English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 12/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15/22-27/:”If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. It was to fulfil the word that is written in their law, “They hated me without a cause.” ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 11-12/2020
Lebanon Confirms 14 New Coronavirus Cases, Another Death
Ministry of Finance: 13th meeting with IMF discusses public budgets' preparation, implementation
Local Currency Hits New Low despite Government Efforts
U.S. Ambassador Affirms Support for Lebanon Reforms
President Aoun discusses Lebanese-US relations with US Ambassador
PM holds emergency cabinet session on Friday
Protests Engulf Lebanon, Most Roads Blocked after Dollar Hits Historic High
Salameh: Social Media Reports on Dollar Exchange Rate Misleading, Baseless
Diab 'Calls Off Appointments' to Hold 'Emergency Cabinet Session'
Report: 'No Meetings on CEDRE,' Diab Told
Report: Congress Republicans Target ‘Hizbullah and Allies’
Hariri Says Not Seeking Return as PM, Slams Deputy PM over Powers
Japan Wants U.S. to Extradite Americans Who Helped Ghosn Flee
Hezbollah besieges Lebanon’s Central Bank governor with new appointments
Lebanon’s economy continues downswing as politicians bicker over old grudges
Lebanon: ABL Describes Ministers As 'Unemployed Consultants'
Human Rights Watch condemns Lebanon’s inaction in garbage crisis
Hariri: We are in continuous decline, congratulations to the “strong presidency”
National Commission for Lebanese Women: Increase in domestic violence urges MPs to approve amendments to Law on ‘’Protection of Women and Family Members from Domestic Violence”
Audi receives new governor of Beirut
The Lebanese-Syrian borders and Hezbollah’s priorities/Hanin Ghaddar/Al Arabiya/June 11/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 11-12/2020
Republicans calls for ‘toughest sanctions ever’ on Iran in new proposal
Iran’s Islamic 'revolution has no borders,’ says Torkilmaz
Syrian President al-Assad dismisses PM Imad Khamis from post: State media
New US lawsuit alleges Qatar secretly funded terror attacks that killed US citizens
US-Iraq ties must be based on trust ahead of ‘strategic dialogue’: Ex-US official
Opposition accuses Erdogan of setting up armed militia
US confused policy on Libya encourages Turkey
Turkey passes ‘nightwatchmen’ bill, opposition says its Erdogan’s ‘militia’
Israeli Minister: Still No Consensus with US on Annexations
Khartoum Ready to Discuss Bashir’s Extradition to The Hague
Canada/Archdiocese of Toronto Timeline for re-opening of churches

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 11-12/2020
Iran's Expanding Influence into Iraq's Christian Areas/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/June 11/ 2020
China Will Regret Playing Politics with the U.S. Racial Protests/Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/June 11/ 2020
Russian air defense systems outmatched by Turkish drones in Syria and Libya/Seth Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/June 11/2020
A Moment of Truth for U.S.-Iraq Relations/John Hannah/FDD/June 11/ 2020
Europeans Pushing to Boycott Israel Over Annexation Should Think Twice/Richard Goldberg/FDD/June 11/2020
Concealed Racism or an Individual Mistake?/Jebril Elabidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/11 June/2020
How Will the Pandemic Influence Development Goals?/Najib Saab/Asharq Al-Awsat/11 June/2020
The Most Hated Rally in History Just Won't Stop/John Authers/Bloomberg/June 11/2020
Cairo Declaration can end the chaos in Libya/Dr. Abdellatif El-Menawy/Arab News/June 11/2020
Extent of Iran’s nuclear progress laid bare/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 11/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 11-12/2020
Lebanon Confirms 14 New Coronavirus Cases, Another Death
Naharnet/June 11/2020
Fourteen more COVID-19 cases were recorded in Lebanon over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Thursday. Eleven of the cases were recorded among residents and three among repatriated expats. The Ministry said all of the local cases have been traced to known sources. The local cases were recorded in Makseh, Majdal Anjar, al-Mreijat, al-Beddawi, Suwayri, Jeb Jannine and al-Qasr, while the expat cases were recorded in Choueifat, Qsarnaba and Msayleh. Thursday's cases raise the country's tally to 1,402 while a new fatality has taken the death toll to 31.

Ministry of Finance: 13th meeting with IMF discusses public budgets' preparation, implementation
NNA/June 11/2020
The Press Office of the Ministry of Finance indicated in a statement on Thursday that "The Lebanese negotiating delegation, chaired by Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni, held its 13th meeting with the International Monetary Fund, in the presence of BDL Governor, Riad Salameh, on top of a team from the Central Bank."The 13th meeting with the IMF mainly focused on the preparation and implementation of the public budgets and financial management, adding that discussions will be followed up upcoming Monday, statement indicated.

Local Currency Hits New Low despite Government Efforts
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 11/2020
The Lebanese pound sank to a record low on the black market Thursday despite the authorities' attempts to halt the plunge of the crisis-hit country's currency, money changers said. Lebanon is in the grips of its worst economic turmoil in decades, and holding talks with the International Monetary Fund towards securing billions in aid to help overcome it. The Lebanese pound remains pegged to the US currency at a rate of 1,507 per dollar, but its value has tumbled on the black market. Rates from three money changers on Thursday morning indicated it had lost almost 70 percent of its value there compared with the official rate. One money changer who asked to remain anonymous said he was selling dollars at a rate of 5,000 pounds and buying them at 4,800. Another in Beirut's Dahiya neighbourhood was buying dollars for 4,850 pounds. In the south of the country, one person said they had exchanged dollars at the rate of 4,750. The new nadir came despite government pledges to halt the pound's devaluation, and the money changers' union issuing a maximum daily buying rate of 3,890 and selling rate of 3,940. Lebanese banks have gradually restricted dollar withdrawals since late last year, forcing those in need to buy them at a higher rate on the black market. An AFP photographer said on Thursday that many money changing shops had shuttered over what they said was a lack of dollars. In an apparent bid to better oversee the exchange market, the central bank is set to launch a new online platform on June 23 through which changers will be asked to register all operations. Lebanon's economic crunch has caused poverty to soar to 45 percent of the population and unemployment to rise to 35 percent. It has also sparked steep inflation, including on imported products. Nabil, a retired 64-year-old, said his buying power had taken a blow. "Yesterday I went to a home appliance store to buy a fridge, and the salesman asked me for $1,200 in cash, or the equivalent at an exchange rate of 5,000, which is six million pounds," he said. "That's twice my monthly pension," he said. International Crisis Group on Monday warned that Lebanon needed "emergency external assistance to ward off the worst social consequences of the crisis".Lebanon, whose debt equivalent to more than 170 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) is one of the world's largest, defaulted for the first time in March.

U.S. Ambassador Affirms Support for Lebanon Reforms
Naharnet/June 11/2020
US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea affirmed support for the government’s reform program during talks with President Michel Aoun in Baabda, the Lebanese Presidency said on Thursday. The Presidency said, Shea affirmed that the United States of America supports the reform steps undertaken by Lebanon in order to be able to overcome the financial economic crisis it is suffering. Aoun and Shea discussed the bilateral relations between the two countries. Lebanon is facing an unprecedented economic and financial crisis that have seen many Lebanese slide into poverty. The government adopted an economic recovery plan, pledging to implement significant reforms. It entered talks with the International Monetary Fund, seeking to unlock billions of dollar in aid.

President Aoun discusses Lebanese-US relations with US Ambassador
NNA/June 11/2020
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, received US Ambassador, Dorothy Shea, accompanied by Deputy Head of the US Politics and Economy Department at the embassy, Mr. Andrew Daehne. Lebanese-US relations and the ways of developing these relations were discussed, in addition to recent regional developments. Shea asserted US support and stand next to Lebanon in all difficult circumstances, indicating that her country supports all undertaken reform steps to emerge the current financial-economic crisis. -- Presidency of the Republic Press Office

PM holds emergency cabinet session on Friday
NNA/June 11/2020
The Press Office of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers has issued the following statement: Prime Minister Hassan Diab has canceled his appointments scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, in order to hold an emergency cabinet session devoted to discussing monetary issues, at 9:30 am at the Grand Serail. The session will be complemented at 3 pm at the Presidential Palace.—PM press office

Protests Engulf Lebanon, Most Roads Blocked after Dollar Hits Historic High
Naharnet/June 11/2020
Protesters took to the streets across Lebanon on Thursday as reports said the dollar was selling at at historic rate of LBP 7,000 on the black market.
The protesters blocked most of the country's roads in scenes reminiscent of the October 17 uprising. In central Beirut, protesters rallied outside the headquarters of the Association of Banks before blocking the Saifi road and the iconic Ring highway. The Ring protesters were later joined by young men who arrived from Khandaq al-Ghamiq and other areas on scooters, sparking joint chants against sectarianism. Roads were also blocked in Beirut's southern suburbs and in the capital's Salim Salam, Corniche al-Mazraa, Qasqas and Verdun areas. The road was also blocked outside the central bank in Hamra.
Protesters meanwhile blocked the country's coastal highway in Tripoli, Jbeil, Zouk, Jal el-Dib, Nahr el-Mot, Khalde, Costa Brava, Saadiyat and Naameh. They also blocked roads in Sidon, Tyre, Baalbek and other areas in South, North, Bekaa, Chouf and Aley. Shops and companies had earlier closed in the Barbir, Maqased and Mazraa areas in Beirut “in protest at the hysterical rise in the dollar exchange rate and their inability to continue running their businesses,” the National News Agency said. They also hung banners condemning the economic and social situations. The traders associations of Tripoli, Akkar and Baalbek meanwhile called on businesses to close on Friday in protest at the unprecedented rise in the unofficial dollar exchange rate. The dramatic collapse of the Lebanese lira coincides with a currency crash in neighboring Syria, amid reports that the two financial situations are affecting each other. Lebanon is in the grips of its worst economic turmoil in decades, and holding talks with the International Monetary Fund towards securing billions in aid to help overcome it. The Lebanese pound remains pegged to the U.S. currency at a rate of 1,507 per dollar, but its value has tumbled on the black market in recent months. The new nadir comes despite government pledges to halt the pound's devaluation, and the money changers' union issuing a maximum daily buying rate of 3,890 and selling rate of 3,940. Lebanese banks have gradually restricted dollar withdrawals since late last year, forcing those in need to buy them at a higher rate on the black market. An AFP photographer said on Thursday that many money changing shops had shuttered over what they said was a lack of dollars. In an apparent bid to better oversee the exchange market, the central bank is set to launch a new online platform on June 23 through which changers will be asked to register all operations. Lebanon's economic crunch has caused poverty to soar to 45 percent of the population and unemployment to rise to 35 percent. It has also sparked steep inflation, including on imported products. International Crisis Group on Monday warned that Lebanon needed "emergency external assistance to ward off the worst social consequences of the crisis."Lebanon, whose debt equivalent to more than 170 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) is one of the world's largest, defaulted for the first time in March.

Salameh: Social Media Reports on Dollar Exchange Rate Misleading, Baseless
Naharnet/June 11/2020
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Thursday described reports that the dollar exchange rate has hit the LBP 7,000 mark as “misleading, untrue and totally baseless.”“The reports circulating on social networking websites about the dollar exchange rate are misleading and totally baseless,” Salameh said in a statement. He also reminded money changers of the mechanism set by the central bank with the aim of lowering the exchange rate in a gradual manner. Salameh issued his statement after protesters took to the streets across Lebanon, even in the strongholds of Hizbullah in Dahiyeh and Baalbek, to denounce a historic spike in the dollar exchange rate. Rates from three money changers on Thursday morning indicated the Lebanese pound had lost almost 70 percent of its value compared with the official rate. One money changer who asked to remain anonymous said he was selling dollars at a rate of 5,000 pounds and buying them at 4,800. Another in Beirut's southern suburbs was buying dollars for 4,850 pounds. In the south of the country, one person said they had exchanged dollars at the rate of 4,750. In the afternoon, social media activists started decrying that the dollar was selling for LBP 7,000. MTV meanwhile reported that it reached the LBP 7,500 mark. The new low comes despite government pledges to halt the pound's devaluation, and the money changers' union issuing a maximum daily buying rate of 3,890 and selling rate of 3,940. Lebanese banks have gradually restricted dollar withdrawals since late last year, forcing those in need to buy them at a higher rate on the black market. An AFP photographer said on Thursday that many money changing shops had shuttered over what they said was a lack of dollars. In an apparent bid to better oversee the exchange market, the central bank is set to launch a new online platform on June 23 through which changers will be asked to register all operations.

Diab 'Calls Off Appointments' to Hold 'Emergency Cabinet Session'
Naharnet/June 11/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab has decided to hold an “emergency cabinet session,” the Premiership said Thursday evening, as the country erupted in anger over a historic rise in the dollar exchange rate in scenes reminiscent of the October 17 uprising. “PM Hassan Diab has called off his appointments for tomorrow, Friday to hold an emergency cabinet session aimed at discussing the monetary situation,” the Premiership said in a statement. The session will be held “at 9:30 am at the Grand Serail,” the Premiership added, noting that “the session will be resumed at 3:00 pm at the presidential palace.”
Protesters took to the streets across Lebanon on Thursday, blocking most of the country’s main roads, as reports said the dollar was selling at at historic rate of LBP 7,000 on the black market. The dramatic collapse of the Lebanese lira coincides with a currency crash in neighboring Syria, amid reports that the two financial situations are affecting each other. Lebanon is in the grips of its worst economic turmoil in decades, and holding talks with the International Monetary Fund towards securing billions in aid to help overcome it. The Lebanese pound remains pegged to the U.S. currency at a rate of 1,507 per dollar, but its value has tumbled on the black market in recent months. The new nadir comes despite government pledges to halt the pound's devaluation, and the money changers' union issuing a maximum daily buying rate of 3,890 and selling rate of 3,940. Lebanese banks have gradually restricted dollar withdrawals since late last year, forcing those in need to buy them at a higher rate on the black market.

Report: 'No Meetings on CEDRE,' Diab Told
Naharnet/June 11/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab was reportedly informed not to call for a coordination meeting for CEDRE unless the government launches reforms it vowed to implement, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.
According to the daily, Diab who held a coordination meeting for CEDRE at the Grand Serail in May, was “officially” informed that there was “no point” in holding such “futile” meetings as long as the government “did not complete any reform plan.”Officials should preferably be invited only when new developments necessitate the meeting, it reported. In May, Diab called for a coordination meeting for CEDRE where he affirmed commitment for reforms. A number of ambassadors, ministers and public sector officials attended the meeting in addition to the French envoy assigned to follow up on CEDRE decisions, diplomat Pierre Dukan, who participated via video call. In 2018, aid pledges worth more than $11 billion were made at the Paris CEDRE conference. But Lebanon was required to implement key economic and financial reforms to unlock the aid aimed to stimulate its weak economy. Something the government has not put on track yet.

Report: Congress Republicans Target ‘Hizbullah and Allies’
Naharnet/June 11/2020
Congress Republicans released a comprehensive policy proposal on Wednesday considering sanctions on “all ministers of Hizbullah in the government, and figures who present themselves as independent and supportive of the party.”
The plan, released by the Republican Study Committee in Congress, mentioned AMAL Movement leader and Speaker Nabih Berri, Free Patriotic Movement chief and MP Jebran Bassil, MP Jamil Sayed, two former ministers Jamil Jabaq and Fawzi Salloukh. The sanctions are part of a series of recommendations entitled "Maximizing American Power and Confronting Global Threats", with the aim of "imposing the most severe sanctions on Iran and its proxies in the region and ending exemptions that allow them to earn money.”They are also part of a new draft penal code the Republicans are preparing to submit to Congress, targeting parties linked with Iran in the region, and ends the current exemptions granted to Tehran in places like in Iraq.”

Hariri Says Not Seeking Return as PM, Slams Deputy PM over Powers
Naharnet/June 11/2020
Ex-PM Saad Hariri on Thursday noted that he is not seeking to return as premier, as he lashed out at the Presidency and Deputy PM Zeina Akar and accused them of encroaching on the premiership’s jurisdiction. “They are trying to establish new norms, such as the permanent presence of the deputy PM at the Grand Serail, and this is regrettable, because the premier’s powers are enshrined in the constitution,” Hariri said in a chat with reporters. “If they want to put someone at the Grand Serail, we will put someone at the Presidency. Let them stop their antics. A premier who possesses a shred of intelligence would not accept what’s happening,” Hariri added. Telling reporters that he is not “demanding to return to the government,” the ex-PM said “everyone knows the conditions for change.”“This (current) government doesn’t have even one percent of those conditions and I wanted a technocrat government,” he added. As for his brother Bahaa’s attempt to play a role in Lebanese politics, Hariri said: “Bahaa is my eldest brother and some people like Nabil al-Halabi are trying (to play political roles) and everyone has the right.”

Japan Wants U.S. to Extradite Americans Who Helped Ghosn Flee
Associated Press/Naharnet/June 11/2020
A Japanese prosecutor on Thursday urged the U.S. to extradite two Americans accused of helping Nissan's former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, flee the country while he was out on bail. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Takahiro Saito said Japan has issued arrest warrants for Michael and Peter Taylor for allegedly helping a criminal escape. "A judge has decided an arrest warrant should be issued for them," Saito said, adding, "We are negotiating with the U.S. authorities."Michael Taylor, a 59-year-old former Green Beret and private security specialist, and his son Peter Taylor, 27, were arrested last month in the town of Harvard, Massachusetts. They are wanted in Japan for allegedly helping Ghosn flee to Lebanon in December, jumping bail while he was awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges. Prosecutors say Ghosn broke the law by violating bail conditions that required him to stay in Japan, mostly at his Tokyo home. Lebanon does not have an extradition treaty with Japan but the U.S. does. Lawyers for the Taylors said in a legal document filed Monday that "bail jumping" is not a crime in Japan and, therefore, helping someone evade their bail conditions isn't a crime either. Saito said that if convicted in Japan, the Taylors could face a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a 300,000 yen ($2,800) fine. Authorities say the Taylors helped sneak Ghosn out of Japan on a private jet with the former Nissan boss tucked away in a large box. Ghosn, who led Nissan for two decades, has repeatedly said he is innocent. He said he fled because he believes he could not expect a fair trial in Japan.

Hezbollah besieges Lebanon’s Central Bank governor with new appointments
The Arab Weekly/June 11/2020
The pro-Iran party’s strategy is to put the blame for the country’s huge external debt, estimated at $90 billion, square on the shoulders of Lebanon’s banking sector.
BEIRUT – Hezbollah has besieged Central Bank Governor Riad Salame by having four of its candidates known for favouring some form of nationalisation of the banking sector appointed as his deputies. Lebanese political sources said that the most important decision taken by the government during its meeting on Wednesday was the removal of Mohammed Baasiri, a Sunni, from his position as one of the bank’s deputy governors, despite the US administration’s insistence that he remain in place. Baasiri’s role was to coordinate between the Central Bank and specialised US authorities. Political sources explained that Hezbollah’s strategy is to put the blame for the country’s huge external debt, estimated at $90 billion, square on the shoulders of Lebanon’s banking sector. They explained that the Lebanese treasury will work to deduct a large portion of the funds from Lebanese and Arab depositors in order to pay part of its foreign debt, which would practically bankrupt Lebanese banks. They said that the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab intends to license five new banks to replace the current ones, provided that these banks operate in a way that allows Hezbollah to bypass US sanctions.
The Council of Ministers finally appointed the four Central Bank deputies after they were vacant for more than a year in light of the country’s financial crisis. The new deputy governors are Wasim Mansouri (Shia), Salim Shaheen (Sunni, proposed by Diab), Bashir Yaqan (Druze) and Alexander Moradian (Armenian Catholic). Lebanese President Michel Aoun emphasised at the beginning of the cabinet meeting the need to bypass the campaigns and rumours targeting the system of government, especially those that call for regime change or the overthrow of the government.
He pointed out that “two financial meetings were held in Baabda Palace and it was agreed that the figures mentioned in the government’s financial reform plan will be a starting point for completing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, which we hope will end as soon as possible.”
Lebanon has been hard hit by an economic crisis since late last year that is considered the greatest threat to its stability since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The crisis has its roots in decades of corruption and waste of public funds and exploded last year, when capital flows slowed down severely and demonstrations erupted against the ruling elite. Lebanese financial sources agree that Lebanon’s Central Bank governor will not be able to fix the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound for several reasons, primarily the lack of sufficient hard currency reserves to defend the national currency on the one hand, and the lack of agreement on a remediation plan between Lebanon and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the other.
Salame previously rejected accusations levelled against him by Diab and his government that he was to blame for the crisis. He argued with supporting data that successive governments were the ones that had spent the funds they had borrowed from the Central Bank.
He also blamed them for not implementing necessary reforms, especially in recent years, in order for Lebanon to obtain foreign aid. “The Central Bank financed the state, but it is not the one that spent the money; someone else did,” he said.
Salame stressed that over the past few years, Lebanon has imported in dollars more goods than it really needs, indicating that the hard currency that was circulating in the Lebanese market was used to finance purchases for Syria, which was subjected to international sanctions.
US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea had asked the Lebanese government to turn its reform ideas into reality and take concrete steps to win international support. In response to a question during a TV interview last month about Salame’s role in the crisis, Shea said that it was not right to make any person or institution a scapegoat for Lebanon’s economic collapse, adding that Salame enjoyed “considerable trust from the international financial community.” “The government has expressed goodwill to combat corruption and commit itself to reforms, and now it needs to take this commitment to the next level and start turning these ideas into reality,” Shea said. “Are they ready to push these reforms forward?” she exclaimed. “We have not yet issued a final ruling on this.” On Salame’s role, Shea said the United States has worked closely with him for years. She added that appointments to Lebanon’s Central Bank are a sovereign matter. “If the international financial community does not have confidence in the leadership of the major financial institutions in your government,” she continued, “then I believe that you will not see the investments flows … that the economy badly needs.”

Lebanon’s economy continues downswing as politicians bicker over old grudges
The Arab Weekly/June 11/2020
BEIRUT - The collapse of the Lebanese economy is accelerating, with the value of the US dollar continuing to rise against the Lebanese pound, despite the Central Bank’s attempts to balance the monetary situation.
Politically, the country is no better off, with internal disputes over the legacy of the previous government spilling into an intense rivalry between former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who heads the Future Movement, and Samir Geagea, who heads the Lebanese Forces party. As matters stand, the political class in Lebanon, whether at the heart of the ruling coalition or outside it, seems somewhat unaware of the gravity of the country’s situation, which is likely to be exacerbated by the imminent activation of a US sanctions package against the Syrian regime this month as part of the so-called Caesar Act that will have serious repercussions on the Lebanese economy. The Lebanese cabinet held June 10 a meeting chaired by President Michel Aoun in Baabda to discuss four long-delayed administrative and financial appointments to Lebanon’s Central Bank, amid a boycott by two ministers from the Marada Movement. The boycott was announced ahead of the meeting by the head of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Frangieh, who said they took issue with the country’s confessional system of governance. “Because these appointments are an offensive manifestation of the quota system, based on sectarian and personal interests, we will not participate in tomorrow's meeting, knowing that we received an invitation to take part,” Frangieh said. “However, we decided to decline the invitation in harmony with our position that rejects appointments made without any standard or mechanism.”
The Marada Movement’s boycott appears mainly directed at the Free Patriotic Movement, which wants to have more influence over appointments. The Marada Movement is also counting on the support of the Amal Movement and its leader, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is trying to hinder the plans of the Free Patriotic Movement and its leader, Gebran Bassil, in light of the latter's efforts to monopolise the Christian share of appointments.
Weeks ago, the Marada Movement threatened to withdraw from government during a discussion on financial appointments, but they backed away from that after the intervention of Hezbollah and an agreement on the proposed names. A slight change was made to the list of appointments during the June 10 meeting, with four individuals named as deputy central bank governors -- Wassim Mansouri, Bashir Yaqzan, Salim Chahine and Alexander Maradian. However, discussions about administrative appointments were abandoned in view of the Marada Movement’s boycott and amid fears Marada would add further political roadblocks. The administrative appointments include the positions of civil service council chief, Beirut governor, Keserwan and Jbeil governor, director general for the economy ministry, an investment director general for the energy minister and a director general for the general directorate of cereals and sugar beets. Lebanon’s political class has been blamed for rushing to discuss appointments without taking into account new mechanisms approved by parliament that do away with sectarian and political quotas, which the Lebanese people consider a primary source of their political and economic problems. Analysts argue that while Lebanon’s crisis is economic on the surface, it is political and sectarian by nature. This makes meaningful reform unlikely within the current political structure, they say. Since its formation, the government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab has been unable to disengage from the political class, despite claiming to be a government of technocrats. Other political blocs are meanwhile entangled in their own disputes, dragging out a long period of deadlock that has left many disillusioned. Earlier this week, Hariri and Gaegea clashed over the handling of the previous government. Gaegea told Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram that he had refused to support Hariri to head the previous government because the “appropriate conditions” were not in place. Hariri responded on Twitter: “I did not know that your calculations were this accurate. I should have thanked you because if it were not for you, it would have been my end. You are so smart. Do you really see that my political fate was subject to a decision from you? To be honest, this is funny.”

Lebanon: ABL Describes Ministers As 'Unemployed Consultants'
Beirut- Ali Zeineddine/Asharq Al Awsat/June 11/2020
In an unprecedented attack against the government, the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) warned that a team of “unemployed consultants is responsible for planning the future of Lebanon, its economy and its financial sector.”According to the ABL, Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government “decided to adopt the option to bankrupt the country and its strategic institutions, by insisting on the provisions of the government recovery plan, instead of the option of comprehensive reform that would ensure rescue and equitable distribution of losses." Bankers, led by ABL President Salim Sfeir, noted that the government adopted an aggressive stance without any legitimate justification against Banque du Liban (BDL) and the banking sector, stressing that it failed to coordinate with the two parties in formulating the plan, Hence, put the entire financial system in jeopardy. Sfeir’s remarks came during a closed dialogue session on Wednesday with journalists and experts, attended by Asharq Al-Awsat. The session was held in the presence of members of the ABL board, including Walid Raphael, Tanal Sabah, and Nadim Al-Kassar, as well as Secretary-General Makram Sader, and financial expert Roger Dagher. The participants discussed the outcome of the financial meeting chaired by President Michel Aoun, which adopted the government rescue plan as a starting point for the negotiations with the experts of the International Monetary Fund. The ABL stressed that the cabinet did not take into account the warnings of BDL Governor Riad Salameh and his written objection to this approach, nor did the ministers listen to the banking sector’s viewpoint and its alternative plan that was previously delivered to Diab and Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni. Sfeir said the government had not even sought the opinion of ABL before introducing its economic paper and presenting it to the IMF, but reiterated that the association was willing to sit with the government and discuss the plan.

Human Rights Watch condemns Lebanon’s inaction in garbage crisis
Tala Ramadan/Annahar/June 11/2020
The report comes a few weeks after trash began piling up on the streets in Beirut and its surrounding areas in scenes reminiscent of 2015.
BEIRUT: As Lebanon’s perpetual garbage crisis continues to incur grave consequences on people's health, the economy, and the environment, the Waste Management Coalition (WMC) and the Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on Lebanon’s unsustainable waste management system. The report comes a few weeks after trash began piling up on the streets in Beirut and its surrounding areas in scenes reminiscent of 2015. The current garbage crisis surfaced after Borj Hammoud/Jdeideh landfill reached maximum waste capacity on April 30, 2020. As a response to the situation, the Cabinet approved the vertical expansion of the landfill on May 5. The landfill’s expansion, which will delay the garbage crisis for another three months, is broadly considered a stopgap measure. In the absence of well-defined legislation and stringent controls, waste management will remain a problem in Lebanon. Additionally, experts say that the landfill, which does not comply with international best practices and was established without an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), is affecting nearby residents’ health. The initial establishment of the landfill itself was a supposedly temporary solution to the 2015 waste crisis. HRW had previously urged the government to adopt a more comprehensive solid waste management strategy that respects everyone’s right to health. “Rights groups and environmental experts have been warning Lebanese decision-makers for years that Lebanon’s waste management practices are not sustainable,” said Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The costs of inaction are huge, and residents are being denied their right to health and a healthy environment every day this crisis goes unaddressed.” The lack of a comprehensive solid waste management strategy is incurring huge costs. The Waste Management Coalition found that Lebanon spends US$154.5 dollars to manage every ton of solid waste. A 2004 World Bank study estimated the cost of environmental pollution from illegal dumping and waste burning at around $10 million per year. Another study in 2014 showed that the cost of environmental degradation from improper solid waste management is $66.5 million a year, 0.2 percent of the 2012 national GDP. The study showed that improved waste management practices, such as recycling and composting, could save $74 million a year. Currently, about 85 percent of solid waste goes to open dumps or landfills. But according to the American University of Beirut (AUB), only 10 to 12 percent of Lebanon’s waste cannot be composted or recycled. HRW’s report presented several recommendations that have been proposed to improve waste management in Lebanon. Solutions range from organizing public awareness programs, increasing efforts for recycling, resource recovery, strengthening the capacity of municipalities, and encouraging public-private partnerships.

Hariri: We are in continuous decline, congratulations to the “strong presidency”
NNA/June 11/2020
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that “the government of technocrats, which they once said is a non-partisan one, did not achieve any of its goals”, adding: “The country is currently experiencing an extremely dangerous economic collapse. The appointments were made on the basis of quotas, and did not aim to fill the void in the administration, but to exercise maliciousness against the parties that are not participating in the government”.
He said: “On the issue of reforms, the Presidency of the Republic proudly stopped the judicial appointments. When a decision is taken in the Council of Ministers, they will soon refuse it, as if there is no prime minister and he has no powers. So congratulations to the strong presidency, the strong appointments, and the strong way of dealing with the country.” He added: “We were glad that the cabinet refused to establish the Selaata power plant, but it soon turned against its decision. What is the view of the international community, the IMF and the World Bank about what is going on?”
Hariri said that “there are those who are trying, through the work of the deputy prime minister in the “Grand Serail”, to establish unacceptable norms but these will not pass, and if they want to put someone in the Serail, we will put someone in the presidency of the republic. So stop infringing upon the powers of the Prime Minister and setting norms that will not pass. Any prime minister who has an iota of understanding of this country will not accept this.”
He pointed out that the “Free Patriotic Movement” is trying to take as much as it can from these appointments in light of a difficult economic crisis, but countries are not managed in this way. He noted that what is happening in the region is an American-Russian-Turkish-Iranian struggle, and we are the weakest link in it. The only way to preserve ourselves is to disassociate Lebanon from these conflicts.
Hariri's words came during a chat with reporters at the Center House this evening. He said: “When this government was formed, they told us that it is devoid of parties and that it is a technocrat government and we gave it a 100-day chance. After that period, they told us that they accomplished 97 % of their goals, but we have not yet seen what these goals are. The country is witnessing a continuous economic collapse, and the basic idea of a government of technocrats is to put an end to the state of collapse that we are witnessing. But today we see that the Lebanese pound exchange rate is very uneven, which is very dangerous and would lead to a very high inflation that would reflect on the Lebanese citizen and the administration due to the high exchange rate”.
He added mockingly: “As for the appointments that took place, it was clear that there were no quotas in them, no one demanded a specific person, no one removed a certain person, and there was no maliciousness, and the government is a technocrat government that is on the straight path. We were hoping to adopt the mechanism of appointments that we approved in Parliament.”
He added: “We were glad that the council of ministers refused to establish the Selaata power plant, but we were surprised by another decision to include Selaata agan in the plan! The question that should be asked is: How do you think the international community, the IMF or the World Bank looks at what happened? And before approving the plan, where is the board of directors and the electricity regulatory authority, and you are running to make appointments? The appointments were not to fill the void but to exercise maliciousness against the parties that are not participating in the government.
A Supreme Judicial Council was appointed and worked in a purely scientific manner. And we, as a Future Movement, are not entirely satisfied with these appointments, but they were prepared by the Supreme Judicial Council, therefore we respect the council and its decisions. But the Presidency proudly stopped these appointments. What is happening today is that when a decision is taken in the Council of Ministers, they soon refuse it, as if there is no prime minister and he has no powers. So congratulations to the strong presidency, the strong appointments, and the strong way of dealing with the country. Unfortunately, if we look at where we were and where we are now, we are in decline. In addition, there is the constant threat by a number of government members to resign, at a time when this government is supposed to be a government of technocrats.
There is another unfortunate and striking thing that is happening in the Serail. The powers of the Prime Minister are mentioned in the Constitution. But today we see the deputy prime minister regularly working from the Serail, and these norms, which some are trying to establish, are rejected and will not pass. If they want to put someone in the Serail, we will put someone in the presidency. So stop infringing upon the powers of the Prime Minister and setting new norms that will not pass. Any prime minister who has an iota of understanding of this country will not accept this. Surely there are solutions, but we must be clear. Isn’t this confusion in the numbers between Baabda, the Premiership, and the Central Bank a shame? Did they come to make gains for their parties or to find a solution for the problems in the country?
Question: It was said that some information obliged you to respond in this way to Samir Geagea
Hariri: Nothing obliged me to do this. But Geagea has been saying for sometime that he knows the interest of Saad Hariri and how Saad should act. I do not interfere in “your interest or in what you do,” but are you going to teach everybody as if you are the only one understands and others don’t understand anything? Do what you think is your interest and I know mine. But I tell you, and you have seen this and I implemented it: My interest will not rise above the interests of the people. What concerns me are the people, and I mean the Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, Druze and all sects.I want to hear someone speak on behalf of all Lebanese and not only in the name of one sect, because the country has Muslims and Christians, and we must focus on how to save Lebanon as a whole and not this party or that. Today, Lebanon lives an economic quarantine and we have seen what the US Congress is headed for.
Question: There has been talk that you are returning to the government. How true is this? And are you ready to return?
Hariri: I am not asking to return to the premiership and I don’t want that. You know my conditions. When I look at the government, I see that it does not have 1% of the conditions that I was asking for, knowing that it was supposed to be a technocrat government. If the team who hires this government wants to change, then it is his issue. I am not running after the premiership and I do not want to return. Power is not important. What concerns me are the people.
Question: What about what happened on Saturday?
Hariri: We acknowledge that there is tension in the country and that some want to spill blood in the country. But what I do not understand is what the premiership says. Are they the one who are targeted or Lebanon? Isn’t it time for them to realize that no one is looking positively at this government? What happened last Saturday is very dangerous and big, but we are bigger, the wise people in the country are greater, and this is what we must always count on, to confirm moderation and coexistence. We must preserve the formula by all means. What happened Saturday was dangerous, but thank God wise men in the country were aware of the matter, and the small ones who fabricated this problem must pay the price. We cannot continue to fuel religious slogans in the country without punishing those who are doing this. Condemnation is not enough, someone has to pay the price.
Question: Why is there always talk about a conflict between Bahaa and Saad Hariri?
Hariri: Bahaa is my elder brother, and there are some persons, like Nabil Halabi and others, who have been absent for a while and have been thirsting for a role in Lebanon. Everyone has the right to try. As for us, the Future Movement, this does not affect us at all.
Question: There is talk about a military government. What do you think of this proposal?
Hariri: Do we lack military in the country? The warnings have become military and nothing happens unless so-and-so wants it, so are we a military or a democratic state?
Question: People fear a military action in the region to complete the economic pressure. Do you have any information in this regard?
Hariri: What is happening in the region is an American-Russian-Turkish-Iranian conflict, and Lebanon is a small country and the weakest link in this conflict. The only way for us to preserve ourselves is to disassociate ourselves from all these things. Unfortunately, self-disassociation in my government was not as it should have been, because there were interventions by some countries, and statements that should not have been issued by some parties in Lebanon.
From this standpoint, if Lebanon really wants to return to a place from which it can address the international community, it must respect its words and the disassociation.
Question: It was said that Prime Minister Diab took your opinion about the appointments and did not chose names that are provocative to you. What do you say?
Hariri: No one asked me about the appointments. Nisreen Machmouchi proved her competence in the Civil Service Council and Judge Randa Yazkan was unfairly treated in this regard, but it is clear that a person is making the appointments, and the best example is the appointment of the governor of Kesrouan Jbeil, where we have now five Christians and four Muslims.
Question: But you voted in favour of quotas in Parliament?
Hariri: We voted against quotas. What are we saying through these appointments? Are we saying that the Christian should manage his region and the Muslim should manage his region? There are strange politics in the country, and the Free Patriotic Movement in particular works as if nothing had changed after October 17th. It thinks that it has to take as much as it can and appoint as much as it can in this period. But countries are not managed this way. How can this happen in light of the economic crisis in the country, which presupposes that we appoint the most efficient individuals.
Question: Three names benefitted from the appointments: Berri, Diab and Bassil, so why aim at the share of the Free Patriotic Movement at a time when Speaker Berri got what he requested?
Hariri: It is the quota system, while we were calling for a government of technocrats. Speaker Berri was very clear and frank. He said: If someone wants to take a share, I will also take mine. But if they went to Speaker Berri and told him that no one is getting a share, he would have adopted a mechanism for appointments and for the candidates to come forward without any quotas.
Question: But your supporters will say that you don’t want a share while all the others are getting their own share?
Hariri: Former Minister Sleiman Franjieh did not attend the cabinet’s meeting.
Question: It is said that Speaker Berri is keen that you are represented in the appointments?
Hariri: No, I did not ask anything from anyone, and no one spoke to me in this regard. I do not want them to be keen on me or the Future Movement, but rather on the country and the people. Look at what is happening in Ogero now. Today, Sonatrach decided that it does not want to work again with Lebanon, it is excellent that we made foreign investors flee.How will we continue to work in politics? After that, the government says that it achieved 97% of its goals, and they have not yet agreed on numbers.
Question: Who are the present allies of Saad Hariri? And will there be a new quadripartite alliance?
Hariri: My most important allies are the people. I also have a very good relationship with Sleiman Frangie and a special relationship with Speaker Berri and Walid Jumblatt, and even the Kataeb. We may disagree with the Kataeb but at least there is mutual respect.
Question: Will you meet with Sleiman Frangie?
Hariri: Yes. -- Hariri Press Office

National Commission for Lebanese Women: Increase in domestic violence urges MPs to approve amendments to Law on ‘’Protection of Women and Family Members from Domestic Violence”
NNA/June 11/2020
The increase in the number of calls reporting domestic violence weighs on the conscience of the Members of Parliament, who are urged to approve the amendments to the Law on ‘’Protection of Women and Family Members from Domestic Violence”.
According to official figures issued by the Internal Security Forces concerning calls received on the national domestic violence hotline 1745, the number of calls has progressively increased in the past five months, showing a rise of 111.84 % from May to January 2020. Such an increase has also been noticed in the number of calls received from children on the hotline 1745, representing 5.96% of the total number of calls in April, and 11.18% of those in May. The urgent intervention of concerned authorities is required to control the increase in domestic violence.
Moreover, the National Commission for Lebanese Women highlights the fact that survivors of violence do not usually seek help through the hotline 1745 unless the violence exerted on them has reached advanced stages that require the immediate intervention of the security forces to ensure the protection of the victim and her children. Accordingly, the National Commission calls once again for updating Lebanese laws to address our alarming social reality, and hopes that the increase of domestic violence would urge MPs to pass the amendments to the Law on “Protection of Women and Family Members from Domestic Violence”.

Audi receives new governor of Beirut
NNA/June 11/2020
Metropolitan bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of Beirut, Elias Audi, met Thursday with newly-appointed government of Beirut. Judge Marwan Abboud. "We discussed affairs relevant to Beirut and to the beginning of my vocation in the service of the city," Abboud told reporters following the meeting.
"My door will be open to everybody," he underlined.

The Lebanese-Syrian borders and Hezbollah’s priorities
Hanin Ghaddar/Al Arabiya/June 11/2020
حنين غدار: الحدود السورية-اللبنانية وأولويات حزب الله
Hezbollah’s control of the Syrian-Lebanese border is attracting renewed controversy in Lebanon, where cross-border smuggling has recently intensified, and abroad, with the international community discussing Lebanon’s failure to establish sovereignty over its territory in line with UNSCR 1559.
Lebanon can no longer ignore the economic repercussions of costly smuggling on its already fragile economy. As the country enters into negotiations for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund contingent on reform, controlling its borders is becoming an utmost priority for the Lebanese government.
It is the Lebanese Army’s duty to stop smuggling, arrest smugglers, and close off illegal borders. However, the recent measures it has taken appear to be superficial acts, designed as a show for the international community. The real issue is that Hezbollah is smuggling weapons and fighters from Lebanon to Syria and beyond, and vice versa. In addition to its military operations, Hezbollah has smuggled goods from Iran and Syria to sell in Lebanon. Meanwhile, fuel, US dollars, and flour, have crossed from Lebanon into Syria.
Hezbollah’s control of the borders, and the way it has used these borders to benefit Iran’s and Syria’s economy – at the expense of Lebanon’s economy – has recently been exposed and caused much uproar by activists and opposition figures. The new wave of the protests, expected to restart on June 6, will likely see this scandal placed at the center of corruption charges brought by protesters against the state, and it will implicate Hezbollah and Assad allies in Lebanon.
Last month, Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salemeh hinted that the country has lost $4 billion a year to smuggling, at a time when Lebanon is asking the IMF for $10 billion in aid.In response, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah has called for “bilateral cooperation” with the Assad regime to control smuggling. A few days later, Hezbollah’s officials stated that Hezbollah will not allow the closure of illegal borders with Syria, because “Hezbollah needs to bring in weapons for the resistance.”
Despite some of the measures implemented by the Lebanese Armed Forces such the closure of some illegal crossings and a few arrests of smugglers, the issue has not been – and will not be – resolved anytime soon, at least not without a major concession from Hezbollah to the international community. Hezbollah will not be forced to cease its smuggling operations unless it is forced to do so.
This kind of concession will not be achieved without a serious maximum pressure campaign on Hezbollah itself, not on Iran and by default Hezbollah. A maximum pressure campaign on Hezbollah also means that Hezbollah’s network of allies and the business community – from all sects – needs to be put under pressure and sanctions. It also means that Hezbollah’s influence within security institutions should be weakened through using aid as leverage.
For example, US assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces could come with conditions catered to cut Hezbollah’s influence over certain military units and figures in the army. Otherwise, Hezbollah will continue to influence Lebanon’s economic, diplomatic and security decisions, and vital issues such as border control and smuggling will never be properly addressed.
This is a game that Hezbollah and its allies are good at playing. When they are cornered, they buy time. Today, Hezbollah’s government is cornered as the economy in Lebanon is deteriorating, and no measures have been implemented to stop this deterioration. The permission Hezbollah gave to the government to negotiate with the IMF is another way to buy time as they continue their smuggling operation along the Lebanese-Syrian borders.
It has become clear for many observers in Lebanon that receiving IMF aid seems unlikely as reforms are yet to materialize – at least not with this government. Between the IMF package that could save Lebanon, and Iran’s land bridge from Tehran to Beirut and the south of Lebanon, Hezbollah will chose Iran over Lebanon. For Hezbollah, a Venezuela scenario for Lebanon is better than cutting Iran’s route to Lebanon.
Therefore, the only solution is pressure on Hezbollah – a dual pressure that comes from both the Lebanese streets and the international community in a firm attempt to regain the political balance once Lebanon enjoyed.
*Hanin Ghaddar is the inaugural Friedmann Fellow at The Washington Institute's Geduld Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant. She tweets @haningdr

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 11-12/2020
Republicans calls for ‘toughest sanctions ever’ on Iran in new proposal
Emily Judd/Al Arabiya English/June 11/2020
A group representing over 140 Republican representatives called on Wednesday for US Congress to implement its toughest sanctions yet on Iran, whose “rogue regime” remains “extremely dangerous.”The Republican Study Committee, a caucus for 147 conservative House representatives, put forth a detailed proposal outlining policy suggestions related to Iran, Russia, China, and other countries it deemed pose a threat to the US. The proposal, authored by 13 members of the caucus, recommends Congress put in place new measures to respond to “strategic threats” China and Russia, as well as Iran in order to stop its “support of terrorism, destabilizing behavior in the region, development of ballistic missiles, and nuclear program.”
Iran
The report calls for Congress to “expand sanctions on Iran” and enhance President Donald Trump’s "maximum pressure" campaign, specifically calling on Congress to impose sanctions on several Iranian officials and industries. Sanctions should be placed on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, by the US Treasury under Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) authorities, the report recommends. Hajizadeh is an IRGC aerospace force commander who oversaw Iran’s recent military satellite launch in April. He provides “extensive support for Iran’s ballistic missile ambitions” as his unit is “tasked with overseeing Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal,” according to the report. The Iranian military’s “centerpiece” is its collection of approximately 3,000 ballistic missiles of various ranges, US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief General Kenneth McKenzie told Al Arabiya English in November. Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal is the largest in the Middle East region, according to US officials, and Iran transfers some of these weapons to Iraq, Yemen, and reportedly even Lebanon and Syria, according to Behnam Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. While US Congress has already imposed sanctions on Iran’s energy, shipping and shipbuilding sectors, these should be expanded to include its petrochemical, financial and automotive sectors, the report says. “Tightening the noose on Iran’s non-oil sectors would increase Iran’s macroeconomic contraction and could create further financial and political instability,” the report states, adding that the funds from these industries contribute to the Iranian regime. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) should also be sanctioned by Congress. “In addition to spreading disinformation and regime propaganda, IRIB regularly aired forced confessions by political prisoners who were victims of torture,” according to the report. The state television network is already in financial trouble and announced Wednesday it expects to shut down its foreign language channels due to “debt accumulation.”
The report also advocates for Congress to urge the Trump administration to trigger snapback sanctions against Iran, which would reinstate UN sanctions on Iran for its violations against the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Iran’s regional influence
Iran’s role in the Middle East, “especially its malign behavior in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen,” poses a direct threat to the US and its Gulf allies such as Saudi Arabia, according to the report. To counter Iran’s regional role, Congress should require the US State Department to designate a number of Iranian-backed proxy militias in Iraq and Syria as Foreign Terror Organizations, the report recommends, as well as blocking US funding to Iraq’s Ministry of Interior and federal police until Congress can ensure the money is meeting its intended use. The proposal calls on Congress to pass legislation known as the Iraq Human Rights and Accountability Act, intended to support Iraqi pro-democracy protesters. In October 2019 protests broke out across Iraq, to which police responded with lethal force. Over 600 people died during the largely peaceful protests between October to January, according to Amnesty International. Meanwhile Lebanon, Congress should cut off security assistance funding to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), according to the report. The caucus’ recommendation of withholding funding to the LAF has been rejected at the highest levels of US leadership. Top US General McKenzie told Al Arabiya English in November that CENTCOM supports “continued assistance” to the LAF, albeit their “record is not perfect.”“We think the LAF needs to be the military element of the government of Lebanon. I would certainly support continuous support to the LAF,” said McKenzie. The report claims the US funding of the LAF “has been largely counterproductive” and that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) “noted Hezbollah’s ‘increasing influence’ over the LAF.” To pressure Lebanese Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, the caucus recommends Congress expands its sanctions on the group and its sympathizers such as sanctioning Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon’s new cabinet.

Iran’s Islamic 'revolution has no borders,’ says Torkilmaz
Benjamin Weinthal/Jerusalem Post/June 11/2020
The US government has declared Iran's regime to be the worst state-sponsor of terrorism.
The head of the Imam Reza Islamic Center in Berlin has declared in an interview with an Iranian state-controlled news outlet on June 3 that Tehran’s Islamic revolution has no borders.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), an independent nonpartisan press-monitoring organization, first revealed the video of Sabaheddin Torkilmaz, the head of the Imam Reza Islamic Center, on its website.
According to MEMRI’s translation of Torkilmaz, he told Ofogh TV in Iran: “Since the Revolution [in 1979], Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine – and now Yemen and countries in Africa and in Latin America – have been inspired directly by Imam [Khomeini].” He added: “We need to examine what was the purpose of the Revolution. When Imam [Khomeini] said, ‘We will export the Revolution,’ what was it that he wanted to export? Iranian culture? Iranian-ness?”Torkilmaz continued: “When we understand this, it becomes apparent that the Revolution has no borders. In the political dimension, when the monarchy was overthrown and the Islamic regime came to power, it was only in Iran. The message of the Revolution – and of exporting it – is something else: The struggle against arrogance and oppression.” The US State Department under both the Obama and Trump administrations has classified Iran’s regime as the worst international state-sponsor of terrorism. Torkilmaz stressed the anti-Western worldview of the Islamic Republic of Iran, stating: “The world needs to know that the system of the Rule of the Jurisprudent stands in opposition to the system of liberal democracy in the world and in opposition to the democracy in America.”Imam Reza Islamic Center is a Turkish Shi’ite center and mosque in Berlin. In separate news, the pro-Syrian regime news outlet Al-Masdar News (AMN) reported on Monday the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Major General Hussein Salami, urged the “elimination” of the Jewish state. “The geography of the resistance will not forget the name and goals of the former Secretary General of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Ramadan Shalah, the high, bright, and hope of liberating Jerusalem and removing the cancerous gland [Israel] from the region,” Salami said.
The Jerusalem Post has sent a press query to Germany’s government regarding Salami’s genocidal antisemitic statement.

Syrian President al-Assad dismisses PM Imad Khamis from post: State media
Reuters, Amman/Thursday 11 June 2020
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday removed prime minister Imad Khamis from the post he has occupied since 2016, state media said, in a move that follows weeks of deepening economic hardship. State media did not give a reason for the sudden decision, announced in a presidential decree that designated water resources minister Hussein Arnous as Khamis' successor. But Syria has been in the throes of an economic crisis, with the currency plunging to record lows in recent days, aggravating hardships for ordinary Syrians battered by years of war. Arnous, 67, currently minister of water resources, was born in Idlib and had served in a long succession of government posts, including governor of Deir Zor province that borders Iraq and Quneitra province in southern Syria. The currency hit a record 3,000 Syrian pounds to the dollar earlier this week in a rapidly accelerating free-fall. It traded at 47 pounds to the dollar at the start of the conflict. Syrian authorities blame Western sanctions for widespread hardship among ordinary residents, where the currency collapse has led to soaring prices and people struggling to afford food and basic supplies. The government has criticized a wave of new, tighter US sanctions, known as the Caesar Act, which takes effect later this month which economists and politicians say will further tighten the noose around Assad's government.

New US lawsuit alleges Qatar secretly funded terror attacks that killed US citizens
Al Arabiya English/Thursday 11 June 2020
Qatar secretly funded Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) groups with millions of dollars who carried out terror attacks that killed US citizens, according to a new lawsuit filed in New York seeking compensation for the victims’ families.
The new lawsuit was filed in a New York court on Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained and first reported by the Washington Free Beacon. “Qatar coopted several institutions that it dominates and controls to funnel coveted U.S. dollars (the chosen currency of Middle East terrorist networks) to Hamas and PIJ under the false guise of charitable donations," the lawsuit read. The lawsuit was filed by US attorney Steven Perles, who has prosecuted notable cases involving terrorism and terror-financing on behalf of families and victims seeking compensation of past terror attacks. The new lawsuit alleges that Qatar used its charitable institutions to funnel illegal funds to terror groups, namely Hamas and the PIJ, using the US banking system. That money was then later used by the groups – both designated as terrorist organization by the United States – to carry out attacks that killed US citizens. Perles specifically alleges that the money used by Hamas and PIJ were used to carry out at least six attacks between 2014 and 2016. The new lawsuit said that between March and September 2015, Qatar Charity gave $28 million to groups in the Palestinian territories that may have been then transferred to Hamas and PIJ.

US-Iraq ties must be based on trust ahead of ‘strategic dialogue’: Ex-US official
Ismaeel Naar and Omar Elkatouri/Al Arabiya English/Thursday 11 June 2020
The relationship between the United States and Iraq must be one built mutual trust and respect, according to Mark Kimmitt, a retired US general and former assistant secretary of state, after Washington confirmed a “strategic dialogue” would begin on Thursday. “We want that relationship to be stronger but it’s got to be a relationship that’s built on mutual trust and mutual respect and I believe that’s at the core of the strategic framework agreement to restore that trust and restore that respect so that both countries can operate as allies as friends and as a common force to defeat ISIS inside of Iraq,” Kimmitt told Al Arabiya on Wednesday. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed separately at a news conference that a “strategic dialogue” between the United States and Iraq will begin Thursday. He said the US delegation will be led by David Hale, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, and include representatives from the Defense and Energy Departments, Treasury, and other agencies. “With new threats on the horizon, including the global coronavirus pandemic, collapsed oil prices, and a large budget deficit, it’s imperative that the United States and Iraq meet as strategic partners to plan a way forward for the mutual benefit of each of our two nations,” Pompeo said. Relations between the two countries have been strained since a series of attacks on US interests in Iraq in late 2019 that Washington has attributed to Iran or its paramilitary allies in Iraq. They worsened after the US military killed a prominent Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, and his Iraqi lieutenant in an airstrike near Baghdad in early January. The attack intensified anti-American sentiment in Iraq and prompted the parliament to vote to formally demand the withdrawal of US troops, based in the country as part of an international coalition against ISIS. “Even though we had had some time and time and time again to ensure that our diplomatic facilities were not attacked there weren’t dumb striations attacking our embassy that they weren’t allowing their Popular Mobilization Forces to kill Americans on Iraqi basis lend when they seem to believe that America was showing weakness,” Kimmitt said. “In fact, we were showing restraint. But what got to the point that American soldiers and American civilians were being killed. We were forced to act,” he added. (With inputs from AFP)

Opposition accuses Erdogan of setting up armed militia
Asharq Al Awsat/June 11/2020
ISTANBUL - Turkey's parliament passed a controversial bill giving neighbourhood patrols greater powers, with critics accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of wanting to build loyal militias to firm up his grip on power. The new law gives armed "nightwatchmen," who walk the streets at night to report burglaries and disturbances, almost the same powers as police. The armed vigils will now be allowed to carry firearms and have the powers to stop and search people. With more than 21,000 members, "the nightwatchmen" institution -- which is attached to the interior ministry and dates back more than 100 years -- has grown considerably after the attempted coup in July 2016 against Erdogan, which led to a mass crackdown on critics and rivals of the Turkish leader. The bill's debate in parliament triggered heated exchanges, with deputies even coming to blows during a contentious session Tuesday.
Erdogan's Justice and Development party (AKP), which put forward the bill, says the new rules will enable the "nightwatchmen" to more effectively help law enforcement by thwarting burglaries and preventing assaults on the streets. But the opposition accused Erdogan of authoritarian tactics by setting up loyal armed vigilantes to roam the streets. "They are using the institution of nightwatchmen to set up a militia," Mahir Polat from the main opposition CHP party said on Tuesday, adding the police should be reinforced if needed. Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), also criticised the level of guards' education, saying they would only have a few hours of training regarding human rights. "This law is not about protecting the people or the district. It is a law to protect the state from the people," he said in a speech in parliament during debate on the law, warning of a rise in violent incidents involving security forces. Several other opposition parties had earlier expressed fears that the unqualified "nightwatchmen" would turn into a militia parallel to the security forces run by the ruling party and used as a tool to restrict the freedom of citizens.
The return of the "neighbourhood guards" coincided with upheaval following the aborted 2016 coup. Turkey has jailed tens of thousands of people and suspended or sacked 150,000 civil servants and security personnel in a crackdown on dissent which Ankara describes as necessary measures to curb security threats.Police data shows that last year the number of police officers in Turkey rose 7.9% to more than 260,000, with the number of "neighbourhood guards" nearly doubling to more than 21,000. This year the number of guards is set to rise to 30,000, according to one AKP deputy. The Interior Ministry has defended the increased role given to "neighbourhood guards," saying the average daily number of home burglaries had fallen by 47% to 151 since the force was revitalised. Rights advocates in the region have expressed concern over enhanced role of the neighbourhood guards in Turkey as they are reminiscent of the recourse by authoritarian rulers in the Middle East to militias as a means to shore up their control of society and the political scene.

US confused policy on Libya encourages Turkey
Mona El-Mahrouki/Asharq Al Awsat/June 11/2020
TUNIS –Ankara is taking advantage of the US’s confused policy in Libya and President Donald Trump’s preoccupation with the volatile situation in the US since the killing of an African-American citizen by a white policeman to torpedo international efforts to stop the fighting in Libya, which are seen by many as the last chance to prevent the conflict from slipping into a new phase that could lead to greater Russian intervention and ultimately the “Syrianisation” of the conflict.
On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced his country’s rejection of the Egyptian initiative to solve the Libyan crisis, describing it as an attempt to save Libyan National Army (LNA) leader Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar after the losses he suffered on the battlefield.
“The effort for a Cairo cease fire was stillborn,” Cavusoglu told a Turkish newspaper. “If a cease-fire is to be signed, it should be across a platform that brings all sides together.”Turkey’s position defies the US National Security Council’s support of the Cairo initiative. On Sunday, the Council said it was hoping that the Egyptian peace initiative on Libya would lead to a ceasefire, the withdrawal of foreign forces and the return of UN-led political negotiations.
For his part, President Donald Trump welcomed, during a telephone conversation on Wednesday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian efforts towards a political settlement in Libya, and towards ending the violence there by supporting a ceasefire, and acting to implement the will of the Libyan people and their desire for security and stability. Trump’s move signals the beginning of the White House’s efforts to retake control of the Libyan file from the Department of State. Some, however, have described the US support for the ceasefire in Libya as just a “formal” gesture, saying that the US is more likely to back Ankara’s intransigence and its persistence in continuing the fighting until it achieves control of all military bases and oil fields and terminals. And it is this scenario that could prompt Russia to intervene directly in Libya, considering the weak capabilities of the LNA to face up to Turkey.
Former US Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman and former Deputy Commander of the US European Command General Charles Wald said the subversive role played by the regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Libya constituted a threat to the vital interests of the United States and a direct challenge to Washington’s efforts to encourage energy projects for peaceful purposes in the Middle East. Edelman and Wald considered that the Trump administration’s reluctance to lead any initiatives to stop confrontations in Libya gave way to the aggressive Turkish intervention in Libya, which is exacerbating the conflict there. Both former officials were quoted in statements to the digital magazine Breaking Defense as insisting that Erdogan’s actions in Libya give the opportunity for the terrorist organisation ISIS to reorganise its ranks and expose Europe to a new wave of refugees and migrants. One of the most disturbing aspects of the Turkish intervention in Libya is Erdogan’s transfer of thousands of Syrian extremists from Idlib to Tripoli, which represents a tremendous security threat not only to Libya but also to the entire region. The American administration, however, has been observing a perplexing silence regarding this particular aspect. Turkey has been accused by the LNA of supporting militias and extremist Islamist groups since the fall of the late Colonel Muammar Qaddafi’s regime. That covert and indirect support in the beginning became full blown and in broad daylight a few months following the launching of the LNA’s military campaign against Tripoli. With the signing of the security and military cooperation memo of understanding and the maritime border demarcation agreement by Erdogan and the GNA’s Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, Turkish intervention intensified.
US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland found the Turkish intervention in Libya justified since it came in response to Russia’s intervention, he said. The ambassador’s excuses were seen by many as part of a political and media campaign led by the US Department of State meant to exaggerate Russia’s role in Libya and find justification for America’s support of Islamists and their militias, even though the latter were behind the 2012 assassination in Benghazi of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens. That happened before Haftar’s LNA liberated the city and kicked the extremist groups out.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not miss the opportunity to highlight the Russian intervention but chose not to mention Turkish intransigence. “It’s time … for all Libyans and all sides to act so that neither Russia or any other country can interfere in Libya’s sovereignty for its own game,” Pompeo said. Be that as it may, the US position on the crisis in Libya was and still is confused. During the 2016 election campaign, Trump made a big deal of the situation in Libya and promised to get rid of the militias there, accusing his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who was then secretary of state in the Obama administration, of supporting the chaos in Libya. Just a few days after the launching of the battle for Tripoli, Trump made a phone call to Haftar, which many considered as a sign of the White House’s backing of the campaign. But then the Islamists regained their composure and dispatched the GNA’s Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha to Washington, where he met with a number of US officials, especially in the State Department. Many also believe that the resignation last September of former US National Security Adviser John Bolton, who was known for his hostility to the Islamists, must have opened the way for supporters of the Sarraj government in Tripoli to move freely and impose their views on the US administration.
*Mona El-Mahrouki is a Tunisian writer.

Turkey passes ‘nightwatchmen’ bill, opposition says its Erdogan’s ‘militia’
AFP, Istanbul/Thursday 11 June 2020
Turkey's parliament passed a controversial bill on Wednesday giving neighborhood patrols greater powers, with critics accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of wanting to build a loyal “militia.” The new law gives “nightwatchmen,” who walk the streets at night to report burglaries and disturbances, almost the same powers as police. They will now be allowed to carry firearms and have the powers to stop and search people. With more than 28,000 members, the nightwatchmen institution -- which is attached to the interior ministry and dates back more than 100 years -- has grown considerably after an attempted coup in July 2016 against Erdogan. The bill's debate in parliament triggered heated exchanges, with deputies even coming to blows during a feisty session on Tuesday. Erdogan's AKP party, which put forward the bill, says the new rules will enable the night watchmen to more effectively help law enforcement by thwarting burglaries and preventing assaults on the streets. In old Turkish films the guards are portrayed as benevolent uncles patrolling the streets with a whistle between their lips, on the lookout for troublemakers. But the opposition accused Erdogan of authoritarianism by setting up a loyal armed force. “They are using the institution of nightwatchmen to set up a militia,” Mahir Polat from the main opposition CHP party said on Tuesday, adding the police should be reinforced if needed.

Israeli Minister: Still No Consensus with US on Annexations
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 11 June, 2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to bridge gaps with the United States and his main coalition partner over his pledged annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, the minister of settlement affairs, Tzipi Hotovely, said on Thursday. Hotovely’s remarks pointed to difficulties Netanyahu could face in implementing the move soon, with a formal cabinet debate on the issue due to begin on July 1. "There are gaps between the Americans and us on this issue and between us and our senior partner in the unity government, Blue and White," Hotovely told Army Radio, referring to the centrist party headed by Defende Minister Benny Gantz that has called for a broad international dialogue on the matter. In line with a peace plan announced by US President Donald Trump in January, Netanyahu has said he intends to extend Israeli sovereignty to Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank.
Palestinians seek the region, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, for a state of their own. They have called for international sanctions against Israel, and Arab and European countries have voiced concern over unilateral territorial moves that could jeopardize a two-state solution of a decades-old conflict. A committee of US and Israeli officials is drawing territorial lines in the West Bank under the Trump proposal. "There is still no agreed map on this issue. It has to be agreed by parts of the (Israeli) government and by the American side," Hotovely said.

Khartoum Ready to Discuss Bashir’s Extradition to The Hague
London- Mustafa Seri/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 11 June, 2020
The Sudanese government welcomed on Wednesday the surrender of Sudanese militia leader Ali Kushayb into the custody of the war crimes tribunal. In a statement, the government reiterated that it was ready to discuss the extradition of the remaining accused, who are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), including ousted President Omar al-Bashir, as part of the government’s pursuit of justice for the victims of the war in Darfur as a necessary condition for achieving peace. ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda described Kushayb’s surrender “a pivotal development” for victims awaiting justice and urged Sudan to hand over Bashir and two others wanted by the court. The ICC said Kushayb, who is charged with 50 crimes against humanity and war crimes in the devastating conflict in Darfour, surrendered to authorities in a remote corner of northern Central African Republic, near the country’s border with Sudan, and arrived at the court’s detention center in The Hague on Tuesday evening. Bensouda told the UN Security Council that she hopes Kushayb’s surrender sends an unequivocal message that her office will not stop pursuing alleged perpetrators of the world’s worst crimes “no matter how long it takes or the obstacles placed in our path.”“I remain hopeful that a new chapter of constructive ICC-Sudan engagement rooted in mutual respect and a genuine commitment to bringing justice for the victims of heinous crimes committed in Darfur may be on the horizon,” she said, stressing the need to holding dialogue between her office and the government.

Canada/Archdiocese of Toronto Timeline for re-opening of churches
Catholic Response to COVID-19
June 10, 2020
Dear faithful of the Archdiocese of Toronto,
In light of the government announcement of June 8, 2020 regarding the re-opening of places of worship, I have provided direction to all parishes on our re-opening timeline after consulting with the Archdiocese of Toronto’s Council of Priests and Episcopal Board.
While the government has indicated that places of worship may open as of June 12, we recognize the extensive protocols that must be in place to safely re-open our churches. These include the training of clergy, staff and volunteers as well as ensuring appropriate cleaning supplies, signage and capacity control mechanisms can be prepared.
As per government direction regarding capacity, churches are limited to 30% of their worship space. Funerals and weddings are restricted to 10 people including the presider at this time.
Mindful that we are still in a period of pandemic, our goal is to ensure we can welcome the faithful and provide a safe environment for all. Recognizing these challenges and balancing them with the understandable desire of the faithful to return to their spiritual home, all parishes have been asked to adopt the following timeline:
June 12 – 13, 2020 – period of preparation for parishes. Churches remain closed.
Sunday, June 14, 2020 – On the feast of Corpus Christi, parishes are asked to open their doors throughout the day for private prayer and adoration only.
Monday, June 15, 2020 – Churches may open for private prayer.
Tuesday, June 16, 2020 – Churches may open for private prayer.
Wednesday, June 17, 2020 – Churches may begin to celebrate daily Mass for the public. Please note the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (June 19) and the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (June 20).
Weekend of June 20/21, 2020 – weekend Masses may resume.
Before opening the church, the Pastor must be satisfied that the Archdiocese of Toronto Return to Church Guidelines can be followed. Parishes are currently finalizing their plans regarding operating hours and times for prayer/Mass as well as the method they will utilize to limit capacity. These will be communicated at the parish level shortly.
I continue to provide dispensation from the Sunday Mass for those who may not be able to attend for health reasons or due to capacity restrictions. St. Michael’s Cathedral will continue to livestream Masses – parishes may choose to do so for a period of time during this transition period or publicize the cathedral livestream, DailyTVMass.com as well as Masses offered through Salt & Light Catholic Television, EWTN and others.
I recognize there will be a period of adjustment and transition as we move to this new phase of operations. Thank you for your patience in this regard.
We also continue to remember in prayer those who have suffered during this period of pandemic and for all those who continue to care of them.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Thomas Cardinal Collins
Archbishop of Toronto

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 11-12/2020
Iran's Expanding Influence into Iraq's Christian Areas
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/June 11/ 2020
"In 2017, after the Nineveh Plains were liberated from ISIS, Iran's influence started its increase. They now have allied support from Shiite groups in Baghdad... The presence of the Shia Shabak is expanding, particularly in the town of Bartella. They are taking over houses and properties that Christians who fled from ISIS terror left behind." — Athra Kado, an Assyrian rights advocate, to Gatestone Institute.
"The US, for its national security, should consider Assyrians as its partners, arm and train them effectively as a strong force which will stand in the face of infiltrators." — Juliana Taimoorazy, the founding president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, to Gatestone Institute.
In historically Christian areas post-Islamic State in northern Iraq, the growing influence of Iran, as well as demographic changes, are raising concerns in the local Christian community. Pictured: A soldier from the Assyrian Christian Nineveh Plain Protection Units talks with a man herding sheep near Qaraqosh, Iraq on November 15, 2016. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
In historically Christian areas post-Islamic State (ISIS) in northern Iraq, the growing influence of Iran, as well as demographic changes, are raising concerns in the local Christian community.
"Iranian pressure exists in the Nineveh Plains either in the areas that are inhabited by the Shia Shabak community or controlled by their militias," Athra Kado, an Assyrian rights advocate and resident of the town of Alqosh in Iraq, told Gatestone.
Assyrians, the indigenous people of Iraq, make up a distinct ethnic community in the region. The Nineveh Plain is considered the ancient Assyrian heartland and is the only region in Iraq where the largest demographic group is Christian. Assyrians there even have their own security force, the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU). The Nineveh plain currently, however, is mostly divided between the Shia militia and the Sunni Kurdish Peshmerga.
Zaid Kathawa, a member of the Iraqi Youth Parliament of the Iraqi Ministry of Youth and Sports, told Gatestone:
"The Iranian government's proxies now control parts of the Nineveh Plains. They do everything in their power to prevent Assyrians from having seats in Iraq's Parliament.
"In 2017, after the Nineveh Plains were liberated from ISIS, Iran's influence began to increase. They now have allied support from Shiite groups in Baghdad. The 30th Brigade, which is composed of Shabaks, vehemently opposes the Christians of the Nineveh Plains. And the predominantly Shiite Sectarian Iraqi Government only supports the Shabaks in the region."
Kado confirmed that "The presence of the Shia Shabak is expanding, particularly in the town of Bartella. They are taking over houses and properties that Christians who fled from ISIS terror left behind."
What also makes the Nineveh Plains increasingly unstable is that many forces are now operating there: The Iraqi Army and proxy forces affiliated with Iran and the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) are vying for control of the area where they have competing interests.
Ashur Sargon Eskrya, the president of Assyrian Aid Society-Iraq, told Gatestone that Assyrians and other religious minorities such as the Yazidis, caught in the middle of these forces, have faced both physical violence and political marginalization.
"The demographic and cultural structure of the Nineveh Plains continues dramatically changing due to the increased Iranian domination, ongoing ISIS presence and the competing tensions between the central government of Iraq and the KRG," he said.
Eskrya also pointed out the need to change the Iraqi constitution "to fit with religious freedom and human rights, accept the fact that Assyrians are the indigenous people of Iraq and enact laws to protect their rights."
"The US government can provide political security and economic support to the Assyrians of Iraq by reuniting Nineveh plains, helping us establish self-administration of the Nineveh plain province, and build one united security force from the local community."
Meanwhile, Iraq's parliament approved a new government on May 7, thereby ending months of deadlock as the country battles an economic crisis, as former intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi was sworn in as prime minister.
U.S. President Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press, in a telephone call to Iraq's new prime minister, said that the U.S. would be willing to provide Iraq with economic assistance.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Prime Minister al-Kadhimi "also discussed the upcoming U.S.-Iraq strategic dialogue," a U.S. State Department official reported.
As Iraq's new cabinet is being formed, the Assyrian community and other religious minorities should not be forgotten, Kado emphasized:
"A concrete step that will provide the area with more political stability is to establish a new administration in the Nineveh plans that will be governed by its own indigenous people - without any outside political influence from Iraq's KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party), Iran, Saudis and others. That would finally give the native locals in Nineveh Plains some hope that they have a future in Iraq."
"We are aware that this will not happen easily unless there is international support and supervision that will prevent the corrupt and dictatorial political forces in Iraq and Iran from trying to control the lands of Iraq's persecuted, indigenous minorities."
Among the most severely persecuted peoples of Iraq, according to the Assyrian Confederation of Europe, are Assyrians:
"Assyrians represent one of the most consistently targeted communities in Iraq throughout its modern history. This has included the state-sanctioned massacre at Simele in 1933; Saddam Hussein's Anfal campaign, which included the targeting of Assyrian villages; ruthless campaigns of terror to which Christians were subjected following the U.S. invasion in 2003; and finally, the recent tragic chapter authored by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist organization."
Juliana Taimoorazy, the founding president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, told Gatestone:
"The Islamic Republic of Iran's reach through its Shia militia in the Nineveh Plain has severely affected Christians of Iraq: this is one of the main reasons why Christians in the post-ISIS era are not returning to their homes. And let us not forget that General Qaseem Soleimani's strategy of dismantling ISIS as an institution was part of a larger Islamic Republic expansionist scheme to create its Shia crescent all the way to the Mediterranean. It intended to use the Nineveh Plain as a corridor to the West."
As a solution to the chaos, Taimoorazy suggested:
"We must revisit history. In the 20th century, the Assyrians as great warriors have repeatedly saved Iraq from losing territory to the Ottomans and others. Today, the most secured areas in the southern Nineveh Plains are the areas where Christian armed military provides security. The U.S., for its national security, should consider Assyrians as its partners, arm and train them effectively as a strong force which will stand in the face of infiltrators.
"It is only after securing the vulnerable areas in a comprehensive way that the economic aid will enable Assyrians to return and build a safe new future."
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

China Will Regret Playing Politics with the U.S. Racial Protests
Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/June 11/ 2020
The more Beijing tries to cover its tracks regarding the outbreak, however, and instead continues to indulge in conducting blatant propaganda campaigns against its geopolitical rivals, the more isolated Beijing will become.
Already there are signs in Europe of a hardening attitude towards Beijing. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who angered Washington earlier in the year by pressing ahead with a trade deal with China's Huawei telecoms giant, has now said he will review the decision, and is planning to introduce legislation that will limit China's ability to invest in British companies.
The European Union, too, has suddenly found the resolve to stand up to Beijing, voicing its opposition to Chinese plans to rewrite the rules overseeing the administration of the internet which would far better suit Beijing's totalitarian outlook.
The deeply offensive propaganda war China has launched against the U.S. over the killing of George Floyd is nothing more than a clumsy attempt by Beijing to seek revenge against Washington for supporting pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. Pictured: Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, on June 9, 2020, mark the one-year anniversary since pro-democracy protests erupted.
The deeply offensive propaganda war China has launched against the U.S. over the killing of George Floyd is nothing more than a clumsy attempt by Beijing to seek revenge against Washington for supporting pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.
At the height of Hong Kong's pro-democracy demonstrations last year, a number of prominent American politicians from both sides of the political divide voiced their support for the campaigners.
In November American President Donald Trump, defying calls from China to block the legislation, signed two bills supporting Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters.
The activists also received support from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who described the protests as a "beautiful sight to behold."
More recently U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came to the defence of the territory's 7.5 million residents after China's ruling communist party (CCP) unilaterally imposed new security measures that undermined Hong Kong's semi-autonomous status.
"The United States stands with the people of Hong Kong as they struggle against (China's) increasing denial of the autonomy that they were promised," Mr Pompeo declared at the end of last month.
The Secretary of State followed this by announcing that the territory would no longer enjoy special status under American law, a move that could add a negative impact on Hong Kong's status as a major financial hub, thereby increasing the pressure on Beijing's already battered economy.
Washington's increasingly assertive policy towards Hong Kong has not been well-received in Beijing, where Chinese President Xi Jinping defiantly pressed ahead with the imposition of the new security laws despite strong protests from the U.S.
In an attempt to seize back the initiative, Beijing's communist rulers are now attempting to exploit the widespread civil unrest that has erupted across the U.S. over the killing by a white policeman of a black man, George Floyd, who was allegedly resisting arrest, to launch a propaganda offensive in defence of its actions in Hong Kong.
China's state-run media has falsely accused Washington of having a "double standard" by supporting anti-China protests in Hong Kong, and criticising China's record on human rights at a time when Washington has been struggling to cope with anti-racism protests in America.
In a brazen attempt to portray China as being a more stable power than the U.S., state-run Chinese television stations and newspapers have aired vivid images of the protests, with graphic footage of looting and rioting. They claim Chinese citizens have been cheering the unrest, insisting that the riots are retribution for the Trump administration's support for activists in Hong Kong. At the same time CCP activists have been busy trolling American politicians on social media, with China's Xinhua state news agency poking fun at Ms Pelosi's comment about last year's Hong Kong protests by describing the unrest in America as "Pelosi's beautiful landscape".
Beijing's propaganda campaign to equate the protests in America with the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong has prompted a fierce rebuke from Mr. Pompeo: "As with dictatorships throughout history, no lie is too obscene, so long as it serves the Party's lust for power. This laughable propaganda should not fool anyone."
Beijing's increasing use of propaganda and fake news, in relation to both the coronavirus pandemic and the Floyd killing, could ultimately prove to be counter-productive.
Early on during the Covid-19 outbreak, many global bodies were prepared to give China the benefit of the doubt, even though doubts persisted about China's role in creating the pandemic.
The more Beijing tries to cover its tracks regarding the outbreak, however, and instead continues to indulge in conducting blatant propaganda campaigns against its geopolitical rivals, the more isolated Beijing will become.
Already there are signs in Europe of a hardening attitude towards Beijing. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who angered Washington earlier in the year by pressing ahead with a trade deal with China's Huawei telecoms giant, has now said he will review the decision, and is planning to introduce legislation that will limit China's ability to invest in British companies.
The European Union, too, has suddenly found the resolve to stand up to Beijing, voicing its opposition to Chinese plans to rewrite the rules overseeing the administration of the internet which would far better suit Beijing's totalitarian outlook.
All of which suggests that, if Beijing continues to indulge in using propaganda and fake news to attack the U.S. and its allies, it may come to rue the day it tried to play politics with the killing of an American black man in Minnesota.
*Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Russian air defense systems outmatched by Turkish drones in Syria and Libya
Seth Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/June 11/2020
Recent conflicts in northwestern Syria and western Libya have showcased the increasing importance of Turkey’s drones and Russian missile defense systems. This has significant ramifications for the wider Middle East because it reveals the unprecedented strategic role drones and air defense are playing across the region.
Both Russia and Turkey have been seeking new markets for their air defense and drone systems respectively. The outcome of these conflicts are given extra weight because they tie in with other countries, such as Iran, the UAE, Egypt, France, the U.S. and Israel.
The current conflicts in Syria and Libya illustrate a rapid change in the balance of power for drones and air defenses. Since June 2019, this field has entered a new era after an Iran shot down a U.S. Global Hawk near the Gulf of Oman, coupled with the Iranian drone and cruise missile swarm attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq facility in September. Iran evaded Western-supplied air defense that the Saudis had in place.
While the US and Israel have been dominant in the use of drones for the last four decades, these new incidents represented a shift in the use of drones and their strategic impact.
Iran, for instance, is supplying drones to the Houthis in Yemen and the US has interdicted drone component shipments.
In February and March, conflict in Idlib between the Russian and Iranian-backed Syrian regime and Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces bubbled over into a brief clash between Turkish armed forces and Syrian regime elements. Turkish drones, known as Bayraktar TB-2 and Anka-S, played a key role in destroying Syrian units, including Russian-made Pantsir air defense systems. This operation using drones to fly in a Syrian airspace controlled partly by Russia has been characterized as a “drone blitz” or “new way of war.”
Russia-supplied air defense in Syria had once downed a Turkish F-4 in 2012. Not wanting to risk aircraft, Turkey sent in drones in 2020. Turkey lost drones in Idlib, estimates say around six to eight were destroyed in February 2020, or approximately ten percent of its drone fleet. However, over the short offensive from February 28 to March 4, Turkey claimed to have outwitted and destroyed several of Russia’s Pantsir and BUK air defense systems, which were being used by Syrian regime forces.
Turkish defense industry expert Bahri Mert Demirel said that the “Pantsir could not perform its duty in Syria because Turkey carried out serious electronic warfare and deployed radar electronic attack systems including KORAL to intercept and deceive radar systems in Syria.”
In all, Turkey’s Defense Ministry claimed eight air defense systems had been destroyed, essentially blinding and incapacitating the Syrians to the drone threat and forcing a ceasefire. For Russia, which maintains a base in Khmeimim near Idlib, the setback for its Syrian ally was important. Russia has supplied S-300s to Syria after an Israeli airstrike in the fall of 2018. Like Turkey, Israel has destroyed the Russian Pantsir in Idlib and it’s unclear how well Russian radars have performed for the Syrian regime trying to halt thousands of Israeli strikes on Iranian targets.
A second round of Turkish drones versus Russian air defense played out in Libya in the first weeks of May, culminating in the capture of the Watiya airbase by Government of the National Accord forces on May 17. Turkish media celebrated the defeat of the Russian system which is being used by the Libyan National Army of Khalifa Haftar, and which may have been supplied by the UAE. Haftar, whose forces are based in eastern Libya, are backed by Russia, Egypt and the UAE with support from France and others in the Middle East.
Libya is home to a complex conflict that has grown in importance as Turkey signed a deal with Tripoli in November for energy rights in the Mediterranean – which now links Turkey’s role in Libya to wider energy conflicts with Greece and regional skirmishes such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia Gulf crisis.
Turkey’s drones, with their relatively slow speed, short range and MAM laser-guided smart munitions, should have been no match for the Pantsir system, especially since operators in Libya had time to analyze what went wrong in Syria. The Pantsir has a gun and missile system and two radars with optics to aid its weapons. Its missiles had a longer range than the MAM missiles on the drones. Instead the Pantsirs, at least nine of them, were hunted down in May in Libya, destroyed in hangers with their radars not operating, or struck in the back while unable to see the incoming threat due to jamming or operator inexperience.
Russia’s response to setbacks in Syria and Libya has been to send warplanes to both countries. MiG-29s for the Syrians and Libyan LNA forces. U.S. AFRICOM has raised concerns about the Russian supply of warplanes.
The outcome of the recent battles in Syria and Libya have several ramifications. First, they illustrate how drones and air defense systems are increasingly used by non-western powers and proxy forces, part of a larger global change where Chinese and other UAV manufacturers are making inroads. Second, Russia may have suffered a setback in marketing its air defense systems if it can’t improve the Pantsir’s track record. Third, drones have been revealed as a key arm for militaries to use in coordination with ground forces or even proxy forces to provide a kind of instant, relatively inexpensive, and expendable air force. Iran, Israel and others are closely watching the outcome of these battles.
The number of drones being downed in conflict has increased in the last years. According to our estimate, the total reported downings increased from 31 in 2016 to 123 reportedly shot down in 2019, with 67 already shot down in 2020. While the ability to confirm all reports from Idlib or Libya is difficult, it is beyond clear that drones are playing a more strategic and tactical role. They are also proliferating in conflicts from Africa to Asia, with China, Russia, Iran and Turkey drawing lessons from the clashes.
*Seth J. Frantzman is Executive Director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis, and author of ‘After ISIS: The US, Iran and the Struggle for the Middle East.’ A contributor to Defense News and The Jerusalem Post, he is conducting research for a forthcoming book called ‘Drone Wars.’
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A Moment of Truth for U.S.-Iraq Relations
John Hannah/FDD/June 11/ 2020
Today, the United States and Iraq will launch a strategic dialogue to discuss the future of their bilateral relationship. For Washington, the priority should be determining whether Iraq’s government remains a viable partner worthy of continued U.S. support.
Answering that question affirmatively has become decidedly more difficult in recent months. Last October, large-scale protests erupted in Iraq against the country’s post-2003 governing class. The bill of indictment included massive corruption, th e failure to deliver basic services, and the systematic subversion of Iraq’s independence by sectarian militias beholden to Iran.
The government responded with shocking brutality, conducting a months-long crackdown. With Iran-backed militias playing a leading role, over 500 young Iraqis were killed and thousands more injured.
Having Iraq's government engage in widespread repression against its own citizens was problematic enough for the United States. Making matters infinitely worse was Baghdad's abject passivity in the face of a simultaneous campaign of violence by Iranian proxies that targeted U.S. troops supporting Iraq's efforts to combat the Islamic State or ISIS. Between May 2019 and April 2020, Iraqi militias launched more than 40 rocket attacks against American personnel, resulting in the death of one U.S. contractor, two servicemen, and a British soldier.
Repeated pleas for the government to act against the attacks went largely unheeded. No condemnations. No one held to account. No preventative measures taken. By contrast, when U.S. forces finally took matters into their own hands in late December by retaliating against the group responsible for the contractor’s death, the government lost no time lambasting the United States for violating Iraqi sovereignty.
The situation escalated days later when government security forces stood aside and allowed thousands of militiamen to stage a violent protest at the gates of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, penetrating its outer perimeter and burning entry posts. Happily egging the mob on were a handful of Iraq’s most powerful officials, all deeply linked to Tehran.
President Trump responded by ordering a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport that killed Iran’s most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, and Iraq’s most influential militia commander, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandes. Pro-Iran elements in Iraq’s parliament quickly forced through a non-binding resolution demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops. On January 8, Iran fired a volley of ballistic missiles at two bases hosting American forces, luckily killing no one but leaving more than a hundred suffering from concussive brain injuries. For a moment, Iraq appeared on the cusp of becoming the central battleground in a much larger U.S.-Iran conflagration.
While the worst was narrowly avoided, the situation remains precarious. Through the early spring, the rocket attacks against U.S. positions persisted. A recent lull seems largely attributable to the coronavirus crisis and its devastating economic effects, not just on Iraq but on an Iranian economy already ravaged by U.S. sanctions. Coping with the enormous loss of Soleimani and Muhandes, the masterminds of the anti-American offensive also appears to have set the Iranian axis on its back foot—at least temporarily.
A more positive development was last month’s confirmation of Mustafa Kadhimi as Iraq’s new prime minister, ending five months of political paralysis triggered by the forced resignation of his predecessor at the hands of the protesters. The head of Iraqi intelligence since 2016, Kadhimi spent the bulk of his career as a journalist and human rights activist. He got high marks from his U.S. counterparts in the fight against ISIS. While maintaining cordial relations with Iran, few doubt that Kadhimi’s personal sympathies lie far more with the West than with Iraq’s eastern neighbor.
The U.S. has a deep interest in working with Kadhimi to avoid Iraq’s economic implosion and keep ISIS at bay. But it will be extremely difficult to do unless Kadhimi takes concrete steps to stem the precipitous deterioration in U.S.-Iraq relations of the past year and reassure Washington that it still has a willing partner in Baghdad--one more committed to bolstering Iraqi sovereignty and democracy than genuflecting to the interests of Iran.
That doesn’t mean asking Kadhimi to do the impossible. No one expects him to sever relations with Iran or declare war on its proxies tomorrow. But it does mean demanding that he take action against rogue militias when they brazenly attack U.S. personnel that are in Iraq at the government’s invitation. It does mean ending the large-scale repression of peaceful protesters.
Absent those minimum signs of a reinvigorated partnership, it will be increasingly hard for a war-weary America, consumed with multiple domestic crises of its own, to justify the continued commitment of troops and treasure to Iraq—no matter how well intentioned its prime minister. That’s the bottom line that the Trump administration needs to convey during this week’s strategic dialogue.
*John Hannah is a senior counselor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the former national security advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Europeans Pushing to Boycott Israel Over Annexation Should Think Twice
Richard Goldberg/FDD/June 11/2020
Calls for economic sanctions against Israel risk a costly collision with U.S. anti-boycott laws, as companies such as Airbnb can attest.
Israel’s new government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, may soon declare Israeli sovereignty over roughly 30 percent of the West Bank, including major Israeli settlement blocs and the Jordan Valley. Some European governments are reportedly pushing the European Union for a tough response against Israel, including economic sanctions. European governments should reject these ideas—not just because they’re wrong, but also because they carry significant risks for European companies and economies.
An Israeli declaration of sovereignty over parts of the territories captured in the 1967 Six-Day War would do little to change the facts on the ground in the decadeslong Arab-Israeli conflict. Some argue that it could even bring Israel closer to making territorial concessions to the Palestinians, with Israelis feeling more secure in the long-term vision of a demilitarized Palestinian state in which Jewish population centers in the West Bank become part of Israel and Israel maintains security control over the Jordan Valley. Indeed, the prospect that incorporating a large part of the West Bank into Israel proper might be a prelude to Palestinian statehood in the rest is already drawing concern from Netanyahu’s right flank.
Israel, of course, is a democratic ally that enjoys strong relations with Europe, including in trade and tourism. It aligns with Europe in the post-World War II international order more than any other Middle Eastern country.
In Britain, 127 members of Parliament urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose sanctions should Israel proceed with a West Bank sovereignty declaration.
But in lockstep with Palestinian leaders, the governments of France, Belgium, Ireland, and Luxembourg are reportedly pressing the EU as a bloc to adopt punitive measures against Israel. Josep Borrell, the European Commission’s vice president and foreign-policy chief, warned that any steps to annex Palestinian territory would “not pass unchallenged.” In Britain, 127 members of Parliament urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose sanctions should Israel proceed with a West Bank sovereignty declaration.
That some European governments would threaten sanctions against Israel while refusing to impose sanctions on Iran and Hezbollah is disappointing. If they’re serious, these European governments should be on notice: Their companies will pay the price.
Three-fifths of the 50 U.S. states have already adopted laws prohibiting boycotts of Israel. Most prohibit government contracts with companies that engage in a broad range of boycott-related activities. Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Texas, and eight other states mandate the divestment of public pension funds from such firms. New York is considering doing the same.
Typically, these states publish lists of restricted companies. Illinois’s list, for example, includes companies found to engage in “actions that are politically motivated and are intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or otherwise limit commercial relations with the State of Israel or companies based in the State of Israel or in territories controlled by the State of Israel.” This definition of boycotting Israel would apply to firms that comply with such a boycott recommended by the United Nations Human Rights Office and by a proposed boycott law in Ireland.
The potential financial impact of divestment by U.S. states on European businesses and economies is substantial. A review of annual financial reports of public investment funds in U.S. states with divestment laws revealed total holdings of international equities amounting to at least $170 billion, much of it in European companies. With the proposed bill in the state of New York, this total could increase to more than $200 billion. One Illinois pension fund alone listed the European multinationals Roche, Nestle, Novartis, Allianz, and Enel among its top direct holdings in international equities. Undisclosed holdings in European companies via private equity funds account for billions more.
The potential financial impact of divestment by U.S. states on European businesses and economies is substantial.
If a company is found to be engaged in boycotting Israel, these states’ pension systems are required to divest its shares and warn fund managers against including the company in indirect investments, including index and private equity funds.
The laws don’t just affect companies found to be boycotting Israel directly. Any company that uses socially responsible investing criteria for its own portfolio investments or corporate pension fund is also at risk of U.S. state blacklisting if these criteria contribute to anti-Israel boycotts.
Several European firms can already attest to the risks of these laws. Major European companies such as Denmark’s Danske Bank and the Dutch pension fund PGGM were blacklisted by the state of Illinois as Israel boycotters based on publicly available information. (Both companies denied the accusation; Danske Bank said its own blacklisting of several Israeli companies was due to investment criteria barring certain investments in areas on conflict that aren’t specifically aimed at Israel.) To be removed from the blacklist, the firms were required to sign legal affidavits affirming that they do not engage in boycotts of Israel. These companies expended considerable time and resources to restore their reputations and avoid divestments.
Airbnb, the online home rental service, had its own lamentable experience with U.S. state laws relating to Israel boycotts. In 2018, the company decided to boycott listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but it had little choice but to reverse its decision after Illinois, Texas, and Florida took steps to blacklist Airbnb from future investment. Had Airbnb remained on these blacklists, fund managers and private equity firms with state pension business would have been required to steer clear of the company’s most recent funding rounds and any future initial public offering. Airbnb was also forced to settle multiple lawsuits filed in the United States alleging that the company was engaging in discriminatory practices, given that it did not apply its policy to all disputed territories such as Western Sahara and Northern Cyprus.
Airbnb, the online home rental service, had its own lamentable experience with U.S. state laws relating to Israel boycotts.
The United States has federal laws, too, that were adopted in response to the Arab League’s boycott of Israel in order to deter state-sponsored boycotts of Israel. The Trump administration could raise the ante by issuing an executive order threatening a menu of sanctions against foreign firms that boycott Israel—as an economic security umbrella to defend one of the closest U.S. allies.
As European governments, companies, and nongovernmental organizations consider gearing up to challenge a possible decision by Jerusalem to extend Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank, they may wish to think twice before playing hardball. With companies throughout Europe reeling from the economic effects of the novel coronavirus, now is not the time for additional financial risks. Intense diplomacy is certainly expected, but sanctions on Israel should be off the table for more reasons than one.
*Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, was the U.S. National Security Council’s Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction from 2019 to 2020. Follow him on Twitter @rich_goldberg.

Concealed Racism or an Individual Mistake?
Jebril Elabidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/11 June/2020
An important question raises itself: What if George Floyd had been killed with no cameras or social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to cover his death? Will this racial crime have disappeared just like many others in the US and the world?
The killing of George Floyd exposed the hidden remains of the main problem, like an iceberg phenomenon: the magnitude of the problem in American society is not clear to be readily addressed; George Floyd is a US citizen of African origin and was killed by a policeman on May 25 in the city of Minneapolis.
Floyd was killed after an officer pressed his knee into his neck as the man repeated “I can’t breathe” while passers-by pleaded to the policeman to stop to no avail. This event is reminiscent of the 2014 murder of unarmed Eric Garner, who repeated the same phrase that Floyd said 11 times after an NYPD officer put him in a chokehold.
Perhaps the US judiciary’s hesitance to charge the policeman with first-degree murder has opened the door for questions about how blacks are treated before the law in the US. African-Americans compose around 14% of the population according to official surveys conducted in 2019, but make up more than around 23% of 1,000 deaths by gunfire at the hand of the police.
This was followed by President Trump’s tweets that pushed the protests out of control, despite the Attorney General of the State of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, saying that “charging the policeman accused of the murder of George Floyd with first-degree murder is still possible”, after forensics announced the man died after suffering a heart attack caused by choking.
Racism in the US is long-standing and cannot be simply pinned down to Trump's term. The US has not been able to eliminate racism despite its long history of an institutional and democratic system. Racism has remained an idea and phenomenon that manifests every once in a while without there being any real steps to reform the defect and close the gap between Americans of different origins, with those of African origin having suffered the most after native Americans.
After a long history of racism, blacks have gained many rights. For example, blacks were not allowed to enter buses using the same doors as whites, and many blacks were not allowed to sit on the front seats in schools and universities. Rosa Parks is perhaps the most famous among those who said “No” in the history of the US, in 1955, refusing to forgo her seat in the “colored section” for a white man after the driver asked her to.
Perhaps the old racist law that spanned most of American history giving white Americans more rights and privileges than other races in terms of education, immigration, voting, citizenship, land ownership and criminal proceedings, was what influenced policeman Derek Chauvin who killed George Floyd.
Racism is the erroneous belief that there are inherent differences between people’s behavioural traits and capacities according to race. According to the United Nations, there are no differences between racial and ethnic discrimination. Racism, however, is not exclusive to the US; many countries practice different forms of racism, and perhaps the classism between the nobles and horsemen is part of the history of racism. Tribalism, in other countries, despite being distinct in many ways, is also a form of racism when it is used to exclude others when tribal tendencies culminate in absolute loyalty to the tribe and blind allegiance.
The murder of George Floyd will have social consequences that will not be limited to adjusting the list of accusations against the police, as the fault is first and foremost social and only a small part of hidden racism has been revealed.

How Will the Pandemic Influence Development Goals?
Najib Saab/Asharq Al-Awsat/11 June/2020
Can the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) still be achieved on time by the 2030 deadline?
The apparent answer is no, not only because priorities have shifted and resources will be diverted towards addressing other urgent matters, but also because achieving the SDGs successfully now requires new rules and methods.
The impact of the pandemic will not only affect the timing of implementation, but will also extend to the mechanism of action. Meetings scheduled for 2020 will not take place according to plan, especially the annual political summit organized by the United Nations in July, to discuss progress made towards achieving the SDGs. This may not be a great loss, because the summit has become a sort of social folklore. The decline in the work of governmental bodies and international organizations will lead to a delay in decision-making, with many heads of international organizations staying away from their headquarters for months. The direct negative outcome will affect all goals, beginning with the third goal, which calls for ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all. Health has been the first victim of the pandemic, as the world has lost almost all progress made in recent years, after having to direct available resources to address the current emergency, at the expense of universal health care. The fourth goal, which calls for inclusive and equitable quality education, suffered a severe blow with more than one billion students under lockdown, a situation aggravated by a weak digital infrastructure in many poor countries that failed to secure online education. The eighth goal, which is about promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all, was also hit hard by an unprecedented economic collapse and the loss of tens of millions of jobs. The first and second goals, to end poverty and hunger, have also lost major ground, with tens of millions expected to join the growing club of the poor and hungry.
Whereas the seventh goal calls for ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, a shortage in maintenance workers led to breakdowns in the existing electricity networks, and the decline in investments halted the construction of new production plants, whether they adopted traditional or renewable sources. According to the figures of the International Energy Agency (IEA), investments in energy in recent months have witnessed the largest decrease in history, and are expected to decline by 20 percent by the end of this year, compared to last year, at the equivalent of $400 billion. The agency warned that this will affect energy supplies as well as hinder the shift to clean energy sources.
Whatever the hopes may be, the reality is that the current situation will negatively affect the commitments to curb climate change, as according to the Paris Agreement, developing countries were set this year to start receiving $100 billion annually for climate action. In the absence of stable financing for practical and long-term measures, the expected funding delay will not be compensated by the temporary decrease in emissions from industry and transportation.
On the other hand, some positive indicators have emerged, the most prominent of which is that achieving the SDGs, including environmental protection, is still on the national and international agendas, despite health and economic setbacks. The challenge has prompted all to acknowledge once again the imperativeness of international cooperation in addressing cross-border disasters, whether related to health or the environment.
Despite the isolationist tendencies of some governments, and populist movements that disregard environmental measures, including climate action, the European Union announced, when it recently allocated additional €750 billion for EU Recovery Fund, that aid would be conditional on adopting green policies that would be reflected in both public and private sector spending, including efficient buildings, renewable energy and clean transport.
According to announced policies, the recovery funds allocated by developed countries will address environmental challenges alongside health, social and economic matters, which will boost achieving the SDGs within national borders. But what about developing countries that need assistance to implement the required transformation? What are the implications of the global economic meltdown on donations, loans and investments in developing countries, whether they come from governments, development funds or the private sector? Here lies the big challenge.
The need of donor countries to pump massive funds to save their own economies will put pressure on funds earmarked for foreign aid. Country contributions to the budgets of international organizations and development funds will decrease. This compels a new approach, because attracting money and investments will become more difficult and subject to strict conditions, the most important of which are good governance, efficiency and the fight against corruption. Private investors will demand more guarantees, and aid agencies will ask for sterner assurances that soft loans and donations are well used and are not wasted to corruption.
Developing countries need to get their affairs in order, redefine their priorities, and invest their human and natural resources in a highly efficient manner, to show that they are worthy of external support. On the other hand, international organizations and development funds must adhere to strict efficiency standards, focusing on results and actual productivity, not on the number of projects or the size of loans and aid agreements.
There is no doubt that the global catastrophe we are going through will change the timetable for achieving the SDGs, including climate change and environmental protection, especially in developing countries. But we must admit that the failure to meet the conditions for achieving these goals is not solely the result of the new pandemic, as it preceded it. It should not be allowed to use the pandemic as an excuse for delay.
Changing the course was required long ago. Hopefully the shock caused by the pandemic will constitute an impetus for long-awaited new development policies, at the national, regional and international levels.
Instead of the pandemic hindering sustainable development efforts, a successfully managed exit from the crisis may put them on the right track.

The Most Hated Rally in History Just Won't Stop
John Authers/Bloomberg/June 11/2020
The bull market in stocks that galloped on for a decade after 2009 was widely described as the most hated rally in history. It took many by surprise (myself included), and came even as money flowed into bonds. Stock markets outside the US behaved roughly as they were supposed to do after a big crash, and traded sideways in a wide range for years. In the US, they just went upward. In hindsight, many of us badly underestimated the power and determination of the Federal Reserve.
The current rally is about 10 weeks old, but it may already have taken over as history’s most hated. Again, it is happening in a way that far outstrips previous recoveries from major shocks, and it is doing so despite valuation metrics screaming that stocks are too expensive, and bond yields so low that they imply a comatose economy for years into the future.
Having been caught by surprise by the extent of this rally (I can’t deny it) I did my best to be open-minded, and said that this rally might be justified, if we have a true V-shaped recovery in earnings, and brutal yield curve control by the Fed that somehow doesn’t damage the banks.
I made it clear that this was conceivable but unlikely, and that all the risks were to the downside. Judging by the feedback, everybody thinks I was being naively optimistic. If stocks keep rising, as they did Tuesday, this rally will be deeply and darkly detested.
So here are some more reasons to fear further gains for the stock market, in the future. If there is a crucial gauge of “risk-off” sentiment in global markets, it is the dollar. Even if the US is itself the center of the problem, money flows there for sanctuary in times of trouble. A strong dollar in turn makes life much harder for emerging markets with dollar-denominated exposures, and adds to deflationary pressure in the US. So it is a sign of clear positivity (or negativity for those of us who hate the rally) that Bloomberg’s dollar index, which compares the dollar to both developed and emerging currencies, has reached its 200-day moving average.
This is a sign that the rally could have more legs. It shows continuing relaxation of tension, with markets behaving as they would if they were positioning for a recovery. And it has a self-fulfilling effect. Brazil appears to be alarmingly positioned to become the next global epicenter of the pandemic, but the Brazilian real has strengthened more than any other currency against the dollar so far this week.
London, New York and Hong Kong are all massive market centers and people living there all have reason to view the world negatively at present. In New York, the events have obviated any joy from the easing of social distancing rules in place for the past two months.
I visited a doctor’s office close to the Bloomberg office, and discovered that store fronts at the bottom of our building, and of all the shops facing it on the other side of Lexington Avenue, had been smashed in. The sight of workers clearing up mountains of broken glass from your place of work, while boards go up along the avenue, isn’t a positive one and won’t put anyone in New York into a bullish frame of mind.
It would therefore make sense if the people living in market centers tend to have a much gloomier prognosis for the future of the pandemic than those outside. This explains the degree of tribalism in US politics, as the overlap between areas worst affected by the coronavirus and those that are politically blue is very close. I know many people who have had Covid, and nobody who has lost their job (although a number of freelancers have seen their income dry up). Millions of people in the US are doubtless exactly the other way around, knowing nobody who has been sick but many who have lost their job.
Is resistance to the rally therefore coming from people living in financial centers who are projecting their experience of the virus on to other areas? I received that suggestion from Brian Alexander of Cypress Capital Management in Vancouver.
I know you can’t travel right now, but honestly if you were able to get out of NYC you would see that much of the world is coping reasonably well. This is not to gloat or brag as we may have just gotten lucky, but I think much of the media is myopically focusing on NYC and London which is not reflective of the rest of the world.
In my little neck of the woods – schools are open, restaurants are open with limited capacity as are gyms, stores and pretty much everything else as well. People wear masks when physical distancing is not possible, but other than that you wouldn’t notice much. Basically any indoor gathering of more than 50 people is a no-go, but that is it. Construction never stopped. We weren’t quite as lax as Sweden, but pretty close.
My point is that while the job losses are real, they may well be temporary as people outside of COVID-19 hotspots will not be terrified to leave their homes for long periods of time as the economy opens back up. Residents of Vancouver certainly don’t appear worried to go out and spend.
Much money is controlled by people living outside of Covid hotspots. While I am suitably envious of anyone who gets to live in Vancouver at the best of times, people in such places may be underestimating the risks of what is to come based on their experience to date (just as New Yorkers and Londoners may be overestimating it). The Spanish flu of 1918, which came in three waves, has framed the discussion of a deeper wave to follow.
If this pandemic follows the same pattern, a V-shaped recovery isn’t going to happen. If a large chunk of people living in Covid-19 hotspots really are mentally exaggerating the possibility that this happens again (and we effectively have a sample size of one for pandemics of equivalent scope in modern history, so the evidence for a second wave isn’t overwhelming), then this rally could indeed be built on stronger foundations than it looks.

Cairo Declaration can end the chaos in Libya
Dr. Abdellatif El-Menawy/Arab News/June 11/2020
Things have become clearer regarding the situation in Libya. One party is trying to end violence for the sake of stability and unity, expelling militias, and fighting terrorism, while another is seeking to hide behind the walls of Turkey, which supports it with mercenaries and terrorists to shed more blood and give Ankara greater influence in the region. Things became clearer as a result of the “Cairo Declaration,” which was launched from the Egyptian capital last week by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and eastern Libyan House of Representatives Speaker Aguila Saleh. This was the first international meeting between the military and political bodies of the project to reconstruct the Libyan state. It was a great paradigm shift that corrected one of the biggest deficiencies in the performance of the project by Haftar and his supporters.
Haftar’s problem and big mistake was his insistence on controlling the military and political files together when he is new to the political arena. Many believed that the political file should have remained untouched by the military command, whose role is limited to making progress in the field that gives positive points to the political team representing it.
The power of the Cairo Declaration lies in that it conveys a political message to the world that eastern Libya has an elected parliament and not a specific presidential council (even if it is internationally recognized), and that this parliament supports its army despite the previous disagreements between Haftar and Saleh. The declaration also conveys the message that it is backing Saleh’s initiative, in which he demanded that each of the three historical Libyan regions (Tobruk, Fezzan, and Tripoli) be represented in a new presidential council, whether by consensus between them or by way of secret selection under the UN’s auspices. The declaration is an attempt by the Egyptian side, in coordination with several Arab and other regional parties, to give prominence to the voice of reason, put aside Libyan-Libyan differences, and not give any regional power the opportunity to get between the two local parties to the conflict. It seems, however, that the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Fayez Al-Sarraj, is determined to implement its plan to secure protection by opening Libyan lands and waters to Turkey.
The Cairo initiative focuses mainly on the outcomes of the Berlin summit, which produced a comprehensive political solution, including clear steps for implementation (on the political, security, and economic tracks) and respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. It recommends the continuation of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission in Geneva under the auspices of the UN and everything that would ensure the success of the other tracks. The Cairo Declaration also takes into consideration the importance of the UN and the international community obligating all parties to remove foreign mercenaries from Libya, dismantle militias, and hand over their weapons so that the LNA, in cooperation with the security services, can assume their responsibilities.
The initiative also aims to support the Libyan state in restoring its national institutions, while stepping up the appropriate national mechanism to revive the political track under the UN’s auspices and to invest in the efforts of the international community to resolve the Libyan crisis. In addition, the initiative seeks to restore state control over all security institutions and support the military (the LNA) in assuming its national responsibilities.
The restoration of control by Libya’s state institutions is extremely important to achieving stability, which Egypt has sought since the beginning of the conflict, as it has always used the slogan: “The security of neighboring countries is an extension of Egypt’s security.” Libya has an important strategic depth for Cairo, and stability there means greater stability in Egypt, especially as their shared border has been a route for smuggling weapons and terrorists into Egypt.
El-Sisi said at the press conference announcing the initiative: “The practices of some parties on the Libyan scene and external interference are a source of concern for us.” He warned against some parties’ insistence on a military solution to the Libyan crisis, adding: “Egypt, with the brothers in Libya, is following what is happening on the ground there and rejects the escalation that will have disastrous consequences throughout the region.”
The initiative consolidates one of the current pillars of the Egyptian state. This means that Egypt will not be afraid to strategically defend the integrity of its lands, which are clearly threatened by the Turkish-backed militias.
Libya is now facing two potential scenarios, the first of which is achieving the Cairo Declaration’s goals based on the outputs of the Berlin conference and under UN auspices. It must, in particular, implement the steps aimed at organizing all the Libyan state institutions, especially the main economic institutions (the central bank, National Oil Corporation and the Libyan Investment Authority). Their boards of directors must be reformed in a way that guarantees the effectiveness of the new government’s performance, provides the necessary resources to manage the transitional phase, and organizes presidential and parliamentary elections while preserving the unity of the state and the army.
The second scenario will undoubtedly lead to more conflicts and chaos, as the current situation on the ground warns of this. The GNA, assisted by external forces, seeks to advance to Sirte and elsewhere after re-establishing full control over Tripoli, as it endeavors to enter negotiations on more solid ground — this is what one of its leaders said last Friday. This endeavor will undoubtedly increase the cycle of violence in Libya.
The restoration of control by Libya’s state institutions is extremely important to achieving stability.
The threat of Russian-Turkish “understandings” remains one of the most serious challenges facing the Egyptian move. Despite that, Moscow officially announced its support for the Cairo Declaration and there was a phone call between El-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the threat of these understandings remains. Another challenge that Cairo faces is its ability to achieve breakthroughs in the west of Libya among the tribes, with some members of the GNA, and among political elites to return to the negotiating table and build a new Libya away from extremist and terrorist groups.
*Dr. Abdellatif El-Menawy is a critically acclaimed multimedia journalist, writer and columnist who has covered war zones and conflicts worldwide. Twitter: @ALMenawy

Extent of Iran’s nuclear progress laid bare
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 11/2020
Iran is now breaching all the restrictions of the 159-page 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), according to the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iran’s total stockpile of low-enriched uranium has increased from 1.1 tons to 1.73 tons, as of May 20. This is nearly seven times more than the regime was allowed to maintain under the nuclear deal. Furthermore, under the JCPOA, Iran was only allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67 percent purity, but it is now up to 4.5 percent. And Iran also now possesses more heavy water than it was permitted under the nuclear agreement.
The IAEA report appears to contradict some of the statements made by the Iranian authorities, which claimed they had enriched uranium to a higher level than the agency described. The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, declared last November that Iran had a supply of 20 percent-enriched uranium. “Right now we have enough... but we can produce it if needed,” he claimed. Salehi added that Iran is resuming uranium enrichment at a far higher level at the Fordow nuclear site — an underground facility reportedly located on an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base.
In addition, although Tehran is a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, it has frequently refused to allow the IAEA to fully inspect the sites where nuclear activities are most likely being carried out. This is due to one of the concessions the Obama administration granted the Iranian government, which means that military sites are out of the IAEA’s reach. Because of this concession, the regime is free to engage in nuclear activities without the risk of inspection at various high-profile sites, such as the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran.
The Iranian opposition group, the National Council for Resistance of Iran (NCRI) — which was the first to reveal Iran’s clandestine nuclear activities at two major sites, Natanz and Arak, in 2000 — released critical information in 2017 showing that Iran’s nuclear activities had continued at Parchin. This points to the fact that the IAEA has failed, on several occasions, to fully detect the scope of Iran’s nuclear activities.
How close is the Iranian regime to developing a nuclear bomb, if it intends to accomplish this objective? Considering all these violations, Tehran has significantly reduced its nuclear breakout time (the amount of time required to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a single nuclear weapon). Iran’s breakout time when the nuclear deal was reached was estimated to be about a year. In March this year, it was reported that the Iranian regime had enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb.
The Iranian leaders blame the US for their increased nuclear activities and violations of the restrictions imposed by the nuclear deal. The White House pulled out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on the Iranian regime.
But Iran’s nuclear file reveals that Tehran has a history of concealing its nuclear activities and even violating the JCPOA before the US withdrew from the deal. “The agency identified a number of questions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at three locations in Iran,” the IAEA reported in March.
Tehran has a history of concealing its nuclear activities and even violating the JCPOA before the US withdrew.
The three undeclared nuclear locations to which the IAEA referred are in addition to a fourth clandestine nuclear site that was first revealed by Israel. In a November 2018 speech to the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Iran had a “secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and material from Iran’s secret nuclear weapons program.” Although the Iranian leaders claimed that the nuclear warehouse was a carpet cleaning facility, traces of radioactive uranium were detected at the site.
As Iran is now violating all the restrictions of the JCPOA, the world is in a dangerous phase, with the regime having considerably reduced its nuclear breakout time.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh