village of Mughayyer near Ramallah, which is also next door to the Israeli outpost of Adel Ad. The two clashed after an attempt to ambush of a settler. He survived what he was sure was a Palestinian kidnapping attempt with a stabbed arm and injuries from blows. A police probe seeks to establish who fired the fatal shot after the incident descended into mob violence.

Criticism of Pompeo’s religious beliefs carry no weight
Peter Welby/Arab News/January 28/19
On his recent visit to a new cathedral in Egypt, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “The Lord is at work here in Egypt…. (this is) a stunning testament to the Lord’s hand… a truly remarkable place where you can see religious freedom at work.”
Few countries’ senior representatives frame their nation’s mission in religious terms. Iran is one; perhaps India in less zealous terms; and Russia occasionally. The US doesn’t tend to — although religious imagery has never been far from the surface of American public discourse — which makes Pompeo’s approach noteworthy.
Pompeo, like Vice President Mike Pence, is valued by President Donald Trump in part precisely because he is an evangelical Christian. Eighty percent of evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016 and that vote means political action is necessary. Pence and Pompeo are part of this political dividend.
Western elites have historically been disdainful about religious fervor. These days, that disdain has extended to religious belief of any sort. “Mike Pompeo’s evangelical zeal could complicate his new diplomatic life,” said The Economist of his appointment, hinting that his faith would impede his interactions with Muslim leaders.
It is perhaps not surprising, though, that the majority of the criticism of his appointment did not substantively rest on international relations, but rather his relations with his fellow Americans. One is that suspicion of overt faith. One prominent foreign policy commentator contrasted him with past secretaries of state, who had been “refreshingly secular” — a values statement if there ever was one. Another critic referred to the problems that he caused for Muslim-Americans in his response to the Boston Marathon bombing.
Another magazine wrote an account of Pompeo’s supposed lack of commitment to diversity while head of the CIA — an article apparently premised on the fact that he is an orthodox Christian who attends Bible studies and has previously spoken against gay marriage.
But this entire approach rests on a false assumption: That the wider world is as squeamish about religion as the West. Perhaps, even, that there is wink-wink complicity between leaders in the Muslim world and the West that secularism is the only viable approach to government, and that it is only the backwards people of the Middle East and North Africa that prevent its implementation.
This is, of course, nonsense. There are two great fallacies of Western international theory around religion, present both in the media and in much of politics and foreign aid. The first is that secularism is neutral ground, and therefore to be prioritized. And the second is that religion is on the way out as people become more rational. Neither of those statements are particularly new; but nor is the statement that they are both profoundly wrong.
Pompeo, like Vice President Mike Pence, is valued by President Donald Trump in part precisely because he is an evangelical Christian
Political neutral ground can only be found between two people with similar belief systems. If you have grown up as an atheist, and I have grown up as an evangelical, it is more natural for you to explain your belief system without reference to God than it is for me. If you insist that only explanations without reference to God are valid, we are no longer on neutral ground — we are on your home turf. Sure, I may be able to defend some of my views from first principles (much as Descartes attempted for the existence of God), but you will be able to defend yours on the same grounds as you formed them.
As for the world becoming less religious, data shows that it isn’t. The Pew Research Center estimates that those of no religion will fall from 16 percent of the world’s population now to 13 percent by 2060. But many in the West seem to believe the opposite without really thinking about it: Because the West is getting less religious, therefore the West’s foreign policy should pretend the world is likewise.
The reality of “neutral ground” is that religious language is more comprehensible to much of the world than secular language. When Pompeo said in a speech in Cairo two weeks ago that on his desk he keeps an open Bible to remind him of “God, his word, and the truth,” most of his audience would have been people who recite verses from the Quran daily.
When Pompeo’s critics suggested that his views on Islam are a danger, they feared that he would not be able to relate to Muslim leaders. But the views on Islam that they referred to were views on Islamist extremism, which the leaders here in the Gulf and elsewhere will largely agree with. Pompeo is not the religious extremist that some in the media made him out to be. He is an orthodox conservative Christian.
In the US in particular, I regard it as a threat to Christianity that evangelicalism has so publicly nailed its colors to the Trump mast, jettisoning all the concerns about presidential morals that led them to reject previous Democrat presidents. It is a quick way to diminish the attractiveness of a faith, and undermine the willingness of potential audiences to hear its central message. But, if anything, it is that conflation of evangelical faith with Trumpian politics that was behind the concern at Pompeo’s appointment. His recent visit to the Middle East may not go down in the history books, but it does reveal his opponents’ concerns about his religious beliefs to be full of hot air.
*Peter Welby is a consultant on religion and global affairs, specializing in the Arab world. Previously, he was the managing editor of a think tank on religious extremism, the Center on Religion & Geopolitics, and worked in public affairs in the Gulf. He is based in London, and has lived in Egypt and Yemen. Twitter: @pdcwelby

Hypocritical Iran regime increasing its foreign spies’ activities
د. ماجد ربيزاده : النظام الإيراني االمنافق يزيد من أنشطة جواسيسه الأجانب
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 28/19
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Iranian leaders preach that nations should respect the sovereignty of other states and therefore should not interfere in the domestic affairs of Iran or its allies, such as Syria. Such statements appear to be pure rhetoric, as recent developments clearly reveal that the regime does not practice what it preaches.
In addition to its military adventurism in the Middle East and its meddling in the domestic policies of other countries, the Iranian regime is escalating its employment of spies and special agents to interfere in the sociopolitical, religious and socioeconomic landscapes of other nations. This policy is not only implemented in the Middle East, but also in the US and the EU.
Iran is increasingly utilizing agents who are very unlikely to appear, or be detected, as spies. For example, the US Department of Justice last year said that two individuals were acting as spies for the Islamic Republic. One of them, Majid Ghorbani, 59, worked at a Persian restaurant in California. The other, Ahmadreza Mohammadi Doostdar, 38, is an American-born citizen of Iranian descent. Doostdar holds both Iranian and American citizenship. They were accused of spying on Jewish and Israeli facilities, as well as collecting information about members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq.
This will likely cause more tension, and impose fear, within the Persian community, which is mostly centered in California. Carrying out acts of espionage in the US also poses a danger to the lives of Americans, since the Tehran regime views the US as the “great Satan,” its No. 1 enemy, and strives to damage its national security. Assistant Attorney General John Demers acknowledged that: “Doostdar and Ghorbani are alleged to have acted on behalf of Iran, including by conducting surveillance of political opponents and engaging in other activities that could put Americans at risk. With their arrest and these charges, we are seeking to hold the defendants accountable.”
The Quds Force is mandated to primarily operate in foreign countries in order to advance the revolutionary ideology and geopolitical interests of the Islamic Republic.
A common misconception is that Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence is solely behind these activities, but another crucial institution to bear in mind is the Quds Force, which is led by Qassem Soleimani and is the elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Quds Force is mandated to primarily operate in foreign countries in order to advance the revolutionary ideology and geopolitical interests of the Islamic Republic.
This brings us to another type of unlikely spy that Iran employs: Individuals working in its embassies and consulates in foreign countries, such as diplomats. Some diplomats have full immunity from prosecution, meaning that they cannot be imprisoned or forced to testify in court, even if they commit the most heinous crimes, including plotting a terrorist act or committing murder.
That is why the Netherlands last year had to expel two Iranian embassy staff members to their home country rather than bring charges against them in court. In other words, even in the worst scenario, the Iranian regime scores a victory because it not only achieves its objectives through its diplomats, but also gets them back if they are caught red-handed. Afterwards, the regime is likely to just replace the expelled diplomats with new ones.
In addition to the scandal caused by the two diplomats in the Netherlands, an Iranian diplomat based in Vienna was reportedly behind a bomb plot targeting a large gathering of human rights activists and politicians protesting against the Islamic Republic in Paris. The gathering was organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. This was one of the rare cases in which the Iranian diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, was arrested, along with two others.
Nevertheless, the Iranian authorities are shrewdly resorting to the immunity card once again. Both Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi and the head of the Quds Force are buttressing their argument that Assadi enjoys full diplomatic immunity. The Iranian regime is exploiting Article 40 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 and demanding that he be set free.
It is totally hypocritical for the theocratic establishment of Iran to demand immunity for their embassy staff, who are accused of being engaged in terror plots, while its regime is known for ransacking foreign embassies in Tehran — include those of the UK and Saudi Arabia — for no reason, as well as taking diplomats hostage.
The Iranian regime is escalating its attempts to attack the West, with its spies intensifying their work in the US and Europe. They are sworn to inflict significant damage. The West must put more efforts into disrupting Iran’s espionage networks.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. He serves on the boards of the Harvard International Review, the Harvard International Relations Council and the US-Middle East Chamber for Commerce and Business. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh