LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 21/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
Remind them of these things, and solemnly
charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless
and leads to the ruin of the hearers
02 Timothy 02-14-26/Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them
in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to
the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a
workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,
and their talk will spread like [g]gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and
Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the
resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.
Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord
knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to
abstain from wickedness.”Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver
vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some
to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be
a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good
work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and
peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and
ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce [h]quarrels. The Lord’s
bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient
when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps
God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they
may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been
held captive by him to do his will.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese
& Lebanese Related News published on March 20-21/2019
UNIFIL Confirms Exixtance Of Six Tunnels In South
Lebanon
Report: Britain 'Excludes' Hizbullah Ministers from Cooperation with Lebanon
Kubis Sees 'Absolute Consensus' in Lebanon on Returning Refugees
Hariri: Russia's Refugee Initiative is Only One on the Table
Maronite Patriarch Calls on Syrians to Go Back to Their Country
Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel Questions Government Over Inaction on Illegal Hires
Issues
Aoun Tells Pedersen U.N. Must Assist Syrian Returnees
Berri Calls for Q&A Parliament Session on March 27
Hariri Opening Workshop on Digital Economy: Digitized Nations are More
Intelligent
Hbeish to Submit Bill Expanding Powers of Central Inspection Bureau
Article On Hizbullah Website In Advance Of U.S. Secretary Of State Pompeo’s
Lebanon Visit: Lebanon Must Not Submit To American Dictates
US Congress Prepares New Sanctions against Hezbollah
Lebanese PM: Nobody Wants to Hamper Government Work
Ahead of Pompeo Visit, Lebanon’s Syria, Iran Allies Accuse US of Supporting
Syrian Resettlement
Gebran Bassil denies any interest in Lebanon’s presidency, but no one is buying
his act
Litles For The Latest
English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on March 20-21/2019
Pompeo on Middle East Tour to Counter Iran, Boost Netanyahu
Kuwait Says US. Mideast Peace Plan Should Weigh Regional Considerations
Kuwait Hails Washington’s Steadfast Stance in Defending Gulf Security
Fatah: Efforts Underway with Egypt to Rein in Hamas Crackdown on Protests
How does Gantz’s hacked cellphone tie in with Israel’s non-strike on Iran’s
nuclear sites in 2012?
Netanyahu Denies Iran Hacked Phones of His Wife, Son
Israeli Army Kills 2 Palestinians in West Bank Clashes
Palestinians Demand UN Intervention against Israeli Settlement Plan
New Israeli Radar System in Crete to Monitor Eastern Mediterranean Basin
Algeria Military Says Protests Have ‘Noble Aims’ as Powerful Party Abandons
Bouteflika
Turkey’s Erdogan triggers spat with Australia, New Zealand
Australia summons Turkish ambassador for ‘offensive’ Erdogan comments
France threatens to reject May’s Brexit delay request
Kurdish Administration Slams Damascus ‘Threats’
Speculation Rife on Muqtada Sadr’s Whereabouts
EU's Tusk: Short Brexit Delay Possible if MPs Back Deal
New Kazakh President Sworn in, Proposes Renaming Capital
Titles For The Latest
LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on March 20-21/2019
UNIFIL Confirms Exixtance Of Six Tunnels In South Lebanon/Jerusalem Post/March
20/19
Article On Hizbullah Website In Advance Of U.S. Secretary Of State Pompeo’s
Lebanon Visit: Lebanon Must Not Submit To American Dictates/MEMRE/March 20/19
Gebran Bassil denies any interest in Lebanon’s presidency, but no one is buying
his act/Michael Young/The National/March 20/19
Kuwait Says US. Mideast Peace Plan Should Weigh Regional Considerations/Reuters/J.Post/March
20/19
How does Gantz’s hacked cellphone tie in with Israel’s non-strike on Iran’s
nuclear sites in 2012/DEBKAfile/March 20/19
IRGC Deputy Commander Gen. Naqdi Praises 1983 Beirut Marine Barracks Attack:
Real Men Kill U.S. Marines; U.S. On Verge Of Economic Collapse; ‘The Marines
Peed In Their Pants In The Persian Gulf‘/MEMRI/March 19/2019
What Is Purim? The History Behind the Halloween of Jewish Holidays/Elon Gilad/Haaretz/March
20/19
Will Saudi Arabia Leave the Seventh Century/Judith Bergman/Gatestone
Institute/March 20/19
A Recession Is Coming, And Maybe a Bear Market, Too/Gary Shilling/Asharq Al-Awsat/March
20/19
Turkey: Tens of Thousands Prosecuted for "Insulting" Erdoğan/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone
Institute/March 20/19
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese
Related News published
on March 20-21/2019
UNIFIL Confirms Exixtance Of Six Tunnels In South Lebanon
Jerusalem Post/March 20/19
Two tunnels confirmed to have crossed into Israeli territory; U.N. head Guterres
expressed “deep concern” about Hezbollah’s tunnels.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon has confirmed the existence of six tunnels in
southern Lebanon, two of which violated the Blue Line and crossed into Israeli
territory.
While UNIFIL said it could not determine who built the tunnels or when, they
were recorded by UNIFIL in the region of Kafr Kila after UNIFIL engineers used
verification tools such as laser range finders to confirm their existence.
Though the IDF reported the existence of six cross-border tunnels, UNIFIL was
able to visit only five of them, as one was destroyed by Israel’s military
before it notified UNIFIL.
UNIFIL is said to have requested to enter one disused brick factory across from
Metulla, after Israel filled it with liquid concrete, but the government of
Lebanon refused to give it access, as it was private property. The property was
said to then be completely covered in blue tarpaulins within 24 hours of
UNIFIL’s request.
Israel launched Operation Northern Shield in early December and destroyed at
least five cross-border tunnels, either by explosives or by flooding with liquid
concrete.
The tunnel underneath the brick factory was the first one to be discovered by
the IDF and stretched some 40 meters into kiwi and apple orchards belonging to
the community of Metulla. According to the military, the tunnel, which stretched
a total of 200 meters, took Hezbollah around two years to build.
Hezbollah, the military said, chose the building because of its strategic
location, in near proximity to a UNIFIL post and hidden behind the security wall
and not visible from Israel.
The military discovered the location of the tunnel after Israeli jets noticed
dozens of trucks going in and out of the building and driving some 10-12
kilometers to dispose of the material.
The IDF declared the end of the operation in mid-January, saying that it had
“deprived Hezbollah of the unique offensive abilities it had built for years as
part of its planned attack on Israeli territory,” and strengthened security
along the northern border.
On Tuesday the military held a ceremony to mark the conclusion of the operation,
in the presence of OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoel Strick; the commander of
the 91st Division, Brig.-Gen. Rafi Milo; officers from the 91st Galilee Division
and its regional brigades, defense battalions, and technological units; as well
as intelligence officials, combat engineering troops, representatives of the
civilian communities in the Galilee region, and others.
During the ceremony, Strick awarded a decoration to the Yahalom unit, the elite
unit of the Combat Engineering Corps, for leading a continuous, professional and
exceptional effort to locate and neutralize the tunnels.
“Many different forces played a part in the operation, and the cooperation
between them contributed to fulfilling the mission with efficiency, power and
determination,” the military said in a statement.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed “deep concern” about
Hezbollah’s tunnels, Lebanon’s Naharnet News reported. Guterres encouraged the
Lebanese Armed Forces to “conduct all the necessary investigations on the
Lebanese side,” in order to “confirm that the tunnels are no longer a security
threat.”According to the report, he also said that Hezbollah’s weapons could “jeopardize
the stability of Lebanon and the region,” and called on UN member states to
“carry out their duties” and stop supplying weapons and military equipment to
nongovernment entities and individuals in Lebanon.
Report: Britain 'Excludes' Hizbullah
Ministers from Cooperation with Lebanon
Naharnet/March 20/19/Although Britain affirmed its continued cooperation with
the Lebanese government, it has reportedly affirmed that it will “exclude”
Hizbullah ministers from this cooperation, Asharq al-Awast reported on
Wednesday. Apart from the recent decision to include Hizbullah's military and
political wings on its lists of terrorist organizations, Britain is “committed”
to helping Lebanon by enabling the Lebanese army to control the border, continue
to provide military assistance to the security forces, and continue its
assistance to the Syrian refugees and the Lebanese government, said the
newspaper.
The daily quoted western diplomatic sources, they said Britain's decision to
“exclude Hizbullah ministers from its cooperation with Lebanon will not affect
cooperation with the Lebanese government." They stressed that “London's
relations with the Lebanese government, presidency and parliament are committed
to continuing cooperation with the institutions”, but at the same time,
confirmed that “this approach excludes Hizbullah ministers in the
government.”They said Britain regards “Lebanon as having full sovereignty,” but
they stressed that the British decision towards Hizbullah “does not mean in any
way that it is directed against the Shiite community in Lebanon.”The British aid
program in Lebanon “does not exclude any sect,” they assured. Hizbullah made
electoral gains in Lebanon last year and now has three ministers in the
government including: Health Minister Jamil Jabaq, Youth and Sports Minister
Mohammed Fneish and State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mahmoud Kmati. Late
in February, Britain banned the political wing of Hizbullah, making membership
of the movement or inviting support for it a crime. The decision followed
outrage over the display of the Hizbullah flag, which features a Kalashnikov
assault rifle, at pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London.
Kubis Sees 'Absolute Consensus' in Lebanon on Returning Refugees
Naharnet/March 20/19/U.N. Special Coordinator Jan Kubis held talks Wednesday
with Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil ahead of his travel to New York for his
first meeting with the U.N. Security Council in his capacity as Special
Coordinator. “We discussed a number of topics, he gave me a number of messages:
One, the issues related to different violations of Resolution 1701 by Israel and
the need to deal with them more robustly, by the United Nations, not to try to
just focus on one side but indeed to look at both sides what they are doing and
what they should not. That is one very clear message,” Kubis said after the
meeting. “The second message was about the issue of Syrian refugees and the need
to return them back to Syria, to create all the necessary conditions,” he added.
“Of course I made, and that was well understood by his Excellency, reference to
the International Humanitarian Law and the norms that are regulating this, but I
also confirm that there is an absolute consensus here in the country that there
is a need to see real, rapid, tangible manifestation of efforts to return Syrian
refugees back home as soon as possible,” Kubis noted.
He also acknowledged that the refugees' presence is creating “issues and
problems here in the country and there is almost political consensus on this
topic here in the country.”“The third point was the issue of the terrestrial and
maritime borders with Israel, and the need to accelerate work on this and again
His Excellency confirmed clear interest in the U.N. playing a certain role,
facilitating role, in this exercise,” Kubis went on to say.
Hariri: Russia's Refugee Initiative is Only One on the Table
Naharnet/March 20/19/Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced Wednesday that the
Russian initiative on the repatriation of Syrian refugees is “the only pragmatic
one on the table.”“Lebanon can no longer bear the burdens of more than 1.5
million refugees of its Syrian brothers on its soil, which are massive economic,
social, environmental and financial burdens,” Hariri said in a speech during a
Center House dinner banquet to honor Georges Shaaban, his adviser on Russian
affairs.“That's why our policy is to seek their safe and dignified return as
soon as possible,” he added. Noting that “the Russian initiative in this regard,
in cooperation with UNHCR, is exactly working on this objective,” Hariri pointed
out that Moscow is seeking practical steps to put the initiative on track such
as “the issuance of an amnesty and the suspension of military conscription for a
two-year period.”“This is on occasion to ask all friends and allies to press in
this direction,” the premier went on to say.
Maronite Patriarch Calls on Syrians to Go Back to Their
Country
Kataeb.org/ Wednesday 20th March 2019/Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi on
Wednesday said that the Syrian refugees' presence has become a burden for
Lebanon at all levels, warning that linking their return to a political solution
in Syria poses a great danger to the country. “I don’t want the public opinion
to think that we are against the Syrian refugees; on the contrary, we want them
to return back to their homeland, to their history and culture," he said during
a meeting with the newly-elected Maronite League council. "What I want to say to
the Syrians is the following: We are not against you. We are saying that you
must go back to your country with dignity because your presence has become a
danger to us."Al-Rahi voiced support for Pesident Michel Aoun's repeated calls
to not link the refugees' return to a political solution in Syria, saying that
doing so would be the "biggest mistake". “Palestinians have been in Lebanon for
71 years now, waiting for a political solution that has never come,” he stated.
Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel Questions Government Over Inaction on Illegal Hires
Issues
Kataeb.org/ Wednesday 20th March 2019/Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel on Wednesday
questioned the government over the measures that have been taken to deal with
the illegal hires that were uncovered recently in the public sector. In a letter
addressed to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Gemayel asked that the government
would be asked whether it has launched a comprehensive study that would
determine the exact number of public servants as well as the cost of their
employment, assess the current and future needs of the sector, and restructure
it by setting out clear job descriptions. In case a study has been actually
launched, then the government is required to provide clarifications on why no
report has been submitted yet, as stipulated by the salary scale law. If no
study is conducted so far, then the government must uncover those who are
responsible for this failure and blatant violation of the law, Gemayel added.
Gemayel based his questioning on the Article 21 of Law 46, known as the salary
scale law that grants a pay hike to public employees, which clearly stipulates
that the government has six months to carry out a comprehensive survey and
suggest, accordingly, the measures that must be taken to stop squandering and
cut the State's expenses. The lawmaker demanded that his question would be
referred to the government, asking it to provide a written response within
fifteen days pursuant to Article 124 of the Parliament's by-laws. Otherwise, an
interrogation will be launched, pursuant to Article 126 of the Parliament's
by-laws.
Aoun Tells Pedersen U.N. Must Assist Syrian Returnees
Naharnet/March 20/19/President Michel Aoun on Wednesday told U.N. envoy for
Syria Geir Pedersen that Lebanon “can longer bear the repercussions of the
Syrian refugee presence on the various social and economic levels.”“We, as
officials, have become worried over the fate of our country,” Aoun told Pedersen
during a meeting at the Baabda Palace. “We have reached the maximum acceptable
capacity in shouldering the impact of the refugees' presence, and serious
efforts must be exerted to return them to safe areas in Syria, which have become
vast now and can accommodate their residents,” the president added. He also
urged the U.N. and international donors to “offer assistance to the Syrians who
are returning to their country, especially that there are Syrian regions that
remained spared from destruction and accordingly residents can return to
them.”Aoun also pointed out that “more than 172,000 Syrians have returned from
Lebanon and we have not received any report indicating that they have faced
harassment or inhumane practices.”
Berri Calls for Q&A Parliament Session on March 27
Naharnet/March 20/19/Speaker Nabih Berri has called for a general parliament
session next week to question the government performance, the National News
Agency reported on Wednesday. The parliament will convene on March 27 at 11:00
am as the first question and answer session since the government formation. The
list of questions was distributed to lawmakers, said NNA.
Hariri Opening Workshop on Digital Economy: Digitized Nations are More
Intelligent
Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Wednesday that "digitization is one of the
primary building blocks for national prosperity", adding that "a digitized
nation is simply more intelligent and we all need to work together, cooperate
and coordinate on this issue ". Speaking at the opening of a workshop on Digital
Economy at the Grand Serail, Hariri gave the following speech: "Today,
digitization is one of the primary building blocks for national prosperity. A
digitized nation sparks economic growth faster, and fuels transformation across
all economic sectors.A digitized nation is simply more intelligent.
By 2025, which is only six years from today, it is expected that the Digital
Economy should represent anywhere between 15% and 24% of world GDP. In Lebanon,
we are at 4% today. Building a digital economy is an enormous and complex
project. It needs all of its stakeholders working together and coordinating in
order to be efficient and effective. Our problem in the country is that we don’t
like to work together. Each one wants to compete with the other, thinking that
he can do it better. We all need to work together, cooperate and coordinate. All
the ministries and everyone should be cooperating on this issue. We aspire to a
collaborative, connected republic where government institutions seamlessly serve
businesses and citizens. On the world Digitization Index, Lebanon ranks 105
amongst 183 countries, scoring 57% in terms of overall digital adoption, and
only 49% in terms of the government’s digital adoption. Digitization is one of
the fundamental steps towards achieving the Innovation Nation. In fact, there
are 12 building blocks to this vision of an Innovation Nation that I am putting
forward, all of which need to be addressed before Lebanon can achieve its full
innovation potential. These 12 pillars are the same 12 used to rank every
economy of the world by the World Economic Forum. Lebanon aims to rise higher on
this Global Competitiveness Index, our dashboard for national advancement. On
the Innovation scale of the Global Competitiveness Index, Lebanon ranks 61 out
of 140 countries, scoring only 39% in terms of its Innovation status. Although
still low, this score has been achieved thanks to the efforts of our private
sector and entrepreneurial minds, both of which are looking towards the right
enabling environment from our governmental institutions. Between Digitization,
which is a basic and fundamental step to be taken at Lebanon’s infrastructural
level, and Innovation, which is the end objective of our Innovation Nation, is a
considerable list of challenges, each of which requires a conference on its own.
Take for example the case of Infrastructure, one of the 12 founding pillars of a
competitive nation. The set of challenges we are facing is monumental. From
waste and air pollution all the way to mobility and telecom, Digitization is the
core missing element, the primary and most efficient tool to transition from
problem to solution, and the first core enabler of the Innovation Nation. A
digitized nation is simply more intelligent. Coupled with the expertise of our
private sector and our highly skilled human capital, the opportunities will be
endless. Lebanon needs to strengthen its enabling environment by driving forward
education, infrastructure, institutional reform and Research & Development.
Next, we must create the right legal environment to embrace the new innovative
Lebanon. We must expand every ecosystem by encouraging clustering, cooperation
and support to where we have a healthy cycle of education feeding into research
and innovation feeding into industry. We must work on expanding Lebanon’s
markets abroad and leverage technology to the largest extent to achieve that. We
must install a monitoring system run by national champions who nurture all these
achievements. And last but not least, we must work to continuously upgrade
people, systems and institution from within, thus ensuring a sustainable
Innovation Nation. Beneath it all is Technology: an underlying common
denominator for national advancement. We are responsible for the Lebanon of
tomorrow. The people of Lebanon are ready for change. They are sufficiently
digitally –oriented to move forward. It is our public services that need to
catch up. Beyond studies and strategies, the ball of implementation is in our
court. Let us move forward, together.”
Hbeish to Submit Bill Expanding Powers of Central Inspection Bureau
Naharnet/March 20/19/Al-Mustaqbal Movement MP Hadi Hbeish said Wednesday he
plans to submit a bill calling for the “expansion” of powers of the Central
Inspection Bureau for “efficient fight corruption.”
In a press conference he held at the parliament, Hbeish said the CIB is not
authorized to inspect several government institutions in Lebanon which makes the
fight against corruption inefficient. “Today, the CIB can not access (for
example) the National Social Security Fund, the Council for Development and
Reconstruction and the Higher Relief Committee in addition to a large number of
state institutions, municipalities and free private schools,” said Hbeish.
Moreover, commenting on the election of the Supreme Council to try presidents
and ministers, Hbeish said it is better to lift diplomatic immunity off Lebanese
officials instead of having a body to try them in case of corruption.
Turning to illegal employment in state institutions, the MP said “employment
through ministers should be stopped and constitutional texts through the civil
service council must be adopted.”Hbeish pointed out that text reforms is divided
into two steps “first, to open the door to try the political authority in the
country. Second, fight corruption in state institutions by strengthening the
powers of inspection bodies to include all public bodies and municipalities in
the country.”
Article On Hizbullah Website In Advance Of
U.S. Secretary Of State Pompeo’s Lebanon Visit: Lebanon Must Not Submit To
American Dictates
:من موقع ميمري/ترجمة لمقالة من موقع العهد التابع لحزب الله عنوانه
غراب البين قادم أيها اللبنانيون ماذا أنتم فاعلون/وذلك في اطار زيارة بومبيو
MEMRE/March 20/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73153/%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B9-%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%A7/
About a month and a half after the formation of the Lebanese government,
with a majority for the pro-Syria and pro-Iran Hizbullah-led March 8 Alliance,
the U.S. is increasing its pressure on Lebanon, with the aim of preventing
Hizbullah from becoming even stronger in the Lebanese political arena and
preventing Lebanon from moving closer to Russia.
This pressure is manifested in statements by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon
Elizabeth Richard, who at the conclusion of her February 19, 2019, meeting with
Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’d Al-Hariri expressed concern about Hizbullah’s
growing role, that she said is destabilizing the country. However, she clarified
that the U.S. intends to continue its aid to Lebanon.[1] U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield, who visited
Lebanon in early March 2019, further underlined the link between American aid
and the efforts required of Lebanon to stop Hizbullah from growing stronger. He
stressed that his and other countries’ approach to Lebanon depended on “how
Lebanon makes its decisions, which we hope will be positive for the good of
Lebanon, and not for the good of external elements” – that is, Iran.[2]
According to one report, Satterfield also said that the continuation of U.S. aid
to Lebanon was conditional upon a cessation of its rapprochement with Russia.[3]
Satterfield’s visit was in advance of the planned March 23 visit of U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
According to reports in the Lebanese press, Pompeo is expected, in his meetings
with Lebanese leaders, including President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister
Al-Hariri, to raise the American concern about the strengthening of Hizbullah’s
position in the political arena; the concern that as a result Iran will increase
its influence in Lebanon, via Hizbullah or by means of penetration into
government institutions like the army and also into its spheres of health and
energy; and also the concern that Lebanon will thus become a conduit for
bypassing the sanctions imposed on Hizbullah and Iran.[4] Pompeo is also
expected to express the American reservations about Lebanon’s increasing
closeness to Russia, which over the past year has been working to establish its
presence in Lebanon through joint military agreements, agreements regarding oil,
and through the initiative to return the Syrian refugees in Lebanon to Syria. It
is noteworthy that Pompeo is set to arrive in Lebanon just three days before
Lebanese President Michel Aoun is due to go to Russia to meet with President
Putin. Another topic to be discussed by Pompeo and senior Lebanese officials is
the setting of the economic water border between Lebanon and Israel, a step that
the U.S. would like to speed up, apparently due to concern that a stronger
Hizbullah will harm the chances of doing so in the future.
The March 8 Alliance responded with bitterness to the U.S. pressure on Lebanon
to prevent the strengthening of Hizbullah and its allies. Elements in this camp
viewed the words of Ambassador Richard and Assistant Secretary of State
Satterfield as a “rude and vulgar” intervention in Lebanon’s internal
affairs.[5] The two were accused by representatives of this camp of violating
Lebanon’s honor and also of incitement, in an attempt to spark civil war.[6]
Articles in the Hizbullah-affiliated Al-Akhbar daily claimed that the U.S is
attempting to destabilize Lebanon and that it “is determined not to allow
Lebanon to remain outside the American-Israeli-Saudi war against the axis of
resistance.” As mentioned, Satterfield stated said that his country would
continue to pressure Lebanon even at the cost of undermining its stability.[7]
Meanwhile, the March 8 Alliance is closely following the run-up to Pompeo’s
visit, while warning against it. Sheikh Suheib Habli, who is close to Hizbullah,
warned of a return to the American plans to harm Lebanon’s security and
stability, and added that the wave of American incitement will end with the
visit of Pompeo “who will bring with him dictates which the U.S. wants to impose
on Lebanon.”[8] Former minister Wiam Wahhab even warned: “If [Prime Minister
Al-Hariri] surrenders to the pressure from Secretary of State Pompeo, it will
lead to the fall of the government… and to the establishment of a majority
government [of the March 8 Alliance].”[9]
An article on the Hizbullah website Al-Ahed stated that Pompeo is not welcome
since he is coming to incite against Hizbullah. The article describes the U.S.
Embassy as an “espionage nest” whose only mission is to spy on Hizbullah.[10]
The March 8 Alliance’s attack on Pompeo’s upcoming visit was also expressed in a
stinging article by journalist Yasser Rahal, published on the Hizbullah website
Al-Ahed, which called the U.S. the “mother of terrorism” and the “Great Satan.”
He added that the American activity in Lebanon is aimed at harming the
resistance and Lebanon as a whole, and that Pompeo’s visit is intended to
present Lebanon with dictates and financial incentives. Therefore, he concluded,
the Lebanese should not minimize their sources of strength, first and foremost
the resistance.
The following is the translation of Rahal’s article:
“Every time the situation in Lebanon stabilizes, and it seems as though the
Lebanese are reaching understanding and agreement and the train is getting back
on track, the American ‘raven bearing ill omens’ arrives, with a plan to provoke
internal controversy.
“In fact, the U.S. encourages infighting and quarrels, and is ‘the mother of
terrorism.’ I would direct anyone who still believes in the American dream and
all the slogans related to it, such as the international community, to take a
look at America’s black record, which is overflowing with crimes and aggression
against countries and peoples.
“Let’s settle for [giving here] a list of the countries it has fought against,
conquered, or in whose affairs it has intervened: Colombia, Panama, Korea,
Morocco, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines,
China, Haiti, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Turkey, Russia, Germany, Japan, Greece,
Puerto Rico, Lebanon, Laos, Ecuador, Vietnam, Indonesia, Granada, Libya, Virgin
Islands, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Syria, Bahrain and
Yemen. Thirty-six countries have suffered from the evil of the United States.
There is no choice but to repeat the famous words of the imam Khomeini who
described the United States as the Great Satan.
“With respect to Lebanon – let us not go back to the [U.S. forces’] landing on
the coast of Beirut in 1958.[11] Let’s settle for the plans that the [U.S.]
foreign ministers and their aides, and its ambassadors, had for their visits to
Lebanon.
“We have no intention of recounting the history in detail. Suffice it to mention
names that will remind the Lebanese of the positions of the ‘dear’ [then-U.S.
Ambassador to Beirut and assistant secretary of state] Jeffrey Feltman, and the
$500 million [earmarked at that time for] demonizing Hizbullah; [then-U.S.
Ambassador to Beirut] Michelle Sisson and her statements about Hizbullah which
were revealed through WikiLeaks;[12] [Assistant Secretary of State for Near
Eastern Affairs] David Satterfield and the pressure he applied to deprive the
Lebanese of their rights to the oil; [then-Secretary of State] Colin Powell and
[his] attempt to wipe out the resistance [i.e. Hizbullah]; [then-Secretary of
State] Condoleezza Rice and the attempt to subjugate the people of resistance
during the 2006 aggression [i.e. the Second Lebanon War]; and, prior to that,
[then-Secretary of State] Madeleine Albright and her activity to prevent the
liberation [of South Lebanon, and her support for] the theft of land, water, and
oil for the benefit of the enemy, and [her] threat against [then-Lebanese]
president Emile Lahoud.[13]
“In his upcoming visit Mike Pompeo’s behavior will be no different than that of
his predecessors. He will come to ”educate’ the Lebanese because they stood up
for themselves and refused to submit to the conditions of the Israeli enemy with
respect to the drawing of the sea border.
“He is coming to warn that there will be ‘great calamity and catastrophe’ if the
resistance [i.e. Hizbullah] remains entrenched in the hearts of the Lebanese. He
is coming with hands stained with the blood of children in Yemen, Iraq, Libya,
and Palestine, and in Syria, which defeated him, and he will leave with his tail
between his legs in failure. He will not hide behind baseless allegations, as is
common in diplomacy – he will say aloud: It’s either Israel or the whip. We will
increase the sanctions, shut down your economy, and prevent agreements, and that
is just the beginning. Hand over to us the head of the resistance, and what you
will receive from us will amaze the world. Renounce your sovereignty, your land,
and your oil, and we will compensate you 10 times over.’
“Calm down, gentlemen, times have changed. Lebanon is no longer at the nadir of
its weakness, but is strong by virtue of its army, its people, and its
resistance [i.e. Hizbullah].
“It has already been proven that every time we entered the fray, we won. Who
would have believed that the unbeatable army [i.e. the IDF] would be defeated?
Who would have believed that the war against the takfir terrorism would succeed,
and that we would banish it from our country? If the Lebanese belittle all their
strong points this time, then [we may as well say] goodbye to the country… and
it will be too late for regret.”[14]
https://www.memri.org/reports/article-hizbullah-website-advance-us-secretary-state-pompeos-lebanon-visit-lebanon-must-not
[1] Lb.usembassy.gov, February 20, 2019.
[2] Almanar.com.lb, March 5, 2019.
[3] Elnashra.com, March 9, 2019.
[4] See MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series 1443, Dispute In Lebanon Over Iran’s
Offer To Equip Lebanese Army, February 25, 2019.
[5] Elnashra.com, February 20, 2019.
[6] Almanar.com.lb, March 6, 2019.
[7] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), March 7, 2019; March 8, 2019.
[8] Elnashra.com, March 15, 2019.
[9] Elnashra.com, March 18, 2019.
[10] Alahednews.com.lb, March 19, 2019.
[11] In 1958 the United States intervened militarily in Lebanon to stop the
civil war that had broken out in the country.
[12] The WikiLeaks website revealed telegrams about Hizbullah sent by Ambassador
Sisson, for example, a telegram about Iran’s involvement in Hizbullah’s
communications network. Wikileaks.org, April 16, 2008.
[13] Following Lebanon’s opposition to a draft resolution in the UN Security
Council which approved the IDF withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, U.S. Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright pressured Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to rescind
his country’s opposition. In his book, Lahoud wrote that during the argument (on
the phone), Albright threatened him, and he hung up on her. See MEMRI Special
Dispatch No. 7360, In The Shadow Of U.S. Demands For Disarming Hizbullah And For
Compromise In Lebanon-Israel Border Conflicts, U.S. Secretary Of State Tillerson
Is Insulted In Lebanon Visit And Meetings Yield No Results, February 28, 2018.
[14] Alahednews.com.lb, March 15, 2019.
US Congress Prepares New Sanctions against Hezbollah
Washington - Elie Youssef/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/Republican
and Democrat congressmen are ramping up a new list of sanctions against
Hezbollah, expected to be approved next week, revealed US Congress sources
Tuesday.Congressional circles have expressed their satisfaction with the results
of the latest sanctions recently imposed on Iran. Separately, a high-ranking US
official told a close circle of journalists that US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo is expected to urge Lebanon to take independent decisions on behalf of
the Lebanese people. During his upcoming visit to Beirut this week, the US
official will directly tackle the current challenges posed by Iran and Tehran’s
illegal activities in Lebanon, in addition to Hezbollah’s role. Pompeo’s stop in
the Lebanese capital could be very significant amid the escalating tensions
between Washington and several Lebanese officials over how to deal with
Hezbollah and its political and military roles. “We’ll spend a lot of time
talking with the Lebanese government about how we can help them disconnect from
the threat that Iran and Hezbollah present to them,” said Pompeo on Tuesday.
“Financial, economic, all the assistance we have provided to the Lebanese Armed
Forces, talk to them about those serious issues. And meet with some of the
religious leadership of the country as well.”Observers predict that Pompeo will
use in Beirut the same rhetoric he uses in Iraq, which drove tensions among the
country’s political leaders amid pressure Washington is exerting on Baghdad over
its energy deals with neighboring Iran. Military sources said that the
Washington is extremely concerned about Hezbollah possibly seizing control of
Lebanon’s military intelligence and important security decision-making
positions. It cited Hezbollah’s control of the airport and ports and its
hindering of the army’s duties on the border with Israel. Meanwhile, an official
from the US State Department denied that Washington was seeking to establish any
kind of military bases in Lebanon, as alleged by some forces that were seeking
to create incitement against Washington ahead of Pompeo’s visit. Washington has
a regional and local target to limit the adventures, influence and presence of
Iran and its forces across the region, including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen,
the official said.
Lebanese PM: Nobody Wants to Hamper Government Work
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/Prime Minister Saad Hariri
said that he was working “for the interests of the citizens, the economy and
Lebanon,” stressing that none of the political parties wanted to hamper the
government’s work. Addressing a delegation from the Press Syndicate at the Grand
Serail, Hariri announced the imminent approval of the State budget, adding that
the electricity crisis would be resolved soon. “As promised in the ministerial
statement, the budget will be reformative and will reduce the squandering of
public funds,” he said. “All parties want solutions for electricity, waste, the
displaced and the fight against squandering and corruption, as well as the
adoption of the budget. My duty is to reach common ground with everyone,
increase investments in the country, encourage foreign investors and restore
confidence in the state,” he added. Moreover, the premier hailed Saudi Arabia’s
decision to lift the travel ban on its citizens, pointing out that more than
12,000 Saudi tourists visited Lebanon within a few days after the decision was
taken and that the total number of tourists through Beirut airport increased by
20 percent during the first two months of 2019.
“We are working now with the United Arab Emirates to reach a similar decision,”
he remarked. On the reform plans adopted at last year’s CEDRE Conference, Hariri
said: “The achievements will come and all political parties want to implement
[agreements reached in] CEDRE and carry out reforms and fight corruption.”He
continued: “There can be corrupt people in all political parties. The important
thing is the decision that no one will cover the corrupt and there is no red
line that stops the judiciary from prosecuting any perpetrator.” He also
reiterated Lebanon’s commitment to its policy of dissociation from regional
conflicts and to the Arab League’s stance towards the Syrian regime. “Where is
Lebanon’s interest in becoming embroiled in a confrontation with the Arab League
and international community?” he asked, referring to a question about the
normalization of ties with the regime.
Ahead of Pompeo Visit, Lebanon’s Syria, Iran Allies Accuse
US of Supporting Syrian Resettlement
Beirut - Mohammed Shuqair/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/The allies
of Iran and the Syrian regime in Lebanon are preparing to receive US Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo’s first visit to Beirut with a series of accusations. The
first of those accusations is that Washington supports the resettlement of
displaced Syrians in Lebanon. They cited in this regard Free Patriotic Movement
(FPM) and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil’s refusal to attend last week’s
Brussels donor conference on Syria because he alleged it aimed to provide
financial aid to help the displaced stay in Lebanon.
Iran and Syria’s allies will try to leave no space in the political and media
arena for Pompeo to emphasize Lebanon’s commitment to US sanctions imposed on
Tehran and Hezbollah. According to well-informed Lebanese sources, the allies
are carrying out an order to disrupt Pompeo’s visit, which aims to confirm
Washington’s stance that Lebanon would not be left prey to the Iranian agenda
and Hezbollah’s control. The political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Pompeo
would focus on Washington’s insistence on “balancing the internal equation,”
otherwise, Lebanon’s policy of dissociation from regional conflicts would be
compromised. Abandoning the policy will negatively affect Lebanon’s internal
stability and impede the implementation of the reform plan approved in the CEDRE
Conference, according to the sources. Therefore, Iran and Syria’s allies see
Pompeo’s visit as an opportunity to incite the Lebanese public opinion,
especially Christians, on the grounds that the US administration stands by
settling Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Asharq Al-Awsat spoke with Progressive
Socialist Party, Lebanese Forces and Future Movement politicians, who rejected
such claims. They instead noted that the international community’s insistence on
linking the return of the displaced to the political solution in Syria was due
to reports from Damascus that thousands of displaced persons who returned
voluntarily to Syria have been persecuted and imprisoned.
Gebran Bassil denies any interest in
Lebanon’s presidency, but no one is buying his act
مايكل ينك/جبران باسيل ينفي سعيه لموقع رئاسة الجمهورية ولكن لا أحد يصدقه
Michael Young/The National/March 20/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73146/michael-young-gebran-bassil-denies-any-interest-in-lebanons-presidency-but-no-one-is-buying-his-act%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%84-%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%83-%D8%AC%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8/
A recent row with Prime Minister Saad Hariri was the latest in a series of
carefully planned manoeuvres by the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil appears to want to be Lebanon's next president.
Bill Kotsatos for The National..
Lebanon’s government had barely been formed before a row broke out between Prime
Minister Saad Hariri and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. Some worried it might
lead to a collapse of the government, but this week the two men showed signs of
calming the atmosphere. What we’re seeing is the latest example of manoeuvring
by Mr Bassil, who one day intends to become Lebanon’s president, a post reserved
for the Maronite Christian community.
How do we know? A good indicator came from Mr Bassil himself. On Sunday, Mr
Bassil, who is also leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), declared that
those saying he was preparing to be president once his father-in-law, Michel
Aoun, left the post or passed away were wrong. He denied having any personal
ambitions, saying that talk about the presidential race was aimed at harming
him. “This is a topic no one is allowed to bring up with me,” he insisted.
In Lebanon when politicians protest a claim too much, it’s a good sign that it
happens to be true. In picking a fight recently with Mr Hariri and his Future
Movement, Mr Bassil seemed to have one goal in mind: to portray himself as the
pre-eminent Christian representative, who could bring back to his
co-religionists the power they had lost, to the advantage of the Sunni prime
minister, in the Taif Accord of 1989. By doing so, Mr Bassil believes that he
will emerge as the most legitimate Christian for the presidency.
There was some irony here. Since Mr Hariri returned to Lebanon in 2016 to
support Mr Aoun’s presidency, he had made a rapprochement with the Aounists a
cornerstone of his political strategy, to the extent of alienating many of his
political allies. However, it appears that in wanting to be flexible, the prime
minister merely looked weak, and Mr Bassil sought to take advantage of this.
The official reasons for the discord between the two men are both more
significant and less so. In the less significant category, last week Mr Bassil
criticised an international conference in Brussels on Syrian refugees, which Mr
Hariri was attending. The foreign minister portrayed himself as a defender of
Lebanon by saying, without proof, that the international community wanted to
resettle displaced people in the country. This is a sore point for many
Christians, who fear that the settlement of the mainly Sunni Syrian refugees in
Lebanon will turn Christians into an even smaller minority.
In Lebanon when politicians protest against a claim too much, it’s a pretty good
sign that it happens to be true
More seriously, Mr Bassil and Mr Hariri have disagreements over senior civil
service and military appointments, with Mr Bassil demanding a lion’s share for
the FPM, at the expense of other Christian parties. For Mr Bassil, such demands
are not only aimed at marginalising his rivals, but also at obtaining more
patronage power, which can help him to expand his political base. Doing so would
give him a serious leg up for the presidency.
In another dogwhistle familiar to Christians, the Aounists also opened fire on
the former prime minister, Fouad Siniora, accusing him of illegal budgetary
spending. Mr Siniora is regarded as a stand-in for the policies of the late
prime minister Rafik Hariri, whom he served. Many Christians view Rafik Hariri
as the Sunni leader who accelerated the Christians' political decline brought
about by the Taif Accord.
Mr Bassil’s gamesmanship comes at a bad time. With Lebanon facing a severe
economic crisis, the government cannot afford to bicker over petty matters. But
that is precisely Mr Bassil’s calculation. He believes that Mr Hariri is so
desperate to pass urgent economic reforms and ensure harmony in his government
that concessions can be forced from him.
Mr Hariri’s problem is that he has already lost a great deal of power since
returning as prime minister in 2016. He has been so willing to compromise in
order to remain in his position that, were he to go any further, he would risk
losing his base of support among Sunnis. Already, there is a perception that the
prime minister is the patsy of Mr Bassil and Hezbollah, and it is true that he
invariably seems to be the one who bends when political deadlock needs to be
broken.
Watching the quarrel between Mr Bassil and Mr Hariri with satisfaction was
Hezbollah. The party gains when the prime minister’s power is diminished, while
Mr Bassil’s presidential ambitions mean he will have to secure its approval to
be elected. Hezbollah also benefits politically whenever the government is
divided, so it is likely to encourage Mr Bassil to keep the pressure up on Mr
Hariri. In that way, it can gain leverage whenever it intervenes to broker deals
that allow the government to move forward.
It is often said that the most destructive moments in Lebanese politics are
those when Maronite Christians are vying for the presidency. That has been true
on many occasions around election time. But Mr Aoun is 84 years old now, so his
health and succession are ongoing issues. Mr Bassil may claim not to be thinking
of what happens after his father-in-law is gone, but no one seriously believes
him.
*Michael Young is editor of Diwan, the blog of the Carnegie Middle East
programme, in Beirut
https://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/gebran-bassil-denies-any-interest-in-lebanon-s-presidency-but-no-one-is-buying-his-act-1.839401
Latest LCCC English
Miscellaneous Reports & News published
on March 20-21/2019
Pompeo on Middle East Tour to Counter Iran,
Boost Netanyahu
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 20/19/Top US diplomat Mike Pompeo sought
Wednesday to bolster a united front against Iran during a Middle East tour that
will include talks with key ally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of
Israeli elections. The US secretary of state kicked off his regional tour in
Kuwait where he met Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on the first stop of a
trip that will also take him to Israel and Lebanon. Pompeo told reporters on the
flight from the United States that he would discuss "strategic dialogue" and the
need to combat "the threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran" with leaders
in the region. After Kuwait Pompeo will fly to Israel where an election campaign
is in its final weeks with Netanyahu locked in a close battle with centrist
rivals. Pompeo is also pushing for a greater role for the Middle East Strategic
Alliance (MESA), a US-sponsored Arab NATO aimed at uniting Washington's Arab
allies against Tehran. "We all have the same set of threats, threats from
Al-Qaeda, from (the Islamic State group), threats from the Islamic Republic of
Iran," Pompeo said at a joint press conference with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister
Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled Al-Sabah. Pompeo urged Qatar and Saudi Arabia, both
members of MESA, to bury the hatchet in a political dispute over regional policy
that has split the two powerful Gulf states. "It's not in the best interest of
the region," Pompeo said of the Saudi-Qatari rift. "It's not in the best
interest of the world." Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies cut all ties with
Doha in 2017, accusing Qatar of bankrolling Islamist fundamentalists and cosying
up to Iran.
Qatar denies the allegations and says the rival states aim to incite regime
change in Doha.
'Important relationship'
While Washington insists it is not interfering in Israeli politics, his visit is
seen as a show of support for Netanyahu, who is struggling to keep his grip on
power as he faces allegations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust ahead of the
April 9 polls. "Leaders will change in both countries over time," Pompeo said
before landing in Kuwait. That relationship matters no matter who the leaders
are."Israel is one of the most outspoken members of the anti-Iranian grouping
assembled by the US, and Iran is sure to be a central focus of Pompeo's talks in
Jerusalem. No meetings with Netanyahu's opponents are scheduled, and the
secretary of state will not meet with representatives of the Palestinian
Authority. "They'd have to want to talk to us," Pompeo said of the Palestinian
officials. "That'd be a good start."Washington has taken a series of steps
deemed so "hostile" by the Palestinian Authority that it now refuses any contact
with the US administration. The moves include cutting most of the US aid to the
Palestinians. President Donald Trump's decision in December 2017 to recognise
Jerusalem as the capital of Israeli delighted Netanyahu's government. But it
enraged Palestinians, who want to make the eastern, mainly Palestinian part of
the city the capital of their future state. Pompeo's two-day visit to Jerusalem
also includes a symbolic stop at the new US embassy, which was transferred from
Tel Aviv on Trump's orders last year. Netanyahu will travel to Washington in the
last week of March for the annual conference of the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an event sponsored by the influential lobbying group
that draws thousands each year. While a meeting has not been officially
confirmed, the Israeli premier hopes to use the opportunity of his Washington
visit to meet with Trump.
Peace plan countdown
A shift in semantics and policy has marked the Trump term, particularly related
to the Middle East. The US has ceased to refer to Syria's Golan Heights as
"Israeli-occupied" and instead calls the territory "controlled" by Israel -- a
change seen by some as a prelude to US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over
the strategic plateau. "That language reflects the facts as we understand them,"
Pompeo said. "This was a factual statement about how we observe the situation.
"And we think it's very accurate, and we stand behind it."The April 9 vote in
Israel will also start the countdown for the presentation, expected before the
summer, of the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan that a small White House team --
strongly pro-Israeli, analysts say -- has been quietly preparing under the
president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. During Friday's Beirut leg of his trip,
Pompeo will focus on the Hezbollah movement, which the US considers a
pro-Iranian "terrorist" group even though it is represented in the coalition
government of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, himself a US ally.
Kuwait Says US. Mideast Peace Plan Should Weigh
Regional Considerations
Reuters/J.Post/March 20/19
"We hope the plan will take into account the situation in the region and all the
relevant parties," Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah told a joint press conference
with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
KUWAIT - Kuwait's foreign minister said on Wednesday that a long-awaited US
peace proposal for the Middle East should be acceptable to all stakeholders and
factor in regional considerations. US President Donald Trump's special adviser
Jared Kushner visited several Gulf Arab states last month - but not Kuwait - to
seek support from Arab leaders on the economic portion of the proposal that
Trump is expected to unveil in the coming months.Kushner, Trump's son-in-law,
has given a broad outline of the plan, saying it would address final-status
issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including establishing borders. "We
hope the plan will take into account the situation in the region and all the
relevant parties," Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah told a joint news conference
with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. "We believe the strong relationship
between the United States and several countries will lead to an acceptable
resolution to all parties and to reaching a political solution that has been
long waited for."Kuwait currently holds a non-permanent seat in the U.N.
Security Council, where it has championed the Palestinian cause. Pompeo is on a
regional tour that will also take him to Israel and Lebanon. The foreign
minister of Kuwait said he had also discussed with Pompeo a Gulf dispute that
has fractured the Gulf Arab bloc, as well as Syria, Iran, Iraq and Yemen. The
United States and Kuwait have been trying to mediate in the bitter row that has
seen Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-Gulf state Egypt
impose a political and economic boycott on Qatar since June 2017 over
allegations it supports terrorism. Doha denies the charges. "We are all working
to find a solution. It's not in the best interest of the region, not in the best
interest of the world. We need Gulf countries all working together on the
complex set of challenges that face each of them," Pompeo said. Sheik Sabah said
"there is no option" other than for the dispute to be resolved. The United
States, an ally of the six-nation Gulf bloc, has said that regional unity is
essential for a planned Middle East Strategic Alliance that would serve as a
bulwark against Iran. Qatar is home to a major US airbase and Kuwait also hosts
US troops. Pompeo said his talks on Wednesday also focused on enhancing defense
and cybersecurity cooperation with Kuwait.
Trump: ISIS will be gone ‘by tonight’
Staff writer, Al Arabiya/EnglishWednesday, 20 March 2019/US President Donald
Trump said on Wednesday that ISIS will be “gone by tonight,” in an announcement
he made on the White House South Lawn ahead of a visit to Ohio. Trump held up
two maps showing the difference between lands that belonged to ISIS in 2016’s
election night versus the lands of the so-called “caliphate” today. The maps had
areas that fell under the control of ISIS colored in red, on which Trump
commented saying: “When I took it over, it was a mess. Now there is no red. In
fact, there’s actually a tiny spot which will be gone by tonight.”He added that
Washington will keep around 400 troops in the north east of Syria.
Kuwait Hails Washington’s Steadfast Stance
in Defending Gulf Security
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/Kuwait Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah
Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah hailed on Wednesday the United States’ steadfast stance
in defending the Arab Gulf. During a joint press conference with US Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo in Kuwait, he expressed his faith in Washington’s ability to
draft a peace plan for the region that would be accepted by all concerned
parties. “We are confident that the US has ideas about peace that take into
consideration the situation in the region and the parties involved,” he said of
the American administration’s so-called “Deal of the Century” peace proposal. He
confirmed that this issue was discussed with Pompeo, adding that Washington’s
friendship with several countries in the region will ultimately reach an
agreement that is accepted by everyone until a long-awaited political solution
to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is achieved.
On Yemen, the minister said that his country was in agreement with the US on the
need to end its conflict peacefully according to the three references. For his
part, Pompeo underscored the importance of the Strategic Dialogue with Kuwait,
saying that discussions tackled defense, trade and counter-terrorism efforts. He
also highlighted Kuwait’s mediation role in several regional affairs, including
the Gulf crisis, which he said Washington was keen on resolving. Moreover, he
stressed that the US has not altered its policy on the Middle East peace
process. Pompeo added that his country is boosting its efforts to prohibit cyber
threats and its dangers, underlining the US commitment to the security of
Kuwait. The top US diplomat had arrived in Kuwait on Tuesday as part of a Middle
East tour that will see him head to Jerusalem and Beirut.
Fatah: Efforts Underway with Egypt to Rein in Hamas
Crackdown on Protests
Ramallah - Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/Fatah deputy
chief Mahmoud al-Aloul revealed on Tuesday that intense local and regional
efforts are underway to rein in the Hamas movement’s violent crackdown on
protests in the Gaza Strip. He said talks are underway with Egypt to that end.
He also accused Hamas of seeking to create crises between Palestinians and spark
an internal conflict in order to approve the “Deal of the Century” peace
proposal that is being prepared by the US administration. He made his remarks as
Hamas intensified its crackdown and arrests against popular activists who had
taken to the streets of Gaza to protest against new taxes and price hikes. Hamas
has resorted to excessive use of force in order stifle sedition, arresting
several members of Fatah and the Palestinian left. Official reports said that
they were subject to torture during investigations.
Since the eruption of the protests, the Independent Commission for Human Rights
has documented a number of rights violations as Hamas’ security agencies
attempted to disperse protesters by force, citing a number of injuries among the
demonstrators.
Some 25 rallies have taken place since their eruption on March 14. Hamas has
also arrested over 1,000 people taking part in the rallies. Some 300 remain in
detention. Twenty-three journalists were also detained. Fatah, meanwhile,
accused Hamas of attempting to assassinate its spokesman in Gaza, Atef Abou Seif,
after he was severely beaten in the Strip. Hamas has denied the charge and
condemned the attack.Abu Seif has suffered from several broken bones and is
receiving medical treatment in Ramallah. Fatah stressed that it will not remain
silent over Hamas’ “crimes” for very long. It did not disclose what measures it
intends to take against the movement. Observers believe it would resort to legal
measures if necessary. In addition, the Popular Front’s politburo revealed that
Hamas has arrested several of its members. Democratic Front politburo members
Taysir Khaled compared Hamas’ security agencies to the Gestapo, while Muslim and
Christian clerics joined in in condemning the movement’s practices. The
Palestinian government held Hamas completely responsible for the dangerous
deterioration, while the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) executive
committee condemned the movement’s “barbaric” crackdown on peaceful youth
protests. It said that such practices are alien to Palestinian culture, calling
on the de facto forces in Gaza to cease this behavior immediately, return to
reason and implement the reconciliation to end the Palestinian rift. Hamas has
yet to officially respond to any of the mounting backlash against it. Prominent
movement member in the West Bank, Hassan Youssef, did however, propose an end to
political arrests, saying he rejects the “use of force against any Palestinian
over their right to freedom of expression.”Other Hamas members have distanced
themselves from the movement’s practices. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007
from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israel imposed a
blockade, a step meant to prevent Hamas from arming. The blockade, and three
wars with Israel, have ravaged Gaza's economy but done nothing to loosen Hamas'
grip on power. Unemployment is over 50 percent and much higher for young
university graduates. Tap water is undrinkable, electricity is limited and
travel abroad severely restricted. Hamas' cash-strapped government recently
raised taxes on basic goods like bread, beans and cigarettes. Protesters accuse
Hamas of corruption and imposing the hefty taxes to enrich itself. They used
social media to organize protests last week with the slogan "We want to
live!"This is not the first time people have taken to the streets against Hamas.
Two years ago, protesters demonstrated against the chronic power cuts on a cold
January day before Hamas violently dispersed them. This time around, the
sporadic rallies have continued for several days, despite a similarly violent
response.
How does Gantz’s hacked cellphone tie in
with Israel’s non-strike on Iran’s nuclear sites in 2012?
DEBKAfile/March 20/19
The new Blue-White party fighting to win Israel’s coming election is led, or
supported, by individuals who in 2012 forced PM Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense
Minister Ehud Barak to cancel their planned pre-emptive attack on Iran’s
evolving nuclear weapons program. Three years later, those same individuals
enthusiastically supported the nuclear accord signed by six world powers led by
the Obama administration. Among them were former chiefs of staff Benny Gantz and
Gaby Ashkenazi. Their fellow party leader, Yair Lapid, vocally fought
Netanyahu’s drive to prevent the nuclear deal from going through. Lapid
maintained that the prime minister’s dramatic appeal to the US Congress, at that
time, would derail the strategic relations between the US and Israel. The
“submarine affair” today is led by the same actors. It has two parts, criminal
and strategic. In the first, the prime minister was exhaustively investigated on
suspicion of bribery and absolved of any financial gain or other connection with
the transaction. Indictments were filed against a long line of officials and a
military commander. The attorney general moreover confirmed that Netanyahu had
full authority to make the decision to purchase the additional submarines from
Germany. Regarding the strategic aspect of the submarine controversy, the same
individuals who countered the military option against Iran objected nine years
ago to Israeli purchasing a sixth submarine from the German ThyssenKrupp
shipyard, because it would have tipped the scales in favor of a military attack
on Iran by arming Israel with a “second strike” capability against a potential
Iranian attack.
This time, Netanyahu was not cowed by the generals. He bought the sixth
submarine against their advice – for which they will never forgive him. Today,
many experts agree that not just six, but 8 or 10, of those submarines, would
enhance Israel’s strategic position in the region. Egypt’s purchase of the
German submarines was also dragged into the current election campaign. Netanyahu
stands accused of giving the transaction a pass, contrary to Israel’s security
interests, in order to fill the pockets of members of his family and his own
profit.
DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources lift the Egyptian sub transaction
out of the election campaign and sets the record straight. If Netanyahu had
hypothetically advised Berlin to refuse the sale, Cairo would have turned to
Russia, China or South Korea instead, in which case Israel would have had no say
in the sale or knowledge of the systems installed on the submarines. The Germans
were willing to listen to, and share information with, Israel. Therefore,
Netanyahu acted purely in the interests of national security by approving the
German sub transaction with Egypt.
Nonetheless, former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon, a member of the Blue-White
party’s leading quartet, went so far on Wednesday, March 20, as to accuse
Netanyahu of treasonable conduct!
At this low point in the party’s fight against him, Netanyahu made his voice
heard. Speaking to reporters from his Jerusalem residence, he was flanked by Avi
Dichter, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee and
former head of the Shin Bet security service. The prime minister did not try to
defend himself against the accusations, which he treats as outrageously
unfounded; instead he turned his gun back on Blue-White leader Benny Gantz’s
hacked smartphone. He charged his rival with continuing to run for election as a
future prime minister, while exposing Israel to danger, since Iran is only
waiting for the chance to use the content pulled from his cellphone for
extortion. He can only save himself, said the prime minister, by coming clean to
the public on the phone’s content and so neutralizing the Iranian threat. “Benny
Gantz, what are you hiding from the Israeli public?” the prime minister asked.
“What do the Iranians know about you that you are hiding from us? This is not a
matter of of gossip but national security. So come clean!” Dichter said: “The
enemy’s breach of the cellphone of a person with pretensions to become prime
minister has disastrous connotations.”
It was clear from their remarks that both know exactly what Gantz’s smartphone
contains and let him know that, if he did not lay its content bare, someone else
would do it for him. Although Iran denied hacking the phone in Wednesday, its
leaders must be chuckling quietly over having seized center stage of the Zionist
state’s election campaign.
Netanyahu Denies Iran Hacked Phones of His Wife, Son
Tel Aviv- Nazir Majli/Asharq Al Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/Cellphones of
Sara and Yair Netanyahu, the wife and son of the Israeli prime minister, were
not hacked by Iran, the Prime Minister’s Office asserted Tuesday. Netanyahu
accused rival Israeli sources in the elections of being responsible for such
rumors to divert attention from the scandal of Blue and White Party leader Benny
Gantz's whose phone was hacked. Earlier, a report stated that Iran hacked the
phones of Netanyahu's wife and son in an attempt to eavesdrop on conversations
with the premier. Sara and Yair Netanyahu were not themselves the main target of
the hack, but rather that it was an attempt to gain general information as the
PM does not have a cellphone. It remains unclear just how much and what
information was leaked, and if the hack actually took place. The Iranian
espionage was heavily discussed in Israeli media ever since the right-wing
journalist Amit Segal uncovered the case of hacking the phone of former Chief of
General Staff of the Israeli Forces. Usually, in such cases when a former chief
of staff is hacked, he is put into interrogation and then supposedly provided
protection. The damage is then assessed and the issue is considered a matter of
“national security.”However, in Israel in the year 2019, the subject became an
“award” that Netanyahu claimed and used to attack Gantz. “If Benny Gantz can’t
protect his phone, how will he protect our country?” Netanyahu stated. According
to Iranian sources, the breach of Gantz’ phone happened a few years ago, but
apparently the subject is now being discussed for internal Israeli elections.
For his part, Gantz said that Netanyahu is personally behind this reports saying
the PM is willing to target his opponents, even if it harms the security of
Israel. Former head of the Mossad, Tamir Pardo, considered this publication a
disastrous blow to Israel's security. “The use of classified intelligence
information for political ends is very grave,” Pardo said, adding that “leaking
something like this, at the height of an election campaign, tramples on all the
rules of the democratic game.”Sources close to Netanyahu's rivals of the Blue
and White party reported that they decided to step up the attack on the
corruption of the prime minister, to become a key issue in their campaign. In
their first full press conference since launching the party, Gantz, Moshe Yaalon,
and Gabi Ashkenazi, as well as their ally Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of being
implicated in “the greatest security-related corruption case in the history of
Israel.”Blue and White said that the phone hack story was leaked in an attempt
to divert attention away from new allegations that Netanyahu may have earned
millions of shekels from the so-called submarine affair. Netanyahu along with
several of his close associates are suspected to have received illicit funds as
part of a massive graft scheme in the multi-billion-shekel purchase of three
Dolphin-class submarines and four Saar 6-class corvettes from German shipbuilder
ThyssenKrupp.
Israeli Army Kills 2 Palestinians in West Bank Clashes
West Bank- Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/Two Palestinians were
killed by Israeli forces in clashes near a flashpoint religious site in the
occupied West Bank overnight Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The health ministry said Raid Hamdan, 21, and Zaid Nouri, 20, died after being
shot late Tuesday by Israeli troops near the Joseph's Tomb religious site close
to the Palestinian city of Nablus. The military says explosive devices were
hurled on Wednesday morning at soldiers securing Jewish worshippers at Joseph's
Tomb in Nablus. "Troops responded with live fire towards the vehicle." There
were no reports of injuries on the Israeli side. The site is venerated by
Muslims, Christians, and Jews and has often been a source of tension in the
Israel-Palestinian conflict. Palestinian Muslims believe an Islamic cleric,
Sheikh Youssef (Joseph) Dweikat, was buried there two centuries ago. Jews
believe the site contains the remains of the biblical patriarch Joseph, one of
the 12 sons of Jacob. It is located near a Palestinian refugee camp in the West
Bank, the territory occupied by Israel for more than 50 years. The Israeli army
regularly escorts groups of Jewish pilgrims to the site, often sparking clashes.
Palestinians Demand UN Intervention against Israeli
Settlement Plan
Ramallah – Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/The Palestinian Foreign
Ministry condemned on Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
announcement of plans to build 840 new units in the Jewish settlement of Ariel
in the West Bank. The ministry demanded, in a statement reported by Deutsche
Presse-Agentur, the UN Security Council to break its silence, defend its
remaining credibility towards the situation in occupied Palestine and take
necessary measures to implement relevant international resolutions, mainly
resolution 2334. “Tomorrow, we will begin building 840 housing units in Ariel in
a new neighborhood as was approved two years ago,” Netanyahu said in the
aftermath of a shooting attack by a Palestinian that killed and wounded Israeli
soldiers and settlers on Sunday. The Palestinian ministry held the US
administration responsible for providing cover for Israeli violations of
occupied Palestinian territories and deepening settlement expansion. It said
that this bias exposes the false US claims on achieving Palestinian-Israeli
peace. All the talks about the US administration’s “Deal of the Century”
undermine the international community and Middle East, it continued. It called
on countries that respect international law, the UN charter and Geneva
Conventions to act promptly to rescue the international order from the
consequences of US policies, especially in the Middle East.
New Israeli Radar System in Crete to Monitor Eastern
Mediterranean Basin
Tel Aviv – Nazir Magally/Asharq Al Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/Israel,
Greece, and Cyprus will hold a tripartite summit on Thursday in Tel Aviv to
discuss military cooperation and the laying of a gas pipeline from Israel to
Europe. The military cooperation between the three countries led to the
development of a new long horizon marine radar system in eastern Crete, with the
enhanced coverage of the new surface radar to monitor the Eastern Mediterranean
basin. Israeli sources said the meeting will bring together Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Cypriot President
Nicos Anastasiades along with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The new surface
radar will be able to track at long range, beyond the horizon, and both Israel
and Greece will have access to its enhanced coverage. “This will bring vast
revenue to state coffers that will be directed to the benefit of Israel’s
citizens,” Netanyahu said. Relations between Jerusalem and Athens have grown
closer in recent years, according to sources in Tel Aviv. Military and economic
issues are crucial in these ties, with particular attention paid to exploiting
both countries’ gas reserves.This cooperation was reflected on Greece’s
political positions, as Athens softened its stance on the Palestinian issue in
international bodies. In 2015, Israel had participated in wide-range military
exercises in Greece including a training against a Russian-supplied S-300
anti-missile system, ahead of the possible deployment of the system in Syria and
Iran. Israel and Cyprus also have numerous shared regional interests, including
the security situation in Syria and Lebanon as well as the complicated relations
with Turkey. Both countries have large gas reserves in their territorial waters
and a desire to export gas to Europe together with Greece, an important
strategic gateway to the continent. European countries signed with Israel in
2017 the joint declaration to enhance the work aimed at extending the sea line
to transport Israeli gas to Europe within the next 8 years. The 2,000-kilometer
underwater pipeline is intended to have a capacity of 12 billion cubic meters of
gas annually. The project includes the construction of a 1,300 km long submarine
pipeline from the East Mediterranean gas field to southern Greece, as well as a
600 km long pipeline to western Greece, linking existing pipelines to transport
gas to Italy and other EU countries.
Algeria Military Says Protests Have ‘Noble
Aims’ as Powerful Party Abandons Bouteflika
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/Algerians have expressed “noble aims”,
said army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah, as President
Abdelaziz Bouteflika faced growing pressure from protesters to step down. Salah
said the month had been "marked by the deeds of noble aims and pure intentions,
through which the Algerian people has clearly expressed its values and
principles of sincere and dedicated work to Allah and the motherland".The
general made his comments on Tuesday during a tour of a military district and
carried by Algerian media on Wednesday. They were the strongest indication yet
that the military is distancing itself from the ailing president. On Wednesday,
the National Rally for Democracy (RND) abandoned Bouteflika to join ruling party
officials, unions and business tycoons in calling on the longtime ruler to step
down. In a major setback to Bouteflika, the RND, which is a member of the ruling
coalition, criticized the president for seeking to stay in power. “The candidacy
of president Abdelaziz Bouteflika for a new term was a big mistake,” RND
spokesman Seddik Chihab told El Bilad TV. “Extra constitutional forces have
seized power in the past few years and ruled state affairs outside a legal
framework.”Bouteflika, who has ruled for 20 years, bowed to the protesters last
week by reversing plans to stand for a fifth term. But he stopped short of
stepping down and said he would stay in office until a new constitution is
adopted, effectively extending his present term. His moves have done nothing to
halt demonstrations, which peaked on Friday with hundreds of thousands of
protesters on the streets of Algiers and have continued into this week. RND
leader Ahmed Ouyahia, a former prime minister who had close ties to intelligence
agencies, has also switched sides.
“The people’s demands should be met as soon as possible,” he told followers in a
letter on Sunday. Leaders have emerged from the protest movement, offering an
alternative to Bouteflika’s political roadmap to what he says will be a new
Algeria. But they have not built up enough momentum to force the president to
quit or make more concessions. The president has rarely been seen in public
since suffering a stroke five years ago, and the protesters say a shadowy circle
of aides, including his brother Said, have been ruling the country in his name.
The protests continued on Tuesday, with students, university professors and
health workers rallying in Algiers calling for Bouteflika to quit. A new group
headed by activists and opposition figures told the army not to interfere. In
the first direct public message to the generals from leaders emerging from the
protests, the National Coordination for Change said the military should “play
its constitutional role without interfering in the people’s choice”.
Turkey’s Erdogan triggers spat with Australia, New Zealand
The Associated Press, Ankara/Wednesday, 20 March 2019/Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, campaigning for votes in local elections this month, has sparked
a diplomatic spat with New Zealand and Australia by portraying the Christchurch
mosque shooting and a World War I battle as targeting Islam. Australian Prime
Minister Scott Morrison summoned Turkey’s ambassador on Wednesday and demanded
that Erdogan take back comments suggesting that Australians and New Zealanders
had sent troops to fight Turkey in the WWI Gallipoli campaign motivated by an
opposition to Islam. In more inflammatory comments, Erdogan has also said that
Australians and New Zealanders traveling to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments
would be sent back in coffins, “like their grandfathers” were in the Gallipoli
campaign. Morrison’s government issued a travel advisory warning people visiting
the Gallipoli battlefields for remembrance ceremonies during the anniversary of
the campaign next month to exercise caution. Morrison said “all options are on
the table” if Erdogan does not withdraw his comments. Turkish Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu later held a telephone conversation with his Australian
counterpart, Marise Payne, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said. They did not
provide further details about the call. Ignoring widespread criticism, Erdogan
at his campaign rallies has been screening excerpts of a video taken by the
gunman who killed 50 people in mosques in Christchurch, to denounce what he
calls rising hatred and prejudice against Islam. He has also been showing parts
of a manifesto said to have been left by the gunman in which he threatens Turks
and Erdogan himself. On Wednesday, Erdogan - inaugurating a theme park in Ankara
as part of his campaign for the March 31 elections - called for votes for his
ruling party candidates as a response to “occupiers who attempt to threaten our
nation from tens of thousands of kilometers away.”
Australia summons Turkish ambassador for ‘offensive’
Erdogan comments
AFP, Sydney/Wednesday, 20 March 2019/Australia’s prime minister said he would
summon Turkey’s ambassador in Canberra Wednesday to explain “very offensive”
comments made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the wake of the Christchurch
massacre. Erdogan, while campaigning for local elections, presented the attack
as part of an assault on Turkey and Islam and warned anti-Muslim Australians
would suffer the same fate as soldiers at Gallipoli, a blood-drenched WWI
battle. “I find it a very offensive comment, of course I do, and I will be
calling in the Turkish ambassador today to meet with me to discuss these
issues,” Scott Morrison told national broadcaster ABC. Erdogan had been sharply
rebuked by New Zealand for his comments and for using gruesome video shot by the
Christchurch mosque gunman as an election campaign prop. Deputy Prime Minister
Winston Peters protested on Monday that such politicization of the massacre
“imperils the future and safety of the New Zealand people and our people abroad,
and it’s totally unfair”. Peters announced on Tuesday that he would be
travelling to Turkey this week at Istanbul’s request to attend a special meeting
of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Three Turkish nationals were wounded
in the rampage that killed 50 worshippers at two mosques in the southern New
Zealand city of Christchurch on Friday. The accused gunman, a self-avowed white
supremacist from Australia, livestreamed much of the attack and spread a
manifesto on social media claiming it was a strike against Muslim “invaders”.
The manifesto references Turkey and the minarets of Istanbul’s famed Hagia
Sophia, now a museum, which was once a church before becoming a mosque during
the Ottoman Empire. “This is not an isolated event, it is something more
organized,” he said during a campaign event on Monday in Canakkale in western
Turkey. “They are testing us with the message they are sending us from New
Zealand, 16,500 km from here.”Erdogan did not project the video at the Monday
event. Peters said he had complained directly to visiting Turkish Vice-President
Fuat Oktay and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
France threatens to reject May’s Brexit delay request
Reuters/Wednesday, 20 March 2019/France threatened to reject British Prime
Minister Theresa May’s request for a three-month delay to Brexit on Wednesday
unless she can guarantee to get her departure plans through parliament,
potentially sending Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal.
May asked the European Union to allow Britain to extend Brexit to June 30 and EU
leaders are expected to discuss the matter at a summit on Thursday. The decision
must be taken unanimously by all remaining 27 EU members. Some EU states,
including Germany, had given a largely positive response to May’s well-flagged
request. But with the clock ticking towards Britain’s formal departure date on
March 29, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said May would need to make
her case before EU leaders in Brussels. “Our position is to send the British a
clear and simple message: As Theresa May said repeatedly herself, there are only
two options to get out of the EU: ratify the Withdrawal Agreement or exit
without a deal,” Le Drian told the French parliament. “A situation in which Mrs.
May was not be able to present to the European Council sufficient guarantees of
the credibility of her strategy would lead to the extension request being
dismissed and opting for a no-deal exit,” he said. May’s initiative came just
nine days before Britain is formally due to leave the European Union and marked
the latest twist in more than two years of negotiations that have left British
politics in chaos and the prime minister’s authority in tatters. After the
defeats in parliament opened up the possibility of Britain leaving the EU
without a deal and a smooth transition, May said she remained committed to
leaving “in an orderly manner” and wanted to postpone Brexit until June 30. Her
announcement prompted uproar in parliament, where the opposition Labour Party
accused her of “blackmail, bullying and bribery” in her attempts to push her
deal through, and one prominent pro-Brexit supporter in her own Conservative
Party said seeking a delay was “betraying the British people.”
Kurdish Administration Slams Damascus
‘Threats’
Beirut - London/Asharq Al Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/Syria’s Kurds slammed
Tuesday the “threatening language” of Defense Minister Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayoub
who has said his government would recapture all areas held by the Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF) through a “reconciliation agreement” or “by force.”"The
use of threatening language against the SDF who have liberated and protected the
north and east of Syria from terrorists only serves those forces working to
divide Syria," the semi-autonomous administration of northern and northeastern
Syria said in a statement.
“The Syrian defense minister’s statement regarding the SDF reflects the
continuation of the racist and sterile policy that has led Syria to this
disastrous situation,” it said, adding that "the autonomous administration
stands by its position for the necessity of a solution and dialogue … for all
pending issues."
“While choosing the political solution, we will spare no effort in the
legitimate defense of our rights if necessary,” it stressed. Negotiations
between Kurds and Damascus have reached a dead end. Kurdish officials have
accused the Syrian regime of seeking to reimpose the pre-war status quo in their
regions, a move unacceptable by Kurds. Kurds make up around 15 percent of
Syria’s population, and the SDF is the second force after the Syrian army,
seizing around 30 percent of the country’s territories. The SDF is spearheading
battles against ISIS in Syria, backed by the US-led international coalition.
After years of marginalization, Kurds rose to prominence with the gradual
withdrawal of regime forces from their regions starting 2012. In 2013, they
declared a semi-autonomous administration. The Syrian war, which erupted in
2011, has left more than 370,000 people dead, has caused massive destruction in
infrastructure and displaced more than half of the country's population.
Speculation Rife on Muqtada Sadr’s
Whereabouts
Baghdad - Hamza Mustafa/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 20 March, 2019/The
whereabouts of Sadrist Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr has been keeping Iraqis
busy amid claims that he has been ill or has been infuriated by the country’s
political situation. The Shiite cleric’s last tweet was posted on his account
more than three months ago. Last month, unofficial reports said Sadr visited
Beirut, where he met with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and commander of
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Suleimani. At the time, the cleric’s
office neither confirmed nor denied the news. It hasn’t even issued a statement
justifying Sadr’s absence from Iraq’s political scene. Some observers said Sadr
has fallen ill, while others claimed the Shiite cleric has been “angered” by the
country’s political developments, mainly the failure to finalize the government
formation process.
Bahaa Al Araji, a member of the Sadrist Movement and a former deputy Prime
Minister, made a statement on Monday night, prompting a response from Sadr’s
spokesman. Araji denied Sadr was sick, blaming the political crisis on the
cleric’s decision not to make any statements or be seen in public. The cleric
would soon make an initiative to change the “political equation,” including a
possible dismissal of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Hadi’s government and the
nomination of former PM Haider Abadi, Araji said. Speculation about Sadr’s
whereabouts has become more intense by the sudden appearance of former deputy
Jaafar Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr, the cousin of Muqtada. Jaafar had been absent
from the political scene since his resignation from Parliament in 2011. But
lately, Jaafar has held a series of meetings with a number of politicians,
including Abdul Hadi, Abadi, Speaker Mohammed Halbousi and head of the Hikmat
Movement Ammar al-Hakim. Jaafar is expected to meet Thursday with Iraq's top
Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf. On Tuesday, Muqtada al-Sadr's
spokesman Sheikh Salah al-Obeidi refused to comment on Jaafar’s latest meetings.
For its part, the Nasr Coalition, led by Abadi, denied any intentions to oust
Abdul Hadi.
EU's Tusk: Short Brexit Delay Possible if
MPs Back Deal
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 20/19/European Council president Donald Tusk
said Wednesday that EU leaders could approve a short delay to Brexit if British
lawmakers finally approve the withdrawal deal they have twice rejected. "In the
light of the consultations I have conducted over the past days, I believe a
short extension will be possible but it will be conditional on a positive vote
on the withdrawal agreement in the House of Commons," he told reporters. "Even
if the hope for a final success may seem frail, even illusory, and although
Brexit fatigue is increasingly visible and justified, we cannot give up seeking
until the very last moment a positive solution, of course without opening up the
withdrawal agreement."
Tusk took to the podium at the European Council on the eve of a summit at which
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May will plead with fellow EU leaders for more
time to win domestic support for the divorce plan.
He tacitly confirmed that no decision on an extension will be possible this week
at the summit, since May will have to go home to try to push the deal through
the House of Commons. But he had one olive branch.
The meeting could, he said, approve Britain's request that legal assurances on
the terms of the withdrawal that were published last week in Strasbourg could be
approved by the leaders, opening the way for a vote.
But he said he had not yet decided whether it will be necessary to hold another
emergency summit next week to approve the extended Brexit deadline before
Britain's scheduled March 29 departure. "When it comes to the approval of the
Strasbourg agreement, I believe that this is possible and in my view, does not
create risks, especially if it were to help the ratification process in the UK,"
he said. "At this time, I do not foresee an extraordinary European Council," he
said. "If the leaders approve my recommendations and there is a positive vote in
the House of Commons next week we can finalize and formalize the decision on an
extension in a written procedure. "However if there is such a need I will not
hesitate to invite the members of the European Council to Brussels for a meeting
next week."
May's letter to Tusk asked for Brexit day to be delayed until June 30, despite
EU warnings that it would be legally difficult to go beyond the May 23 start of
European parliamentary elections. Tusk said the date "has its merits" but
admitted it "creates a series of questions of a legal and political nature.
Leaders will discuss this tomorrow."
New Kazakh President Sworn in, Proposes Renaming Capital
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 20/19/The head of Kazakhstan's senate was
sworn in as interim president in a pomp-filled ceremony Wednesday, and
immediately proposed renaming the country's capital after his
predecessor.Nursultan Nazarbayev, the only leader an independent Kazakhstan has
ever known, shocked the nation on Tuesday with his resignation after nearly
three decades in power. Senate chairman Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, 65, was
Kazakhstan's second in command and is set to serve as president until fresh
elections in April next year. But Nazarbayev, 78, will retain significant
influence thanks to his constitutional status as "Leader of the Nation" and
lifelong position as chief of the country's security council. In his first
announcement after his swearing in before the upper and lower houses of
parliament, Tokayev said the capital Astana should be renamed after Nazarbayev.
In the broadcast ceremony, Tokayev told deputies that Nazarbayev had
"demonstrated wisdom" in deciding to resign. "Yesterday the world witnessed a
historic event," Tokayev said, hailing Nazarbayev as a visionary "reformer".
"The results of independent Kazakhstan are there for all to see," Tokayev added.
"I propose... naming the country's capital Astana in honour of the first
president," Tokayev said, suggesting the new name be "Nursultan".
"The opinion of (Nazarbayev) will be of special, one can say priority,
importance in the development and adoption of strategic decisions," the new
leader added. Nazarbayev, also present, was applauded for several minutes by
assembled lawmakers as he took a seat at the head of the session.
Astana replaced Almaty as the capital in 1997 and boomed from a minor provincial
steppe town into a futuristic city. The name literally means "capital" in Kazakh
and there has long been speculation it could at some point be renamed after the
leader who shaped it.
Nazarbayev's decades at the helm transformed Kazakhstan into an energy
powerhouse but he governed with little tolerance for opposition.
On Tuesday he surprised Kazakhs with a televised address saying he had made the
"difficult decision" to resign. Tokayev has a strong diplomatic track record
dating back to the Soviet period, serving twice as Kazakhstan's foreign
minister. Nazarbayev's resignation is not expected to fundamentally alter
Kazakhstan's authoritarian system, which rights groups say leaves little space
for political competition, civil society, and free media.
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on March 20-21/2019
IRGC Deputy Commander Gen. Naqdi Praises
1983 Beirut Marine Barracks Attack: Real Men Kill U.S. Marines; U.S. On Verge Of
Economic Collapse; ‘The Marines Peed In Their Pants In The Persian Gulf‘
ميمري: نائب قائد الحرس الثوري الجنرال نقدي يشيد بالهجوم على ثكنات المارينز في
بيروت عام 1983 ويقول بأن الولايات المتحدة على وشك الانهيار الاقتصادي ويدعي ان
مشاة البحرية يتبولون في سروالهم في الخليج الفارسي
MEMRI/March 19/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73133/irgc-deputy-commander-gen-naqdi-praises-1983-beirut-marine-barracks-attack-real-men-kill-u-s-marines-u-s-on-verge-of-economic-collapse-the-marines-peed-in-their-pants-in-the-persian-gulf/
Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the deputy IRGC Commander for Cultural and Social
Affairs, said in a speech that aired on Hamoon TV (Iran) on March 12, 2019, that
Iran has been on a constant rise while the United States has been in a constant
decline since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. General Naqdi, who was speaking at
the city of Konarak, cited America’s current debt and budget deficit, saying
that America’s economic collapse has passed the point of no return. He added
that the same is true for the Zionists. Naqdi said that another indication that
the U.S. is in decline is that people are now willing to attack and kill U.S.
Marines, such as in the case of attacks against Marines in Beirut. He said:
“Being real men is to kill U.S. Marines despite all their intelligence means.”
Naqdi also claimed that the U.S. has conspired to give takfiri organizations a
mission to take Muslim youth that want to wage Jihad and to turn them against
Shiites and other Muslims.
To view the clip of Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi on MEMRI TV, click here or below.
https://www.memri.org/tv/senior-irgc-general-reza-naqdi-real-men-kill-marines-america-decline-since-islamic-revolution
The U.S. President “Would Not Even Dare Enter Any Capital City In A Bulletproof
Armored Car”
General Mohammad Reza Naqdi: “If the Prophet Moses once took the Israelites
through the sea… In the Islamic Revolution and in the past 40 years, the
leadership of the Revolution has taken the people through the sea 100 times. It
won, and it has saved the people from Pharaoh. In the past 40 years, we have
constantly been victorious against America. America has constantly been
defeated. It has been in constant collapse, and the Islamic Republic has
constantly been on the rise in those 40 years. Look at all that has happened:
The terrorism, the cases of unrest, the coups d’état, the economic sanctions,
the cultural invasions, the acts of terrorism…
Ultimately, it has been the Iranian people that have had the upper hand. Compare
America of 1979 to America of 2019. See what is happening. In 2019, the U.S. has
a Gross External Debt of $22 trillion, and a budget deficit of $1 trillion.
“This is the situation in America. But what was the situation [in 1979] when the
Revolution won? The U.S. had a surplus and reserves of $1 trillion. The
Americans used to take ships filled with wheat to the Pacific Ocean, and pour
the wheat into the sea in order to keep the price of wheat stable.
“And today? Today, there are 40 million hungry people in America. Run a search
on the Internet and check out the external debt counter of the U.S. counter
bank. Compare each day to the day before. The debt grows by $2.5 billion each
and every day.
“The economic collapse of the U.S. is completely past the point of no return.
The same is true of the Zionists. Where were they then and where are they now?
When the U.S. President would travel to another country, he used to sit in a car
with the roof open, and he would wave at the cheering people. The women would
throw flowers at him. The children and students would wave at him with American
flags.
“Today, the U.S. President does not dare ride not only a car with an open roof…
He would not even dare enter any capital city in a bulletproof armored car.”
“When American Marines Took Over Beirut, Lebanese Youth Killed 450 Of Them In A
Single Operation… Being Real Men Is To Kill U.S. Marines Despite All Their
Intelligence Means”
“Who would have dared to kill U.S. Marines?
“When American marines took over Beirut, Lebanese youth killed 450 of them in a
single operation. This is what being real men means. Killing a few people in a
market in secret is not what real men do.
“Being real men is to kill U.S. Marines despite all their intelligence means.
When they passed near our area in the Persian Gulf, our guys in the Basij and
the IRGC captured the U.S. Marines like mice. On another occasion, they did the
same thing to English marines. None of them dared to do anything.”
“Did You See How Our Guys Capture Their Marines? The Marines Peed In Their Pants
In The Persian Gulf”
“We have defeated them on all fronts. Did you see how our guys capture their
marines? The marines peed in their pants in the Persian Gulf. Look at the films,
you can see it there. The English marines peed in their pants. They see that you
cannot fight the Iranians, the Afghans, the Lebanese, the Palestinians… You
cannot fight people who believe in God. So what do they do? They do two things
and two things only. First, they destroy their faith. How? With liquor, with
drugs, with perverted movies, with immoral shows… They ensnare the youth and
destroy their faith.
“In the Islamic world, following the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, many
young people prepared for Jihad against America and Israel. But they conspired
and took over the leadership of those youth. They said to them: ‘You want to
wage Jihad? Fine. The Shi’ites come before the Zionists. The Shi’ites are your
main enemies. Kill them first.’ Thousands of youth across the world of Islam
were ready to liberate Palestine, but they diverted the struggle against the
Muslims themselves. This is the mission that the Americans dictated to the
takfiris, and many have fallen into this trap. What is missing? Which prominent
reliable Sunni cleric issued such a fatwa? None! The fatwa came from the CIA.”
What Is Purim? The History Behind the
Halloween of Jewish Holidays
البوريم هو احتفال يهودي في ذكرى نجاتهم من الابادة في بلاد فارس في عهد الأخمينيين
وقد ذكرت الواقعة في الهد القديم من الكتاب المقدي في سفر الملكة استير
Elon Gilad/Haaretz/March 20/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73138/what-is-purim-the-history-behind-the-halloween-of-jewish-holidays-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%85-%D9%87%D9%88-%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%84-%D9%8A%D9%87%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A-%D9%81/
What is its origin? When did it begin? Why did many Jews scorn it – and is the
underlying tale of love, murder and betrayal true?
Purim is the most mysterious of Hebraic holidays. It suddenly appeared in the
second century BCE, though many Jews ignored it for centuries. And the origin of
the holiday, let alone its flagship text - the Book of Esther - are just as
baffling.
The first reference to Purim is in the deuterocanonical book Maccabees II
(15:32), which merely says that on the 14th of the Jewish month of Adar, Jews
celebrated a holiday called "Mordecai Day." Clearly the holiday was celebrated
in at least some Jewish communities as early as 124 BCE, when this book was
written in Alexandria.
The Jewish historian Josephus, writing in the first century CE also mentions the
holiday, noting that it was widely celebrated.
Yet it seems the holiday failed to gain acceptance by all Jews until the early
Middle Ages. For example, Esther is the only megillah not found among the Dead
Sea Scrolls, indicating that the desert community didn’t consider it canonical.
Yet the Mishnah tells that at least from the time of the Bar Kochba revolt
(132–136 CE), reading the Book of Esther on Purim was considered a mitzvah.
The Talmud itself refers to some who doubted whether Purim should be celebrated
as a Jewish holiday. Still, clearly by the time of the Mishnah and Talmud, Purim
was ascendant: More translations and exegeses of the Book of Esther can be found
in this period than on any other biblical text.
The holiday's origin is heatedly disputed. A number of pagan holidays - Greek,
Persian, Assyrian and Babylonian - have been suggested as candidates, but none
really suits.
The story of the Book of Esther as it appears in the Hebrew Bible is as follows:
Ahasuerus, king of Persia, wants his wife Vashti to show off her beauty before
his guests. She refuses. Ahasuerus’ servants hold an ancient version of “The
Bachelor,” bringing the most beautiful women of the kingdom. One is Esther, the
eponymous hero of the book, an orphan raised by her uncle Mordecai.
After his niece becomes queen, Mordecai discovers a palace plot to assassinate
Ahasuerus. He tells the king, who has the plotters killed.
At about this period, one of the king’s viziers Haman rises to supremacy.
Everyone, including the other viziers, must bow before him. Mordecai refuses.
Furious, Haman somewhat overreacts, deciding not only to have Mordecai killed
but all of the kingdom’s Jews as well. To choose a propitious day to hold this
genocide, he holds a lottery and the 13th of Adar is chosen.
Hearing of this, Mordecai urges Esther to talk to the king and have him rescind
the execution orders sent throughout the kingdom. Although approaching the king
uninvited was perilous, Esther fasts for three days, then does it, inviting him
and Haman to a banquet.
At the banquet, the king asks Esther what she wanted. She wants only one thing:
that he and Haman come to another banquet the next day.
That night, the king couldn't sleep. Presumably to help him relax, he asks his
servants to read to him from the kingdom chronicles.
As it happened, the servants read how Mordecai saved him from certain death. He
asks how Mordecai was rewarded and is told - he wasn’t.
The next morning Haman rushes into the king’s chamber to ask for permission to
execute his evil plot, but the king preempts him ״What shall be done unto the
man whom the king delighteth to honor?” Haman, thinking the king was talking
about him, told him that such a man should be paraded in the streets of the
capital on a horse in splendor with a man walking in front announcing that this
is what happens to men who the king “delighteth to honor.”
Naturally, he was frustrated when the king ordered that be done to Mordecai, not
to him, but he carried it out as commanded.
That night he went to Esther’s banquet, where Esther told Ahasuerus about
Haman’s plot. The king stormed out in anger.
Later, Haman went to Esther’s room to beg for mercy but as he lay prostrate on
her bed begging, the king walked in and mistook what he has seen as an attempt
by Haman to rape his wife. He ordered Haman be hanged, and ordered that Jews
throughout the kingdom protect themselves from those who come to kill them, as
the orders could not be rescinded any more.
On the 13th of Adar and on the next day, Jews around the kingdom killed
thousands of their attackers. But they themselves were saved.
An elaborate fairy tale?
The historicity of this story is highly contested. Proponents note the great
detail in dates, names and objects mentioned, even to seemingly unimportant
aspects of the story. They also argue that the description of court life fits
what we know about the Persian court from other sources.
But it's still unlikely. No other ancient texts tell anything like this story,
critics snort. Nor does Ahasuerus' character fit any of the known Persian
monarchs (though some supporters think he's Artaxerxes). And the most convincing
argument against the story's veracity is that a Persian king would have never
married an orphan of unknown parentage.
The Mishnah is the first text to prescribe how Purim is to be celebrated - the
Book of Esther is to be read in public. The Talmud (redacted 500 CE) augments
the tradition of reading the Book of Esther in public with drinking wine, making
merry - and giving gifts to the poor. That is prescribed in the Book of Esther
itself, but seems to be a later addition to the book. Neither that practice nor
the name "Purim" itsef appear in the earlier version of the Book of Esther,
which we know from the Greek translation in the Septuagint, dating from the
second century BCE.
Of special importance in the Talmud is drinking wine on Purim. We are told one
should drink so much that one can't tell the difference between the evil Haman
and the good Mordecai.
Sometime in the late 5th century, celebrating Jews began to burn Haman in
effigy. This often got them in trouble with their Christian neighbors, who
sometimes thought the effigy burnt was of Jesus. This tradition has died out.
A later tradition, that of fasting on the day before Purim in commemoration of
Esther’s fast, called Taanit Esther, first appears in the writings of Rabbi Akha
in the late 6th century.
It was the Tosafists, German and French rabbis of the 13th Century who first
mention the act of making noise to blot out the name of Haman (with noise) while
reading the Book of Esther in public. At first this was done by stomping one’s
feet. Later people started using ratchets (also known as groggers).
Enter the Batman costume
But the most widely observed Purim traditions are dressing up and masquerading.
These began in 13th century Renaissance.
Purim is celebrated at roughly the same time as the Venice Carnival and other
Italian celebrations that began at about that period. First to mention these
traditions was Kalonymus ben Kalonymus, who wrote of this tradition with some
contempt. Still, it spread from Italy to the rest of the Jewish world within two
or three centuries.
Baking "hamentachen" "(Haman pockets") stuffed cookies began in Europe during
the early modern period. At first these were filled with poppy seeds: today
Israeli bakers vie to be creative.
In 18th-century Eastern Europe a tradition of performing whimsical plays called
Purim spiels began. That birthed a tradition still carried out in some
communities.
In Israel, in the 20th century a new tradition was formed - the Adloyada. This
is a street parade featuring floats. The first Adloyada was held in Tel Aviv in
1912.
*This article was originially published in March 2015 and updated March 2019
Will Saudi Arabia Leave the Seventh Century?
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/March 20/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13930/saudi-arabia-seventh-century
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman (known as MBS), has sought to
project an image of himself as a keen reformer and modernizer, a moderate who
respects women's rights and the guarantor of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 plan,
which aims to bring the country into the 21st century, at least economically,
by, among other ventures, becoming less dependent on oil revenues.
The recent charges against the eleven women's rights activists presents an
opportunity for the Saudi regime to prove that its talk of modernization and
reform is not just limited to bringing the Saudi economy up to date with the
21st century by reducing the dependence on oil exports or by opening the first
cinema.
The regime now has a magnificent opportunity to prove that it genuinely wants to
move from 7th century jurisprudence and into a more 21st century understanding
of concepts such as the rule of law -- especially a law, a women's right to
drive, that it has already permitted.
It could also do so by providing a general amnesty, not only to the 11 women
activists recently charged, but to the many others sentenced, some of whom have
been mentioned above. Such an initiative would help present the country in a
refreshing new light to the West, and might even help Saudi Arabia attract the
significant financial investments it so needs and desires.
In 2012, the young blogger and human rights activist, Raif Badawi, was arrested
in Saudi Arabia for "insulting Islam through electronic channels" and in 2014
sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes. Pictured: Badawi with his
children, before his imprisonment. (Image source: Badawi family handout)
Eleven women are on trial in Saudi Arabia this week, charged with lobbying for
women's right to drive and for abolishing the system of male guardianship over
women[1]. Under the male guardianship system, Saudi women are still treated as
legal minors. They are assigned a male guardian, who has to approve their
applying for a passport, travelling outside the country, studying abroad on a
government scholarship, getting married, leaving prison, or even exiting a
shelter for abuse victims, according to the BBC.
The male guardianship system drew renewed international attention in January,
when a young Saudi woman, Rahaf Mohammed, barricaded herself in a hotel room in
Bangkok, and said that her family would have her imprisoned if she returned to
Saudi Arabia. She eventually found asylum in Canada.
The 11 women were arrested in May 2018, just one month before the Saudi regime
finally granted its female citizens the right to ask their male guardian if they
may apply for a driver's license.
The women have been imprisoned for 10 months without access to legal counsel,
and only learned of the charges against them when they were recently brought
before the Criminal Court of Riyadh.
According to the Wall Street Journal, prosecutors charged the women activists,
who include Loujain al-Hathloul, Iman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Yousef, Amal al-Harbi,
Dr. Ruqayyah al-Mharib, Nouf Abdulziaz, Maya'a al-Zahrani, Shadan al-Anezi, Dr.
Abir Namankni, Dr. Hatoon al-Fassi and another female activist, with having
broken Saudi law, "By taking foreign money to work against the kingdom and
communicated with an enemy country and enemy media".
A panel of three British MPs said that the women activists were being held, "in
cruel and inhumane conditions":
"The panel's report concludes that the detainees – female activists arrested
last spring – had been subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment, including
sleep deprivation, assault, threats to life and solitary confinement. Theeir
[sic] treatment is likely to amount to torture and if they are not provided with
urgent access to medical assistance they are at risk of developing long-term
health conditions, the report says."
According to Crispin Blunt, the former Conservative Chair of the Foreign Affairs
Select Committee, who led the panel:
"The Saudi women activist detainees have been treated so badly as to sustain an
international investigation for torture. Denied proper access to medical care,
legal advice or visits from their families, their solitary confinement and
mistreatment are severe enough to meet the international definition of torture.
Saudi Arabia stands on the brink. It is not too late to alter course and avert
the spiral downwards to catastrophe that the detention of these activists
represents."
In stark contrast to the human rights abuses, the de facto leader of Saudi
Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (known as MBS), has sought to project
an image of himself as a keen reformer and modernizer, a moderate who respects
women's rights and the guarantor of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 plan, which aims
to bring the country into the 21st century, at least economically, by, among
other ventures, becoming less dependent on oil revenues.
In a recent CBS 60 Minutes interview, MBS said that women are "absolutely" equal
to men, "We are all human beings and there is no difference". He added:
"We have extremists who forbid mixing between the two sexes and are unable to
differentiate between a man and a woman alone together and their being together
in a workplace. Many of those ideas contradict the way of life during the time
of the prophet and the Caliphs. This is the real example and the true model...
The laws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of Sharia: that women wear
decent, respectful clothing, like men. This, however, does not particularly
specify a black abaya or a black head cover. The decision is entirely left for
women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear".
However, when pressed more closely on the issue of human rights, Mohammad Bin
Salman reveals the, mildly speaking, "alternative approach" to human rights
within the kingdom. First, human rights critics appear to be seen as "radicals"
presumably because they are perceived as threatening to the stability of the
Saudi regime: CBS asked about the "dozens of people who have criticized your
government [and] have been arrested in the last year. They include economists,
clerics, intellectuals. Is this really an open and free society?" MBS answered:
"We will try to publicize as much as we can and as fast as we can, information
about these individuals in order to make the world aware of what the government
of Saudi Arabia is doing to combat radicalism.... Saudi Arabia believes in many
of the principles of human rights. In fact, we believe in the notion of human
rights, but ultimately Saudi standards are not the same as American standards. I
don't want to say that we don't have shortcomings. We certainly do. But
naturally, we are working to mend these shortcomings".
Saudi Arabia does not, unfortunately, seem to be working hard at all on mending
"these shortcomings". In fact, it still clearly operates under seventh century
standards: Authorities last year cut the heads off 48 people in eight months.
The kingdom also administers public lashings for "criminal offenses" that, in
the West, are considered basic human rights, such as freedom of expression or
freedom of religion. In 2012, the young blogger and human rights activist, Raif
Badawi, was arrested for "insulting Islam through electronic channels" and
brought to court on several charges including apostasy. After his 2012 arrest,
Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience, "detained solely
for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression". He was sentenced
to seven years in prison and 600 lashes in 2013, then resentenced in 2014 to
1000 lashes, ten years in prison and a fine of 1 million riyals (approximately
$267,000). He had written:
"My commitment is... to reject any oppression in the name of religion... a goal
that we will reach in a peaceful and law-abiding way."
His lawyer, Walid Abu'l-Khayr, was also jailed and sentenced to 15 years, to be
followed by a 15-year travel ban.
Disturbingly, executions in the last few years appear to have gone up: In the
eight months after Mohammad bin Salman was appointed Crown Prince (July 2017 –
February 2018 inclusive) there were 133 executions in Saudi Arabia compared to
67 in the eight months before that, according to Reprieve, a UK based human
rights group. In 2017, there were 142 executions and nearly 150 executions in
2018. One of the most horrifying cases was that of an Indonesian domestic
worker, Tuti Tursilawati, who killed her abusive Saudi employer, apparently to
prevent him from raping her. The execution went ahead, apparently without either
her family or the Indonesian government being informed.
According to Reprieve, nearly 40% of those executed in 2018 were convicted of
drugs offences; 77% of those executed were foreigners, who also made up half the
number of people put to death. Also, according to Reprieve, between 2014 and the
end of 2018, 700 executions in Saudi Arabia took place.
Other human rights abuse cases include Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher and Ali al-Nimr.
Abdullah was arrested by the Saudi authorities when he was only 15 years old for
participating in a peaceful protest, according to the European Saudi
Organisation for Human Rights. He has been sentenced to death and is still on
death row, seven years after Saudi authorities arrested him. Ali was arrested in
2012, also accused of participation in an illegal demonstration and other
offences, such as "explaining how to give first aid to protestors" and using his
Blackberry to invite others to join him at the protest. According to Reprieve:
"Ali was tortured and forced to sign a false confession. This was the only
evidence brought against him. He was sentenced to 'death by crucifixion,' which
in Saudi Arabia involves beheading and public display of the body".
Ali is the nephew of Sheikh Nimr, a cleric who had called for reform in Saudi
Arabia before being executed in January 2016.
Despite its catalogue of grave human rights abuses, in 2015, Saudi Arabia was
elected chair of the UN Human Rights Council panel in charge of appointing
independent experts. According to the independent UN watchdog, UN Watch, Saudi
Arabia was chosen to head a five-member group of ambassadors, known as the
Consultative Group, which has the power to select applicants from around the
world for more than 77 positions dealing with human rights mandates -- positions
such as the UN Special Rapporteur for violence against women.
The recent charges against the 11 women's rights activists, however, also
presents an opportunity for the Saudi regime to prove that its talk of
modernization and reform is not just limited to bringing the Saudi economy up to
date with the 21st century by reducing the dependence on oil exports or by
opening the first cinema.
The regime now has a magnificent opportunity to prove that it genuinely wants to
move from 7th century jurisprudence and into a more 21st century understanding
of concepts such as the rule of law – especially a law, a women's right to
drive, that it has already permitted.
It could also do so by providing a general amnesty, not only to the 11 women
activists recently charged, but to the many others sentenced, some of whom have
been mentioned above. Such an initiative would help present the country in a
refreshing new light to the West -- especially after the recent revelations of
the UN's special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions,
Agnès Callamard, in investigating the Khashoggi case -- and might even help it
acquire the significant financial investments it so needs and desires.
*Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished
Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
[1] According to Saudi Arabia's 2018 report to the UN Human Rights Office of the
High Commissioner:
"In 2017, a law was passed that allowed women access to services without being
accompanied by a man. Those services included health and legal services, the
right to divorce, choosing a place of residence, and getting an identification
card". As for the male guardianship system, Saudi Arabia has asked the UN to,
"consider the decades of established social norms when reviewing changes in
society. All countries went through development phases and any change would have
to be a gradual change".
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
A Recession Is Coming, And Maybe a Bear Market, Too
Gary Shilling/Asharq Al-Awsat/March 20/19
I first suggested the US economy was headed toward a recession more than a year
ago, and now others are forecasting the same. I give a business downturn
starting this year a two-thirds probability.
The recessionary indicators are numerous. Tighter monetary policy by the Federal
Reserve that the central bank now worries it may have overdone. The
near-inversion in the Treasury yield curve. The swoon in stocks at the end of
last year. Weaker housing activity. Soft consumer spending. The tiny 20,000
increase in February payrolls, compared to the 223,000 monthly average gain last
year. Then there are the effects of the deteriorating European economies and
decelerating growth in China as well as President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade
war with that country.
There is, of course, a small chance of a soft landing such as in the mid-1990s.
At that time, the Fed ended its interest-rate hiking cycle and cut the federal
funds rate with no ensuing recession. By my count, the other 12 times the
central bank restricted credit in the post-World War II era, a recession
resulted.
It’s also possible that the current economic softening is temporary, but a
revival would bring more Fed restraint. Policy makers want higher rates in order
to have significant room to cut in the next recession, and the current 2.25
percent to 2.50 percent range doesn’t give them much leeway. The Fed also
dislikes investors’ zeal for riskier assets, from hedge funds to private equity
and leveraged loans, to say nothing of that rankest of rank speculations,
Bitcoin. With a resumption in economic growth, a tight credit-induced recession
would be postponed until 2020.
“Recession” conjures up specters of 2007-2009, the most severe business downturn
since the 1930s in which the S&P 500 Index plunged 57 percent from its peak to
its trough. The Fed raised its target rate from 1 percent in June 2004 to 5.25
percent in June 2006, but the main event was the financial crisis spawned by the
collapse in the vastly-inflated subprime mortgage market.
Similarly, the central bank increased its policy rate from 4.75 percent in June
1999 to 6.5 percent in May 2000. Still, the mild 2001 recession that followed
was principally driven by the collapse in the late 1990s dot-com bubble that
pushed the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index down by a whopping 78 percent. The
1973-1975 recession, the second deepest since the 1930s, resulted from the
collapse in the early 1970s inflation hedge buying of excess inventories. That
deflated the S&P 500 by 48.2 percent. The federal funds rate hike from 9 percent
in February 1974 to 13 percent in July of that year was a minor contributor.
The remaining eight post-World War II recessions were not the result of major
financial or economic excesses, but just the normal late economic cycle business
and investor overconfidence. The average drop in the S&P 500 was 21.2 percent.
At present, I don’t see any major economic or financial bubbles that are just
begging to be pricked. The only possibilities are excess debt among U.S.
nonfinancial corporations and the heavy borrowing in dollars by emerging-market
economies in the face of a rising greenback. Housing never fully recovered from
the subprime mortgage debacle. The financial sector is still deleveraging in the
wake of the financial crisis. Consumer debt remains substantial but well off its
2008 peak in relation to household income.
Consequently, the recession I foresee will probably be accompanied by about an
average drop in stock prices. The S&P 500 fell 19.6 percent from Oct. 3 to Dec.
24, but the recovery since has almost eliminated that loss. A normal
recession-related decline of 21.2 percent – meeting the definition of a bear
market – from that Oct. 3 top would take it to 2,305, down about 18 percent from
Friday’s close, but not much below the Christmas Eve low of 2,351.
Turkey: Tens of Thousands Prosecuted for "Insulting" Erdoğan
اوزاي بولوت/ معهد جيستون: في تركيا تتم مقاضاة عشرات الآلاف بتهمة "إهانة" أردوغان
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/March 20/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73150/uzay-bulut-gatestone-institute-turkey-tens-of-thousands-prosecuted-for-insulting-erdogan%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AA-%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B3/
Since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's 2014 election, there have been
66,691 "insult investigations" launched, resulting in 12,305 trials thus far,
and the "numbers are increasing." — Yaman Akdeniz, professor of law, Istanbul
Bilgi University.
Ahmet Sever, a spokesperson for Turkey's former president, Abdullah Gül,
authored a book in which he wrote: "We [are] faced with a government or, more
precisely, with one man, who considers books to be more dangerous than bombs."
Meanwhile, as Erdoğan continues playing a double game with the West, as part of
his decades-long bid to become a member of the European Union. That plan may
well be why his justice minister announced in December that he would be
unveiling a new strategy for judicial reform. The EU should not fall for this
transparent ploy. Instead, it should be demanding that the Turkish government
cease prosecuting innocent people -- including those whose only "crime" is
criticizing Erdoğan.
"Insulting the president" is a crime in Turkey. If convicted, violators face up
to four years in prison -- and longer, when the insult is public. According to
Istanbul Bilgi University professor of law, Yaman Akdeniz, since Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's 2014 election, there have been 66,691 "insult
investigations" launched, resulting in 12,305 trials thus far, and the "numbers
are increasing." Pictured: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a rally in
Istanbul, Turkey on May 18, 2018. (Photo by Getty Images)
The criminalization in Turkey of "insulting the president" reached a new low in
early March, when a father and daughter in Ankara accused one another of
engaging in the punishable offense, as part of an internal family feud.
According to Istanbul Bilgi University professor of law, Yaman Akdeniz, since
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's 2014 election, there have been 66,691
"insult investigations" launched, resulting in 12,305 trials thus far, and the
"numbers are increasing."
Özgür Aktütün, chairman of the Sociology Alumni Association, told the
independent Turkish daily BirGün that although Turkey has been "a society of
informants" since the Ottoman Empire, "what is striking in recent times is the
[rampant] use of [whistleblowing] on every issue."
"Insulting the president" is a crime according to Article 299 of the Turkish
Penal Code, adopted in 1926. If convicted, violators face up to four years in
prison -- and longer, when the insult is public.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) decries this practice. In October 2018, Benjamin Ward,
HRW acting director for Europe and Central Asia said:
"Turkish courts have convicted thousands of people in the past four years simply
for speaking out against the president. The government should stop this mockery
of human rights and respect people in Turkey's right to peaceful free
expression."
This was not the first time that HRW called on the Erdoğan government to cease
prosecuting people for insulting the president. In a 2015 article on the topic,
HRW wrote:
"Turkish government figures regularly contend that insulting words are not free
speech. Bodies including the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and human rights groups in
Turkey and internationally have repeatedly criticized this position and Turkey's
regular restriction of freedom of expression. The European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) has repeatedly issued rulings on Turkey, finding violations of freedom of
expression protected under article 10 of the European Convention...
"Since the end of 2014 the authorities have pursued a spate of such cases with
the justice minister's permission, including against children, and several have
entailed short periods of pretrial detention... Some cases have involved oral
statements; others were for criticism on social media. In no case has the
accused used or incited violence."
It is sadly ironic that "insulting the president" is one of the few issues about
which there is no governmental discrimination along socioeconomic, gender or
ethnic lines in Turkey. Indeed, people of all walks of life have been subject to
investigations or prosecutions over this alleged offense, including high school
students. Two teenagers were briefly detained and brought to court in 2015, for
instance, after "insulting the president" in their speeches and slogans during
an event in Konya.
The head of the main opposition party, CHP, in Turkey's parliament, the CEO of
bank HSBC Turkey, Turkey's Fox News anchor, two famous actors, a former judge
and a 78-year-old citizen are all examples of people who have been investigated,
prosecuted, sued or jailed for "insulting Erdoğan."
Others who have been penalized for the offense are the former co-chair of the
opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), who is serving an 18-month prison
sentence; another HDP member, who was stripped of his parliamentary seat last
year; and Ahmet Sever, a spokesperson for Turkey's former president, Abdullah
Gül, who authored a book in which he wrote: "We [are] faced with a government
or, more precisely, with one man, who considers books to be more dangerous than
bombs."
Erdoğan's use of Article 299 as an intimidation tactic may be highly effective:
if such prominent figures as Sever end up in court for daring to criticize the
government, what chance do average citizens have to stand up for their right to
express themselves? However, if Erdoğan believes that silencing his people is a
way of keeping a stranglehold on his near absolute power, he may not be taking
into account the fact that increasing numbers of Turks are frustrated and angry.
Meanwhile, as Erdoğan continues to imprison anyone who opposes his rule, he is
playing a double game with the West, as part of his decades-long bid to become a
member of the European Union. That plan may well be why his justice minister
announced in December that he would be unveiling a new strategy for judicial
reform. The EU should not fall for this transparent ploy. Instead, it should be
demanding that the Turkish government cease prosecuting innocent people --
including those whose only "crime" is criticizing Erdoğan.
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone
Institute. She is currently based in Washington D.C.
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