English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese
Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 30/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.june30.20.htm
News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible Quotations For today
The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of
the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest
Matthew 09/36-38: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because
they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to
his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore
ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 29-30/2020
Unrest continues in Lebanon amid US pressures on Hezbollah
US envoy says ‘page turned’ after meeting Lebanese FM
Lebanese Finance Official in IMF Talks Resigns Post
5 New Coronavirus Cases in Lebanon
Aoun Holds Talks with Salameh
Bifani Says Throwing His Resignation into the Face of 'Darkness and Tyranny
Forces'
Geagea Slams Aoun's Aides, Says IMF Talks Have 'Ended'
Lebanon Banks Increase Exchange Rate for Dollar Deposits
Russian Ambassador Reacts to Anti-U.S. Ruling
Hariri Confirms ‘Security Incident’ During Bekaa Visit 2 Weeks Ago
Lebanon: Rai Invites Aoun to Reconcile with Arab, Int’l Community
Lebanon Faces Challenge of Reopening Airport, Containing COVID-19
Lebanon’s interior minister says he killed two people in civil war/Khaled Yacoub
Oweis/The National/June 29/2020
The Strangler Fig: How Does Lebanon End?/Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/June 29/2020
Soleimani's daughter marries Hezbollah leader Nasrallah's cousin - report/Tobias
Siegal/Jerusalem Post/June 29/2020
Lebanese-Australian Lawmaker Says He's Not a Suspect in China Probe
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on June 29-30/2020
Iran Issues Arrest Warrant for Trump Over Strike That Killed Soleimani
Detained Kata'ib Hezbollah fighters burn US, Israeli flags upon release
Arab Coalition, US Envoy Brian Hook reveal Iranian weapons used against Saudi
Arabia
Turkey, Austria summon each other's envoys after Vienna clashes
Egypt’s national security closely linked region’s security: Al-Sisi
Millions of Syrians at risk of starvation, warn leading aid groups
Shipment of Iranian weapons, Farsi material intercepted en route to Yemen
Concerns growing over two lawyers on ‘death fasts’ in Turkey prison: Activists
Arab Parliament Speaker Unveils Unified Strategy to Confront Turkish, Iranian
Meddling
Defying UN, GNA Continues to Amass Forces to ‘Liberate’ Sirte, Jufra
UN Rights Chief: Israel's Annexation Plans 'Illegal'
Israel's Gantz Says Date for West Bank Annexation Talks ‘Not Sacred’
US Team to Discuss Annexation Plans with Israeli Officials
Fate of Palestinian Weapons in Limbo in Case of Annexation
Jordan Foils ISIS Plot to Attack Church
Baghdad, Washington: Raid on Kataib Hezbollah HQ was Strictly Iraqi
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on June 29-30/2020
Iranian opposition’s fight for
democracy deserves support/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 28/2020
Terror-exporting ayatollahs on the threshold of going nuclear/Baria Alamuddin/Arab
News/June 28/2020
But What About the Past/Hazem Saghieh/ Asharq Al-Awsat/29 June/2020
A Central Pillar of the EU is Under Threat/Ferdinando Giugliano/Bloomberg/June
29/2020
Day Traders Will Have Fun Until They Get Wiped Out/Noah Smith/Bloomberg/June
29/2020
Palestinians 'Execute' Unarmed Civilian, Condemn Israel For Killing Terrorist/Bassam
Tawil/Gatestone Institute/June 29/2020
World must wake up to Iran regime’s extremism, sectarianism/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab
News/June 29/2020
Europe will continue to support the Syrian people/Josep Borrell/Arab News/June
29/2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published
on June 29-30/2020
Unrest continues in Lebanon amid US
pressures on Hezbollah
The Arab Weekly/June 29/2020
Protests over the deteriorating living conditions are continuing in Lebanon as
the country, one of the most indebted in the world, faces unprecedented
political tensions, exacerbated by Washington’s frustration with Hezbollah’s
sectarian dominance over the political scene. In Tripoli, a number of protesters
gathered Monday, blocking access to el-Nour square before access was restored by
security forces. The protesters then set up roadblocks on the highway leading to
the north of the country and the road leading to Aabdeh (Akkar province). An
associated strike was also held in Tripoli, with many businesses not opening.
Earlier, last week, demonstrations resumed around the country in protest against
dire living conditions, the National News Agency reported. Traders in Sidon and
Tyre closed their shops to take part in demonstrations while complaining about
their impoverishment given the increase in the value of the US dollar against
the Lebanese pound.The traders held signs warning that 1,200 companies will soon
go bankrupt, while 5,000 families will suffer from unemployment. Protesters also
cut roads in various regions of the country including Nabatieh, Rashaya, Jounieh,
Baabda and other areas.
In Beirut, protesters cut roads near the Justice Palace to condemn the arrest of
demonstrators who demanded better living conditions. As the protests rage on
across the country, the Lebanese army is frequently intervening, only to prompt
protesters to throw stones at security forces and cars of judges passing by.
Lebanon is mired in its worst economic crisis in decades. It recently defaulted
on its debt and has been negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
for weeks with no breakthrough so far. The local currency lost more than 80% of
its value against the US dollar in recent months amid soaring prices and popular
unrest. The renewed tensions in Lebanon come amid a growing frustration in
Washington with Iran-backed Hezbollah’s policies in the country. Frustration
mounted when a judge ordered a year-long media ban on US Ambassador Dorothy Shea
after she told Saudi-owned TV station Al-Hadath that Washington has “great
concerns” over the Iran-backed militant group’s role in the government. Shea
said Lebanon is reeling from years of corruption of successive governments and
accused Hezbollah of siphoning off government funds for its own purposes and of
obstructing needed economic reforms. Views were divided about the envoy's
remarks. Some viewed them as foreign interference in Lebanese affairs while
others saw them as a mere expression of a viewpoint by a foreign diplomat as
guaranteed by international law. The judge’s ruling was in any case harshly
criticised by many in Lebanon, where the media enjoys far more freedom than in
many other Arab states. On Monday, however, Shea read a brief statement in which
she said that her meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti was
“positive.”“We turned the page on this unfortunate distraction so we can all
focus on the real crisis at hand, which is the deteriorating economic situation
in Lebanon,” she said. A few protesters held a sit-in outside the Foreign
Ministry during the meeting. The court ruling remains in effect but appears
unlikely to be enforced.
The court decision by the Lebanese judge reflected the rising tension between
the US and Hezbollah, and revealed a widening rift among groups in Lebanon amid
the crisis. Shea said the US stands ready and will continue to help the Lebanese
people as the government takes the necessary steps to address the underlying
causes of the crisis. State-run National News Agency quoted Hitti as saying
during the meeting that freedom of the press and opinion are a “sacred right” in
the country, which enjoys wider freedoms than many other Arab countries. Hitti,
who had summoned Shea to the meeting, also said that it is important that Beirut
and Washington continue their cooperation in all fields to help Lebanon weather
the crisis. Hezbollah and its allies are dominant in parliament and back the
current government. Hezbollah is designated by Washington as a terrorist group
and the US has recently expanded sanctions against it.
However, Washington is one of the largest donors to the Lebanese Army, making
for one of the more complicated diplomatic balancing acts in the region.
US envoy says ‘page turned’ after meeting Lebanese FM
Najia Houssari/Arab News/June 29/2020
BEIRUT: The summoning of US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea by Lebanese
Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti on Monday turned into a protocol meeting. The
foreign minister, who summoned Shea after she criticized Hezbollah, noted “the
freedom of the media and the right of expression, which are sacred rights.”A
statement issued by the two parties said: “We have openly discussed the current
developments on the local scene. We touched on the bilateral relations that
bring together the two countries and the Lebanese and American people, and we
stressed the importance of cooperation between the two governments in all
fields, in support of Lebanon to get out of the economic crisis that it is
suffering from.”After the meeting, Ambassador Shea said: “My meeting with the
(foreign) minister was positive, and I agreed with him to turn the page after
the unfortunate judicial decision that came to deflect attention from the
economic crisis. The United States is ready and will continue to assist Lebanon
as long as the government takes the necessary steps to address the causes of the
crisis.”She noted that her country “appreciates cooperation to advance our many
common interests and our mutual goals in these particularly difficult times. I
affirm that our bilateral relationship is strong and we will continue to provide
everything that benefits the people of our two countries.”Ambassador Shea said
during an interview with Al-Hadath TV on Friday that “Hezbollah built a state
within the state that drained Lebanon, and cost the Lebanese state billions of
dollars that went to Hezbollah’s mini-state instead of the government
treasury.”The meeting between Hitti and Shea was accompanied by a small group
protesting against American interference in Lebanese affairs. The US envoy
entered through a back door amid tight security measures taken by the Internal
Security Forces in the vicinity of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
Beirut.Judge Mazeh’s decision caused great discontent in the media and political
circles, while it was welcomed by Hezbollah supporters. The Supreme Judicial
Council has summoned Judge Mazeh to appear on Tuesday. Mazeh anticipated any
possibility of being summoned by announcing that he would apply to formally end
his services in the judiciary on Tuesday.The Chinese Embassy in Lebanon also
replied to the American ambassador, who talked about China’s cooperation with
other countries during her TV interview with Al-Hadath.
Lebanese Finance Official in IMF Talks Resigns Post
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
A senior member of Lebanon's negotiating team with the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) has quit his post as finance ministry director general, telling al-Jadeed
TV he had resigned over the way leaders are handling a financial crisis. Alain
Bifani is the second member of Lebanon's team at the IMF talks to resign this
month. The finance ministry confirmed his resignation in a statement. Bifani
told al-Jadeed the path being taken by Lebanese leaders was reckless and would
hurt the people. Reuters could not immediately reach him for comment. Lebanon is
grappling with a financial crisis seen as the biggest threat to its stability
since the 1975-90 civil war. Talks with the IMF which began in May have been
bogged down by a row between the government and the central bank over the scale
of losses in the financial system and how they should be shared. Bifani told al-Jadeed
that "our approach and our numbers are correct", in an apparent reference to a
government financial recovery plan submitted to the IMF. The IMF has said the
government's figures appear to be roughly the correct order of magnitude but
that Beirut needed to reach a common understanding to move forward. Earlier this
month, financial adviser Henri Chaoul quit Lebanon's IMF team, saying
politicians, monetary authorities and the financial sector were “opting to
dismiss the magnitude” of losses and embark on a “populist agenda”. The numbers
have met opposition from the central bank, the banking sector and a
parliamentary fact-finding committee that has challenged the losses and
assumptions.
5 New Coronavirus Cases in Lebanon
Naharnet/June 29/2020
Lebanon recorded five new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus on Monday, raising
the total number of individuals infected with the virus to 1,745, the Health
Ministry said. In its report, the Ministry said the five cases were recorded
among residents.
The country recorded 34 fatalities since the first case was recorded on February
21.
Aoun Holds Talks with Salameh
Naharnet/June 29/2020
President Michel Aoun held talks with Central Bank governor Riad Salameh and
discussions focused on the bank’s measures to address the monetary situation in
the country, in light of a crippling economic crisis, the National News Agency
reported on Monday. Salameh said he briefed the President on the electronic
platform, “Sayrafa,” that was established by the Central Bank to control and
monitor the foreign exchange operations. Despite efforts to control the currency
depreciation, the Lebanese pound sold for more than 7,000 to the dollar on the
black market. The pound had been pegged at 1,500 to the dollar since 1997.
Despite government efforts to manage the currency crash — including injecting
dollars into the market and setting a higher rate for specific transactions —
chaos prevailed and the parallel currency market continued to thrive. Highly
indebted Lebanon is in the throes of financial and economic crises, made worse
by restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus in March. Political rivalries
have also complicated negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, which
the Lebanese government has asked last month for $10 billion in financial
assistance.
Bifani Says Throwing His Resignation into the Face of 'Darkness and Tyranny
Forces'
Naharnet/June 29/2020
Finance Ministry Director General Alain Bifani announced Monday that he is
resigning from his post "after we reached a dead end and the risk level surged
to a level" that he can no longer deal with "silently." "We waited a long time
for a chance to achieve serious change and we tried to anticipate what we have
reached today. We struggled to avoid the worst, but the forces of darkness and
tyranny came together to impede what we did," Bifani said at an explosive press
conference. He lamented that "we still don't know how much reserves we have left
to safeguard people's food security.""Where is capital control at a time the
Lebanese are being subjected to a constant haircut" to their bank deposits, the
resigned official asked. Decrying accusations against him, Bifani said "the
system has started showing its ugliest features.""They fabricated accusations
that we have grudges against the banking sector and that we are incompetent,
falsifiers and corrupt, but the judiciary will have the final say over these
cheap allegations," Bifani added. He said bank secrecy must be lifted fully off
the accounts of corrupt officials and that there should be cooperation with the
authorities of any country in which the embezzlers of public funds might find a
safe haven. Bifani also warned against turning the dollars of depositors into
Lebanese pounds prior to "further changes in the exchange rate."He also warned
against freezing the funds of depositors in a manner that "significantly strips
them of their value and deprive owners from using them," accusing some parties
of seeking to deny the losses and evade responsibility. Bifani held his post for
20 years and has been a member of the country's team negotiating with the
International Monetary Fund.
The Finance Ministry issued a one-sentence statement saying Bifani's resignation
letter has been received by Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni.
Bifani told al-Jadeed TV earlier in the day that his resignation is an
expression of rejection to the way the ruling elite is dealing with the crisis.
He added that the route taken in the country is "reckless" and this will badly
hurt the public. LBCI TV said that Bifani would continue to work in caretaker
capacity. Wazni would present Bifani's resignation to the Cabinet which in turn
will decide whether to approve it or not, it added. Bifani has been accused of
having failed to provide the government with “good figures” regarding the public
debt and losses of the Central Bank, thus weakening the government’s position in
the negotiations with the IMF. U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis
called Bifani's resignation "a loss for Lebanon during the rapidly deepening
overall crisis."The resignation comes two weeks after Henri Chaoul, a financial
adviser to the Lebanese government in the talks with the IMF, resigned, saying
there is "no real will" for reforms in the country. Lebanon, one of the most
indebted countries in the world, recently defaulted on its debt an has been
negotiating with the IMF for weeks with no breakthrough so far. The small
country is going through an unprecedented economic and financial crisis that has
seen the local currency lose more than 80% of its value against the U.S. dollar
in recent months amid soaring prices an popular unrest. Last week, IMF's
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that discussions with the Lebanese
side have so far not led to a breakthrough on an IMF financial assistance
program.
"The core of the issue is whether there can be unity of purpose in the country
that can then carry forward a set of very tough, but necessary measures,"
Georgieva said. Despite the spiraling crisis that has significantly weakened
Lebanon's government, it has not taken any concrete steps in fighting corruption
or started the badly needed reforms that the IMF and donor countries are
demanding to help get the country back on track.
Geagea Slams Aoun's Aides, Says IMF Talks Have 'Ended'
Naharnet/June 29/2020
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday criticized the inner circle around
President Michel Aoun and said Lebanon’s negotiations with the International
Monetary Fund have “ended.”“My impression is that President Aoun has not given
his opinion about anything lately, and when I used to talk to him about any
issue, he would ask me to ‘talk to Jebran,’” Geagea said in an interview with
LBCI TV, referring to Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, who is also
Aoun’s son-in-law. “Those in charge of the Presidency’s affairs are major
elements of discord,” Geagea said. Turning to the dire economic and financial
situations, Geagea said “Lebanon’s journey to the IMF ended before it began.”“In
the presence of this ruling class one can't hope for anything and U.S. sanctions
are a tiny part of the crisis,” he added. “I’ve heard that the Americans are
preventing the entry of dollars into Lebanon, but this issue is false and is
being used for distraction, seeing as who will send dollars to Lebanon during
this period?” Geagea said. He noted that some are trying to link the economic
crisis to international pressure on Hizbullah, but he pointed out that the
confrontation between the U.S. and Iran goes back to two years ago.
“There is nothing bigger than the popular pressure that is being exerted since
October 17, but the ruling authority does not feel anything,” Geagea decried.
Emphasizing that the Lebanese people are stronger than any calamity, the LF
leader said those in power must “head to early parliamentary elections.”
“Or let them do like Bifani did,” Geagea added, referring to Finance Ministry
director general Alain Bifani who resigned earlier in the day. “The ruling
majority does not have a sense of responsibility,” Geagea lamented. He also said
that “at its core, this government is not Hizbullah's government, but it is not
in control of its decisions.”“For example, Diab rejected the appointments in the
beginning before eventually accepting them,” Geagea explained.
Lebanon Banks Increase Exchange Rate for Dollar Deposits
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 29/2020
Lebanese banks sought on Monday to encourage depositors to withdraw trapped
dollar savings in Lebanese pounds by increasing their exchange rate, as the
national currency continued its tumble on the black market. Banks have gradually
restricted dollar transfers abroad and withdrawals since last year, effectively
trapping dollar savings in accounts unless their owners want to convert them
into Lebanese pounds. Several banks said on Monday they had increased their
buying rate from 3,000 to 3,850 pounds to the greenback. The move comes as talks
stall between Lebanon and the International Monetary Fund to lift the nation out
of its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. The Lebanese
currency officially remains pegged at around 1,507 pounds to the dollar, but the
black market rate on Monday morning reached a new record of 8,000, according to
several specialized websites.
The cap on dollar withdrawals has led those in need of the foreign currency to
resort to changers on the black market instead, sending the exchange rate there
soaring. The authorities have struggled to stem the collapse, with the central
bank on Friday launching an online platform in an apparent move to oversee money
changing operations at an official rate. Economist Jad Chaaban said banks
adopting the new exchange rate Monday was part of a "strategy of converting more
deposits to the Lebanese pound" as foreign currency becomes scarce, he said.
"The central bank is just printing currency to cover for any shortages in
foreign currency, which is a huge mistake" as it will simply lead to more
inflation, he said.
- IMF talks 'difficult' -
The IMF's managing director Kristalina Georgieva on Friday said talks with
Lebanon had been "difficult.""It has been really difficult and the core of the
issue has been whether there can be unity of purpose in the country that can
then carry forward a set of very tough, but necessary measures," she said.
"We do not yet have reason to say there is a breakthrough." The director-general
of the Finance Ministry, Alain Bifani, resigned on Monday, the official National
News Agency said, following two decades in the position that saw him take part
in the IMF talks. The news came after advisor to the Ministry in talks with the
IMF, Henri Chaoul, also stepped down earlier this month over "no genuine will to
implement either reforms or a restructuring of the banking sector, including the
central bank."Lebanon, which has a sovereign debt equivalent to 170 percent of
its GDP, defaulted on its debt in March for the first time in its history. The
economic crunch has sparked unprecedented protests since October and is plunging
entire segments of the population into poverty.
Russian Ambassador Reacts to Anti-U.S. Ruling
Naharnet/June 29/2020
Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin commented on the latest ruling
of a Lebanese judge against the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon over her statements,
al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday. “The statement made by (US ambassador to
Lebanon Dorothy) Shea does not differ from what other American officials declare
in the context of pressure on Lebanon and Hizbullah,” the daily quoted Zaspykin
as saying. He pointed out that Washington holds Hizbullah responsible for
corruption in Lebanon and for the economic stalemate, the crisis of the banking
system and the status of customs and border crossings. “We all know how the
financial and economic situation in Lebanon is greatly affected by the US
sanctions and restrictions on money transfers, mainly that Washington controls
the dollar and controls the management of financial affairs globally,” he added.
He criticized the US saying it wants to “use public anger and resentment in
Lebanon against the prevailing conditions and in favor of its political agenda,”
noting that Washington is trying to push Lebanon towards implementing reforms
“to measure its own standards.”“The US policy towards Lebanon implies an
explicit call for strife and a clear incitement against the Resistance. Moscow
strongly rejects the accusations leveled against the party that will not
surrender no matter how severe the sanctions and campaigns intensify,” he added.
A judge in the southern city of Tyre issued a ruling over the weekend banning
local and foreign media working in the country from airing or publishing locally
comments by the U.S. ambassador for a year. Judge Mohammed Mazeh said he acted
after receiving a complaint from a citizen who considered Shea's comments
"insulting to the Lebanese people." During an interview with Saudi-owned news
channel Al-Hadath aired on Friday, Shea had said that the United States has
"grave concerns about the role of Hizbullah," describing it as "a designated
terrorist organization." "It has siphoned off billions of dollars that should
have gone into government coffers so that the government can provide basic
services to its people," she said. "It has obstructed some of the economic
reforms the Lebanese economy so desperately needs," she added.
Hariri Confirms ‘Security Incident’ During Bekaa Visit 2 Weeks Ago
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
The press office of Lebanese former Prime Minister Saad Hariri confirmed on
Sunday that a “security incident” had taken place during a visit he paid to the
eastern Bekaa region two weeks ago. The pan-Arab Al Hadath television station
said in a report Sunday that a blast went off 500 meters away from Hariri’s
30-car convoy during his visit. His press office confirmed that the report was
“generally correct”.It said that Hariri had received information from concerned
security agencies that an explosion had gone off in the region on the same day
as his visit. “But since the convoy was not subject to any attack, and to
prevent any exploitation in light of the prevailing tension, his decision was to
remain quiet about the matter and await the results of the investigation of the
concerned security services,” the statement added. Unnamed sources, meanwhile,
confirmed to LBCI TV that preliminary information had suggested that the blast
resulted from the explosion of the fuel tank of a drone that was flying near the
convoy. “Investigations have been ongoing for the past 10 days and decisive
results might be announced tomorrow on whether it was a drone’s fuel tank or a
rocket and whether the convoy was being targeted,” the sources added.
Lebanon: Rai Invites Aoun to Reconcile with Arab, Int’l
Community
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai on Sunday strongly criticized a
national unity meeting chaired by President Michel Aoun, saying it worsened the
internal political division that originally caused the loss of confidence in all
politicians and those in charge of state affairs. Instead, Rai invited the
President to set the stage for a comprehensive national meeting in collaboration
with friendly states, to reconcile Lebanon with the Arab and international
community before it becomes too late. During his Sunday sermon in al-Diman, he
said the current situation “requires that all components of our society and our
state come together to save people from starving.”He said the Baabda Palace
meeting held last week failed to assure this solidarity because it “lacked
proper preparation.”The Patriarch also denounced Judge Mohammed Mazeh’s order
banning any Lebanese or foreign media outlet working in Lebanon from airing or
publishing local comments by US Ambassador Dorothy Shea for a year. "We deeply
regret this sudden judicial order,” he said. Rai regretted that the order was
issued on a holiday and in violation of legal principles, distorting the image
of the Lebanese judiciary, breaching the constitution, international treaties
and diplomatic agreements. In an interview with Al-Hadath television on Friday,
Shea said Hezbollah's behavior was preventing Lebanon from properly dealing with
a deep economic crisis. Mazeh said on Saturday that Shea's comments had incited
sectarian strife.
Lebanon Faces Challenge of Reopening Airport, Containing COVID-19
Beirut - Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
Lebanon is facing a new challenge with the reopening of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri
International Airport for commercial flights on July 1 even by keeping air
traffic at a 10 percent capacity. “Beirut’s airport opened last Wednesday for
private flights, while commercial flights will resume Wednesday with a 10
percent capacity or around 20 flights per day with an expected 2,000
passengers,” Fadi al-Hassan, the facility’s manager, told Asharq Al-Awsat. He
did not expect an increase in the price of tickets contrary to the past phase
when expatriates were evacuated from the country and planes returned half empty.
He predicted that Lebanon’s relatively limited cases of the COVID-19 disease
will boost its attractiveness as a tourist destination this summer, particularly
for Arabs and Lebanese expatriates. Allowing flights to land in its
international airport for the first time in more than three months means that
Lebanon could face a hike in coronavirus cases. Dr. Abdul Rahman Bizri, an
infectious disease specialist and member of the emergency committee on
coronavirus, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the opening of the airport is essential
because several sectors are hinging on the return of tourists to support the
dire economic situation.
In addition to the mandatory guidelines set by the airport to restrict the
spread of the virus, concerned authorities expect to have individual and social
responsibility to avoid a second wave of the pandemic. “There is an immense
responsibility on individuals to respect preventive measures to stop the country
from entering a difficult phase,” he said, adding that the medical team tasked
with fighting the outbreak is more capable than ever to deal with the
pandemic.PCR tests have become more available, said Bizri. The Lebanese Health
Ministry announced Sunday 21 new coronavirus infections, which raises the total
number of confirmed cases to 1,740. With an aim to contain the spread of the
virus among passengers, Middle East Airlines (MEA) released guidelines and
conditions for travelers arriving in Beirut starting July 1.Passengers will be
tested for COVID-19 upon arrival and asked to go into home quarantine if testing
positive. Social distancing signs were placed on the airport’s floor. Also, any
passenger showing coronavirus symptoms is prohibited from boarding a plane to
Lebanon. Economy class passengers are not permitted to keep carry-ons in the
cabin, while business passengers are allowed to do so, provided the luggage
compartment marks them on check-in.
Lebanon’s interior minister says he killed two people in
civil war
Khaled Yacoub Oweis/The National/June 29/2020
Mohammed Fahmi, staunch Hezbollah ally who oversaw crackdown on protests, says
President Michel Aoun protected him
A key figure in the crackdown on Lebanon’s protest movement said he killed two
people during the civil war, in rare admission of direct violence during
Lebanon’s bloodiest conflict. Mohammed Fahmi told Hezbollah’s Al Manar
television on Saturday that he was a junior Lebanese army officer when he killed
the two in 1981.“I apologise to the folks, to the audience. There was an
incident and I killed two,” the staunchly pro-Hezbollah minister said.
Mr Fahmi, a Sunni, did not reveal whether the killings were part of an army
operation or whether he carried them out on his own, amid the fragmentation of
the military during that period. He said the two belonged to a “powerful group”,
and that an incident occurred, without giving any further details.
But Mr Fahmi said President Michel Aoun, a senior officer at the time, protected
him and that a “sentimental” relationship had since developed between them.“It
happens that I am loyal. As long as I have a breath in me neither I nor my
family will forget what he did,” he said.
“He protected me from getting killed.”
The civil war, which by its later stages had descended into a war of
all-against-all, ended in 1990, a year after the Saudi and US-backed Taif
Agreement awarded Damascus sway over Lebanon. Mr Fahmi became head of Lebanese
army intelligence, part of the enforcement tools for the Syrian regime in the
country, which included Hezbollah. He held the position from the late 1990s
until he left the military in 2006, joining Blom, Lebanon’s largest bank, as
head of its security.
In January he became a member of Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s Cabinet in the
most pro-Hezbollah government since the end of the civil war.
Peaceful demonstrations demanding the removal of the entire political class had
forced previous prime minister Saad Hariri to resign.
A UN tribunal in the Netherlands is trying five suspects from Hezbollah, one of
whom is dead, for the 2005 killing of Mr Hariri’s father, statesman Rafik
Hariri, and 21 others in Beirut. Lebanon’s uprising broke out in October last
year as a financial meltdown began in the country. The protest movement has been
retreating under a crackdown by the authorities supported by Hezbollah. In
March, Interior Ministry troops dismantled the protesters’ last venue in
downtown Beirut. Mr Fahmi brought up the civil war to describe the revival of
demonstrations this month. “There is an obvious outside plan to destroy
Lebanon," he said. “The objective is to create chaos and a civil war in Lebanon”
and to “lure Hezbollah to chaos”, Mr Fahmi said. He said that security forces
would not use violence against peaceful demonstrators.
The dynamics of the protests changed after pro-Hezbollah elements forced
themselves into the protest venues in Beirut and other urban centres,
contributing to some of the demonstrations turning violent.
On June 6, Shiite demonstrators descended on protests in downtown Beirut and
exchanged sectarian insults with Sunni demonstrators.
Ten days later the Shiite component moderated its tone but focused on demanding
the removal of Central Bank governor Riad Salameh. Mr Salameh has become
unpopular with Hezbollah for enforcing US sanctions against banks associated
with the Iran-backed group.
The Lebanese Parliament passed an amnesty in 1991 for civil war crimes. Only one
major figure was tried and jailed, at the Syrian regime’s insistence. He was
Samir Geagea, an outspoken opponent of Hezbollah, the only militia allowed to
keep its arms after the conflict.
As Mr Fahmi was recounting the killing of the two people, the Al Manar
television presenter was smiling nervously. Hezbollah, whose members have been
implicated in high-profile killings in Lebanon and abroad, is usually as
nonchalant, but not as forthright, about its record.
The Strangler Fig: How Does Lebanon End?
Alberto M. Fernandez/MEMRI/June 29/2020
I spent much of my diplomatic career in what is called Public Diplomacy, which
involves the cultural and media functions of U.S. embassies and the Department
of State. In 32 years and 10 overseas assignments, I saw all sorts of peculiar
media events under all sorts of regimes. But I don't recall ever seeing
something as weird as what a Lebanese judge, Muhammad Mazih, ruled on June 27:
The judge banned all Lebanese media outlets from interviewing U.S. Ambassador to
Lebanon Dorothy C. Shea. This was a reaction to the Ambassador's pushback
against comments by Lebanese terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah blaming the U.S.
for Lebanon's economic collapse. Setting aside the practical aspects of such a
ruling, it is a bizarre one, as Lebanon supposedly seeks help from the
American-dominated International Monetary Fund and has received hundreds of
millions of dollars from the U.S. taxpayer. An embarrassed Lebanese government
apologized to the U.S. Embassy and claimed that the judicial ruling can be
safely ignored.
But, of course, this clumsy decision makes perfect sense if seen through the
lens of Iranian and Hizbullah actions through the years in the region. One
aspect of this subversion is in the field of media, and the independent media
and opposition political space in Lebanon is rapidly shrinking as a result of
deliberate action by Lebanese authorities. As Lebanese citizens rapidly become
hungrier, poorer, and more dissatisfied (with 25% in extreme poverty and 50% and
rising in poverty), the imperative to control critical or independent discourse
only increases.
Hizbullah's (and its allies') relationship with Lebanon increasingly resembles
the natural phenomenon of the Florida Strangler Fig (ficus aurea), a tropical
vine that entangles itself around a tree, supports it and is supported by it,
and slowly supplants it; even after the host is dead, the parasite still
survives.
Despite false promises by Hizbullah and its political satellites regarding a
potential Chinese windfall, things are unlikely to change for the better in the
near future in Lebanon. Recent propaganda stunts from the terrorist group have
tried to distract from the immediate crisis and offer false hope, focusing on
fantastic "Eastern options" for financial support, threatening war with Israel,
and playing the sectarian card. In its attempts at deflection, Hizbullah has
been joined by its partners in crime in Lebanon's ruling elite. More compassion
and empathy for the suffering of Lebanon's people seem to be on display from
foreigners than from the country's current rulers.
But how will this crisis end? One would assume that deep economic reform,
including elements such as public sector, fiscal, and banking reform, along the
lines outlined by experts such as Henri Chaoul, would have been a priority. But
there is no interest and seemingly little urgency among ruling elites regarding
the transparency, responsibility, and accountability needed to overcome
Lebanon's "hangover 30 years in the making."
Another logical way out of such a dilemma is seemingly not open to the Lebanese
people. In a state with free elections and political alternatives, those in
power – who have so mishandled the situation for years – would be replaced by
those out of power. That is not easily going to happen. While Lebanon's lively
protest movement is a hopeful sign, it has none of the suffocating control over
institutions held by the elites, nor the deadly force of Hizbullah. It is hard
to conceive of how it can take over. Those in power may be hoping that any
pressure for reform will dissipate once Beirut's international airport opens,
and that most dissent can be exported.
Despite the unfolding human tragedy we see so graphically portrayed in the
media, Lebanon still "works" for those who count: for the elites, it is still a
turnip to be squeezed of whatever diminishing resources can still be extracted
in the service of a bloated cronyism, and for Hizbullah it is a platform, a safe
haven, and a regional launchpad. Hizbullah did not create the current crisis,
but its straightjacket rule cannot allow the system to undertake the painful
course correction that is so desperately needed.
Economic reform should have been, relatively, easier than political reform. The
obvious and preferred path of peaceful political and economic reform seems very
unlikely. What about other, more riskier paths, such as partition, or military
rule, or a collapse into anarchy?
Dreams of partition in Lebanon, particularly among Lebanese Christians, have a
long and fractious history. This is to be seen in the explosive and
controversial idea – cantonization – dividing the country into sectarian-based
political cantons, akin to the area controlled by the Lebanese Forces (LF)
militia roughly from 1975 to 1989. Ironically, it was the current Lebanese
president, Michel Aoun, who helped bury that canton in internecine fighting from
1989 to 1990. Another canton idea grounded in history was the area included in
the Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon (1861-1914), which encompassed most of
current-day Lebanon's Christian and Druze population.
But the situation today is very different from Lebanon in the 1980s or in the
19th century. Today in Lebanon there is no militia except the battle-hardened
and heavily armed one that is Hizbullah. That group and its sectarian allies
would never willingly allow portions of the country to formally slip out of its
control. Some might say that a collapsing Lebanon could see the Lebanese Army (LAF)
split along sectarian lines with Christian units providing security in majority
Christian areas (likely an area similar to the old LF canton from East Beirut to
Madfoun). But the Lebanese Army would likely be no match for Hizbullah, and the
idea that it is somehow immune or above the country's many pathologies seems
naive.
And Christians face another problem: their political allegiances today are even
more split than they were in the bloody years of the Lebanese Civil War. Aoun's
Free Patriotic Movement is a firm ally of Hizbullah, as are those Christians
clustered around Syria's traditional Maronite ally in the Frangieh clan of
Northern Lebanon. Lebanon's Druze are today more united than its Christians, but
are an even smaller community. They cannot stand alone. And focusing on
Lebanon's Christians and Druze ignores the reality that there are many Lebanese
Sunni and even Shia Muslims chafing under the hegemony of Hizbullah.
Federalism or partition is not a viable long-term solution, as the real division
in Lebanon today is between those – Christians and Muslims – wanting a
humanistic, just, and enlightened future, and those – Christians and Muslims –
who are subservient, either by conviction, greed, or fear, to the whims of
Iran's men in Lebanon and to the continuation of a corrupt political status quo
that is incapable of change.
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.
Soleimani's daughter marries Hezbollah leader Nasrallah's
cousin - report
Tobias Siegal/Jerusalem Post/June 29/2020
Over the weekend, 28-year-old Zeinab Soleimani married Riza Safi al-Din, son of
Hassan Nasrallah's cousin, Hashim Safi al-Din. Zeinab Soleimani, the 28-year-old
daughter of assassinated IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, has
reportedly married a close relative of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, N12
reported on Sunday. Over the weekend, Zeinab Soleimani married Riza Safi al-Din,
son of Nasrallah's cousin Hashim Safi al-Din.Al-Din heads Hezbollah's Executive
Council, and is considered the No. 2 in the organization. He is viewed by most
as Nasrallah's future replacement. Hezbollah had close ties to Qasem Soleimani
until his assassination in January. The marriage between Zeinab and Riza might
express an even tighter relationship being formed between the Lebanon-based
terrorist organization and Iran. Zeinab first appeared in the public eye when
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei visited the family's home to offer
condolences after the assassination of Soleimani. At her father's funeral,
Zeinab called on Nasrallah, Yemeni Houthi rebel leader Abdalmalek Houthi and
Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom she called her "uncles," to take revenge for
the attack on her father. She was the first woman to address a prayer
congregation led by Khamenei. Zeinab tweeted a video of her meeting with
Nasrallah along with the text "The spider nests of America and Zionists will
collapse."During a visit in Beirut, Zeinab also gave a speech at an event
organized by Hezbollah Women's Affairs, in which she said that the "martyrs" of
Hezbollah and Iran were guardians of Khamenei's and Islamic Republic founder
Ruhollah Khomeini's "values."
*Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this article.
Lebanese-Australian Lawmaker Says He's Not a Suspect in
China Probe
Associated Press/Naharnet/June 29/2020
A Lebanese-Australian state lawmaker said Monday that he was not a suspect in a
police investigation into unnamed people advancing China's goals in Australia,
days after his home and office were searched by police. Shaoquett Moselmane, a
member of the opposition Labor Party from New South Wales, said he was told the
investigation was looking into other people suspected of working with China and
denied any wrongdoing. "I have never jeopardized the welfare of our country and
our people," he told a news conference. Police have not said why they searched
Moselmane's Sydney home on Friday and also executed a warrant for his
parliamentary offices. Moselmane was born in Konin, southern Lebanon. He arrived
in Australia from Lebanon in 1977 together with his parents.
Australia has accused China of seeking to interfere in its domestic politics,
allegations that have strained relations and led Australia in 2018 to pass new
national security laws that outlaw covert foreign interference in domestic
politics and make industrial espionage for a foreign power a crime. The raids
are the first police investigation to grab public attention since the foreign
interference laws came into force and the government bolstered funding to
security agencies late last year to enforce them. Moselmane said Monday that he
would cooperate with Australian Federal Police in their investigation but also
exercise his right to remain silent. "I am under no illusion that this is a
serious investigation," he said. Moselmane denied media reports that he had
accepted Chinese government-funded trips to China.
In April, he stood down as assistant president of the New South Wales upper
house after praising Chinese President Xi Jinping's response to the coronavirus
pandemic. He said Xi had demonstrated "unswerving leadership" and decisiveness.
Moselmane said Monday that his views on China's handling of the pandemic were
consistent with those of the U.S. president, vice president and the World Health
Organization. Police declined to comment on Moselmane's news conference, saying
in a statement, "As this investigation remains ongoing, there will be no further
comment." Labor Party state leader Jodi McKay said Moselmane's party membership
was being suspended. Moselmane said he would take leave from Parliament until
the police investigation was complete. The Chinese Communist Party-controlled
Global Times newspaper on Monday accused Australia of "waging an intensifying
espionage campaign against China."
The newspaper cited a Chinese law enforcement agency source as saying Australia
was sending agents to China to spy, gather intelligence and "recruit assets."
Australia was described as "the thief who is crying stop the thief."Australian
Prime Minister Scott Morrison declined to comment on the report. "I wouldn't be
relying on Chinese state media for your sources for questions," Morrison told a
reporter who asked him about the Global Times allegations. Morrison described
the raids on Moselmane as a "very serious issue" for police and for the
Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nation's main domestic secret
service. "We introduced our foreign interference laws because we didn't want
Australia's political system or any other part of the country to be interfered
with," Morrison said.
Morrison described 55-year-old Moselmane, who was mayor of a Sydney municipality
before he was elected to Parliament in 2009, as a "very, very long-standing and
relatively senior person" within the Labor Party. The secret service, best known
as ASIO, confirmed in a statement that "search warrant activity occurred in
Sydney on Friday as part of an ongoing investigation," but would not comment on
Moselmane or its involvement. Less than two weeks ago, Morrison said that a
"sophisticated state-based cyber actor" was targeting Australia in an escalating
cyber campaign that was threatening all levels of government, businesses,
essential services and critical infrastructure. Most analysts said Morrison was
referring to China, but the prime minister would not name the country. Already
high tensions between Australia and China have been raised by the pandemic.
China in recent weeks has banned beef exports from Australia's largest
abattoirs, ended trade in Australian barley with a tariff wall and warned its
citizens against visiting Australia. The measures have been interpreted by many
as punishment for Australia's advocacy of an independent probe into the origins
and spread of the coronavirus. Australia's foreign minister has accused China of
using the anxiety around the pandemic to undermine Western democracies by
spreading disinformation online, prompting China to accuse Australia of
disinformation.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on June 29-30/2020
Iran Issues Arrest Warrant for Trump Over Strike That
Killed Soleimani
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
Iran has issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol for help in detaining
President Donald Trump and dozens of others it believes carried out the drone
strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, a local prosecutor
reportedly said Monday. While Trump faces no danger of arrest, the charges
underscore the heightened tensions between Iran and the United States since
Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world
powers. Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said Trump and more than 30 others whom
Iran accuses of involvement in the Jan. 3 strike that killed Gen. Qassem
Soleimani in Baghdad face "murder and terrorism charges," the state-run IRNA
news agency reported. Alqasimehr did not identify anyone else sought other than
Trump, but stressed that Iran would continue to pursue his prosecution even
after his presidency ends. Alqasimehr also was quoted as saying that Iran
requested a "red notice" be put out for Trump and the others, which represents
the highest level arrest request issued by Interpol. Local authorities end up
making the arrests on behalf of the country that request it. The notices cannot
force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but can put government leaders
on the spot and limit suspects´ travel.After receiving a request, Interpol meets
by committee and discusses whether or not to share the information with its
member states. Interpol has no requirement for making any of the notices public,
though some do get published on its website.
It is unlikely Interpol would grant Iran's request as its guideline for notices
forbids it from "undertaking any intervention or activities of a political"
nature. The US killed Soleimani, who oversaw the Revolutionary Guard's
expeditionary Quds Force, and others in the January strike near Baghdad
International Airport. It came after months of incidents raising tensions
between the two countries and ultimately saw Iran retaliate with a ballistic
missile strike targeting American troops in Iraq.
Detained Kata'ib Hezbollah fighters burn US, Israeli flags
upon release
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/Monday 29 June 2020
The Kata’ib Hezbollah fighters detained during a counterterrorism raid in south
Baghdad have been released and photos circulated of the Iran-backed fighters
lighting the American and Israeli flags on fire upon their release.
Iraq’s Joint Operations Command announced last Friday that 14 people were
arrested. The arrests came after members from Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service
(CTS) moved in overnight Thursday on a headquarters of Kata’ib Hezbollah in
southern Baghdad. Baghdad’s Green Zone was put under lockdown after armed men
from pro-Iranian militias took to the streets to demand the release of the
detained men. AFP reported that an Iraqi judge ordered the case dropped Monday,
quoting Kata'ib Hezbollah's spokesman Jaafar al-Husseini. "The judge ordered
their release due to a lack of evidence. The arrests shouldn't have happened,"
he said. Kata’ib Hezbollah’s security spokesperson then threatened Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi with punishment, or “torture” after the raid, meant
to send a strong message to militias, warning against attacking Iraqi
facilities.
But on Monday, Husseini said that his group would be filing a claim against the
premier. "The state of law must prevail, not the state of personal whims,"
Husseini told AFP. A separate spokesman said that a lawsuit would be filed
against al-Kadhimi for abduction. After the fighters were released Monday due to
a lack of evidence for their participation in attacks against foreign embassies
in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and its international airport, the men were
pictured burning the US and Israeli flags. Kadhimi, appointed to head the Iraqi
government in May, is the former head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service
and journalist. One of the main challenges for political sides in Iraq to agree
on a new prime minister was the backing of pro-Iran parties as well as
Washington's green light. Kadhimi has previously said that he would not allow
the country to become a battefield for Washington and Tehran. In recent weeks,
the US-Iraq Strategic Dialogue kicked off as well. It remains to be seen how
much of an impact last week's operation will have on Kadhimi's support from
pro-Iran factions.
Randa Slim, director of the Initiative for Track II Dialogues at the Middle East
Institute, said the recent raid on Kata'ib Hezbollah was a small effort in the
right direction. “It sends a message to the unwieldy parts of the Iraqi Popular
Mobilization Forces (PMF), like Kata’ib Hezbollah, that there is a new sheriff
in town,” Slim told Al Arabiya English.Yet, she noted the aftermath of the raid
and how the standoff with the militia was resolved, showed “the limits al-Kadhimi
faces in enforcing the rule of law and control over the PMF.”Ahead of an
anticipated visit by the Iraqi premier to Washington, Slim said that the recent
raid improved his chances of receiving a warm welcome.Meanwhile, Sajad Jiyad, a
political analyst based in Baghdad, said al-Kadhimi’s fate depended on if the
prime minister continues with such actions. “If he faces off against these
groups, does he have enough strength from the security forces to ensure victory?
That’s debatable after [the raid],” Jiyad told Al Arabiya English.
Arab Coalition, US Envoy Brian Hook reveal Iranian weapons
used against Saudi Arabia
Tommy Hilton & Leen Alfaisal, Al Arabiya English/Monday 29 June 2020
New Iranian missiles and weapons found in Yemen were revealed by the Arab
Coalition in a press conference on Monday. US Special Representative for Iran
Brian Hook and Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir
hosted a joint press conference after examining the weapons. Saudi Arabia is
consulting with all the countries on the UN Security Council on the dangers of
not extending the arms embargo on Iran, says the Kingdom's Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubair. A UN report recently stated that missiles and
drones used in attacks against Saudi Arabia were of Iranian origin, marking the
first time that the organization’s Secretary-General has explicitly recognized
Iran’s role in attacks on the Kingdom. The US President Donald Trump pulled out
of a nuclear deal with Iran in 2018, saying that it had not stopped Iran from
continuing to destabilize the region. Since then, the Iranians have violated the
deal several times. "Iranian leaders are rejecting diplomacy, fueling
instability, and worsening the suffering of innocent Yemenis...Iran will never
be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon," Hook said at the press conference. The
US submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council saying that the
current arms embargo on Iran should be extended beyong its expiration date on
October 18, 2020. “The weapons that we see here today … are all the evidence we
need, that the arms embargo on Iran must not be lifted. If the embargo expires,
Iran will be able to purchase and sell these weapons, as well as many other
kinds of weapons without any restrictions at all,” Hook said. If the arms
embargo expires, Iran will acquire new sensitive technologies and re-export to
its proxies in the region, Hook added.
Turkey, Austria summon each other's envoys after Vienna
clashes
Reuters/Monday 29 June 2020
Austria pledged on Monday to find out who was behind clashes between Kurdish and
Turkish protesters in the Austrian capital last week that have further strained
already tense relations between Vienna and Ankara. The Turkish Foreign Ministry
strongly criticized Austria’s handling of the protests, which it said were by
groups linked to militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
“Austria’s ambassador to Ankara will be invited to our ministry and informed of
our concern,” it said, accusing Austrian security forces of meting out “harsh”
treatment to the Turkish protesters. Austria’s Foreign Ministry said over the
weekend it would also summon Turkey’s ambassador on Monday. The trouble erupted
last Wednesday when Turks heckled a Kurdish gathering in Vienna, police said.
Kurdish protests on Thursday and Friday with around 300 people led to clashes
with Turkish counter-protesters in which stones and fireworks were thrown, said
the police, who were also attacked with metal bars. “It is completely
unacceptable for Turkish conflicts to be carried out on Austrian territory,”
Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told a news conference, adding that both sides
had attacked the police. “We will look very precisely at who was behind this
escalation during these recent demonstrations.”“It would be unacceptable if it
turns out that Turkish groups on Ankara’s orders, so to speak, are causing
destabilization in Austria,” Nehammer added. Police fined some
counter-demonstrators for using a banned hand gesture associated with the Grey
Wolves, a Turkish nationalist group. In total, 11 arrests were made and seven
police officers injured, Nehammer said.Austria has a large ethnic Turkish
minority but conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is an outspoken critic of
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. PKK militants have been waging an
insurgency against the Turkish state in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey since
1984 in a conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives. The PKK is
designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United
States.
Egypt’s national security closely linked region’s security:
Al-Sisi
Al Arabiya English/Monday 29 June 2020
Egypt’s national security is closely linked to the region’s security, Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Monday. The country is located in a
turbulent region that makes it difficult for Egypt to isolate itself within its
borders, he added.
“We live in a turbulent region… and the conflicts in the region make it
difficult for a country to isolate itself within its borders,” al-Sisi said.
“The threat of terrorism was the forefront of what we faced in the past years,”
he added. “Egypt does not attack anyone and does not interfere in anyone’s
internal affairs, but at the same time takes measures to preserve its national
security,” according to al-Sisi.
Millions of Syrians at risk of starvation, warn leading aid
groups
AFP, Beirut/Monday 29 June 2020
Leading aid groups called on Monday for increased access and funding for
millions of Syrians at risk of starvation, on the eve of a key conference in
Brussels. More than nine years into the conflict, the fighting has receded but
the humanitarian emergency remains acute, the international NGOs said in a joint
statement.“A staggering 9.3 million Syrians are now going to sleep hungry and
more than another two million are at risk of a similar fate,” they said. The
statement -- signed by the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, CARE, Mercy Corps
and others -- said the number of Syrians facing food insecurity has risen by 42
percent since last year. “Almost a decade of war has thrown Syrians into a
spiral of despair and destitution that keeps worsening every year. International
assistance is needed now more than ever,” the aid groups said. The Brussels IV
conference hosted by the European Union and United Nations opens on Tuesday to
assist war-affected people inside and outside Syria. “Unless funding and
humanitarian access are increased, many Syrians, including those living as
refugees in the region, will be pushed to the brink of starvation,” the aid
groups said. The war in Syria has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced
nearly half of the country’s pre-war population since it started in 2011.
Shipment of Iranian weapons, Farsi material
intercepted en route to Yemen
Tommy Hilton, Al Arabiya English/Monday 29 June 2020
A dhow carrying hundreds of reportedly Iranian weapons and other Farsi language
material was intercepted on April 17, said an official from the Arab Coalition,
who shared images from the material exclusively with Al Arabiya English. The
wooden dhow was found off the coast of Mocha, Yemen, according to an Arab
Coalition source. Small wooden dhows are reportedly used by Iranians because
they cannot be detected by radars.The finding is the latest shipment of
Iranian-made weapons and missiles to be intercepted en route to Yemen, where
Iran supports the Houthi militia in its conflict with the UN-recognized
government and Arab Coalition despite the arms embargo on the country. Two other
shipments from November, 2019, and February, 2020, were cited as evidence by a
recent UN report that concluded Iranian arms “may have been transferred in a
manner inconsistent” with UN resolution 2231 – the resolution that endorsed the
Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA. This latest shipment seems to add to the
existing evidence that Iran has been exporting arms to Yemen despite another UN
resolution, 2216, which forbids the transfer of arms to the Houthis. “Since the
beginning of the Arab Coalition’s involvement in Yemen under UNSCR 2231, member
states of the Arab Coalition in addition to other friendly states have
intercepted Iranian weapon shipments to the Houthi militias in Yemen. This is
hardly a new phenomenon. In fact, there are similarities between weapons that
Iran transferred to its terrorist militias in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon and those
transferred to the Houthi militia in Yemen,” a Saudi Arabian official told Al
Arabiya English.
Concerns growing over two lawyers on ‘death fasts’ in
Turkey prison: Activists
Ismaeel Naar and Jiwan Soz, Al Arabiya English/Monday 29 June 2020
Concerns are growing over two lawyers currently on death fasts in prison in
Turkey as activists continue to protest what they say is negligence by Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government in their treatment of prisoners on
hunger strike. Lawyers Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal both began a hunger strike on
February 3 and a death fast on April 5, demanding a fair trial. Last May, Timtik
was sentenced to 13 years, six months, and Aytaç Ünsal to 10 years, six
months.“Timtik has lost about 40 kilograms of weight after months of a hunger
strike. The government must move to save her and her colleagues, as they are
facing death. The hunger strikers, including my cousin, are calling for a fair
trial and this is a legitimate right,” said Umran Deniz, a niece of Ünsal. “The
charges against them are invalid, especially since Turkish judges acquitted them
and ordered their release, but on the same day other courts requested them and
sentenced them to long years in prison,” she added. According to the People’s
Democratic Party (HDP), death fasts differ from hunger strikes as those who go
through it only drink water with sugar and salt in it compared to hunger
strikers who consume several liquids and take vitamin B.The issue of death fasts
in Turkish prisons in recent months has been highlighted following the death of
musician Mustafa Koçak in April after 297 days of hunger strike. Koçak was
serving a life sentence over charges related to the killing of a Turkish
prosecutor. He was also part of the politically engaged Yorum band. According to
the Stockholm Center for Freedom, 22 international bar associations have asked
Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals to order the release of Timtik and Ünsal
following reports of their failing health.
Arab Parliament Speaker Unveils Unified Strategy to Confront Turkish, Iranian
Meddling
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
Mishaal bin Fahm al-Salami, speaker of the Arab Parliament, stated that the
Turkish and Iranian intervention in Arab affairs has reached a very dangerous
level, prompting its members to endorse a unified strategy to confront them.
Salami told Asharq Al-Awsat that the strategy stresses the unity of Arab
national security, meaning that any attack against an Arab state is an attack
against all Arab states combined. Asharq Al-Awsat received a summary of the key
features of the strategy that will be submitted to the Arab League. On Turkey,
it stressed the importance for relations between Ankara and Arab countries to be
based on international law, good neighborliness and mutual respect of
sovereignty. It calls against the meddling in the internal affairs of others. It
also expressed its rejection of Ankara’s expansionist ambitions in the Arab
region, calling for the activation of the Joint Defense Treaty that was signed
in Cairo in 1950. The pact may be used as a collective Arab means to confront
Turkish military meddling in Arab affairs. It proposed the possibility of
suspending the trade exchange and joint projects with Turkey until it abandons
its ambitions in the region and its hostile policies that undermine the security
and stability of Arab countries. On Iran, the strategy calls for “solidarity
with any Arab country” to confront the Tehran regime’s policies and “assaults
against their sovereignty and attempts to fragment their social fabric”. It also
rejected the “Iranian nuclear project and said it was committed to keeping the
Middle East free of nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction.”It urged
the development of “Arab capabilities to defend their sovereignty, security,
stability and interests to deter any aggression, while condemning the all forms
of militias and organizations linked to the Iranian regime and active in Arab
countries.”
It stressed its commitment to “the Arab identity and underlined the need to
prevent internal disputes from developing into sectarian and ideological ones”,
saying it stands against the Iranian regime’s project “to expand its revolution
to the Arab world.”
The Arab Parliament’s strategy said it was committed to restoring the Abu Musa
and the Greater and Lesser Tunb islands to the United Arab Emirates from Iran’s
control. It urged the Iranian regime to relinquish the islands or face
international arbitration.
The strategy also backed Bahrain in confronting Iranian meddling in its internal
affairs and stressed the need for Tehran to respect the sovereignty of Yemen and
United Nations Security Council resolutions that bar the delivery of weapons to
the Houthi militias there. It condemned in the strongest terms Iran’s supplying
of the Houthis with ballistic missiles and drones that have been used in attacks
against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia.
Defying UN, GNA Continues to Amass Forces to ‘Liberate’
Sirte, Jufra
Cairo – Khaled Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
The Libyan National Army (LNA) and Government of National Accord (GNA) continued
to amass their forces around the strategic coastal city of Sirte, despite calls
by the United Nations mission in Libya for an immediate ceasefire. GNA military
spokesman Mohammed Ganunu said the forces were determined to “liberate” Sirte
and al-Jufra from so-called Russian mercenaries and local criminal gangs. He
vowed that they will be pursued wherever they are in Libya. The matter is
pressing now, more than ever, he alleged in a statement on Saturday. He claimed
that Sirte has become a “hotbed” for foreign mercenaries from the Russian and
Syrian Wagner group and local criminal gangs that are accused of committing war
crimes and crimes against humanity after they were routed from Tripoli and
Tarhuna. Sirte has consequently become one of the most dangerous threats to
Libya’s peace, he added, while saying that the “Wagner mercenaries” are now
“occupying” the al-Jufra region. They have set up base there and are seeking to
extend their control to the oil fields in the south. He blamed Libyan forces
that supported “rebels and coupists” for the arrival of Russian, Syrian and
African mercenaries in Libya. He also accused Arab and foreign countries, which
he did not identify, of supporting the mercenaries and facilitating their
arrival in Libya. They have alleged that their presence in Libya is a “red
line”, Ganunu said in an indirect reference to Egyptian President Abdul Fattah
al-Sisi’s recent warnings that Sirte and al-Jufra were red lines that the GNA
and its militias must not cross. Talk of a ceasefire is “unacceptable” at a time
when foreign mercenaries are “occupying” Sirte and al-Jufra and oil fields,
Ganunu continued. On the other end of the divide, the LNA announced that it was
dispatching more ground forces to bolster its positions in the central region. A
unit from the 128th battalion and the second unit in the 166th battalion have
been dispatched to the area, vowing to “carry out orders to the death in defense
of the nation.” The LNA did not disclose the purpose of the deployment, but said
it was at the order of the military command. It also broadcast images of a field
tour its forces carried out at the al-Sharara oil field. Deputy head of the
United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Stephanie Williams, renewed on Saturday
the appeal for the need to reach an immediate permanent ceasefire in Libya to
avoid more bloodshed and destruction in the country. She made her remarks during
a meeting with GNA chief Fayez al-Sarraj in Rome. She expressed her great
disappointment with reports of a new wave of foreign mercenaries entering the
al-Sharara and other oil fields. She warned that massive damage would be
incurred on the country’s oil sector should these regions become embroiled in
the conflict.
UN Rights Chief: Israel's Annexation Plans 'Illegal'
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
Israel's aim to annex parts of the occupied West Bank was clearly "illegal", the
UN's top human rights official said on Monday, warning that the consequences
could be "disastrous". "Annexation is illegal. Period," Michelle Bachelet said
in a statement, adding that "the shockwaves of annexation will last for decades,
and will be extremely damaging to Israel, as well as to the Palestinians". "I am
deeply concerned that even the most minimalist form of annexation would lead to
increased violence and loss of life, as walls are erected, security forces
deployed and the two populations brought into closer proximity,” Bachelet said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to extend Israeli sovereignty
over Jewish settlements in the territory has drawn condemnation from the
Palestinians, US Arab allies and other foreign governments. His cabinet is due
to begin formal annexation deliberations on Wednesday, July 1.
Israel's Gantz Says Date for West Bank Annexation Talks
‘Not Sacred’
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top coalition partner Benny Gantz
said on Monday that a July 1 target date to begin discussing proposed annexation
of occupied West Bank land was "not sacred", a source in Gantz's party said. The
remarks, which the source said Gantz made during a meeting with US Ambassador
David Friedman and White House adviser Avi Berkowitz, threw doubt on prospects
for a unified Israeli approach to President Donald Trump's peace plan.
Washington wants Gantz on board for the plan, which envisages Israel annexing
Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley, and a Palestinian state established
under strict conditions elsewhere in the West Bank. With the Palestinians
boycotting the plan, however, Netanyahu and Gantz had agreed in a deal under
which they formed a coalition government last month that a cabinet debate on
annexation could begin as of July 1.
"Gantz made clear in the meeting that July 1 is not a sacred date" and voiced
preference for Israel dealing with the economic ravages of the coronavirus
crisis, a source in his centrist Blue and White party said, according to
Reuters. Briefing reporters last week, Gantz -- who serves as Israel's defense
minister, as well as alternate prime minister -- predicted that the coronavirus
crisis could last 18 months. Hailing the Trump plan as an "historic move", Gantz
told the US envoys that it should be advanced "with strategic partners in the
region and with the Palestinians, and to reach an arrangement that benefits all
side," the source said. The US embassy spokeswoman could not immediately be
reached by Reuters for comment.
US Team to Discuss Annexation Plans with Israeli Officials
Tel Aviv - Nazir Magally/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
A US delegation led by Special Middle East Envoy Avi Berkowitz will begin
meetings with senior Israeli officials to examine Israel’s plans on annexing
parts of the occupied West Bank. Berkowitz arrived in Israel on Friday after a
series of discussions held last week at the White House. The US officials
decided to continue discussions with Israeli officials, namely Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, alternate PM Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi,
and Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin. The Trump administration is leaning toward
allowing Israel to pursue its plans, as promised by President Donald Trump
within the framework of the peace plan he unveiled some six months ago. However,
due to the sensitivity of the sovereignty issue and its ramifications, officials
haven’t taken a decision on the areas that will be included in the final plan.
US and Israeli officials are exploring various roadmaps, including implementing
full sovereignty in 30 percent of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley and
north of the Dead Sea, according to Israeli sources. There are also questions
surrounding the Jordan Valley, which on one hand enjoys Israeli consensus in
terms of sovereignty, but could damage relations with Jordan which rejects it
completely. Another proposal being discussed is that Israel should just maintain
its sovereignty in the large settlement blocs, which enjoy national consensus.
Meanwhile, the Washington-based Jewish Institute for National Security of
America (JINSA) issued a statement over the weekend calling for Israeli
sovereignty in the Jordan Valley, claiming it is a good proposal to Jordan as
well. JINSA researchers believe that despite the “short-term tensions likely to
arise from Israel's sovereignty bid, in the long-term Israeli sovereignty in the
Jordan Valley will bolster US national security.”
The Jordan Valley's depth creates a barrier and provides a far more defensible
and natural boundary than the 1967 line, according to researchers, adding that
it will also serve to protect Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA) from the
real possibility of Hamas taking control over the West bank, similar to the
situation in Gaza. JINSA President and CEO Michael Makovsky told Israel Hayom
that he understands Jordan's concerns about Israeli plans, but “if you think in
the long term, it's also good for Jordan that Israel receives sovereignty over
the Jordan Valley.”CEO of the “Middle East forum- Israel” Nava Dromi sent an
open letter to Netanyahu asking him to assign July 1 a historic day where he
will fulfill his promise to impose Israeli sovereignty on areas in Judea and
Samaria. Dromi admitted that this is not a simple process. However, she
indicated that in situations like these a courageous leadership is needed, just
like the leadership of David Ben-Gurion during the establishment of Israel,
especially with threats against the annexation and warnings of the consequences
if Tel Aviv went ahead with it.
Fate of Palestinian Weapons in Limbo in Case of Annexation
Ramallah - Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
The Palestinian Authority has left many questions unanswered regarding the fate
of the president, government, ministries, employees, salaries, security guards
and their arms in case Israel annexed parts of the West Bank in July. This step
eliminates the authority and brings back Israel as an occupation force,
according to Palestinian officials. Israeli channel Kan reported that the
Palestinians informed Israel – through mediators – that in case of annexation,
the Authority’s weapons will be transferred to Beit El settlement and handed
over to Israel. A similar message was conveyed to the US through its Central
Intelligence Agency delegation that secretly visited Ramallah last week. The
delegation met Palestinian officials in a bid to convince them to open a
dialogue with the White House about US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, but
these efforts were unsuccessful. Kan added that the Palestinians affirmed that
in case annexation took place, then the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
could declare the disbandment of the PA. Moreover, there won’t be a party in
charge of paying employee salaries. Palestinian officials describe such a move
as a “judgment day weapon.” “We’ll bring the weapons and ammunition in trucks to
the headquarters at Beit El if there’s annexation. We’ve already prepared lists
of all the arms. Israel will be responsible for security in the West Bank,” the
Palestinian officials were quoted as saying. The threat is being taken
seriously, according to the Israeli report. A newly released report revealed
that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refused to receive a phone call from US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who wanted to discuss developments linked to the
Israeli annexation plans. A security source told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that
they were warned to be cautious during their personal movements and to abstain
from holding guns, especially at Israeli checkpoints. “To annex one centimeter
or 100% of the West Bank is the same. If annexation takes place, in any form or
shape or size, it’s over,” PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said.
Jordan Foils ISIS Plot to Attack Church
Amman - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
Jordan’s General Intelligence Directorate has foiled a terrorist plot to attack
a church and liquor store in Amman. Al-Rai daily reported that four militants
affiliated with ISIS were arrested earlier this year before their attempt to
join the terrorist organization by infiltrating the Jordanian border to Syria.
Tight Jordanian security measures prevented them from crossing the border and
instead they plotted to carry out military operations in Jordan. Authorities
held a public trial for the four defendants, during which they said their plan
was to attack the church and the store with explosive devices, but they faced
difficulty in manufacturing the explosives and resorted to machine guns instead.
Jordan’s State Security Court charged the defendants with conspiracy, intention
to carry out terrorist attacks, and attempting to join armed groups and
terrorist organizations. Three of the convicts are also facing charges of
promoting the ideas of a terrorist group. The defendants are all friends and
reside in al-Wehdat area, east of the capital. Following the developments in
Syria and Iraq and the emergence of ISIS in 2014, the defendants began
exchanging ideas and promoting rhetoric of the terrorist organization online.
They became supporters and members of the extremist group and pledged allegiance
to its leader. According to the newspaper, the defendants were adamant on
supporting ISIS, so they agreed in 2017 to join its ranks. They began searching
for a safe way to join the organization, but failed due to tight security
measures on Jordan’s border.
Early in 2018, the first and fourth defendants were determined to carry out
military operations in Jordan, and identified a number of places as their
targets. Eventually, they settled on attacking the Armenian Church in al-Ashrafyeh
area, east of Amman, and a liquor store in al-Wehdat.
They chose the two targets for their proximity and their knowledge of the area.
Baghdad, Washington: Raid on Kataib Hezbollah HQ was Strictly Iraqi
Baghdad – Fadhel al-Nashmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 29 June, 2020
The debate is still ongoing among Iraqi popular and official circles over the
security forces’ raid on headquarters of the pro-Iran Kataib Hezbollah faction
in southern Baghdad. The raid was carried out late on Thursday in the Dora
district, in which 14 members were arrested, including an Iranian rockets
expert.
Prime Minister Mutafa al-Kadhimi, in his capacity as commander of the armed
forces, ordered the elite Counter Terrorism Service to carry out the operation.
It took place after a number of rocket attacks near the US embassy in Baghdad
and other US military sites, Baghdad International Airport and joint camps for
Iraq’s army and international coalition forces in recent weeks. The operation
and ensuing arrests were widely supported by the majority of the political
forces and civil actors who have been complaining for years about the rising
influence of armed factions. Meanwhile, pro-Iranian factions and opposing forces
questioned the need for the operation, alleging that it was carried out with the
help and support of the United States and the anti-ISIS coalition, which it
leads. The claims were denied by Baghdad, Washington and the coalition.
Government spokesman Ahmed Mulla Talal affirmed that the operation was planned
and implemented internally and without any foreign intervention. In a tweet on
Sunday, Talal stressed that the Dora raid was preemptive and aims at preserving
the integrity of the state. The operation was completely planned, implemented
and supervised by Iraqis, the spokesman added, dismissing claims to the contrary
as “baseless lies”. The US embassy meanwhile, refuted remarks attributed to US
Ambassador to Kuwait, Alina Romanowski, about the operation. The US mission in
Kuwait slammed the remarks reported in Iraqi media as “malicious
fabrications.”“Ambassador Romanowski gave no such interview and the purported
news originates from a website created to spread false information.” Iraqi news
websites and “electronic armies” funded by Tehran had claimed that Romanowski
had stated that international coalition forces had taken part in the raid at the
request of the Iraqi government. The international coalition, itself, also
denied the allegations. Coalition spokesman Myles Caggins said in press
statements on Sunday that the coalition forces in Iraq are under the Iraqi
government’s protection. The Iraqi government issues the decisions, without any
intervention by the US or coalition forces, he stressed.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on June 29-30/2020
Iranian opposition’s fight for democracy
deserves support
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 28/2020
مجيد رافيزادا: معركة المعارضة الإيرانية من أجل الحرية تستحق الدعم
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/87755/dr-majid-rafizadeh-iranian-oppositions-fight-for-democracy-deserves-support-%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b9%d8%b1%d9%83%d8%a9-%d8%a7/
For more than 40 years, the desire for democracy in Iran has been
channeled by the organized resistance movement. That movement reached an early
crescendo in 1981, with the first great uprising against the theocratic
dictatorship. But proof of the opposition’s staying power came at great cost.
The street protests of June 20, 1981, were met with a brutal crackdown, led by
the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Hundreds of activists were
killed on the spot and thousands more were systematically executed in the
ensuing months, as the regime struggled to exert real control over groups that
had been growing more and more popular since Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in
the wake of the 1979 revolution.
The number of Iranian political prisoners swelled in the aftermath of the 1981
uprising and, seven years later, inmates all across the country found themselves
being interrogated about their political affiliations and their views on the
system of absolute rule by religious clerics. The summer of 1988 bolstered the
death toll for opposition activists by a staggering 30,000. According to Amnesty
International, the majority of the victims were targeted for their association
with the main opposition group, Mujahedin-e Khalq. Over the course of the next
two-and-a-half decades, the overall death toll would climb to about 120,000.
Yet none of this has been sufficient to extinguish the people’s hopes for
democracy or the activity, popular appeal and the organizational integrity of
the resistance. Today, that 1981 movement is part of a broader coalition known
as the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which had its genesis in
the 1981 uprising and now enjoys strong international support. The influence of
the resistance was put on display this month in a video conference organized to
commemorate the Day of Martyrs and Political Prisoners, which dates back to the
1981 uprising. The virtual event established connections between 2,000 locations
and featured remarks from a number of international dignitaries.
The annual conference is significant because it recognizes June 20 as the
anniversary of the beginning of a long and ongoing process of self-sacrifice for
Iran’s pro-democracy activist movement. As former French government minister
Rama Yade told the conference: “On that day (June 20, 1981), the resistance rose
and, since then, has been moving forward, braving threats and fatwas,
intimidation and misinformation on the part of the regime, but also our own
cowardice, the latest of which was the nuclear agreement, which has come to
nothing.”
The Iranian resistance has continued to push for a reversal of the West’s
appeasement policies throughout the last 40 years.
Current and former legislators from the US, Britain, France, Spain and Germany
all utilized this event as an opportunity to reaffirm their support for the
Iranian opposition and to urge their own governments to do the same as a matter
of official policy. UK MP Steve McCabe said: “I want the British government to
be open in its support for NCRI and Madame Maryam Rajavi,” a reference to Maryam
Rajavi, the NCRI’s president-elect.
In her keynote speech during this month’s event, Rajavi said: “We are fighting
against a regressive worldview and order represented by the mullahs. We are
fighting against a prevalent approach that prefers the appeasement of, and
complicity with, this regime.” She added: “June 20, 1981, drew the line between
submission to the mullahs’ religious fascism and aligning with the shah and the
clerics on the one hand, and remaining steadfast, proud and choosing to make the
ultimate sacrifice on the other.”
The Iranian resistance has continued to push for a reversal of the West’s
appeasement policies throughout the last 40 years. It has made substantial
inroads, as evidenced by the consistent American and European presence at its
major events. But formal Western policies still lag behind individual
policymakers’ sense of duty to the fight for human rights and democracy in Iran.
While the death toll has continued to mount, the international community has
failed to exhibit the kind of support that would make Tehran think twice before
instituting another crackdown. Fortunately, the resistance movement has remained
strong and it shows no sign of going anywhere. It is also holding another major
virtual international gathering featuring hundreds of lawmakers and dignitaries,
as well as Iranians from as many as 60 countries, in support of a free Iran on
July 17.
The West missed a vital opportunity last November, when the regime responded to
nationwide protests with live ammunition, killing at least 1,500 people. This
was a chilling reminder of the bloodlust that was obvious in Tehran as long ago
as 1981, while the immediate aftermath was also a reminder of the activist
community’s resilience.
Inevitably, the public will take to the streets again in the near future to once
again demand regime change. And, when that happens, all the democratic nations
of the world should finally, after more than 40 years, show their willingness to
stand alongside these people and affirm their right to demand freedom and
democratic governance in their homeland.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Terror-exporting ayatollahs on the threshold of going
nuclear
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/June 28/2020
بارعة علم الدين: الملالي المصدرين للإرهاب أصبحوا على عتبة امتلاك السلاح النووي
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/87753/baria-alamuddin-terror-exporting-ayatollahs-on-the-threshold-of-going-nuclear-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b9%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%84/
After the 2015 deal aimed at curbing its nuclear program, Iran was judged to be
a year away from “breakout capacity” — having enough 90 per cent enriched
uranium to build a bomb. The latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
report indicates that Tehran is now less than four months away from breakout
capacity, having already stockpiled 1,572kg of low-enriched uranium.
The latest clash at the IAEA was over Tehran’s refusal to cooperate with the
agency’s requests to inspect sites believed to have been used before for atomic
research, including a testing range for high explosives in central Iran. China
and Russia have led the field in blocking IAEA efforts to pressure Iran. One
State Department official accused them of acting as “protectors and enablers” of
Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “What we’re verifying is the gradual diminishing
compliance with the agreement we’re supposed to be verifying;” IAEA
director-general Rafael Grossi sardonically commented.
European states have supported US efforts to extend a UN conventional arms
embargo due to expire in October, with Moscow and Beijing jostling to be at the
front of the queue to resume weapons sales to Tehran. This raises the question
of where Tehran finds the money to replenish its arsenal, since it already
spends billions bankrolling Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Assad regime while
ordinary Iranians go hungry.
North Korea is a small, impoverished, failed state, but it must be taken
seriously because if provoked it could rain down nuclear and ballistic weapons
on its enemies. A nuclearized Iran would be an infinitely greater menace because
of its belligerent position throughout the Middle East; for example, its
proximity to three marine global trade chokeholds – the Strait of Hormuz, Bab-el-Mandeb
and the eastern Mediterranean.
Although Iran’s recent provocative behavior includes attacking US bases, bombing
Saudi Arabia and pursuing supremacy in multiple Arab states, it must
nevertheless behave with relative caution because a decisive retaliatory strike
by America or Israel would be devastating. However, a nuclear-armed Iran would
fundamentally up-end such calculations, and could deploy its proxies against
Gulf states or Western assets with relative confidence that nobody would dare
retaliate.
A senior Obama-era official recalled to me that before 2015 the administration
“spent half its time trying to convince Netanyahu not to strike Iran … none of
us can live with a nuclear Iran”
Some of US President Donald Trump’s confused attempts to get tough on Iran have
produced perverse results, particularly with the cancelation of sanctions
waivers for measures under the 2015 deal designed to ensure the use of Iran’s
nuclear program for purely peaceful purposes. This occurred with both the Arak/Khondab
heavy-water reactor and the Fordaw site, which, instead of being repurposed for
medical or research activities, are now being reconfigured toward unmistakably
proliferation-sensitive purposes. “Soon the international community will witness
our new achievements at the Khondab research reactor,” boasted Ali Akbar Salehi,
head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Likewise, the 2015 deal guaranteed supplies of 20 percent enriched uranium for
the Tehran research reactor. This imported uranium was unsuitable for military
purposes. The Trump administration’s blocking of these supplies offers the
perfect pretext for the regime to return to enriching uranium to 20 percent and
beyond, moving us closer to nuclear midnight.
Whoever occupies the White House in 2021, the strategic threat of a nuclearized,
expansionist Iran must be policy priority No1.
Even a Biden administration could not simply set the clock back to 2015. A deal
would be meaningless unless it addressed Iran’s regional warmongering and vast
transnational paramilitary armies, or its recent advances in enrichment
technology. Under the 2015 agreement Iran shipped 97 percent of its low-enriched
uranium (enough to make more than 14 bombs) out of the country. Given Tehran’s
recent advances we could soon be back to square one — or ground zero!
A senior Obama-era official recalled to me that before 2015 the administration
“spent half its time trying to convince Netanyahu not to strike Iran … none of
us can live with a nuclear Iran.” Biden’s foreign policy advisers have
grudgingly acknowledged the brute effectiveness of Trump’s sanctions, although
they had little appreciable effect on Iran’s rush for a nuclear weapon or its
embroilment in militancy and terrorism.
The best prospect for fruitful multilateral efforts against Iran is via Moscow
(and to a lesser extent Beijing). Vladimir Putin has made considerable political
capital from disrupting Western policy-making, but he faces a quagmire of his
own making in Syria, which can be stabilized only by cutting Iran down to size.
Russia and China have most to lose from a belligerent, nuclearized Iran
dominating Central Asia. A senior Russian foreign policy official told me: “We
can never live with, or accept, a nuclear-armed Iran.”
Rather than indulge in zero-sum-game one-upmanship, America, China and Russia
must find common ground over the challenges of Iran, Syria, Turkish
expansionism, North Korea and arms proliferation. Nobody wants a planet where
terrorist rogue states call the shots while so-called world powers are compelled
to appease them.
Iran’s leaders may have no intention of actually using such a bomb, but along
with ceaseless rhetoric about annihilating Israel, there are numerous scenarios
in which the ayatollahs could resort to such an extreme measure, including a
scorched-earth policy to prevent client states such as Syria, Iraq or Lebanon
falling into the hands of its enemies; a regional conflagration of their own
making; or in the face of efforts to bring down the regime itself.
There are also prospects of an accidental nuclear strike or a Chernobyl-style
meltdown. This is a basket-case state with an appalling record of plane crashes
because of the unavailability of spare parts, not to mention the Revolutionary
Guards shooting their own citizens out of the sky. We await clarification about
the huge, mysterious explosion on June 25 next to the Parchin nuclear/military
site near Tehran.
As with North Korea, the prospect of crazed, megalomaniacal leaders wielding
these weapons of mass destruction prevents the world breathing peacefully.
Iranians, Koreans and rogue Pakistani scientists participate in a shadowy
proliferation trade in nuclear and ballistic materials. Iran is already the
foremost global state sponsor of terrorism; let’s not allow it to become the
principal exporter of nuclear secrets and dirty bombs.
The last thing the conflict-wracked Middle East needs is Tehran triggering a
regional nuclear arms race, with the logical end-point being wholesale
extermination of countless millions of Iranians, Israelis and Arabs.
If Iran’s priority really is safeguarding its citizens, it must immediately and
unambiguously advocate a Middle East entirely free of nuclear weapons
—including, first and foremost, Israel.
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.
But What About the Past
Hazem Saghieh/ Asharq Al-Awsat/29 June/2020
Some glorify the past, and glorification of ancestors and the dead may branch
out from this. Those with this inclination may justify it claiming to be
upholders of authenticity and their roots, and it may translate into the
construction of statutes and the sanctification of shrine.
There are others, in contrast, who abjure the past, calling for its abolition
and judging it by the standards of the present, thereby concluding that it is
retrograde and unworthy of being mentioned, rather, of existing. This
inclination may call itself progressive or futuristic.
These two inclinations are not total opposites; many revolutionary movements
became conservative as soon as they established regimes, pledging allegiance to
what they had previously condemned. The Communists’ relationship with Lenin’s
Mausoleum is a well-known example.
This recap is prompted by moves to take down statues in US and European cities
in response to the murder of George Floyd and, correspondingly, racism. This
event sparked a debate that we did not pay much attention to, although Arab
revolutionaries toppled a few statues themselves not so long ago, and, in 2003,
Iraqis toppled Saddam Hussein's statues. The renounced past is not embodied only
in statues; after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, for example, some of the
"free officers" demanded that Umm Kulthum be barred from singing because she had
sung to King Farouk.
Of course, the inclination to nullify, which emerges during times of popular
fervor and tension, is an age-old practice that predates modern history. Many
peoples, some of whom wanted to present sacrifices and others who wanted to be
reborn from scratch, sought to nullify.
The Byzantine Church is not innocent of this tendency: in the eighth and ninth
centuries, the “Iconoclast Movement” flourished and was supported by emperors
and priests. It arose out of theological positions to put an end to what had
remained of idolatry, but it was also associated with divergent social and
economic interests. A thousand years later, the French Revolution made its
contribution. In 1792, a law was passed declaring that “the sacred principles of
freedom and equality will not allow for statues raised in the name of
discrimination and tyranny to continue assaulting the eyes of the French
people.”
The next year, after radical leader Jean-Paul Marat's assassination, a movement
that engaged in vandalism and arson-attacks exploded, going past Iconoclasm and
targeting culture at large. Art, as far as they were concerned, subverted
morality, and undercut Republican simplicity and virtue.
At the beginning of the 1917 Russian Revolution, the statues of Tsars were
destroyed and replaced with those of revolutionaries, while a group calling for
"proletarian culture" (Proletkult) was established, aspiring to replace the
existing art forms with "revolutionary working-class aesthetics".
As for the Chinese Cultural Revolution, it wielded its knife at the cultural and
non-cultural past under the pretext of "intensifying contradictions during the
transition to socialism." In the same vein, the Khmer Rouge tore up pictures and
signs and destroyed temples in Cambodia. For liquidating reactionary individuals
does not suffice, reactionary memory must also be done away with.
But Post-Communist Poles reminded us of a disturbing truth: demolishing statues
does not leave us immune to the erection of new ones. While the monuments
honoring Lenin and Communist leaders were destroyed, a greater number of
monuments, honoring the Polish Pope John Paul II, replaced them. This came
before ISIS reminded us of what is even bitterer; extremely idolatrous regimes
can replace toppled “idols”.
Coming back to the events of the recent past, it is, of course, unacceptable for
symbols of racism and slave traders to occupy public space and take up a leading
position in its central plazas. The same is true in the rage that blows up
statues of tyrants like Saddam Hussein and Hafez al-Assad.
Here, in addition to the growing sensitivity to injustice, we face the objection
that goes beyond occupying a particular space to oppose occupying history and
the victor writing it. However, this practice, understandable when it happens
early on, is not beyond criticism in principle, and it should not be. Should we,
for example, demolish the buildings built with money generated by the American
Slave Trade or remove from history and literature books Shakespeare's Othello,
the Al-Mutanabbi’s poems lampooning Kafur? For this inclination could be
extended, as seen in the movie "Gone with the Wind", to include art, music,
literature, cinema, architecture and buildings, even the pyramids, the
destruction of which could be justified by their inherent racism and in the name
of confronting it.
Eradicating the past, like any eradication, is a dangerous act that replaces,
with catharsis, anger over laws and teaching history, which could be channeled
in such a way that makes us more attentive to racism or tyranny and more aware
of our responsibility.
Beginning with the 1790s and the ruckus of the French Revolution, groups who
toppled statues under the pretext that they embody "the ancient regime" have
been appearing and so have those who have provided deep and practical answers to
the problem.
Their most major opponent, Father Henri Gregoire, was among the most active of
those who fought for the abolition of slavery, was an enthusiastic supporter of
universal suffrage, racial and religious equality and the abolishment of the
privileges of the church and nobility. Father Gregoire, in response to the
vandalism, called for the creation of the Conservatory of Arts and Industry,
which later became the first museum in Europe and in which the treasures and
statutes of the palaces and churches were stored. For this is the whole nation’s
heritage, and their preservation presents the nation with the opportunity of
reminding itself of the past oppression and sorrow. While those who destroy
them, according to Gregoire, combine barbarism with counter revolutionary
distortion.
Gregoire brought museums to life, and we can now say to the statues of those we
hate: to the museum.
A Central Pillar of the EU is Under Threat
Ferdinando Giugliano/Bloomberg/June 29/2020
The European Union prides itself on its tough antitrust regime. It is one of the
pillars of the single market. But a recent court ruling, which overturned a
Brussels decision to block a British telecoms merger, has put this at risk.
At the same time, some of the EU’s most powerful states are pushing to create
“European champions” in certain industries by combining companies to better
compete with global rivals such as the Chinese. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic
is encouraging a more relaxed attitude toward industrial consolidation because
of the fear of companies going bust. Taken together, this confluence of events
means Europe’s commitment to protecting competition is wavering.
Unfortunately, there’s precious little evidence that mergers will boost
efficiency, as their champions claim. Indeed, they may hurt consumers by raising
prices and limiting choice.
Back in May, the EU’s second-highest court overturned the European Commission’s
2016 decision to block the takeover of O2, a British mobile operator owned by
Spain’s Telefonica SA, by its rival domestic rival Three, which is owned by Hong
Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. The General Court said Brussels hadn’t proven
that the merger would damage competition and lead to an increase in prices.
The Commission is appealing to the European Court of Justice, but the ruling has
prompted companies to dust off plans for mergers in telecoms and beyond. Were
the ECJ to uphold the General Court’s judgement, it would be much harder for
Brussels to make a case against many so-called horizontal mergers (where two
companies offering similar services combine).
The ruling comes at a bad moment for EU antitrust policy. The French and the
German governments were already leaning on the Commission to water down its
standards after Brussels blocked a combination between the rail businesses of
France’s Alstom SA and Germany’s Siemens AG last year. They’ve since been joined
by Poland and Italy. The EU has promised a review of its competition regime, but
this won’t happen until 2021.
The coronavirus pandemic will add to calls for a softer approach on mergers, as
a deep recession will put many companies under severe financial strain. EU
governments have sought to cushion the Covid blow through furlough schemes and
loan guarantees. However, these steps won’t be enough, especially in sectors
already facing more profound challenges, such as retail and travel. Governments
might then see mergers as a palatable alternative to job-destroying
bankruptcies.
There’s a danger here. As Thomas Philippon documented in his book, “The Great
Reversal,” the EU has become more competitive than the US. Its antitrust regime
isn’t perfect: For example, it has cleared too many horizontal mergers. However,
the increase in markups (as measured by higher profit margins) after these deals
has been generally less steep than in the US because the market has remained
more open.
A new wave of consolidation could reverse these gains. While supporters of
European champions often claim that they’ll be better at dealing with foreign
competition, notably from China, there’s no evidence to support this. A bigger
company can enjoy economies of scale, but the lack of intra-European competition
might also allow it to be less efficient and less innovative.
Letting a company rescue a failing rival isn’t always the best course of action.
In a recent paper, Massimo Motta, a professor of economics at Pompeu Fabra
University in Barcelona, and two co-authors looked at the so-called “failing
firm defense” in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic. They noted that there
were often good reasons to be strict about mergers in declining industries.
In such sectors, one can’t count on new rivals emerging to counter the merged
firm’s market power. And it might be better to let a failing company restructure
and downsize, in the hope that it will become competitive again. Finally, from
the point of view of consumers and taxpayers, an orderly market exit may be
better than a rescue. Technology will make certain companies obsolete. That has
always been the case.
Of course, politicians must help the workers of a failing firm, including
short-term income-support schemes and retraining. Some countries, especially in
southern Europe, have poor labor-market policies, preferring to keep zombie
companies on life support to the detriment of long-term efficiency.
A lively antitrust regime is the best antidote against the European economy
turning into a petrified forest. The EU should celebrate rather than suppress
this success.
Day Traders Will Have Fun Until They Get Wiped Out
Noah Smith/Bloomberg/June 29/2020
One time when I was sitting in my college dormitory, I heard a whoop of joy from
down the hall. My dormmate announced that he had just made $500,000 trading in
the stock market, after having invested only a few thousand dollars. When I
asked him how he did it, he grinned and simply said: “Call options.” I spent the
rest of the day reading about how this marvelous financial instrument could be
used to make a fortune in a day with just a small initial stake.
Of course, my lucky dormmate doubled down on his investment and ended up losing
most of his money when the dot-com bubble burst a couple of months later.
This saga illustrates the danger of day trading, especially with leveraged
instruments such as options. After the 2000 tech bust, day trading declined, but
the coronavirus pandemic seems to be driving something of a renaissance. Goldman
Sachs Investment Research reports that the percent of trading volume in the
stock and option markets from small trades has increased a lot since January,
while discount brokerage TD Ameritrade reports that visits to its website
teaching people how to trade stocks have nearly quadrupled. Robinhood, a trading
app that offers zero-commission trades and a simple, video-game-style interface,
had 3 million new accounts opened in the first quarter. Half of its new
customers are first-time investors. Many online communities are filled with the
standard elements of day-trader culture -- stories of fabulous fortunes gained,
hot tips, trading systems and theories and so on.
Coronavirus probably isn’t the only reason for the boom in day trading. Brokers
realized that they could offer zero-commission trades and make up for it with
interest earned by lending out their cash balances. Mobile apps made trading
easier and more fun than ever, and allowed new traders to start off with small
amounts of cash. A new generation of speculators has no painful memory of the
dot-com bust.
But whatever the reasons, the new day trading mania is not likely to result in a
happier outcome than the last one. There are many theoretical reasons and a
wealth of empirical evidence to suggest that most day traders are wasting their
money.
One of the most important concepts in finance -- and yet seemingly one of the
hardest to understand -- is that there are two sides to every trade. For a day
trader to make money, someone else has to lose money. In the most optimistic
case, the loser could be a normal person who needs to put money in or take money
out of their retirement account, and who therefore doesn’t worry much about the
price at which they buy or sell. But most trades are not this. Instead, day
traders are usually buying and selling either from each other, or from
algorithms programmed by skilled, experienced financial professionals. If it’s
the former, their trading is a zero-sum game. If it’s the latter, human day
traders are very likely to lose because the people who program trading
algorithms are typically very smart, and their computers can spot market-moving
developments faster than people can. This is why professional human traders have
been increasingly driven out of the market.
A related problem is the idea of slippage. Day traders might think that because
they’re paying zero commission, their trades are free. But when a day trader
places an order, a trading algorithm somewhere quickly figures out that they
want to buy or sell, and raises or lowers the price accordingly, so that the day
trader gets a less favorable price.
Another reason day trading is a bad idea is that people often fail to understand
when they’re winning and losing. If the market as a whole goes up (as it has
recently), many stocks will be winners. That can make a day trader feel like
they won, even if they would have made as much or more money if they had simply
bought an index fund and held onto it. This is especially true right now, when
correlations between stocks are very high -- in this case, meaning many stocks
are rising or falling together.
Finally, day traders often don’t understand the amount of risk they’re taking.
Call options of the type my college dormmate bought, for example, are a form of
leverage -- you might make fabulous riches, but you’re very likely to lose your
money. One young novice investor tragically committed suicide after seeing his
account generate large losses; though he probably misread the account statement,
this incident drives home the point that investors may not be prepared for how
much money they can lose with the trades they’re making.
A large amount of empirical evidence confirms that most day traders lose money.
A very large 2004 study of Taiwanese day traders, for example, found that more
than 80% lost money. A tiny number -- about 0.03% -- earned consistently large
profits, but the odds of possessing this kind of skill are slim. Most studies of
day traders in the US and Finland yield similar results -- a few traders are
consistently good, but most lose out.
Day trading might therefore be a fun way of gambling for those who are locked
inside waiting out the pandemic. But if regular Americans start betting large
amounts of their money on individual stocks and options, they’re courting
financial ruin. If you want to day trade, the best thing to do is to bet only a
small percent of your money to learn whether you’re one of the few who has the
skill to beat the market. Day trading should be treated like an expensive video
game, not like a way of getting rich quick.
Palestinians 'Execute' Unarmed Civilian, Condemn Israel For
Killing Terrorist
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/June 29/2020
The two fatal incidents -- the killing of the terrorist by the IDF and the
killing of the unarmed, handcuffed civilian by the Palestinian security forces
-- are a perfect demonstration of how the Palestinians twist truth until it is
utterly unrecognizable to the international media while hiding their own crimes
against their own people.
The same Palestinian officials who are accusing Israel of carrying out
"extrajudicial executions" are facing the same charge by Palestinian human
rights organizations. That, however, is an inconvenient truth that the leaders
of the Palestinians are striving to conceal from the eyes of the world.
The real problem, however, lies far beyond the con artists Erekat and Ashrawi:
it lies instead with the attitude of the international media and community
towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Why are foreign media outlets who are reporting about the killing of a terrorist
by Israeli troops ignoring the real "extrajudicial executions" -- the ones that
are carried out by the Palestinians who are again trying to conceal their crime
by diverting attention (and outrage) against Israel?
If Palestinian officials, so called human rights organizations and international
reporters are worried about "extrajudicial killings,"... they should talk to the
family of Al-Amouri, human rights organizations and eyewitnesses -- who can
describe in detail how Palestinian security forces shot dead a handcuffed man in
front of his elderly mother.
Two recent fatal incidents -- the killing of the terrorist by the IDF and the
killing of the unarmed, handcuffed civilian by the Palestinian security forces
-- are a perfect demonstration of how the Palestinians twist truth until it is
utterly unrecognizable to the international media while hiding their crimes
against their own people. Pictured: The Abu Dis checkpoint on June 23, 2020, as
Israeli police and soldiers review the scene of the terror attack. (Photo by
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)
Two Palestinians were shot dead near Jerusalem on June 23 -- one by the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) near the village of Abu Dis and the other by the
Palestinian Authority security forces in the town of Al-Eizariya.
The man killed by the IDF, 28-year-old Ahmed Erekat, was fatally shot after he
attempted to carry out a terror attack against Israeli soldiers with his car. A
female soldier was lightly wounded in the attack.
Palestinian officials were quick to condemn the "cold-blooded murder of Ahmed
Erekat by Israeli occupation forces." They claimed the terrorist was on his way
to pick up his mother and sister who were preparing for his sister's wedding
later that day." PLO officials Saeb Erekat and Hanan Ashrawi described his death
as an "extrajudicial execution by trigger happy soldiers."
Micky Rosenfeld, Israel Police National Spokesman to Foreign Media, refuted the
claims of the PLO officials by releasing CCTV footage of the vehicle attack. The
footage shows Erekat's car veering off the road towards the checkpoint's booth
and into the soldiers.
The release of the footage, however, evidently did not make an impression on the
PLO officials, who continued to spread libels and fabrications against Israel
and the IDF. "Shameless criminals, this is an Israeli army video, this will be
in front of the judges of the international criminal court," wrote the PLO's
Saeb Erekat, a relative of the terrorist.
The allegations made by Saeb Erekat and other Palestinian officials were widely
quoted in the foreign media, where Middle East correspondents always seem to
delight in bashing Israel. Like the Palestinian officials, the foreign media
seems blissfully unconcerned by the facts -- which is most likely why its
representatives take Palestinian libels and lies at face value.
The release of the footage leaves no doubt that Ahmed Erekat was on a mission to
murder Israeli soldiers.
While the Palestinian officials and the international media were busy blaming
Israel for the killing of a terrorist, Palestinian plainclothes policemen in the
nearby town of Al-Eizariya shot and killed 41-year-old Ala' Al-Amouri, a
resident of east Jerusalem, in front of his mother and other family members.
Palestinian sources said that Al-Amouri, a father of four, was killed by the
Palestinian policemen during an argument over a plot of land owned by his
family. Three members of his family were also shot and injured by the
plainclothes policemen during the scuffle, the sources added.
Al-Amouri was killed shortly after Ahmed Erekat carried out the terror attack
against Israeli soldiers. Yet, Al-Amouri's murder has been almost entirely
ignored by the international media and the same PLO officials who condemned
Israel for killing the terrorist who carried out the car-ramming attack. For the
PLO and foreign correspondents, Palestinian policemen shooting and killing an
unarmed Palestinian is no story at all.
When Israeli soldiers shoot a terrorist who tried to murder them at a
checkpoint, then the PLO and the foreign journalists express outrage.
A number of Palestinian human rights organizations have called for the
establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into the circumstances
surrounding the killing of Al-Amouri by the Palestinian security forces. Not
surprisingly, these calls have been totally ignored by the PLO leadership and
the foreign journalists reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) called for
launching an immediate investigation into the killing of Al-Amouri and for
holding those responsible to account. ICHR said its initial investigation showed
that Al-Amouri was shot in the chest after he had been handcuffed.
Another Palestinian organization, Human Rights Institutions Association (HRIA)
expressed its "surprise and denunciation of the increase in cases of excessive
and disproportionate use of force by Palestinian security forces in the West
Bank, the latest of which was the killing of the late Al-Amouri."
HRIA accused the Palestinian security forces of carrying out "extrajudicial
killings" of Palestinians. This accusation serves as a rebuttal of the lies of
the PLO officials who claimed that Israel was the one carrying out
"extrajudicial executions" of Palestinians. Many international media outlets,
nonetheless, parroted the deadly lies of the PLO officials against Israel while
choosing to ignore the allegation made by the human rights organization against
the Palestinian security forces.
Here is what HRIA had to say about the actions of the Palestinian security
forces:
"The high number of extrajudicial killings by [Palestinian] security services in
the West Bank constitutes a violation of the right to life. The actions of the
security services, including the excessive use of force, violate Palestinian
laws."
The organization also called on Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, in
his capacity as Minister of the Interior, to work towards ending the Palestinian
security forces' assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank.
The two fatal incidents -- the killing of the terrorist by the IDF and the
killing of the unarmed, handcuffed civilian by the Palestinian security forces
-- are a perfect demonstration of how the Palestinians twist truth until it is
utterly unrecognizable to the international media while hiding their crimes
against their own people.
The same Palestinian officials who are accusing Israel of carrying out
"extrajudicial executions" are facing the same charge by Palestinian human
rights organizations. That, however, is an inconvenient truth that the leaders
of the Palestinians are striving to conceal from the eyes of the world.
The lies, libels and double standard of the Saeb Erekat and Hanan Ashrawi fit
right in with their long history of anti-Israel incitement. Those who have been
following Palestinian affairs for many years are familiar with the lies and
blood libels of Palestinian officials against Israel and Jews.
The real problem, however, lies far beyond the con artists Erekat and Ashrawi:
it lies instead with the attitude of the international media and community
towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Why are foreign media outlets who are reporting about the killing of a terrorist
by Israeli troops ignoring the real "extrajudicial executions" -- the ones that
are carried out by the Palestinians who are again trying to conceal their crimes
by diverting attention (and outrage) against Israel?
If Palestinian officials, so called human rights organizations and international
reporters are worried about "extrajudicial executions," they should start by
investigating the abuse being perpetrated in their own backyard. They should
talk to the family of Al-Amouri, human rights organizations and eyewitnesses --
who can describe in detail how Palestinian security forces shot dead a
handcuffed man in front of his elderly mother.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
World must wake up to Iran regime’s extremism, sectarianism
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/June 29/2020
The Middle East and the wider world had been at peace with Iran until the
clerics took power in 1979. They hijacked the popular uprising and implemented
an ideology that incited religious and sectarian tensions and wars. In addition,
they deployed militias and mercenaries to target different ethnic and religious
groupings in the region. The Iranian regime’s project pivots around exporting
its extremist sectarian “revolution.” Or, to put it more bluntly, the Wilayat
Al-Faqih regime has, since its inception, sowed the seeds of terrorism and
sectarianism in the Middle East. The present-day rulers in Iran have embarked on
a mission to spread chaos across the region. For this objective, they have
largely depended on armed militias that receive money, weapons and training at
military camps run by the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Iran’s regime has established so-called cultural centers under the supervision
of the IRGC in several countries, including Sudan, Nigeria, Syria, Lebanon,
Yemen, and Comoros. These centers focus on creating and embedding terrorist
cells and spreading the regime’s hard-line Wilayat Al-Faqih ideology. The
Iranian regime has also carried out terror operations targeting diplomatic
missions and dissidents both inside and outside Iran.
Those who reflect on and study the history of post-revolution Iran will discover
that the regime is incapable of coexisting with others. They will also discover
that, for legitimacy, the regime depends on exporting chaos and instability to
the outside world. In addition, to maintain its support base it meddles in the
affairs of regional countries and finances terror operations within their
borders.
The latest evidence proving Iran’s belligerent behavior came this month in a
statement by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He informed the UN Security
Council that the cruise missiles used to attack oil facilities and an
international airport in Saudi Arabia last year were of Iranian origin. Guterres
further confirmed that several items in US seizures of weapons and related
materiel in November 2019 and February 2020 were also of Iranian origin. The UN
head pointed out that the design specifications of these items strongly
resembled those produced by a commercial entity in Iran, while the items also
bear Farsi logos.This crucial testimony by the UN head is simply the latest in a
vast catalogue of evidence that confirms the Iranian regime’s hostility toward
regional countries. Some countries from outside the region are perplexed by
Iran’s hostile policies, but Arab countries, especially those in the Arabian
Gulf, because of their geographical proximity to Tehran, are fully aware of the
nature and reality of the Iranian regime.
The regime in Tehran, meanwhile, knows its survival depends on evading its
commitments to the Iranian people, including the long-suffering religious and
ethnic minorities in the country. The Iranian regime prefers to focus on the
outside world or, one might say, “escaping forward” to distract the Iranian
people from the main cause of their suffering — the regime itself.
One only needs to look at the dire living conditions of the Baloch, Kurdish and
Arab ethnic groupings inside Iran to see how the regime oppresses them
politically, socially and economically. Members of religious minorities,
including Baha’is, Sunnis and Christians, are also regularly targeted, with many
tortured and executed in regime prisons. Anyone comparing this to pre-revolution
Iran will get some idea of the true enormity of the suffering that much, if not
most, of the Iranian population has endured since the revolution.
The horrendous evidence on the ground from across the region has exposed the
Iranian regime’s long record of attempting to appear as the innocent victim and
helper of the oppressed. The Iranian regime has directly or indirectly been
involved in killing tens of thousands of innocent people in Syria, Iraq, Yemen,
Lebanon and even inside Iran itself. It has displaced millions and sent IRGC
personnel to fight in Syria and Iraq.
With respect to the relationship between various terrorist groups and the
Iranian regime, it is widely known and well-documented that the regime hosted
Al-Qaeda commanders and members. It provided them with all the necessary help to
carry out attacks against the interests of Arab and Western countries. For
example, Tehran hosted Al-Qaeda leaders such as Abu Hafs Al-Mauritani, Saif Al-Adl,
Sulaiman Abu Gheith, Abul Laith Al-Libi, and Abul-Khayr Al-Masri, among others.
Iran also hosted members of Osama bin Laden’s family and is still hosting many
Al-Qaeda members who are wanted internationally.
The Iranian regime has the option to change and be part of the ongoing
international efforts to combat terror. This can only happen via action on the
ground — speeches and comments are not good enough.
Tehran could undertake positive steps, such as halting its financing of militias
and mercenaries, handing over Al-Qaeda leaders, ending its instigation of
sectarian hatred and religious conflicts, and integrating with the international
community. These steps could help Iran move away from its status as a sectarian
revolutionary regime and become a normal state.
The plain truth is that the leadership in Tehran refuses to believe, despite the
overwhelming evidence, that its popular domestic base is now declining,
especially among the country’s poor, who were once the primary supporters of the
regime. Outside Iran, meanwhile, the ongoing protests in Iraq and Lebanon
against Iran’s interference indicate the rapid decline of Iranian influence
across the region.
While regional countries are keen to promote peaceful coexistence, mutual
respect and good neighborliness with Iran and its people, they reiterate that
they will no longer remain silent on the Iranian regime’s terrible excesses.
For legitimacy, the regime depends on exporting chaos and instability to the
outside world.
All of us will pay a heavy price unless serious global action is taken to
counter the regime’s insatiable thirst to shed blood and kill innocent people in
order to export its revolution. It is imperative that the Iranian regime
dissolves its sectarian militias and ends its deliberate provocations that have
led to sectarianism and antagonism in the region. However, if the regime is left
to continue with its provocations, they could lead to unspeakable consequences,
not only for the region’s countries, but for the international community in its
entirety.
Stability and peace will only come about if the world wakes up to the grave and
very real dangers of terrorism and sectarian conflict that are instigated and
enabled by the Iranian regime.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is Head of the International Institute for Iranian
Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami
Europe will continue to support the Syrian people
Josep Borrell/Arab News/June 29/2020
The conflict in Syria has entered its 10th year. Ten years of war, suffering and
grief. And it’s still not over. Syrians continue to live in fear and despair,
their future held hostage. While the war has forced half the population to flee
their homes in the past decade, those who stayed behind are facing an
unprecedented economic crisis and the threat of the coronavirus disease.
At this week’s fourth Brussels Conference on “Supporting the future of Syria and
the region,” more than 80 countries, regional and international organizations
and UN agencies will sit around a virtual round table to address all the key
dimensions of the Syrian crisis: Political, humanitarian, financial, and
regional. We will reaffirm our strong support to the UN’s efforts for a
political solution to the conflict and to the terms of UN Security Council (UNSC)
resolution 2254. A political solution, reached through a UN-mediated, inclusive,
Syrian-led and Syrian-owned dialogue, is the only way of achieving sustainable
peace in Syria. The alternative is ever more misery caused by the obstinate
determination of the long-discredited regime.
This year, on top of being the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World
War, Syria is close to economic collapse. The regime’s mismanagement of the
economy, widespread corruption, the financial crisis in neighboring Lebanon and
the coronavirus pandemic have brought the country’s economy to its knees. The
situation is dire. Syria faces its highest inflation rate ever, alongside a
record devaluation of its national currency. Eight in 10 Syrians reportedly live
in poverty and even top-tier salary earners are left with little real purchasing
power. Basic goods are becoming scarce; food and medicine are starting to become
unaffordable to ordinary people.
Syrians want the same things as every person and family anywhere else in the
world: Personal security, jobs and a future for their children. In other words,
they need prospects for the future. The EU and its member states have been
supporting Syrians everywhere since the start of the conflict. More than €20
billion ($22.5 billion) has been provided in humanitarian, stabilization and
resilience assistance since 2011 — for Syrians in Syria and in support of the
neighboring countries.
Syrians want the same things as every person and family anywhere else in the
world: Personal security, jobs and a future for their children.
We are very grateful for the solidarity shown by Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey in
particular. They are looking after more than 5.6 million Syrian refugees. These
countries are struggling with complex domestic situations; they continue to need
assistance to meet the growing needs of both the refugees and their own people.
The EU is also helping them. Our assistance in response to the Syrian crisis
does not only benefit Syrian refugees, but also the Lebanese, Jordanian and
Turkish people, to create job opportunities, infrastructure including schools,
as well as better health and water services.
The EU Regional Trust Fund (Madad) has helped communities in Lebanon and Jordan
by providing basic income, access to health services and to education and much
more, ensuring that Syrian refugees and local hosts alike have a foundation to
build a better future. In Turkey, the EU supports an emergency social safety
net, the access of Syrian refugees to high-quality Turkish health services, and
school enrollment.
In Syria itself, we have been doing what we can to foster livelihoods, support
communities and stimulate the very basics of economic life.
Since 2011, the EU has put in place sanctions in response to the actions of the
regime and its supporters. The goal of these measures is to put pressure on the
Syrian regime to halt repression and negotiate a lasting political settlement of
the Syrian crisis in line with UNSC resolution 2254, under UN auspices.
These sanctions target designated people and entities, not the population. They
do not prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid or prohibit the export of food,
medicine or medical equipment.
Today, we want to tell the Syrian people and the people of the countries hosting
the refugees that we know what they have been going through, that we care and
that we will continue to stand by them.
We know that the Syrian refugees’ dearest dream is to go back home. We are ready
to help make this happen once the conditions are in place. But to what home? It
is not realistic to expect refugees to return to the risk of being arrested,
tortured or forced to fight a war they wanted to escape. Their security of life
and of property needs to be guaranteed. And we know that the stability necessary
for the reconciliation and reconstruction of Syria will only come once the
regime renounces brutality and embarks on a process of genuine political
dialogue, backed with tangible changes and moves that will heal Syria's wounds.
That was, is and remains our goal. Our motto is that the Syrian people must
decide the future of Syria. The EU will stand by them in doing so.
*Josep Borrell, a former Spanish Foreign Minister, is High Representative of the
European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.