English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For July 31/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.july31.20.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
He has blinded their eyes and hardened their
heart, so that they might not look with their eyes, and understand with their
heart and turn and I would heal them
John 12/37-43: “Although he had performed so many
signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfil the
word spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘Lord, who has believed our message, and to
whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ And so they could not believe,
because Isaiah also said, ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart,
so that they might not look with their eyes, and understand with their heart and
turn and I would heal them.’ Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke
about him. Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But
because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be
put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory that
comes from God.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 30-31/2020
Our Prayers Goes To Lebanon's Hero Jocelyn Khoueiri
Lebanon Records Its Highest COVID-19 Daily Tally
MoPH announces additional results of returnees' PCR tests, 2 coronavirus cases
detected
President Aoun signs new military promotion decrees starting 1st of August
Protests against Power Outage as Lebanon Plunges into Darkness
Diab Meets French Embassy Delegation
Report: U.S. Military Aid to Lebanon Subject to 'Conditions'
MEA Plane in Minor Collision on Nigerian Runway
Report: Nasrallah’s Son Escapes 'Assassination' Attempt
Cramped Palestinian Refugee Camps Fear Virus Surge
Hariri clarifies his position on the Bisri dam
Nehme asks Ghajar to refrain from handing over fuel to companies that do not
comply with decision 2/1
Hassan pushes for treating patients before inquiring about insuring party
Italy contributes to UNRWA Syria regional crisis emergency appeal in Lebanon
Lebanon protests escalate over power outages
Lebanese politicians resent PM’s blunders but offer no alternative
Following Israeli strike, Hezbollah ups its theatrics in Lebanon
Hezbollah border incursions into Israel show neutrality is not an option for
Lebanon/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya English'/July 30/2020
What is Iran’s strategy amid Israel-Hezbollah tensions?/Seth
J.Frantman?Jerusalem Post/July 30/2020
A turn to Iran for Lebanon would be a leap into the unknown/Rami Rayess/Al
Arabiya English/July 30/2020
Proposed US legislation targets Lebanese government over Hezbollah ties/Ray
Hanania/Arab News/July 30/ 2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 30-31/2020
Iran military drill shows off missiles to threaten US and Israel
Iraqi army confirms two rockets target Baghdad airport, no casualties reported
Iraq confirms nearly 560 killed in anti-government unrest, offers payment to
families
UAE supports Egypt’s efforts towards resolving Libyan crisis: Foreign Minister
Iraqi policemen killed protesters with hunting rifles in Baghdad: Interior
minister
Car bomb at checkpoint in Syria kills 6, others wounded: Report
ISIS releases video calling on supporters to carry out arson attacks in US
Israel reveals identity of Hamas commander who allegedly defected
Iran arms embargo must be extended as it continues to arm Houthis: Pompeo
Qatar-linked media outlets in rare clash: Muslim Brotherhood vs. Arabist
secularists
Donald Trump's proposal to delay US election slammed by Republican Senate leader
Can the Coronavirus Spread Through the Air?
Pilgrims Pray on Peak Day of Hajj in Shadow of Coronavirus
Cairo Hotel Gang Rape Allegations Ignite New #MeToo Wave
Readout: First meeting of the International Coordination and Response Group and
Iran regarding negotiations on reparations related to the downing of Flight
PS752
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 30-31/2020
Joining the conflict in Libya, Turkey sees economic gains/Samy
Magdy/AP/July 30/2020
Reacting Smartly to Harassing Tactics by Iraqi Militias/Michael Knights/The
Washington Institute/July 30/2020
Putin’s agents and cronies run amok in Britain/Clifford D. May/FDD/July 30/2020
Threat to Kakai community showcases Iraq’s broader challenges/Elie Abouaoun and
Yousif Kalian/The Arab Weekly/August 01/2020
Arab version of NATO could stabilize region/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/July 30/
2020
Trump’s new direction has time to claw back polls deficit/Andrew Hammond/Arab
News/July 30/ 2020
Unrealistic to expect Iranian regime to change its behavior/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh
/Arab News/July 30/ 2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 30-31/2020
Our Prayers Goes To Lebanon's Hero Jocelyn Khoueiri
Elias Bejjani/July 31/2020
Jocelyn Khoueiri the Lebanese Patriotic Fighter Is In A Coma.
Let us all pray for her recovery and ask almighty God to bring her back safely
to her family, friends and the Holy and blessedLebanon that she loved, adored,
fought for its peace and at the same time kept holding her rosary and praying.
We ask Our Lady of Lebanon, Virgin Mary to be with Jocelyn in her crisis
Lebanon Records Its Highest COVID-19 Daily Tally
Naharnet/July 30/2020
Lebanon on Wednesday confirmed 182 new coronavirus cases, its highest daily
tally since the first case was detected on February 21. According to the daily
statement of the Health Ministry, 168 of the new cases were recorded among
residents and 14 among expats who arrived in the country in recent days. One
more death was also recorded raising the death toll to 55, while the new cases
raise the country's overall tally to 4,202 among them 1,753 recoveries. 136
COVID patients were meanwhile admitted into hospitals over the past 24 hours,
including 30 into intensive care units.While the locations of 63 local cases are
being investigated, 30 cases were recorded in Baalbek district including 25 in
al-Hillaniyeh, 24 were recorded in Baabda district, 13 in Northern Metn and 13
in Beirut.
MoPH announces additional results of returnees' PCR tests, 2 coronavirus cases
detected
NNA/July 30/2020
The Ministry of Public Health on Thursday announced the results of PCR tests
that were conducted on July 28 in Beirut airport. According to the Ministry, two
passengers have tested positive for coronavirus; one case was detected among
returnees from Cairo (MEA flight #309), and another one aboard the flight coming
from Dubai.Flights returning from London and Cairo (Egyptian airline #711) were
all found virus-free.
President Aoun signs new military promotion decrees
starting 1st of August
NNA /July 30/2020
President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, on Thursday signed decrees: 6743, 6744,
6745, 6746 and 6747, for promotion of military college officers, to the rank of
Lieutenant as of the 1st of August, 2020.
Officers are distributed among the Lebanese Army, Internal Security Forces,
General Security, State Security and Customs. The Army Command had already
canceled the 1st of August celebration, for the occasion of the 75th Army
anniversary and the graduation of officers of the “Army Diamond Jubilee”, in
Shukri Ghanem barracks, Fayadieh. President Aoun met the Chairman of the
Scientific committee of the Lebanese Order of Physicians, Professor Bernard
Gerbaqa, the Head of the Pediatric Association in Beirut, Dr. Marianne Majdalani,
Head of the Pediatric Association in Tripoli, Dr. Ziad Qassaa, and Dr.
Chrystelle Ghassan Al-Hajj, in the Presence of the President’s Health and Social
Affairs Adviser, Former MP, Dr. Walid Khoury. The delegation discussed general
health conditions, the issue of children vaccines and medical needs. President
Aoun sent congratulation cables for Kings, Princes and Presidents of Arab and
Islamic countries, congratulating them on the occasion of Al-Adha feast, hoping
that God would grant them, and their people, all the wealth, peace and
stability.—Presidency Press Office
Protests against Power Outage as Lebanon Plunges into Darkness
Naharnet/July 30/2020
Protests against Lebanon’s aggravating economic and electricity crisis expanded
on Thursday amid widespread blackouts that saw the majority of Lebanese areas
drenched in darkness amid an uncommon heat wave hitting the region. Lebanese
protesters in Jounieh tried on Thursday to storm into the state-run Electricite
Du Liban offices complaining against continued power cuts. They chanted slogans
and threats that they won’t pay their due electricity bills. In the northern
city of Tripoli, groups gathered on the highway in al-Mina blocking it with
burning tyres in protest against a soaring economic crisis and continued
blackouts.Overnight, protesters in Sidon, Tripoli, Beirut and other Lebanese
areas also blocked major roads with burning tyres. Various Lebanese regions are
witnessing long hours of blackout, amid diesel and fuel shortages due to their
association with the dollar and a sharp depreciation of the Lebanese pound.
Lebanon witnesses almost daily demonstrations against the frequent blackouts.
Earlier in July, EDL board of directors told Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar that
it might be impossible for the corporation to maintain production, transmission
and distribution of electric current to subscribers. On Tuesday, EDL said in a
statement that a malfunction in the Jiyeh Thermal Factory affected the power
stations in Jiyyeh-Bsalim, Zahrani and Deir Ammar. Power outages lasting up to
22 hours per day in most Lebanese areas have crippled the country. By a Cabinet
decision, Beirut used to be excluded from strict rationing being the hub for the
state’s institutions, embassies and major businesses. But not anymore. On social
media, angry comments were recorded against the government and the Ministry of
Energy which did not succeed in building production plants at a low cost, and
wasted about $45 billion on this sector without bringing in electricity.
Activists circulated pictures of Beirut in the dark at night.
Diab Meets French Embassy Delegation
Naharnet/July 30/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab said during a meeting Thursday at the Grand Serail
with a delegation from the French Embassy in Beirut, that a French proposal to
provide Lebanon with technical financial assistance “is being studied.”
The French delegation included French Chargé D'Affaires Salina Grenet-Catalano,
Advisor Ines Ben Karim, and Head of Economic Affairs department, François De
Ricolfis, in the presence of PM Advisors, Khodor Taleb and Ambassador Jebran
Soufane. The meeting aimed to follow-up on the talks held by French Foreign
Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian during his recent two-day visit in Beirut. Grenet-Catalano
reiterated France’s interest in providing assistance to Lebanon. Diab however
pointed out that a French proposal to provide technical financial assistance to
Lebanon is being studied. Diab praised the “deep Lebanese-French relations
rooted in history and shared values,” expressing Lebanon's hope to strengthen
cooperation between the two countries on bilateral and international levels,
especially in the framework of international organizations. Diab affirmed that
the recent visit of French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian falls within the
scope of historical relationship between both countries.
Report: U.S. Military Aid to Lebanon Subject to
'Conditions'
Naharnet/July 30/2020
The U.S. Congress reportedly renews pressure on Hizbullah, and a number of
Democratic and Republican lawmakers seek to revive conditions on the military
assistance to the Lebanese army, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on
Thursday. The Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives has
reportedly approved a bill entitled “Facing Hizbullah in Lebanon” and linking
military aid to the Lebanese army with certain conditions, added the daily. The
bill states that 20 percent of the aid amounting to approximately 133 million
dollars in the 2020 US budget will be frozen, until the American administration
assures Congress that the Lebanese army has taken concrete steps to expel
elements supporting Hizbullah from its ranks, or limit their impact on its
policies and activities, according to the daily. The project also calls for a
detailed presentation on the army’s activities aimed at disarming Hizbullah, as
evidence of its serious commitment to implementing Security Council Resolution
1701 calling for disarmament.In addition, the project calls on the American
president to provide evidence that the Lebanese army has not cooperated with
Hizbullah or participated in joint activities or training during the past year.
MEA Plane in Minor Collision on Nigerian Runway
Naharnet/July 30/2020
A passenger plane belonging to Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's national carrier,
was involved Wednesday in a minor on-ground collision with a Turkish plane.
"The wing edge of an MEA plane collided into the edge of a Turkish jet on the
runway of the Lagos airport in Nigeria," MEA chairman Mohammed al-Hout told al-Jadeed
TV. "The plane was stopped and the passengers were evacuated pending checkups to
verify whether it is capable of flying," Hout added.
Report: Nasrallah’s Son Escapes 'Assassination' Attempt
Naharnet/July 30/2020
Jawad Nasrallah, son of Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has reportedly
survived an assassination attempt weeks ago in the Iraqi capital Baghdad,
Kuwaiti al-Jarida newspaper said on Thursday. Quoting a source in Iran's Quds
Force, the daily said Jawad’s convoy came under fire from a car that was chasing
him in the Jadiriya area in Baghdad. The source stated that Jawad Nasrallah had
traveled 3 weeks ago to Tehran with a special message from his father to Iran's
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He said due to major breaches of the
American and Israeli intelligence services, commander of the Quds Force,
Brigadier General Ismail Qanni asked Hassan Nasrallah not to transmit any
sensitive messages to the Iranian leadership except through people he trusted.
The content of the message was not disclosed, but the source said that Nasrallah
the son, met a number of Iranian officials before traveling to Iraq to convey a
message from his father to leaders of Iraqi factions loyal to Iran, as well as
to visit Karbala and Najaf and to meet the Supreme Shiite authority in Iraq, Ali
Sistani. Before he was able to make the necessary contacts to meet Sistani, a
vehicle chased him and opened fire before fleeing away, which necessitated his
transfer to Basra to return to Tehran and from there by plane to Syria, then by
land to Beirut, which he reached two days ago, according to al-Jarida.
Cramped Palestinian Refugee Camps Fear Virus Surge
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 30/2020
A second wave of coronavirus infections sweeping Lebanon and the
Israeli-occupied West Bank is fuelling fears of a surge in overcrowded
Palestinian refugee camps where social distancing is next to impossible. At the
start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, the Palestinian Authority quickly
imposed a lockdown as it sought to contain infections. But after Israel and
later the PA eased restrictions in late April and May, the number of cases rose
again, exacerbated by breaches of limits on public assembly and movement. One
major driver has been Palestinian workers going to and from jobs in neighbouring
Israel, according to the PA. The Jewish state went into lockdown in mid-March,
but after easing restrictions it started reporting 1,000 to 2,000 new
coronavirus infections a day and re-imposed some restrictions.
The Palestinian health ministry's Tuesday update logged more than 10,860
confirmed cases of infection since the start of the pandemic, including more
than 75 deaths.
That compares with an accumulated total of less than 2,700 infections and seven
deaths as recently as July 1. The growing health crisis is causing concern in
the camps.
The United Nations defines about five million Palestinians as having refugee
status.
They are the survivors and descendants of the more than 700,000 who were
expelled or fled their land over a few months in 1948 when Israel was founded.
More than 1.5 million of them live in camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the Gaza
Strip the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. They are assisted by the
UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides them with medical aid and
manages schools. In Al-Amari camp, near Ramallah in the West Bank, an estimated
8,000 people live packed into less than one square kilometre (0.39 square mile).
UNRWA describes the camp as suffering "significant overcrowding issues."
"There is neither room to impose distancing nor space to carry out quarantines",
said Taha Al-Bess, an official on the camp's residents' committee.
Who's in charge?
At the entrance to Al-Amari camp the road is about six metres wide but quickly
narrows inside the camp, with alleys no wider than half that. "The streets are
narrow, the buildings are very close to each other, to talk about distancing is
an illusion," Al-Bess said. Throughout the West Bank, occupied by Israel in the
1967 Six Day War, around 190,000 Palestinian refugees live in 19 camps. Few
cases of sickness and no deaths have so far been recorded in Al-Amari, but the
camp committee is monitoring developments in the other camps with concern. In
Jalazoun, also near Ramallah, more than 200 cases have been recorded in recent
weeks and two deaths, out of 8,000 refugees. In Al-Fawar camp near Hebron in the
southern West Bank, the data is similar. "It is impossible to implement
distancing and prevent contact between the sick and other residents," said Nael
Nakhleh, a member of an emergency committee set up in Jalazoun to tackle the
resurgence of contamination. A debate has arisen over who is responsible for
managing the health emergency in the camps: the Palestinian Authority or UNRWA?
Resources scarce
For Ahmed Hanoun, in charge of refugee affairs at the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO), the answer is the UN agency. "We are trying to work with
them," he told AFP, saying he was "seriously concerned" by the virus outbreaks
in the camps.
In UNRWA too, there is deep concern, particularly as the pandemic arrived at an
already challenging time. In 2018, the United States, which had been the
agency's main donor, announced it was ending its annual financial aid of $300
million, arguing it was no longer relevant, 70 years after the creation of
Israel. "The situation in the camps is very worrying, especially considering the
agency's financial difficulties," said Kazem Abu Khalaf, spokesperson for UNRWA
in the West Bank. UNRWA has increased calls for donations and emergency aid from
its other donors. In Al-Amari, the residents have decided to take matters into
their own hands and stand at the camp's entrance to take the temperature of
everyone entering. "UNRWA says it does not have the means, the Palestinian
Authority says it does not have the means: we find ourselves between a rock and
a hard place," said Al-Bess.
Hariri clarifies his position on the Bisri dam
NNA/July 30/2020
Concerning the reactions and ongoing campaigns on social media on the position
of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri regarding the construction of the Bisri
dam, his press office notes the following:
1- Former Prime Minister Hariri's position on the construction of the Bisri dam
is not new. The governments that he headed accompanied the studies that were
prepared about the dam for many years and agreed on them, and it would be
illogical for him, after leaving office, to object to something he previously
agreed on, especially after the approval of the project in Parliament.
2- The project, according to the scientific studies and the data announced,
solves a chronic problem of water shortage in the Beirut, the northern and
southern coast of Metn, the coastal towns of Baabda and Chouf, as well as the
geographic surrounding of the dam. The number of beneficiaries reaches one
million and six hundred thousand citizens and this in itself cannot be
overlooked in light of the water crises in the capital and regions.
3- The World Bank is requesting a renewed debate on the economic and social
feasibility of the project, which is a good thing that must happen, for the sake
of public interest and not for the sake of environmental assumptions and
political tensions.
4- Cancelling the establishment of the project requires a new law in Parliament
that abolishes the law in effect. It also creates losses for the state’s
treasury as a result of the expropriations that have been completed so far. A
sum of 156 million dollars has been paid, which should not be overlooked.
5 - It is necessary to scrutinize scientifically and seek the help of
specialists, to clarify the reports and news that mention geological and
environmental risks that may result from building the dam, and to stop using
this matter in mutual campaigns.
The position of the World Bank is pivotal in this regard, and we attach
importance to the ongoing consultations with it and the expertise of the
specialists, whatever the results.
6- Alternatives were studied to increase the water supply for the Greater Beirut
region, which include a comparison of dam construction in other locations and
other options such as desalination of sea water, extraction of groundwater,
rainwater harvesting, or reuse of wastewater and controlling squander. This
study concluded that, given its size and economic feasibility and all the
technical factors, the Bisri dam is considered a priority option, as securing
the same amount of water provided by it, that is 125 million cubic meters
annually, requires drilling about 200 wells, which is not useful, given the high
costs of investment and operation, which amount between 40 and 50 million
dollars per year, in addition to the cost of establishing and equipping them in
the first place. As for the option of desalinating sea water, its cost is more
than 60 million dollars annually.
As we present this data to the Lebanese public opinion, we hope that the
discussion would be withdrawn from political outbidding, and restricted to its
scientific, technical and environmental framework and to its economic,
developmental and social feasibility. We hope to reach a sound decision in
cooperation and coordination with the World Bank as the party responsible for
its financing that accompanied the construction of the dam for decades.
Nehme asks Ghajar to refrain from handing over fuel to
companies that do not comply with decision 2/1
NNA/July 30/2020
Minister of Economy and Trade, Raoul Nehme, on Thursday requested of Minister of
Energy, Raymond Ghajar, to refrain from handing over gasoline and fuel oil to
oil companies which do not comply with the provisions of decision 2/1.
The said companies are obliged, according to the decision, to provide the
Ministry of Economy and Trade with a detailed customer report, including all the
sales activity, in order to prohibit the illegal monopoly of diesel and fuel
inside and outside the country.
The Minister of Economy finally indicated that he would take all the necessary
measures against the violating companies, and that they would be brought to
justice.
Hassan pushes for treating patients before inquiring about
insuring party
NNA/July 30/2020
Minister of Public Health, Dr. Hamad Hassan, on Thursday held a meeting with the
civil and military health funds to discuss the best means to strengthen
coordination in a bid to ensure swift first aid to patients and to provide them
with hospital beds. In the wake of the meeting, Minister Hassan censured the
fact that many hospitals have been reluctant to receive patients under the
pretext that they might be infected with the novel Coronavirus. Consequently,
the Minister underlined the need "to act objectively before causing the death of
patients with other diseases whilst awaiting the results of PCR tests."As for
the increasing number of Covid-19 deaths within the last few days, Hassan
stressed that hospitals were obligated to assist patients before inquiring about
their insuring party, pointing to the necessity of coordination between all
sides.
The Minister also reminded that the ratio of medical treatment at the expense of
the Ministry of Public Health had increased -- due of the economic situation --
from 15 to 20 per cent, whilst insurance companies evaded coverage of people
with Covid-19.
Italy contributes to UNRWA Syria regional crisis emergency
appeal in Lebanon
NNA/July 30/2020
Yesterday, Ambassador of Italy in Lebanon Nicoletta Bombardiere, and the
Director of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the
Near East (UNRWA) Affairs in Lebanon, Claudio Cordone, signed an agreement for
an additional contribution of EUR 1 million to the 2020 UNRWA Syria Regional
Crisis Emergency Appeal in Lebanon from the Government of Italy. This new
critical funding will enable UNRWA to continue providing support to health care
and cash assistance for Palestine refugee most in need of assistance in Lebanon.
It will support hospitalization to over 380 Palestinian refugees from Syria (PRS)
and multipurpose cash assistance to around 2,450 Palestinian refugee families
from Syria displaced to Lebanon. Mr. Cordone said: “I would like to express my
deep gratitude to the Government of Italy for their support that will enable the
Agency to continue to provide life-saving services to PRS in Lebanon while
addressing their immediate needs in response to COVID-19. Contributions from
Italy have made a significant difference to the lives of many thousands of
Palestine refugees whose living conditions have worsened because of the COVID-19
pandemic and the economic crisis in Lebanon.”Ambassador Bombardiere stressed the
importance of the UNRWA’s services in Lebanon and said: “Italy recognizes the
enormous efforts of the Lebanese Government to host vulnerable refugees, and
will continue to support its endeavors. With the agreement we signed, Italy
confirms its commitment to sustain the commendable actions undertaken by UNRWA
in the country, also in the context of the COVID-19 emergency. A vision that
places the vulnerable people at the center of the Italian aid policy”. The
Government of Italy has long been one of the Agency’s most reliable donors.
Between 2017-2019, UNRWA received EUR 5.25 million from Italy in support of the
Agency’s assistance to Palestine refugees in Lebanon, as well as the
reconstruction of Nahr el-Bared refugee camp. This ongoing reconstruction
project still requires some US$ 51 million in funding for completion.
Ms. Donatella Procesi, Director of the Italian Agency for Development
Cooperation (AICS) in Lebanon, said: “Support to UNRWA has been always one of
the core activities of the Italian Cooperation. In the last few years, we have
decided to support healthcare and lifesaving health assistance to the thousands
of Palestinian Refugees fleeing from the civil war in Syria. A choice that is in
line with our commitment to be always beside the most vulnerable
people”.—Italian Embassy
Lebanon protests escalate over power outages
The Arab Weekly/July 30/2020
Overnight, protesters in Sidon, Tripoli, Beirut and other parts of Lebanon
blocked major roads with burning tyres.
BEIRUT – Protests against Lebanon’s economic crisis and power outages in the
country escalated Thursday amid widespread blackouts that saw the majority of
Lebanese regions drenched in darkness amid an ongoing heat wave.
Protesters in Jounieh tried to storm the offices of the state-run Electricité Du
Liban (EDL), complaining against power cuts. They chanted slogans against the
government and the political elite and threatened not to pay their due
electricity bills.
In the northern city of Tripoli, groups gathered on a highway blocking traffic
with burning tyres in protest against the economic crisis and ongoing blackouts.
Overnight, protesters in Sidon, Tripoli, Beirut and other Lebanese areas also
blocked major roads with burning tyres. Various Lebanese regions have suffered
from long hours of blackout due to diesel and fuel shortages. In recent weeks,
Lebanon has witnessed almost daily demonstrations against the frequent power
outages. Earlier in July, EDL board of directors told Energy Minister Raymond
Ghajar that it might be impossible for the corporation to maintain production,
transmission and distribution of electricity to subscribers.
On Tuesday, EDL said in a statement that a malfunction in the Jiyeh Thermal
Factory affected the power stations in Jiyyeh-Bsalim, Zahrani and Deir Ammar.
Power outages lasting up to 22 hours per day in most Lebanese areas have
crippled the country. By a cabinet decision, Beirut used to be excluded from
strict rationing being the hub for the state’s institutions, embassies and major
businesses. But not anymore. On social media, users wrote angry comments against
the government and the Ministry of Energy and blamed them for the lack of
production plants.
According to some social media users the government failed to construct new
plants at a low cost, wasting about $45 billion on this sector without bringing
in electricity.
On Wednesday, leader of the Future Movement Saad Hariri lashed out at the
government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab, saying: “Where are the reforms? Beirut
has been without electricity [for days],” in reference to the severe power cuts
that swept the Lebanese capital and other areas. Hariri also renewed his call
for a forensic audit to cover not only the Central Bank’s accounts, but also all
state institutions, including the ailing electricity sector, which is draining
the state’s treasury of around $2 billion in annual subsidies.
Lebanon has not had capacity to supply 24-hour electricity since its 1975-1990
civil war, leaving many households reliant on their own generators or private
neighbourhood suppliers who charge hefty fees to keep a few lights on or other
appliances running during regular daily cuts that can last several hours.
The largely unregulated neighbourhood suppliers, responsible for a web of power
cables slung across city streets, are popularly called the “generator mafia” for
their supposed political clout. The owners say they simply offer a service that
the state can’t. Ageing power plants run by the state use expensive fuel oil
that, along with exhaust from diesel generators, adds to the smog lingering over
cities in the nation of 6 million people. The government, World Bank and
International Monetary Fund all say electricity reform is vital to cutting debt,
now equivalent to about 150 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The
accumulated cost of subsidising EDL amounts to about 40 percent of Lebanon’s
entire debt, the IMF said in 2016. The World Bank says electricity shortages
rank second only to political instability in hindering business. Relying on fuel
oil power plants and diesel generators also comes with a health cost: air
pollution that can cause respiratory disease. Air pollution in Beirut was three
times levels deemed a hazard by the World Health Organisation, according to 2014
data.
The main power plants in Lebanon have an average capacity of just over 2,000
megawatts (MW), compared to peak demand of 3,400 MW. For Beirut, the best
supplied city, that means daily cuts of three hours a day. Elsewhere, it can
mean outages for much of the day.
Distribution and revenue collection are also big problems.
EDL collects payments for only half the power it produces, with some power lost
through creaking transmission network and other supplies siphoned off the system
through unauthorised cables. In 2012, the government appointed private companies
to run metering, billing and payment collection for EDL, but it gave them little
power to enforce payment. Lebanon has made sporadic attempts to end power
shortages for decades, but its efforts have been thwarted by conflict, political
instability and the challenge of policy-making in a system of government that
depends on a delicate balance of interests across that nation’s fractious
sectarian groupings.Earlier in July, Lebanon’s energy minister cited stockpiling
as one of several reasons behind the shortages, with people buying subsidised
fuel as a hedge against inflation.
“Instead of buying gold, people are buying diesel,” Ghajar said. Smuggling
across the border to Syria is also a factor. Private generator suppliers, who
have long filled the supply gap left by patchy state provision, have also been
rationing fuel, and many homes can no longer pay exorbitant fees.
Lebanese politicians resent PM’s blunders but offer no
alternative
The Arab Weekly/July 30/2020
On Wednesday, Hariri lashed out at Diab for criticising the French foreign
minister’s visit to Beirut.
BEIRUT – Communication blunders and diplomatic gaffes of Lebanese Prime Minister
Hassan Diab have recently multiplied, embarrassing even his closest allies who
have become increasingly unable to cover up for him.
The storm of criticism sparked by his stances is leading many to suggest his
exit. However, the problem remains one of finding an alternative to Diab. In
recent months, there had been attempts to encourage the leader of the Future
Movement Saad Hariri to take responsibility and form a new government, but
Hariri drew up a set of conditions that were later rejected by the Iran-backed
Hezbollah group, which dominates the Lebanese political scene. The most recent
gaffe of Diab came on Tuesday when he made remarks in which he appeared to
criticise French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian for linking assistance to
Lebanon with enacting reforms and an IMF deal.
Le Drian visited Beirut last week.
The state news agency quoted Diab as telling a cabinet meeting that France’s Le
Drian’s warning and “lack of information” about government reforms indicated an
“international decision not to assist Lebanon.”Diab has deleted a tweet stating
the same. On Wednesday, Hariri lashed out at Diab for criticising the French
foreign minister’s visit to Beirut and warned that the prime minister’s
diplomacy would ruin Lebanon’s relations with a “friendly” state. “I don’t
understand where Prime Minister Hassan Diab is taking us with this diplomacy.
How can a premier make a statement against a friendly country?” Hariri said. “We
regret these statements,” he added. Earlier on Wednesday, veteran Druze power
broker Walid Jumblatt said replacing Diab “should seriously be considered
because he has amnesia,” according to comments to local daily L’Orient-Le Jour
that were confirmed by his office.
Jumblatt’s party is not represented in Diab’s cabinet, formed in January with
backing from the Iran-backed Shia movement Hezbollah and its allies.
But the Druze, adherents to a small offshoot of Islam, are an important minority
in Lebanon’s sectarian system of government and Jumblatt has frequently played
the role of kingmaker. “It is high time the sponsors of the government realise
the gravity of the situation their protégé (Diab) has put us in,” Jumblatt said.
The head of the Arab Unification Party Wiam Wahhab, who is known for harbouring
close ties with Hezbollah, had also previously called on Diab to leave after the
Lebanese premier made statements in which he questioned the role of the security
services and the state.
“I spoke with him [Diab] once and I did not feel that he was a coherent person,”
Wahhab said in an interview with Voice of Beirut International. Lebanon
desperately needs aid as it wrestles with a financial meltdown rooted in decades
of state corruption and waste, in its worst crisis since a 1975-90 civil war.
It entered negotiations with the International Monetary Fund in May after
defaulting on its foreign currency debt.
The IMF talks have stalled in the absence of reforms and amid differences
between the government and banks over the scale of Lebanon’s financial losses.
The finance ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the IMF dialogue was
“ongoing and constructive”, and the government remained committed to
constructive engagement over its debt restructuring. The criticism of Diab’s
performance as prime minister has been recently accompanied by a strong
disapproval of Hezbollah’s policies and those of the group’s political allies.
On Tuesday, the leader of the Lebanese Forces Party, a major Christian group in
Lebanon, blamed Hezbollah and its local allies led by President Michel Aoun for
the rapidly deteriorating economy and worsening relations with neighbouring Arab
countries, saying the only solution is for them to leave power. Samir Geagea,
whose party has taken part in successive governments for the past decade and has
15 legislators in the 128-member parliament, said Lebanon received much
assistance from Arab and Western countries in the past but all was wasted.
Only a new, independent government would be able to win back the international
community’s confidence, he said.
The state’s strategic decisions are in Hezbollah’s hands, leading to
deteriorating Lebanon’s relations with Arab states, he also said.
Following Israeli strike, Hezbollah ups its theatrics in
Lebanon
Mona Alami, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 30 July 2020
On 27 July, tensions flared between Israel and Lebanon, after the Israeli
military reported that a number of Hezbollah fighters crossed into Shebaa Farms,
which is disputed territory. The Lebanese militant group quickly denied the
move, and the mysterious incident falls within Hezbollah’s psychological
warfare, which targets Israel and Hezbollah’s popular base as the group faces
mounting challenges at home. Monday’s failed infiltration, which was seen as a
response to Israeli strikes on Iranian interests in Syria a week before, that
killed Hezbollah fighter Ali Kamel Mohsen Jawad was unusual in many ways.
According to media reports, a Hezbollah cell comprised of three to five fighters
crossed the blue line border a few meters into Israeli-controlled territory in
the Shebaa Farm region, where it was repelled by Israeli troops.
“The attack is in itself peculiar as it took place during the day in an area
under heavy drone surveillance,” said Nicolas Blanford, senior non-resident
fellow at the Atlantic Council. While the group denied responsibility for the
operation, a source close to Hezbollah’s fighters confirmed the group was behind
the operation. Brahim Beyrarm, a journalist and analyst close to the
organization also believes the group to be behind the attempted infiltration,
which he says is part of the group’s psychological warfare on Israel.
As pressure mounts on Hezbollah, and the group faces larger repercussions for
its military interventions around the region and support from its popular base
shrinks at home, the party will rely more heavily on psychological warfare.
Lebanon’s dire economic situation also contributes to this shift.
This will translate in two types of operations: Hezbollah could resort to small
covert operations by “unknown” groups on the borders or in disputed territories
such as the Shebaa Farms. “This was the case in March 2014, when four Israeli
soldiers were hurt by an IED (improvised explosive device) blast near the
demilitarized zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria, and
Israel. While Hezbollah never claimed the attack, everyone knew it was behind
the bombing,” added Blanford.
Propaganda and theatrics are other tools Hezbollah could opt for, as they
project an aura of power while maintaining the status quo, explained activist
Ali Amin. This approach is seen as part of a tacit agreement between Israel and
Hezbollah. A case in point is the escalatory strikes last September on the
border. At the time Hezbollah launched a retaliatory attack in south Lebanon,
after two drones hit its stronghold in the Beirut suburbs. It is believed that
the Israeli military then faked injuries of soldiers to make Hezbollah believe
it caused damage during the following round of fighting on the Lebanese border.
The million dollar question that remains is whether theatrics and propaganda
will prevent the escalation of violence on the Lebanese and Israel Border. In a
recent interview, Deputy Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, dismissed the prospect of
any military escalation with Israel. Yet a source close to Hezbollah fighters
explains that “Hezbollah will definitely retaliate a second time, given the
first attempt failed,” and added that if the organization did not, its
credibility will be further damaged given the unpreceded disastrous economic
situation the country is facing.
Hezbollah and its allies are backing the current government of Prime Minister
Hassan Diab. “They are caught between a rock and a hard place,” the source said.
Yet Middle East Strategy Intelligence analyst Avi Melamed, who follows Israeli
politics closely, explained that while Israel has no interest in an all-out war
with Hezbollah, Israel’s strategic interest is to disrupt Iran’s attempt to
build military infrastructure in Syria that could target Israel.
That means ultimately that Israel is willing to risk an extensive war on more
than one front if they wager a war would be in their strategic interest.
“Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah is wrong to think that by threatening
Israel, it will avoid Israel acting against Iran’s hostile deployment. Israel
will continue to attack Iran’s hostile deployment whenever and wherever it
decides to. Accordingly, the odds for [an] Israeli-Hezbollah massive collision
increases,” Melamed concluded.
Hezbollah border incursions into Israel show neutrality is not an option for
Lebanon
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya English'/July 30/2020
مكرم رباح يشرح في مقالته الأسباب الحقيقة التي من أجلها لجأ حزب الله إلى محاولة التسلل عبر الحدود بعملية فاشلة ومن ثم انكار وقوعها. رباح يرى أن العنفية التي يلجأ لها دائماً حزب هي للقول للبنانيين بأن أولوياته خارج لبنان ومن ضمن أهداف عمليته الفاشلة ضرب طرح البطريرك الراعي المطالب بالحياد وتسخيفه واستباق قرار المحكمة الدولية التي ستدين عناصره لإغتيالهم الرئيس رفيق الحريري. أما القادة الذين هم في مواجهة حزب الله فمستسلمين ويضربهم الضعف الكامل
Hezbollah had declared it would avenge the death of one of its fallen fighters
who was among those targeted in an Israeli air raid, meaning few were surprised
when brief firefight broke out on Lebanon’s southern border between Hezbollah
and Israel. With no casualties reported in the aftermath, the question begs, why
would Hezbollah even declare the death of this low-level operative, therefore
putting itself in the limelight seeking retribution?
Despite any potential motive, Hezbollah’s retaliation was an utter failure as
the Israeli army had anticipated their response and was able to repel their
initial infiltration and prevented them from inflicting any real damage to their
vehicles or personnel.
Perhaps most surprising was Hezbollah’s denial their failed border incursion had
taken place as the Iranian-backed militia this week said the attack was
fabricated by the Israelis and their “response to the martyrdom of Ali Kamel
Mohsen... will surely come.” Hezbollah did not aim to carry out this attack and
the group that was ambushed by the Israeli side was merely a reconnaissance
patrol scouting the area for a future attack.
Nevertheless, the showdown between Israel and Hezbollah reaffirms that the
latter is unhindered by Lebanon’s terrible state of affairs nor does it feel
itself responsible for the ongoing economic and political collapse.
Analysts framed this scuffle as a continuation of the ongoing regional standoff,
but in reality, the recent operational debacle has nothing to do with avenging a
fallen comrade or responding to the regular Israeli airstrikes against targets
in Iran and Syria. In fact, Hezbollah simply sought to respond to local Lebanese
detractors, primarily the Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi who vocally
criticized Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon into regional conflicts and demanded
that all sides adopt neutrality by refraining from “engaging in regional and
international alliances, conflicts and wars.”
Despite the calm tone of al-Rahi’s initiative, Hezbollah is yet to publicly
shoot it down, so instead they decided to direct their fire across the border.
While Hezbollah’s response may seem rash, in essence, it is the only way to
shoot down al-Rahi’s initiative without directly confronting the patriarch, as
it exposes their main Christian ally, the Free Patriotic Movement, to further
pressures.
With its response, Hezbollah reminded all parties that it does not answer to
local pressures and washed its hands of restraint, something that would greatly
help Lebanon in its ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund,
which is the only option left for the country and its decrepit economy.
Another equally important reason for Hezbollah’s military endeavor is to
preemptively respond to the much-awaited verdict of the special tribunal for
Lebanon into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, which
is set to issue its verdict August 7. It is likely the tribunal will publicly
indict senior Hezbollah intelligence operatives, and this will likely spur a
political and sectarian whirlwind that might require the group to flex their
muscles to contain potential repercussions and remind anyone who may dare try
not to cross them.
While Hezbollah might not be worried about international justice, they do fear
the sectarian aftershock, especially from the Sunni supporters of Hariri, not to
mention Lebanese from across the sectarian spectrum. Incumbent Prime Minister
Hassan Diab has no Sunni credentials to counterbalance the tribunal’s verdict,
and thus Hezbollah did what it knows best, shoot first and ask questions later.
Hezbollah will continue to maintain an image of a spartan outfit, undeterred by
local Lebanese or regional challenges. But the fact remains that Iran and its
expansionist project has propelled Hezbollah to center stage, especially after
the killing of Iran’s high commissioner General Qassem Soleimani, has burdened
them further.
Every time Hezbollah finds itself against the ropes, it resorts to violence to
regain control of the narrative. Through the spinelessness and complicity of the
majority of Lebanon’s ruling elite, who have time and again failed to protect
what remains of the semblance of a functioning sovereign state, Hezbollah has no
issue achieving this end. Lebanon’s continued downward fall is inversely related
to the ability of Lebanese to reclaim their state – something that might be
difficult to do if they shy away from challenging Hezbollah and the political
elite who hide behind the armed group.
What is Iran’s strategy amid Israel-Hezbollah tensions?
Seth J.Frantman?Jerusalem Post/July 30/2020
Iran expert argues that a reading of some Iranian press may hint at the regime’s
complex policy during the tensions.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN JULY 29, 2020 17:36
Iran has been surprisingly quiet amid the growing Israel-Hezbollah tensions.
Part of that is due to the fact that Iran is running a massive military drill
off its coast, where it has been using new missiles and showing the US it can
harass a model aircraft carrier.
However, Iran’s real position may be more complex, because it knows the high
stakes of escalation and different advisers within the government, though the
ayatollah’s office and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps may prefer quiet over
massive conflict.
Yossi Mansharof of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, an expert
on Iran, argues that a reading of some Iranian press may hint at the regime’s
complex policy during the tensions.
Kayhan newspaper, which is conservative and close to Ayatollah Khamenei’s
office, initially reported on July 27 that Hezbollah anti-tank fire had
destroyed an Israeli tank, killing five IDF soldiers and injuring 13 others,
Mansharof points out.
Why does this matter? Because Iranian media, close to the leadership, was
seeking to claim that Israelis were killed and wounded.
“This is a newspaper close to the ayatollah,” says Mansharof. “This is a signal
of Iran to Hezbollah to halt the escalation and not do more.”He argues that Iran might be seeking to showcase Hezbollah’s abilities and
therefore prevent a larger escalation. Hezbollah had vowed to retaliate after
claiming one of its fighters was killed on July 20. This meant Hezbollah must do
something to show it “retaliated.”
But if Iran could say that Hezbollah already “succeeded” then there would be no
need for more escalation. Hezbollah has done the opposite, arguing that the
incident on July 27 in which Israel said it thwarted an attack, had never
happened and that therefore Hezbollah still reserves a right to attack.
Hezbollah now seems to be celebrating humiliating Israel by keeping Israel in a
state of alert.
What does Iran want in all this? Mansharof says that they may want to preserve
the ongoing precision-guided missile project, in which the IRGC Quds Force seeks
to significantly improve the missile threat of Hezbollah against Israel.
“Kayhan seeks to present Israel as a weak country and suggests it is not a
powerful player in the region,” he says.
The long-term goal for Iran is to preserve Hezbollah as a major threat to Israel
and to be able to use it to retaliate when Iran wants, perhaps for other
incidents that Iran claims to want revenge for. That means Iran may prefer other
types of strikes at Israel or Israel’s interests for the moment, but not a
conflict with Hezbollah.
Iran must also contend with other issues. It wants to remove the US from Iraq
and to challenge US forces in the region through similar threats that Hezbollah
poses to Israel. This puts Tehran in a complex place at the moment.
If Iranian media is an indication, it is not playing up the Israel-Hezbollah
tensions. It might wish they would go away for now, to be raised at a later
date.
A turn to Iran for Lebanon would be a leap into the unknown
Rami Rayess/Al Arabiya English/July 30/2020
As Lebanon slips further into isolation and its economic crisis deepens, Iran
has offered to extend a helping hand to the country that is home to its most
successful proxy network – Hezbollah. But with US and international sanctions on
Tehran, if Lebanon were to accept aid from Tehran, Beirut would be pushed
further into isolation and its chances of receiving international assistance
would further be limited. In Lebanon, a few weeks ago, Deputy Secretary General
of Hezbollah Naim Qassem, announced that his party does not intend to withdraw
Lebanon from the dollar system.
A declaration coming from such a senior Hezbollah official means, in one way or
another, that the party still relies on American currency for its transactions,
and this reliance on cash indicates that it does not function within the
international banking and monetary system.
The same official had previously announced that Lebanon would refuse taking
funds from the International Monetary Fund to curb the severe economic and
fiscal crisis, but the party later backed away from this statement when its
regional sponsor Iran pleaded with the IMF for assistance in confronting the
coronavirus the Islamic Republic.
Tehran has expressed several times its willingness and ability to help Lebanon
overcome its growing crises. It pledged support in electricity, oil and food
supplies. It also announced it was ready to sell these services and goods at
competitive rates, receiving payment in Lebanese lira, which has lost over 80
percent of its purchasing power against the dollar in recent months. Yet,
regardless of how serious this offer may be, a few basic questions arise,
including at what rate will Tehran get paid in Lebanese pounds as there are now
multiple rates in Lebanon. Will it be the daily rate that changes by the hour or
a pre-approved fixed rate? What will Tehran do with the Lebanese pounds it
earns? Because the Lebanese currency is not an international currency, it will
not be able to buy dollars in exchange for those enormous amounts of pounds,
except from the Lebanese market. And that exchange process, if possible, would
have detrimental effects on the value of the Lebanese currency as it would
further increase demand for dollars, reducing significantly the value of the
local currency. This scenario would also negatively affect Lebanon’s balance of
payments, which already runs around a $4.4 billion deficit.
The financial ramifications of such a deal between Lebanon and Iran are by
itself complex. Beyond this, the effects of striking a deal with a country under
severe US and international sanctions that have further been tightened by the
Trump Administration would further isolate Lebanon.
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned Lebanon from buying Iranian
oil, saying that his administration will not allow or tolerate cash flow to what
he described as the largest sponsor of state terrorism in the world. He
emphasized that his country will not allow revenues of Iranian oil sale to reach
Hezbollah or any other organization or state.
Lebanon’s current cabinet is heavily influenced by Hezbollah and their Christian
allies, the Free Patriotic Movement. Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hasan
Nasrallah had called for strengthening economic ties with Tehran inviting the
Lebanese people to look up to the model that the Iranian people have given by
enduring 40 continued years of conflicts and wars, a call that was not welcomed
in Beirut. Lebanon neither wants to surrender its free economy, nor do its
people want to continue paying the price of regional conflicts, as they have
been doing for the last four decades.
As Lebanon increasingly needs support from external partners, Beirut’s capacity
to earn international support has steadily decreased over the last couple years.
Funds pledged in 2018 at an international donor conference to help Lebanon
overcome the challenges it faced never materialized as consecutive cabinets
failed to introduce necessary reforms and as several Western players refrained
from granting aid and soft loans that they view fall under Hezbollah’s tutelage
– a step they do not want to support. Any step by the current cabinet to
strengthen mutual relations between Beirut and Tehran – such as buying oil, fuel
or food – would most likely initiate fierce retaliation from Washington and will
increase the likelihood that Lebanon turns into yet another arena of proxy
conflict between the United States and Tehran, falling in alongside Iraq and
Syria.
Tehran is most likely aware that its ability to extend aid to Lebanon, or sell
it goods, is both politically and operationally impossible. But the offer alone
gives the Lebanese public the impression that Iran is extending a helping hand
during their most troubled and difficult time, when the Arab and international
community has refrained. Despite the associated difficulties, Iran is encouraged
to take such steps, just as it did in Venezuela when it shipped fuel to the
crisis-struck Latin American country. Practically, Iran has nothing to lose.
This is not the case for Lebanon.
While Lebanon is currently living in isolation, it has always been keen to
preserve its position within the international community. Cooperation with Iran
at this moment will only further aggravate its isolation and will terminate any
remaining hope for it to rekindle frozen relations with Arab partners,
especially with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Lebanon’s cooperation with
Iran is a leap into the unknown, but Lebanon’s future has enough unknowns for
the time being, and a turn toward Tehran would be a costly move it cannot afford
at this time.
Proposed US legislation targets Lebanese government over
Hezbollah ties
Ray Hanania/Arab News/July 30/ 2020
راي حنانيا: تشريع أمريكي مقترح يستهدف الحكومة اللبنانية بسبب سيطرة حزب الله
عليها وعلى الحكم بأكمله
30 تموز/2020
To become law, the bill would have to also be passed by the US House before
being sent to President Donald Trump, a critic of Hezbollah
CHICAGO: Texas Senator Ted Cruz is pushing new legislation that would deny US
funding to any nation that provides sanctuary or support to the Lebanese
Hezbollah movement, which serves as a military proxy for Iran.
Now before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senate Bill 3691 was
introduced by Cruz, a Republican, in May.
It will receive a hearing before it is sent to the full Senate, where it is
expected to be approved. The legislation specifically targets Lebanon’s
government, of which Hezbollah is a part.
In conjunction with the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act,
the bill would prohibit the US government from assisting any Lebanese government
of which Hezbollah is a part, over which it exercises undue influence, or in
which “a ministry, agency, or instrumentality of that government is effectively
controlled by Hezbollah.”
To become law, the bill would have to also be passed by the US House before
being sent to President Donald Trump, a critic of Hezbollah, for his signature.
Hezbollah was designated a terrorist organization by the US in 1995. The
directive does not distinguish between Hezbollah’s military arm and its
political leadership.
In 2013, Hezbollah’s militia was designated a terrorist organization by the EU
after the group was accused of blowing up an Israeli tour bus in Bulgaria.
Hezbollah remains a powerful force in Lebanon, where it has received the backing
of Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
Together with its Christian political ally, the Free Patriotic Movement headed
by Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s son-in-law Gebran Bassil, Hezbollah remains
one of Lebanon’s most potent political organizations.
The bill would jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars in US government
funding for Lebanon.
Recently, the US approved $13 million to assist Lebanon in tackling its COVID-19
outbreak. In the past two decades, Lebanon has received more than $4.9 billion
in American aid.
Cruz has sponsored or co-sponsored other laws that specifically target Lebanon’s
government in cases involving terrorism or the arrest or detention of American
citizens.
Last week, he joined other senators in urging the EU to extend its ban on
Hezbollah’s militia to include its political arm, and targeting Hezbollah’s ties
to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Last February, in conjunction with New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, whose
husband Bill Shaheen is a prominent Arab-American attorney, Cruz introduced the
Zero Tolerance for Unlawful Detentions of US Citizens in Lebanon Act (Zero
Tolerance Act), which threatened sanctions against Lebanon’s government over the
arrest and detention of an American citizen.
The Zero Tolerance Act was prompted by the refusal of Lebanon’s government to
free Amer Fakhoury, an American citizen who had been detained in Beirut since
September 2019 and is suffering from stage 4 cancer.
Fakhoury, a well-known and well-liked small business owner from New Hampshire,
was visiting Lebanon when his US passport was confiscated by the government. He
was released in March 2020 as a result of the proposed law.
Fakhoury had been arrested on charges related to a decades-old murder and
torture charge in Lebanon that he has denied.
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Reports And News published on July 30-31/2020
Iran military drill shows off missiles to threaten US and Israel
Jerusalem Post/July 30/2020
On Wednesday, Iran upped the rhetoric with images of masses of missiles which it
claims are the first of their type being shot from underground areas.
Iran’s “Great Prophet” military drill is a serious affair in some ways, yet
comical in others. For instance, Iran had its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
fast boats do circles around a model of a US aircraft carrier, which looked more
like people doing antics on spring break in Lake Havasu than a serious military
exercise.
However, on Wednesday, Iran upped the rhetoric with images of masses of
missiles, which it claims are the first of their type being shot from
underground areas.
Iran is using the naval drill to put US forces on alert and test them, similar
to what Hezbollah is doing to Israel at the same time.
“Watch the first images of missiles from the depths of the earth,” says Iran’s
Fars News.The second day of the 14th Great Prophet drills, an annual event for
Iran on the southern coast, illustrated “one of the important and strategic
achievements of the IRGC Air Force as it is firing ballistic missiles from deep
underground,” the report says. This final stage of the military drills included
the use of drones in areas around the Straits of Hormuz. These were IRGC drones
and Tasnim News says they attacked the model aircraft carrier and damaged the
bridge of the ship. In addition, 22 Sukhoi aircraft strafed targets on an
island.
“The planes destroying hypothetical enemy targets that were rigorously designed
and much smaller than their actual size, with a variety of smart bombs, was
another part of this phase of the exercise,” Tasnim News says.
Iran says it combined its air force and naval units as part of the drill, part
of a strategy that could be used to confront enemies. Obviously, Iran’s message
here is to the US and US ships in the area.
This includes the US aircraft carrier Nimitz, which is on station with the 5th
fleet.
Iran used Mohajer UAVs and surface-to-surface missile operations, shore-to-sea
operations, heavy artillery as well as minesweeping.
“The firing of all kinds of artillery, RPGs and light weapons of the jihadi
combat forces in a line and from fortresses around the islands, once again
showed the determination of the border guards defending the Islamic Republic.”
Iran has become better in the use of combined arms in recent years. For
instance, it used drones and cruise missiles to attack Saudi Arabia last year.
The overall goal of these drills is to showcase Iran’s firepower. Iran was
pleased to read US media reports that its drill caused an alarm at Dhafra and
Udeid airbases in the Gulf, where the US has drones and various warplanes.
According to Fox News reporter Lucas Tomlinson, Indian fighter pilots at al
Dhafra air base were told to take cover during the alert when Iran fired
ballistic missiles as part of its exercise. The US condemned the irresponsible
launchings.Tehran has shown that it can send US soldiers into alert even without having to
actually attack US bases. For instance, it appears that the Iranian missiles did
fall in the water “close enough” to US bases in the UAE and Qatar that the
missiles triggered warning systems.
That would appear to be a way for Iran to say that it owns the Persian Gulf and
the US are just guests there. That has been Tehran’s rhetoric all along.
The reality is that in any conflict with the US and Iran, the Iranian navy would
be destroyed rapidly if the US brought its full force to bear.
In the past, the US has generally eschewed this, with exceptions in the 1980s
when the US did sink half of Iran’s operational naval fleet during the 1988
Operation Praying Mantis.
Iran’s naval and IRGC commanders all remember the 1988 incident. They’d like to
believe now that their missiles give them the stand-off range to strike fear
into the US and US allies such as Israel.
In fact, Iran is doing in the Gulf precisely what Hezbollah is doing in Lebanon
to Israel: encouraging an alert, without doing anything. That is what Iran’s
recent naval drill appears to have been all about.
Iraqi army confirms two rockets target Baghdad airport, no
casualties reported
AFP/Thursday 30 July 2020
Two rockets Thursday targeted Baghdad airport, where US soldiers are posted,
Iraq’s army said, adding there were no casualties. It was the 39th attack
targeting US interests since October last year in Iraq, a country where the US
and its sworn enemy Iran vie for influence. The two rockets did not cause any
damage, the Iraqi army added in a statement. As with previous attacks, the
rocket fire went unclaimed. The US has routinely blamed pro-Iran factions for
targeting its interests in Iraq in recent months. Iran’s most prominent general,
Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport in
January, bringing Tehran and Washington to the brink of direct confrontation.
Iraq confirms nearly 560 killed in anti-government unrest, offers payment to
families
Reuters, Cairo/Thursday 30 July 2020
The Iraqi government said on Thursday that nearly 560 protesters and security
forces were killed in months of anti-government unrest that erupted last year.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s new government has pledged to investigate
the deaths and incarceration of hundreds of protesters in unrest that unseated
the previous government last year. The death toll is roughly in line with what
news outlets and rights groups have reported. The government will treat all
those who died as “martyrs” and each family will be offered 10 million dinars
($8,380) in compensation, Hisham Daoud, the prime minister’s adviser, told
reporters. Protests began on Oct. 1 and continued for several months, with
hundreds of thousands of Iraqis demanding jobs, services and the removal of the
ruling elite, which they said was corrupt. The protests led to the resignation
of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who was replaced in May by Kadhimi, a former
intelligence chief. Later on Thursday, a fact-finding committee tasked with
investigating the death of two protesters killed on Sunday suspended three
policemen and referred them to trial for using hunting rifles against
protesters, the interior minister said in a press conference.
The committee found that hunting rifles were used against the two protesters,
Othman al-Ghanimi said. “During the initial investigation, it was proven that
this weapon was used by the two officers and a conscript,” Ghanimi said, adding
that using weapons is a violation of the instructions given to security forces
when dealing with protesters. Clashes erupted between protesters and security
forces in central Baghdad on Sunday night, resulting in the death of the two and
the wounding of about 26 others. It was the first deadly incident in months at
Tahrir Square, which became a symbol of anti-government protests during months
of mass unrest last year.
UAE supports Egypt’s efforts towards resolving Libyan
crisis: Foreign Minister
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 30 July 2020
The United Arab Emirates supports Egypt’s efforts to resolve the crisis in
Libya, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan told
his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in a phone call on Wednesday. “During the
call, the two top diplomats discussed a number of issues of common interest,
including the situation in Libya and ways of supporting the ongoing efforts made
to promote political settlement to the crisis, with Sheikh Abdullah reiterating
UAE's support for Egypt's tireless efforts to reach a diplomatic solution that
ensures security, and stability for the people of Libya,” the UAE’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The ministry added that Sheikh Abdullah
also “emphasized the historical and strategic relations binding the two
countries and the determination of their leadership to continue supporting
cooperation across all fronts to the best interests of their peoples.”
Libyan conflict
Libya has plunged into chaos since the 2011 toppling of dictator Moammar
Gaddafi. Clashes between the two main warring parties in the country, the LNA,
commanded by Khalifa Haftar and the GNA, led by Fayez al-Serraj, have
intensified recently.
Many foreign powers have backed different sides of the conflict with varying
degrees of support, with the most prominent countries being Turkey backing the
GNA and Egypt backing the LNA. The UAE also backs Haftar’s forces and condemns
Ankara’s interference in Libya. Towards the end of June, Sheikh Abdullah stated
that Turkey’s “current role in the Arab region is not welcome.”
Iraqi policemen killed protesters with hunting rifles in
Baghdad: Interior minister
AFP, Baghdad/Thursday 30 July 2020
Iraqi policemen using their own hunting rifles killed protesters in the capital
Baghdad this week, the government said, adding that the perpetrators had been
suspended. “According to eyewitnesses and forensic data, hunting rifles killed”
two protesters, Interior Minister Othman al-Ghanemi told reporters on Thursday.
The minister gave the names of three policemen and displayed the arms and
ammunition they had purportedly used. Hunting rifles were in the personal
possession of the three, “who decided on their own account to make use of them,”
he told reporters. They have confessed to using the weapons and have been
suspended from their duties, Ghanemi said, adding that judicial proceedings were
underway. The account of the killings, which took place earlier this week,
differed from that given previously by medics. Medical sources said three
protesters died but authorities mentioned only two deaths on Thursday. Medics
also said the three dead protesters had been hit by tear gas canisters, rather
than live rounds, a version of events the government has denied. Ghanemi said an
investigation had been opened because the federal police had deployed “to fire
live rounds in the air,” contravening orders not to use live fire by the prime
minister, who heads the armed forces. Mustafa al-Kadhemi came to power in early
May, replacing Adel Abdel Mahdi, whose position became untenable amid months of
protests stretching back to October last year. The new premier has been keen to
distance himself from his predecessor, who accused an unnamed third force of
being behind the deaths of security personnel and hundreds of protesters. The
government announced on Thursday that 560 people had been killed in protests
since October, a tally it said included those slain early this week. Nearly all
the dead were demonstrators killed at the hands of security forces, said Hosham
Dawod, an adviser to the premier handling an investigation into the protests.
The families of each of the 560 victims will each be compensated with 10 million
Iraqi dinars (around $8,400), Dawod said.
Car bomb at checkpoint in Syria kills 6, others wounded:
Report
AFP, Beirut/Thursday 30 July 2020
A car bomb in northeast Syria targeting a checkpoint manned by Turkish-backed
forces killed six people, mostly fighters, near the border town of Ras al-Ain on
Thursday, a war monitor said. The blast in the village of Tal Halaf held by
Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies also wounded 15 others, the
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Turkish forces and their
Syrian proxies last year seized a 120-kilometer (75-mile) stretch of land inside
the Syrian border from Kurdish forces, running from Ras al-Ain to Tal Abyad.
Many bombings have since rocked the area, several in the past week alone. An
explosives-rigged motorbike in Ras al-Ain on Tuesday killed two civilians and a
fighter, the Observatory said, two days after another in a vegetable market in
the town killed eight people, six of them civilians.
The Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units, from whom the Turks and their allies
seized the territory, have played a key role in the US-backed fight against ISIS
in Syria. But Ankara views them as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK) that has waged a deadly insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984.
Syria’s civil war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions
from their homes since erupting in 2011 with the brutal repression of
anti-government protests.
ISIS releases video calling on supporters to carry out arson attacks in US
Zachary Halaschak/The Washington Examinar/July 30/2020
The Islamic State’s media wing has released a video calling for supporters in
the United States to commit acts of arson. The 4-minute video, which was
released over the weekend, was produced in both Arabic and English and features
high-end video editing, according to a report by the Middle East Media Research
Center’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor. The narrator speaks about how ISIS
supporters should fight “fire with fire” and includes an image of a
military-style rifle while discussing how some would-be terrorists don’t have
access to certain weapons. Instead, the narrator advocates for arson attacks and
highlights the devastating effect that fires have had recently in places such as
Australia, Greece, and the U.S.
“To become more convinced of this option, try looking at the fires in the lands
of the crusaders every year. Fires in forests and fields, cities and villages
completely destroyed, people displaced, armies of firefighters and civil defense
personnel working continuously days to no avail,” the narrator says. He also
instructs terrorists to be careful to dispose of incriminating evidence.
Although ISIS’s territorial caliphate has dissolved, the terrorist group still
has affiliates around the globe. Islamic State West Africa Province, which
operates in Nigeria, Chad, and neighboring countries, recently executed four aid
workers from two international organizations. ISIS has also committed atrocities
in Afghanistan through its Khorasan Province branch. ISKP is thought to be
behind a horrific attack on a maternity ward that resulted in the deaths of
mothers and children. ISKP has been fighting both the Afghan government and the
Taliban.Last year, the U.S. scored a major victory when ISIS’s then-leader Abu Bakr al
Baghdadi was killed in October during a Delta Force operation. In June, the
State Department announced that it was offering $10 million for information
about the location or identity of ISIS leader Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahma al
Mawla, up from its previous offe
Israel reveals identity of Hamas commander who allegedly defected
Al Arabiya EnglishThursday 30 July 2020
Israel has revealed the identity of the Hamas commander who allegedly defected
from Gaza, where the Palestinian militant group is in power. The man was named
as Az Alladin Hussein, a Hamas field commander, according to the Israeli
security agency Shin Bet as quoted in regional media. He reportedly escaped Gaza
by sea, being arrested after crossing into Israel by swimming through the
maritime border, the agency added. Hussein then gave the Israeli government
information about Hamas, according to the same source. The report added that
Hussein was Hamas' surface-to-air missile commander. Hamas denied one of its
commanders had defected at the time.
Iran arms embargo must be extended as it continues to arm
Houthis: Pompeo
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 30 July 2020
Iran is an aggressor, not a victim, and if the UN arms embargo against Tehran
expires, it will facilitate Iranian destruction across the Middle East, the top
US diplomat said Thursday. “Iran already mines ships in the Strait of Hormuz,
launches missiles at Saudi oil facilities, and ships arms to the Houthis,” US
Secretary of State Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Should
the Security Council fail to act, Iran will have a freer hand to sow destruction
across the Middle East, and indeed the world,” Pompeo added. The hearing was
held to discuss the US State Department’s budget request for the fiscal year
2021. Pompeo said that Washington had gone “full bore” on its maximum pressure
campaign against Iran. Pompeo said this campaign led to a 90-percent cut of oil
revenues used by Iran for its illegal nuclear activities and terrorist
activities. He commended US diplomacy for European and South American countries
heeding calls to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
Qatar-linked media outlets in rare clash: Muslim
Brotherhood vs. Arabist secularists
Leen Alfaisal, Al Arabiya English/Thursday 30 July 2020
Over the past three days, social media saw a rare dispute between Qatari-linked
media organizations, including Al Jazeera, Al Araby TV, and Mekameleen, with
media figures from the organizations criticizing each other.
The dispute started with Qatar-linked AlAraby Television’s negative coverage of
Turkey’s transformation of the Hagia Sofia museum into a mosque, including a
post by AlAraby blogger Bilal Fadl that had two pictures; one of them shows
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hugging a Turkish singer with the caption
“all year long,” and the other one shows Erdogan praying in Hagia Sofia with the
caption “before the exam.”AlAraby’s coverage, especially the picture, drew
criticism from many, but the most striking one came from a presenter in the
Mekameleen TV, a Qatari-linked Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian television station
that broadcasts from Turkey. The presenter, Mohammed Nasser, went live on
Facebook and made unprecedented comments about Azmi Bishara, who is considered a
policymaker in almost all Qatari-linked media organizations, but most closely
linked to AlAraby.
“Azmi Bishara is a nationalist spy. Azmi Bishara hates all things related to
Islam. Azmi Bishara was raised by Zionists when he was a member of the Knesset,”
Nasser said.
“I just want to ask Qatar’s Emir Tamim: What do you see in Azmi Bishara? You
give him money, a research center, and a journal that doesn’t even sell,” Nasser
added. “Azmi Bishara hates all our channels, al-Sharq, Mekameleen, and al-Watan,
because all three of them combined are running with a budget less than that of
AlAraby’s food buffet and toilet.”Nasser, along with his colleagues in
Mekameleen, is based in Turkey, a possible reason for lashing out at Bishara
after the negative coverage of the Turkish president, whose country hosts the
three Muslim Brotherhood-linked Egyptian media organizations.
Another critique of AlAraby’s coverage was one of Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera’s
prominent journalists, Ahmed Mansour, who tweeted saying: “A movement of
heretics and atheists has succeeded, with direct support from their peers, in
sneaking into effective positions in some TV stations, newspapers, and
websites.”Mansour did not namely point at AlAraby but continued to say: “They
are promoting heresy as freedom, atheism as a point of view, offending religion
as criticism, and swear words on the [prophet’s] companions as a way of reading
history. We have to crush those heretics with our shoes.”
Replying to Mansour’s tweet was AlAraby’s presenter Wael Tamimi, who wrote:
“‘Crushing’ is not a word to be used by a media figure. A journalist’s tools are
his pen, word, and idea – not ‘shoes’ that ‘crush’. These outrageous views only
originate from an ideology of eliminationism and extremism, which leads to
seeing the other as an enemy that should be silenced. Journalism is innocent of
this nonsense.”Bishara also separately tweeted a comment on the matter,
acknowledging the other Qatar-linked media organizations as “allies” and
describing the situation as “sad.”
“If opponents were busy turning any disagreement with their objective allies –
in the fight against tyranny – into an enmity without rules, if jealousy was
more important than politics, if enmity took over morals, and if their
alternative for tyranny was ‘us’ and not a democracy, then tyranny is lucky to
have them. This is sad,” Bishara tweeted.
Donald Trump's proposal to delay US election slammed by
Republican Senate leader
Joyce Karam/The National/July 30, 2020
Mitch McConnell pours water on US president's suggestion, saying election date
is 'set in stone'
The election date is "set in stone", majority leader Mitch McConnell told NBC.
Mr Trump on Thursday suggested delaying the US election set for November 3,
claiming there would be fraud in mail voting and “embarrassment” to the country.
His suggestion to delay, posted on Twitter, came moments after the Commerce
Department released figures showing the US economy recorded its biggest decline
in gross domestic product for seven decades. “With universal mail-in voting [not
absentee voting, which is good], 2020 will be the most inaccurate and fraudulent
election in history," Mr Trump tweeted. "It will be a great embarrassment to the
USA. Delay the election until people can properly, securely and safely vote?”Mr
Trump has frequently criticised mail voting, which many states have adopted to
reduce the risk to voters from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more
than 154,000 of the almost 4.6 million people infected in the US so far.
But this was the first time the president suggested delaying the vote. The
proposal is neither feasible nor realistic. Election laws have long set the
voting date on “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November”. Any change
to those laws will require a vote by the House of Representatives, which is
controlled by the Democrats. Even if Mr Trump or the states choose to block the
vote because of the pandemic, a move that could lead to social unrest, his term
will automatically end on January 20.
That is in accordance with the 20th Amendment, which would make Speaker of the
House Nancy Pelosi the acting President. Presidential historian Michael
Beschloss said such a move would “violate American law”. “Never in American
history – not even during the Civil War and World War II – has there been a
successful move to delay the election for president,” he tweeted. Mr Trump could
be setting the stage for a legal challenge to mail-in ballots after the
election, even though there has been no evidence to suggest it would lead to
fraud and he and senior members of his administration have voted by mail in the
past.
His poll numbers are worsening against his Democratic presidential rival Joe
Biden. The race is narrowing even in states such as Texas, which the Democrats
have not won since 1976. Mr Trump has been widely criticised for his handling of
the coronavirus pandemic, which has exacted a heavier toll in the US than any
other country and dealt a severe blow to the economy. On Thursday, his surrogate
and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died from the virus in
a hospital in Atlanta. Surrogates are people of influence or celebrity who
campaign on a candidate’s behalf.
Mr Cain had attended Mr Trump's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 20 and was
admitted to hospital on July 2. Weak economic indicators added to the
president's woes on Thursday. The US economy shrank at a record rate of almost
33 per cent in the past quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
This is the largest decline in 70 years and led to the Dow Jones Index dropping
300 points at the start of trading on Thursday. The latest Labour Department
figures show the number of people collecting jobless benefits rose to 17
million, up from 16.2 million a week earlier.
Can the Coronavirus Spread Through the Air?
Associated Press/Naharnet/July 30/2020
The World Health Organization recently acknowledged the possibility that
COVID-19 might be spread in the air under certain conditions. Recent COVID-19
outbreaks in crowded indoor settings — restaurants, nightclubs and choir
practices — suggest the virus can hang around in the air long enough to
potentially infect others if social distancing measures are not strictly
enforced. Experts say the lack of ventilation in these situations is thought to
have contributed to spread, and might have allowed the virus to linger in the
air longer than normal. In a report published in May, researchers found that
talking produced respiratory droplets that could remain in the air in a closed
environment for about eight to 14 minutes. The WHO says those most at risk from
airborne spread are doctors and nurses who perform specialized procedures such
as inserting a breathing tube or putting patients on a ventilator. Medical
authorities recommend the use of protective masks and other equipment when doing
such procedures. Scientists maintain it's far less risky to be outside than
indoors because virus droplets disperse in the fresh air, reducing the chances
of COVID-19 transmission.
Pilgrims Pray on Peak Day of Hajj in Shadow of Coronavirus
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 30/2020
Masked pilgrims arrived Thursday at Mount Arafat, a desert hill near Islam's
holiest site, to pray and repent on the most important day of the hajj, the
annual pilgrimage in Mecca in Saudi Arabia.The global coronavirus pandemic has
cast a shadow over every aspect of this year's pilgrimage, which last year drew
2.5 million Muslims from across the world to Mount Arafat, where the Prophet
Muhammad delivered his final sermon nearly 1,400 years ago. This year, a very
limited number of pilgrims were allowed to take part in the hajj amid numerous
restrictions to limit the potential spread of the coronavirus. The Saudi
government has not released a final figure on the number of hajj pilgrims this
year, but has said anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 would be taking part. All of
this year's pilgrims are either residents or citizens of Saudi Arabia. In past
years, a sea of pilgrims dressed in white terrycloth garments would start to
gather at Mount Arafat, or hill of mercy as it's known, before dawn and remain
there until nightfall, spending the day in deep contemplation and worship. It is
common to see pilgrims with tears streaming down their faces, their hands raised
in worship on the slopes of the rocky hill where the Prophet Muhammad called for
equality and unity among Muslims. The sliver of pilgrims performing the hajj
this year arrived at Mount Arafat before noon by bus on Thursday. They are
traveling in small groups of 20, following strict guidelines around social
distancing, have undergone tests for the COVID-19 disease and were in quarantine
before the hajj. Unlike in past years, the pilgrims are not allowed to stand
shoulder to shoulder with other Muslims from around the world, all considered
equal in Islam before God, seeking mercy, blessings, good health, bounty and
healing. Pilgrims are wearing wristbands this year provided by the Saudi Health
Ministry that are connected to their phones and monitor their movements to
ensure physical distancing. After spending the day in prayer on Mount Arafat,
pilgrims will head toward an area called Muzdalifa, about 5.5 miles (9
kilometers) west of Mount Arafat. In Muzdalifa, pilgrims rest and traditionally
pick up pebbles that will be used for a symbolic stoning of the devil and
casting away of evil. This year, however, the pebbles have been prepackaged and
sterilized. The final ritual takes place over three to four days in Mina, an
area about 12 miles (20 kilometers) east of Mecca. The final days of hajj
coincide with Eid al-Adha, or the festival of sacrifice, celebrated by Muslims
worldwide.
Cairo Hotel Gang Rape Allegations Ignite New #MeToo Wave
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 30/2020
A gang rape allegation at a luxury hotel in Egypt stemming from a prominent
social media account has triggered a new #MeToo wave in the deeply conservative
country. The alleged assault took place at the five-star Fairmont Nile City
hotel in Cairo in 2014 where a group of six men drugged and raped several
victims, according to the account, Assault Police. Names and pictures of the
figures accused, who hail from elite families, have circulated online, but AFP
has been unable to verify their authenticity. AFP spoke to a source close to one
of the victims who corroborated details of the 2014 rapes posted online. The
victim was unwilling to comment publicly for fear of a backlash. The account,
which boasted over 170,000 followers, had to abruptly shut down on Wednesday
after multiple death threats, according to a source close to its operator.No
official investigation has been launched so far, as tweets flood in under the
hashtag #FairmontIncident. Assault Police was pivotal in stirring a national
outcry against Ahmed Bassam Zaki, 22, a former student of some of Egypt's most
elite schools and universities. On July 4 authorities arrested Zaki who
confessed to assaulting at least six girls including one aged under 18 and
blackmailing the victims, according to prosecutors, Egypt's National Council for
Women on Wednesday condemned retaliatory threats made against women exposing
sexual misconduct. The council "stands by every woman and girl exposed to any...
threat by providing all necessary support", it said. It also called on "every
girl and woman who might be subjected to harassment and/or threats to
immediately report through the official reporting mechanisms". The Fairmont
Hotel has said it carried out an investigation of the graphic claims posted
online. "An internal investigation was undertaken by the hotel upon receipt of
knowledge of the disturbing allegations," Yara ElDouky, Fairmont's communication
director, told AFP. "We can confirm that at no time were any reports of the
incident filed to the hotel, nor to the hotel’s tourism police," she said. "All
personnel at the hotel are committed to assisting the relevant authorities and
we will continue to offer our unfettered support," she added. The allegations
come as Egypt sentenced to jail several young female influencers on popular app
TikTok on charges of violating public morals.A 2013 study by UN Women found that
99% of women in Egypt had at some point in their lives been sexually harassed,
either verbally or physically.
Readout: First meeting of the International Coordination
and Response Group and Iran regarding negotiations on reparations related to the
downing of Flight PS752
July 30, 2020 - Kyiv, Ukraine - Global Affairs Canada
Afghanistan, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, members of the
International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752,
today issued the following readout:
Today, representatives from the five members of the International Coordination
and Response Group held their first meeting with Iranian officials regarding
negotiations on reparations for the families of the victims of Flight PS752.
The Coordination Group was represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Ukraine as its negotiating spokesperson. Negotiators from Afghanistan, Canada,
Sweden and the United Kingdom were also present at the meeting.
The Coordination Group members reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation and,
once again, called on Iran to make full reparations for the downing of Flight
PS752. Coordination Group members and Iran also discussed the preparations and
organization for the upcoming rounds of negotiations.
The Coordination Group reiterated the call on Iran to conduct a full,
transparent and independent investigation in accordance with international
standards, including accountability and justice for the families of the victims
of this terrible tragedy.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 30-31/2020
Joining the conflict in Libya, Turkey sees economic gains
Samy Magdy/AP/July 30/2020
CAIRO — When Turkey’s president signed a security deal last year to back one of
the sides in Libya’s civil war, another agreement was waiting to be signed by
his new proteges the same day: a memorandum redrawing the two countries’
maritime borders.
In Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s memo, Turkey and Libya lay claim to large areas of the
Mediterranean Sea and the potential natural gas deposits under it. The deal
achieved a longtime goal of Turkey — finding a partner to back its claims.
Officials in Libya’s U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli, have
disclosed for the first time to The Associated Press the deliberations that
resulted in Turkey becoming a major broker in the war, opposite Russia. They
describe the relationship as necessary, and say Turkey’s foray into the conflict
goes hand-in-hand with its economic designs. Several officials say their side
entered the deals with Turkey reluctantly, late last year, believing they had no
choice. They desperately needed an ally as their opponent in the war, Libyan
commander Khalifa Hifter, bore down on Tripoli with his forces, strengthened by
Russian, Emirati and Egyptian backing.
“It was like a give-and-take game,” said one official in Tripoli-based Prime
Minister Fayez Sarraj’s office. “They took advantage of our weakness at the
time.” He and other officials spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for their
safety in a country largely ruled by an array of militias.
In the end, Turkey sent troops and thousands of Syrian mercenaries and other
military support that helped pro-Sarraj forces repel Hifter’s assault this
spring, preventing the collapse of the Tripoli-based administration and shifting
the tide of the war.
But Ankara’s role is just one side of how outside powers are exploiting and
fueling the civil war in the oil-rich North African nation.
Russia has sent weapons, air defense systems and mercenaries to Libya’s front
lines to back Hifter’s offensive, launched last year and aimed at capturing
Tripoli. That help has continued even after Hifter’s withdrawal, though Russia
has denied any role in the Libyan conflict.
The interventions are deepening a civil war born after a NATO-backed uprising in
2011 toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Hifter controls
eastern and southern Libya. Sarraj’s government controls Tripoli and its
surroundings, in the west.
Erdogan has only acknowledged sending high-level advisers to help pro-Sarraj
forces. In reality, Ankara deployed a few hundred troops and an estimated
3,500-3,800 Syrian mercenaries over the first quarter of the year, a Pentagon
report last week said. Turkey also sent weapons, military equipment and air
defense systems.
Sarraj’s office didn’t answer several calls seeking comment on the relationship
with Turkey. One Libyan official acknowledged to the AP the Tripoli government’s
“full reliance” on Turkey. However, “we would not have reached this point” if
not for Hifter’s offensive, he said. The officials said Turkey pushed the
government for over a year to approve the maritime deal, but Sarraj resisted. In
part, he felt he did not have the authority to strike international agreements,
being head of a transitional government. He may have also been wary of making
Mediterranean claims certain to be rejected by the Europeans.
“It was a relentless pressure,” one official said, adding that Islamists inside
Sarraj’s administration also wielded influence in support of Ankara. “Turkey was
the only country that promised support, and we agreed only after all other doors
were closed.”
The security and maritime deals were signed in late November. Under the accord,
Libya and Turkey claim adjoining parts of the Mediterranean and exploration
rights there. Greece disputes the deal, considering the waters part of its
continental shelf. The EU said it violates international law and poses a “threat
to stability.”
Turkey has long wanted to alter the old boundaries and its drive gained urgency
as Egypt, Israel and Cyprus moved to exploit newly discovered natural gas fields
in their waters. “We are tearing up maps of the East Mediterranean that were
drawn up to imprison us on the mainland,” Erdogan deputy Fuat Oktay said.
Turkey’s moves, particularly its claim on Greek waters, have heightened tensions
between the two NATO members that openly clashed 46 years ago in the conflict
over Cyprus.
The maritime claims give Turkey “pressure points” to apply against other nations
around the Eastern Mediterranean, said Oded Berkowitz, an Israeli security
analyst who specializes in the Libyan conflict. It can aim to block Egypt,
Israel and Cyprus from directly exporting natural gas to Europe and to influence
migrant trafficking.
Turkey has long had interests in Libya, mainly construction and energy projects.
It has also been pressing for new business opportunities and recouping losses
sustained since Ghadafi was pushed from power. The Turkish Contractor’s
Association estimated that in 2011, just after the country’s popular uprising,
Turkish companies had more than $18 billion in contracts in Libya. Many of those
were lost in the ensuing chaos and war. In June, a Turkish delegation including
the foreign and finance ministers, met Tripoli officials and presented bills for
$2 billion owed to Turkish firms, another official said. Tripoli agreed to pay
back that and $1.7 billion in other debts and compensation for machinery and
equipment lost in the war, he said. The agreement still needs final approval
from Sarraj.
Libyan officials have said Turkey is building a naval base as part of Misrata’s
port and a base at the al-Waitya air base in the desert southwest of Tripoli.A Turkish government official told the AP that the “issue of bases is not on the
agenda.” He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Meanwhile, Turkish and pro-Sarraj forces are preparing an operation to retake
the coastal city of Sirte and the inland Jufra air base, which Hifter’s ally
Egypt has said would prompt it to deploy troops to Libya.
But it’s only a part of the bigger picture, said Jalel Harchaoui, a research
fellow specializing in Libyan affairs at the Clingendael Netherlands Institute
of International Relations.
“Control over that territory isn’t so much about Libya’s oil itself as it’s
about the natural gas under the Mediterranean Sea,” he said.
*Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this
report.
Reacting Smartly to Harassing Tactics by Iraqi Militias
Michael Knights/The Washington Institute/July 30/2020
As attacks on international targets continue, the United States should help
Iraqis take the lead in responding to nonlethal incidents and exploiting militia
missteps.
On July 27, Iran-backed militias in Taji, Iraq, fired five rockets at the local
military base, which hosts a small U.S. contingent. Indeed, Kataib Hezbollah
(KH), Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and other groups are escalating their harassment
campaign against the U.S.-led coalition presence using a range of tactics:
Attacks on logistical convoys. According to U.S. military contacts, militias
have conducted fifty-one attacks this year on trucks that transport supplies to
U.S. and coalition forces and diplomatic sites in Iraq. Almost all of these
attacks were carried out with hand-thrown grenades or Molotov cocktails, though
some involved gunfire or roadside improvised explosive devices. The attacks have
damaged trucks and U.S. materiel, but no American lives have been threatened
because the trucks are driven by Iraqi contractors and escorted by Iraqi
security companies. Unsurprisingly, Iraqis are becoming less willing to work on
such convoys.
Rocket attacks. Militias have conducted at least twenty-seven rocket attacks on
U.S. locations in Iraq this year, firing just over eighty rockets and mortar
shells. Two U.S. troops and one British servicewoman were killed in a March 11
attack on Taji. And in the July 27 attack, rockets destroyed an Iraqi helicopter
at the base and damaged an Iraqi military manufacturing site.
Drone threats. On July 22, security forces discovered a quadcopter drone
carrying a small bomb on a rooftop in Jadriyah, just across the Tigris River
from the U.S. embassy and the Iraqi government center. Militia drones have
previously been flown over the embassy and U.S. bases on a number of occasions.
Anti-air threats. Militias have shot at U.S. helicopters transiting bases such
as K-1 in Kirkuk. They have also posted images that claim to show a man-portable
air-defense system (MANPADS) being (unsuccessfully) fired at a U.S. Chinook
helicopter near the Bismayah training base. In other cases, militia leaders have
displayed maps that purport to show radar tracks of coalition aerial
transportation routes.
Hostage-taking. The recent three-day kidnapping of German art curator Hella
Mewis in Baghdad is a reminder that Iran-backed militias could try to pressure
the United States by kidnapping American citizens, including Iraqi dual
nationals.
Defiance against government authority. Some militias have demonstrated their
defiance with a constant stream of media and online messaging. KH spokesman Abu
Ali al-Askari regularly criticizes and threatens Prime Minister Mustafa
al-Kadhimi and other “enemies.” And earlier this month, KH fighters employed by
the Popular Mobilization Forces, an official state organ, were filmed stomping
on pictures of Kadhimi, their commander-in-chief. Meanwhile, large militia
convoys are free to drive around the government center and menace Iraqi
officials.
Many of these measures are often used in tandem to falsely portray harassing
efforts as effective military resistance. For example, militias will often learn
of an upcoming coalition redeployment from one base to another, then use their
various media platforms to publicly predict that forces will withdraw, then fire
rockets at the base, and then record the scheduled redeployment as purported
video evidence of successful resistance tactics. This was the case when Bismayah
was hit with rockets on July 24—one day before the base was transitioned to full
Iraqi operation in a long-announced ceremony.
THE RIGHT RESPONSE TO NONLETHAL HARASSMENT
If U.S. personnel are killed, or if authorities detect new or particularly
advanced militia efforts to kill Americans, then a kinetic response would
certainly be justified. And whenever such responses are issued, they should be
more powerful than the weak retaliation seen on March 13, when U.S. forces
struck empty KH-associated buildings after two Americans were killed at Taji.
Yet U.S. options are less clear-cut in other circumstances, so it is important
to properly assess and rank militia harassing activities, differentiating
between those that require urgent U.S. action and those that are less
significant. The current strain of militia harassing attacks appears to be
deliberately nonlethal against U.S. personnel, insofar as “aim to miss” rocket
attacks at large military complexes have a very low risk of killing or seriously
injuring Americans, and no U.S. personnel are present in logistical convoys.
This apparent shaping of militia operational choices away from deadly attacks
and toward the propagandistic touting of low-impact or fake attacks is arguably
a deterrence success.
Yet there are still costs associated with letting such attacks go unanswered.
First, some of them do have a residual risk of hurting Americans, which could
draw the U.S. and Iraqi government into unwanted crises. Second, harassing
attacks are a slippery slope—they build militia confidence and encourage
risk-taking behavior that can turn deadly (e.g., if groups firing at U.S.
helicopters wind up shooting one down). Third, they pose an even greater risk to
Iraqi lives, equipment, and infrastructure. Fourth, even nonlethal attacks
damage the Iraqi government’s legitimacy in the eyes of its citizens and
international partners, potentially undermining Baghdad at precisely the moment
it is trying to rein in militia power at Iraq’s airports, border posts, and
state agencies via workmanlike reforms.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to reignite calls for a full American military withdrawal from Iraq,
militias like KH and their partners in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
(IRGC) may seek to draw the United States into a retaliatory cycle. Thus, while
Washington cannot ignore the current harassment campaign, it should not
overreact either. In broad terms, this means the United States should respond
directly and forcefully to lethal attacks but ask the Iraqi government to
confront lower-level harassing attacks. Baghdad must be firmly in the lead on
the latter issue, with Washington quietly supporting it via the following
measures:
Convoy security cooperation. The United States has unparalleled experience
running convoy systems on Iraq’s roads, so it could quickly and easily provide
planning support and training to Iraqi convoy operators. From 2003 to 2011, it
operated a system called Tapestry and a coordination hub called the
Reconstruction Operations Center, which allowed for secure end-to-end tracking
of convoys and a quick-reaction force capability. This model can and should be
revived at a smaller scale.
Weapons intelligence. Iraqi authorities should process crime scenes and captured
enemy materiel with minimal foreign involvement, and the best way to achieve
this is through intensified international training of Iraqi weapons intelligence
specialists. Every rocket, drone, video, electronic device, and attack site
contains forensic data that can be built into a biometric and pattern analysis
system, eventually providing court-quality evidence or, at least, content for
public campaigns that name and shame rogue militia commanders. Using
international forensic consultancies is another inexpensive way to help the
state publicly explain the origin of weapons being used in Iraq.
Warning data. The Iraqi government is now taking preventive action to stop
attacks and investigate known terrorist cells. Accordingly, the United States
should share warning data about possible attacks through a joint intelligence
operations fusion cell specifically focused on militia groups. Even if such
cooperation does not always produce arrests, preventing attacks before they
begin is far preferable to intercepting rockets in the air or negotiating the
return of hostages.
Information operations. Every time militias fire a rocket or attack a convoy,
there is a far greater chance they will hurt Iraqi citizens or property than
American soldiers or property. Such was the case in Taji this week. The Iraqi
government correctly characterized the attack as an assault on three Iraqi
targets: the 5th Squadron of the Iraqi Army Aviation Corps; an Army artillery
and weapons factory; and the 201st Squadron of the Iraqi Air Force. Officials
also noted that valuable and much-needed state property was destroyed. The U.S.
government should reinforce this Iraqi messaging, deploring militia attacks
against the state and its citizenry. Washington should also prepare for the
likelihood that the IRGC will try to help militias avoid Iraqi collateral damage
by providing them with more-precise weapons, similar to the drone/bomb
combination discovered on July 22.
*Michael Knights, a senior fellow with The Washington Institute, has conducted
extensive on-the-ground research in Iraq alongside security forces and
ministries. He is the coauthor (with Hamdi Malik and Aymenn al-Tamimi) of the
recent Institute study Honored, Not Contained: The Future of Iraq’s Popular
Mobilization Forces.
Putin’s agents and cronies run amok in Britain
Clifford D. May/FDD/July 30/2020
Looking for titillating summer reading? Interested in stories about espionage,
murder, power, and ill-begotten wealth? Then I have just the thing for you to
take to the beach: The report of the British Intelligence and Security Committee
of Parliament.
Released last week, the report focuses on “Russian Hostile State Activity.” It
begins on a nostalgic note: “The dissolution of the USSR was a time of hope in
the West. Western thinking was, if not to integrate Russia fully, at least to
ensure that it became a partner. By the mid-2000s, it was clear that this had
not been successful.”
Nothing provided more clarity than the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko. A
lieutenant colonel in Russia’s FSB, successor to the Soviet Union’s KGB, Mr.
Litvinenko was granted asylum in the United Kingdom in 2000. He became a
journalist, consultant to British intelligence, and critic of Russian President
Vladimir Putin, accusing him, among other things, of ordering the October 2006
murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
The following month, a dose of polonium 210 was mixed into the tea he was served
in a London hotel. It took ten years before a public inquiry concluded that his
murder had been carried out by FSB operatives, and was “probably” approved by
Mr. Putin.
Other Russian defectors and dissidents, 14 according to an estimate cited in the
report, have been murdered on British soil. There also have been bungled
attempts, most infamously the 2018 use of chemical weapons to poison former
Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. That led to
the expulsion of 153 Russian intelligence officers and diplomats from 29
countries.
The parliamentary report notes efforts over the years “to repair relations”
between Russia and Western countries,” including President Obama’s ballyhooed
“reset.” It further notes that “none has had any impact on Russian intent, and
therefore on the security threat that Russia poses.”
Russia’s economy is smaller than those of Italy or Brazil but it “heavily
resources its intelligence services and armed forces, which are
disproportionately large and powerful.” Russia appears to believe that “any
actions it can take which damage the West” are in its national interest.
“There is also a sense that Russia believes that an undemocratic ‘might is
right’ world order plays to its strengths, which leads it to seek to undermine
the Rules Based International Order – whilst nonetheless benefitting from its
membership of international political and economic institutions.”
Among Russia’s objectives, the report continues, are “to be seen as a resurgent
‘great power’ – in particular, dominating the countries of the former USSR – and
to ensure that the privileged position of its leadership clique is not damaged.”
Russia pursues these goals by spreading disinformation, illicitly funding
foreign political parties and organizations, using “malicious cyber activity” to
influence the democratic elections of other countries, disrupting “electoral
mechanics,” and carrying out “hack and leak” attacks on election campaigns.
Has Russia succeeded in changing any election results? Apparently not, but its
meddling discredits democratic governance and deepens divisions within
democratic countries. The report points out: “When people start to say ‘You
don’t know what to believe’ or ‘They’re all as bad as each other,’ the
disinformers are winning.”The report also spotlights oligarchs – politically well-connected Russians who
became filthy rich by appropriating resources formerly in the possession of the
Soviet state.
Britain “has been viewed as a particularly favourable destination for Russian
oligarchs and their money,” the parliamentary committee found, “and few
questions – if any – were asked about the provenance of this considerable
wealth.”
As a result, oligarchs have been able to establish “ideal mechanisms by which
illicit finance could be recycled through what has been referred to as the
London ‘laundromat.’ The money was also invested in extending patronage and
building influence across a wide sphere of the British establishment – PR firms,
charities, political interests, academia and cultural institutions were all
willing beneficiaries of Russian money, contributing to a ‘reputation
laundering’ process.”
Oligarchs with “very close links to Putin” have become prominent both within
Britain’s business community and its “social scene.”
“This level of integration – in ‘Londongrad’ in particular – means that any
measures now being taken by the Government are not preventative but rather
constitute damage limitation.”
Worse: “A large private security industry has developed in the UK to service the
needs of the Russian elite, in which British companies protect the oligarchs and
their families, seek kompromat [compromising information] on competitors, and on
occasion help launder money through offshore shell companies and fabricate ‘due
diligence’ reports, while lawyers provide litigation support.”
And get this: “It is notable that a number of Members of the House of Lords have
business interests linked to Russia, or work directly for major Russian
companies linked to the Russian state.”
The report concludes that, until recently, the British government “badly
underestimated the Russian threat and the response it required.”I think there’s also a larger lesson here. In Britain, the U.S. and the West in
general there has been – and there remains – a tendency to believe that those
who rule Russia, China and Iran will mellow and moderate over time; that
economic incentives can persuade them that cooperation is preferable to
confrontation; that clever diplomacy will open their eyes to the benefits of
playing by the rules.
It is comforting to believe that the arc of history bends toward liberal
democracy. But the evidence suggests that Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Ali
Khamenei believe the arc of history bends the way strong men bend it. They
believe they are strong men. They believe Western leaders are not. If they’re
correct, this story may not end well.
*Clifford D. May is founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies (FDD) and a columnist for the Washington Times. Follow him on
Twitter @CliffordDMay.
Threat to Kakai community showcases Iraq’s broader
challenges
Elie Abouaoun and *Yousif Kalian/The Arab Weekly/August 01/2020
Amid the global pandemic, ISIS and the havoc it still wreaks have largely fallen
out of the headlines. Nonetheless, the terrorist group’s genocidal march against
Iraqi minorities has continued. In Iraq’s eastern Diyala province, ISIS has
targeted the Kakai minority with multiple, vicious attacks.The plight of the
Kakai community in Iraq is a microcosm of the larger existential challenges Iraq
faces. Ethnic and sectarian divides have been a flashpoint for conflict and
division for decades. For Iraq to move past the wreckage of ISIS, prevent the
terrorist group’s resurgence, and advance its struggling democracy, the Kakai
must not only be protected but woven more meaningfully into the diverse tapestry
that is Iraq—and the United States has the opportunity to help.
Decades-old repression
The Kakai community practices Yarsanism, a syncretic religion mostly practiced
in Iraq and Iran. In Iraq, they number between 100,000 and 250,000 and are
mostly found in Kirkuk, Diyala, Erbil, Ninewa, and Sulaymaniyah provinces. Since
early 2020, mortar strikes and targeted assassinations have pushed many Kakais
to flee their homes and seven of their villages been abandoned. In late March,
Kakai tombs in the Ninewa and Kirkuk governorates were destroyed by unknown
persons.Dozens were murdered or wounded in May and June when gunmen reportedly
connected to the Islamic State slaughtered defenseless civilians.
But the Kakais’ suffering did not begin with ISIS—their status as non-Muslims
with Kurdish affiliation (although disputed by a minority of Kakais) exposed the
community to persecution. Saddam Hussein’s infamous Arabisation campaigns saw
Kakais’ land confiscated and distributed to Arabs and Muslim Kurds. The conflict
over land that followed continues to be a root driver of conflict between Arabs,
Muslim Kurds, and the Kakai community. Like all Iraqi minorities, the Kakais
continued to suffer after 2003, facing the repression of their culture,
language, and identity to near extinction.
The decades-old repression of Kakais demonstrates their acute vulnerability and
lack of protection by any security actor in Iraq. This is due, in part, to the
fact that these attacks have occurred in territory disputed by the Iraqi central
government and Kurdistan regional government, where the resulting security
voidwas exploited by ISISto build up its presence.
Preventing extinction
The lack of Kakai representation and co-optation by larger actors in the
political sphere has further crippled the small community. Although there is
Kakai representation on local councils and the Kurdistan parliament has one
Kakai member, there is no quota in either the Iraqi or Kurdistan parliament for
the community as for other minority groups such as Christians or
Sabean-Mandaeans.
Kakai activists know that increased representation will not solve all their
community’s issues overnight; however, they hope that an elevated platform to
raise their concerns could bring attention to their ongoing plight and lead to
discussions on how to prevent their extinction, a concern many Christians and
Yazidis in Iraq have as well. Knowing that resolving the status of the disputed
territories—through permanent or temporary arrangements—is a long way off,
activists have sought to pick lower hanging fruit.
Given the United States’ commitment to religious freedom and desire to deny ISIS
the possibility to re-emerge, it should work with the Iraqi government to
prioritise the rehabilitation, preservation, and representation of the country’s
vulnerable religious and ethnic minorities. Prime opportunities to discusses
these issues are coming up, including during the upcoming U.S.-Iraq Strategic
Dialogue and visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to Washington.
In addition to pushing for increased Kakai representation in the Iraqi and
Kurdistan parliaments, the United States can offer its support to the government
to increase police or army presence around Kakai settlements and farms that are
frequently targeted by ISIS or push for increasing recruitment of Kakais into
formal armed groups to defend themselves. The United States can continue to
offer assistance and push for the implementation of joint security mechanisms
between Iraqi and Kurdish forces at patrols, checkpoints, and headquarters,
previously implemented by the U.S. military in 2009-11. Several Kakai activists
believe this could undercut ISIS’s ability to target their community.
Building democracy
Although Iraq and the Kurdistan region are grappling with several existential
struggles, numerous studies have shown how diversity bolsters both democracy and
economic growth. Cultural diversity and tolerance can drive economic progress by
preventing stagnation in civil institutions and the intellectual sphere. To be
sure, Iraq and the Kurdistan region also have a national security imperative in
helping minorities—including Kakais—as supporting and involving them in the
search for solutions can ensure social cohesion and deny ISIS safe havens to
expand their operations.
The international community, Iraqi central government, Kurdistan region,
provincial and district governments, and armed groups would be wise to work with
the Kakai community, and other minority communities, to seek solutions to their
issues in order to preserve one of Iraq’s key characteristics and untapped
advantages. By preserving its diversity and protecting its minorities, Iraq
might be also capable of addressing its existential problems: ethnic and
sectarian divides.
*Elie Abouaoun is the director of Middle East and North Africa programmes for
the US Institute of Peace. He is based in Tunis.
*Yousif Kalian is a program specialist currently based in Erbil, Iraq, where he
works on social cohesion and community reconciliation in Iraq’s Ninewa province.
Arab version of NATO could stabilize region
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/July 30/ 2020
France’s withdrawal this month from the NATO Mediterranean mission due to the
behavior of fellow member Turkey was an echo from Paris’ history with the
organization. In 1966, then-President Charles de Gaulle withdrew France from
NATO’s integrated military command and downgraded its overall membership
following a series of frustrations, from the US position on the Suez Crisis in
1956 to a lack of French representation compared to the US and UK, the two other
steering powers. This French position was also translated into the European
Common Market, with De Gaulle twice refusing to allow the UK to enter. On this
point, he seems to have been proved right by the Brexit vote.
However, when it comes to NATO, even if distancing itself enabled France to
build its own nuclear deterrent, it was probably not the best decision. It was
only in 2009, under President Nicolas Sarkozy, that France corrected its course
and reclaimed full NATO membership in a clear understanding of the changing
nature of the threats the Western alliance was facing and the rise of new
competing blocs. It is, nevertheless, important to note that, despite being in
the NATO background for so many years, France made clear agreements stating its
commitment to support the alliance in the case of war in Europe.
We often state that the reason for the creation and building of NATO was as a
deterrent to the USSR and to avoid nuclear war. But such alliances go beyond the
purpose of military action or facing an enemy as they change through time.
Indeed, by sharing the burden of defense and putting a common interest at the
forefront, it also serves the purpose of supporting political integration and
avoiding national militarism between neighbors. It is beyond doubt that, despite
France’s withdrawal from NATO’s integrated military command, the European
political project would not have been possible without the concept of a common
defense plan that NATO created.
There is something sacred about sharing the security burden that unlocks many
developments. However, it must start with sharing common values. The US’
contribution and role in supporting the post-Second World War reconstruction of
Europe was a success and created stability for the Old Continent — a stability
it had never seen before. Although still an open wound, conflict in the former
Yugoslavia showed that NATO and Europe were able to bring peace and stability to
the continent’s most difficult regions.
Today, NATO faces new challenges arising from a changing geopolitical landscape
and the emergence of new threats. It will certainly adapt like it did in the
past and go through the transformation needed with a shifting but continuous US
support. It seems that the European members will have to take on a bigger role
and assume more of the responsibilities that were overseen by the US in the
past. It is quite strange to see some European analysts complain about this, as
they are the same voices who previously accused the US of hegemonic plans
through NATO. One cannot have it both ways. It is also important for NATO to
listen to the Europeans when it comes to resetting or renewing relations with
Russia. Stability can only come from a common understanding and trust with
Moscow, which is far from impossible to build.
Today, the Arab world faces various challenges and one might ask what we can
learn from the European experience and NATO’s role. Is it possible to build a
similar organization for the Arab world? How can we start sharing the burden of
our defense? More importantly, what do we stand to protect, what are the values
we cherish, and what do we aspire to build? This immediately puts everything
into perspective. Any such alliance is bigger and broader than standing against
a common enemy. Thus, this construction effort for the Arab world should be
bigger than just opposing Iran or any other single enemy.
If we examine NATO, we can see that it protected free will in the face of
totalitarianism. Therefore, France was able to dissent and exit without
consequences — something countries within the Warsaw Pact could not do without
seeing the Soviet Union’s tanks invading them. This also means that there is
room for political disagreements within the alliance, but it draws a clear line
when it comes to the safety and protection of any member state’s sovereignty and
the security of its citizens.
The Arab region is far away from what Europe is today and the integration it has
built since the end of the Second World War. Our regional institutions have been
eroded by numerous crises and, in particular, the lack of capacity to act and
make a decisive change on any file. The Arab League, for example, has not been
able to react properly to the recent challenges the region faces and is
constantly trying to maneuver the Arab world’s interests the best way it can.
Unfortunately, it has become a punching bag for some member states and populist
agendas.
The Arab region urgently needs to build a Middle East security architecture. The
Heritage Foundation’s James Carafano recently discussed this subject in a
webcast and pointed out that a political, military and economic architecture
that includes the nations of the region needed to be created. The US, which has
recently been less prone to taking an active role in the global scene, would
then come in as a stabilizing force and support it. This would, over time,
create a sustainable and dependable deterrent against all threats to the region.
There is something sacred about sharing the security burden that unlocks many
developments.
Carafano clarified that this would not just be another NATO, as the Middle East
is not Europe, but that there is the need for something stronger than just the
US’ current bilateral alliances to create trust and continuity. This would help
address the many problems in the Greater Middle East and create a sustainable
front against Iran, sending the right message to the Iranian people that the
region will not accept the hegemonic actions of the regime.
In my view, the steering committee for this new architecture should be led by
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt. It would take on the key files of the region
and build a unified decision-making committee to protect the region’s security.
It might not be a NATO but it should not be a Warsaw Pact either. Our region is
complicated and, even among allies, we can disagree, especially when it comes to
political solutions. By starting to share our defense infrastructure, we create
a catalyst toward building something greater and bringing stability to our
citizens. Once again, this alliance should not be built against a common enemy,
but to protect shared and common values.
*Khaled Abou Zahr is the CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also
the editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.
Trump’s new direction has time to claw back polls deficit
Andrew Hammond/Arab News/July 30/ 2020
With fewer than 100 days to go until election day, many in Washington are
comparing the current mood across the nation to the final months in office of
two one-term presidents: Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. Yet, while Donald
Trump is badly behind in the polls, he cannot be completely counted out with
more than three months of the campaign still remaining.
The evidence for why Trump is in growing electoral trouble is shown in the
latest wave of polls, which indicate that Joe Biden’s national lead has grown
and his margin is now larger than Hillary Clinton’s was at any point during the
2016 campaign. Turning to the math of the all-important Electoral College, Biden
also holds significant leads in key battleground states and, if the presidential
ballot was held today, it is very likely that he would win.
However, many pollsters will remember the experience of autumn 2016, when
Clinton’s apparently consistent lead evaporated on election night. And, even if
Biden does win, it remains quite likely, unless Trump implodes, that the polls
could narrow.
This “closer contest” scenario is especially likely with the president looking
to recalibrate his election strategy in the last three months of the campaign.
While it is too early to know if the pattern of recent days will continue, there
are signs of greater moderation in Trump’s demeanor and a new-found
acknowledgement of the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis. With much of the
US populace viewing his response to the pandemic as lackluster, Trump last week
acknowledged for the first time that the crisis will get “worse before it gets
better” and U-turned on the issue of face masks, asserting it was now
“patriotic” to wear one.
At least part of the reason for the shift appears to be the change in Trump’s
campaign team that was initiated this month. This saw Bill Stepien, a field
director for his 2016 campaign, take the place of Brad Parscale, who was
reportedly blamed by Trump for the poorly attended rally in Oklahoma last month.
The new 100-day strategy, if that is indeed what it proves to be, is based
around his new campaign team’s belief that the 2016 tactic of firing up a core
base and riding an anti-establishment wave will not be enough to win again. So
there is an increased effort to peel off center-ground voters, with the
president placing less emphasis on rancor and discord and seeking to bring
greater political conciliation in a country more divided than perhaps at any
other time in living memory.
The key question is how much Trump, with the huge political baggage that his
presidency now has thanks to a polarizing three-and-a-half years, can make this
strategy a success in reaching out to swing voters by striving for more
consensus and for a healing of frayed relations. There is no question that the
office of the presidency can still — in suitably skilled hands — offer the
potential for national renewal and unity during troubled times.
However, many voters will not have forgotten how much Trump has eschewed this
agenda with his sometimes wild rhetoric and by failing to forge a governing
agenda that brought the country together following the controversies of the 2016
campaign. The partisan animosity and wider political challenges coming out of
that election have not been tackled by Trump and, while proving to be an
effective (if unorthodox) campaigner, his lack of governing experience — as the
first president since Dwight Eisenhower to have never previously held elected
office — has restricted his ability to push through his agenda.
In the remaining months of Trump’s term, the presidency continues to provide him
with at least two broad powers: That of setting governing themes for his
administration, including renewal and unity; and that of creating interactive
coalitions among the public and within Congress in support of the
administration’s agenda. Trump’s effectiveness in setting governing themes and
building coalitions of support will continue to depend upon his political skill
in exploiting two sources of power — the popular prestige of the presidential
office and his leadership reputation among members of Congress and senior
federal bureaucrats.
There are signs of greater moderation in Trump’s demeanor and a new-found
acknowledgement of the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis.
Strong and effective presidents exploit each source of power interactively, as,
for example, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan did in the 1930s/40s and
1980s, respectively. To try to turn around his presidency before election day,
Trump will have to show with greater clarity and purpose that he knows how to do
both, defying expectations that are held about him by many voters.
Taken overall, Trump still has an opportunity to tighten the polls by avoiding
excessive rancor and partisan overreach and outlining a clear, compelling
governing agenda for a second term that would bring the country together, rather
than tear it further apart.
*Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.
Unrealistic to expect Iranian regime to change its behavior
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh /Arab News/July 30/ 2020
د. مجيد زافيزادا: من غير المنطقي التوقع أن يغيير النظام الإيراني من تصرفاته
The argument that the Iranian regime can be talked into changing its foreign
policy, whether through diplomacy, negotiations or financial incentives, defies
logic and reason. Even so, there are leaders around the world who advocate for
pursuing appeasement policies with the ruling clerics of Iran as a way of
altering their destabilizing behavior in the region.
For example, the final draft of the US Democratic Party’s 2020 platform, which
was released this week, lays out the party’s Iran policy. In order to change the
regime’s behavior, the Democrats’ platform calls for diplomacy and negotiations
with Tehran and a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), aka
the Iran nuclear deal, suggesting Joe Biden would lift US sanctions against the
Iranian government should he win the November election.
Offering economic and political incentives is a legitimate policy to convince a
modern and rational state to abandon or alter its malign activities. But what
the advocates of this policy fail to understand is that the Islamic Republic is
not a conventional state that can be persuaded to change its foreign policy. It
is a revolutionary state, founded in 1979 on specific ideals that constitute the
core pillars of its existence.
What are some of these revolutionary ideals that the regime has not changed in
four decades? The Islamic Republic believes it is religiously superior in the
region and beyond. This sense of religious superiority comes with another ideal
of leading the whole Muslim world based on the terms it dictates. The
constitution of the Islamic Republic makes it clear that the government’s
religious mission is not limited to the boundaries of Iran. It states: “The
Constitution provides the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the
Revolution at home and abroad. In particular, in the development of
international relations, the Constitution will strive with other Islamic and
popular movements to prepare the way for the formation of a single world
community.”
Another revolutionary principle of the regime is to employ hard power in order
to export its religious ideology to other nations. The constitution delegates to
its military the fulfillment of this goal: “The Army of the Islamic Republic of
Iran must be an Islamic Army, i.e., committed to Islamic ideology and the
people… It will be responsible not only for guarding and preserving the
frontiers of the country, but also for fulfilling the ideological mission of
jihad in God’s way; that is, extending the sovereignty of God’s law throughout
the world.”
The Islamic Republic is not a conventional state that can be persuaded to change
its foreign policy
Another firm revolutionary principle is anti-Americanism. As Ali Shirazi,
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in the Quds Force, said in 2015:
“We will stand fast against the world of arrogance. We will not rest until we
have raised the banner of Islam over the White House.”
If we carefully study the four-decade rule of the Islamic Republic, we can
clearly see that the Iranian regime has maintained these core pillars of its
ideology throughout its ups and downs and times of war and peace since the 1979
revolution.
After the JCPOA nuclear deal was struck in 2015 and Iran was unshackled from UN
Security Council sanctions, the regime did not moderate its behavior or put its
revolutionary ideals aside. In fact, the regime became more empowered and
emboldened to exert its influence in the region.
Once Iran was liberated from the restrictions of international sanctions, it
began launching ballistic missiles in violation of UN resolutions and increased
its support for Syrian President Bashar Assad by recruiting militias, providing
financial and military assistance and sending more troops to Syria. The Islamic
Republic also became a defiant member of OPEC, as it blatantly rejected a 2016
proposal by fellow members, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, to
reduce oil output in order to address a global surplus.
After the nuclear deal came into effect, a series of assassination and terrorist
plots across Europe — some successful, others not — were traced back to Tehran.
Human rights violations and domestic repression also escalated. The Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps expanded its militaristic role in the region, while
Iran’s destructive actions and funding and arming of known terror and militia
groups also increased. These include Hezbollah and the Houthis. Not only did
chants such as “Death to America” not disappear after all those appeasement
policies and diplomatic initiatives, Tehran also became more aggressive in the
Gulf and repeatedly harassed naval ships without fear of any repercussions.
The Iranian regime has maintained the core pillars of its revolutionary ideals
since 1979. Expecting that it will change its destructive policies as a result
of diplomacy and appeasement is totally irrational and unrealistic.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh