LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 05/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.may05.19.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006

Bible Quotations For today
Jesus Appears to Two Of The Disciples On the Road to Emmaus & Explaines For Them The Scripture
Luke 24/13035/Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;  but they were kept from recognizing him.  He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him;  but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning  but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.  Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.0 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on May 04-05/19
Guterres Renews Call for Hezbollah Disarmament, Demands Lebanon to Set Defense Strategy
Syndicate of Banque du Liban Employees Declares 'Open Strike'
Bassil: Political Subordination Prevents Preservation of Lebanon Economy
Voice of Lebanon: Turning Just Questions into Muzzling Sword Will Not Go Unnoticed
Rizk Condemns Campaign Against Journalists
Another Week of Strikes Looms Ahead in Lebanon

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 04-05/19
Dozens of Rockets Fired at Israel from Gaza, Israel Responds
US Seeks to Force Iran to Stop Enriching Uranium
U.S. Tightens Nuclear Restrictions on Iran
Iran President's Brother Sentenced to Prison for Corruption
Iran's Rouhani Urges Unity in Face of U.S. 'War on Hope'
National Iranian Oil Company to Open Office in Iraq
8 LNA Fighters Killed in Attack in Southern Libya
UAE Refutes Qatar’s Accusations of Racial Discrimination
Documents Reveal Israel's Nuclear Deceit of the US
At Least 7 Policemen Killed in Taliban Attack in Western Afghanistan
Damascus Accuses Kurd-Led Alliance of 'Treason'
Venezuela's Guaido Makes New Bid to Rally Military Support

Litles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 04-05/19
Terror, Racism and EugenicistsظEyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 04/2019
The Spanish Election Is a Triumph of Logic/Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg View/May 04/2019
Palestinian Leaders and Inconvenient Truths/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/May 04/2019
From Venezuela to Lebanon, the US faces a world of tough decisions/Raghida Dergham/The National/May 04/2019
Analysis/Who You Calling a Terrorist: Trump’s Conundrum With the Muslim Brotherhood/Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/May 04/2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on May 04-05/19
Guterres Renews Call for Hezbollah Disarmament, Demands Lebanon to Set Defense Strategy
Kataeb.org/Saturday 04th May 2019/UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his call for the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, saying that the group must turn into an armed political party and to end its involvement in the Syrian war. In his semi-annual report released Friday, Guterres stressed that the Lebanese government must have the development of a national defense strategy among its top priorities, warning that the presence of armed militias jeopardizes Lebanon’s security and stability. "The fact that Hezbollah still has significant military assets beyond the control of the Lebanese State remains very worrying,” Guterres said. The UN chief reiterated his call for the Lebanese government to do whatever is needed to prevent Hezbollah and other armed groups from acquiring weapons and to monopolize the use of arms. “In a democratic state, it remains a fundamental anomaly that a political party maintains a militia that has no accountability to the democratic, governmental institutions of the state but has the power to take that state to war,” he said.

Lebanon, Egypt Sign 4 Agreements to Boost Trade and Investment
Naharnet/May 04/19/The Lebanese-Egyptian talks were concluded by the signing of three memoranda of understanding, and an executive program to enhance trade and investment relations between the two countries, Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s press office said. The Lebanese-Egyptian Joint Higher Committee held a meeting Friday evening at the Grand Serail, chaired by Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his visiting Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly. After the meeting, Premiers Hariri and Madbouly signed three memoranda of understanding and an executive investment program. The memorandum deals with the exchange of tax experiences, the export of Egyptian building materials (gravel and sand) to Lebanon, and the field of communication and information technology. An executive program in the field of investment promotion was also signed between the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation and the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon for the years 2019-2020. At the end of the meeting, Hariri said: “Once again I welcome Dr. Mustafa Madbouly and the ministers, members of the Egyptian delegation, who participated in the meetings of the ninth session of the Lebanese-Egyptian Joint Higher Committee. We can say that we managed through our negotiations to solve the problems that existed between the two countries in various fields, especially industry, electricity, labor and others. Premier Madbouly promised us to complete the files related to health and medicine in a few weeks so we can sign a memorandum regarding these sectors and start economic exchange. “Our talks focused on ways to develop economic cooperation in light of the obstacles from both sides, particularly with regard to bureaucracy, and we decided to work together to overcome them,” he added. For his part, Madbouly said: "Allow me to convey the greetings of the Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and his wishes of prosperity and progress to the Lebanese president, government and people, and to convey a message from him of Egypt’s support to Lebanon. "We need to increase economic relations between the two countries by enabling the private sector to expand joint projects. There are areas of investment in both countries, and we encourage the establishment of joint companies that can invest in Egypt, Lebanon and other markets like Africa or elsewhere, especially that there are several advantages that characterizes the private sector," Egyptian PM added. He concluded saying that "it is very important for the two sides to communicate directly, and we are keen to solve all problems and deepen ties during the next period."

Syndicate of Banque du Liban Employees Declares 'Open Strike'
Naharnet/May 04/19/The syndicate of Banque du Liban employees on Saturday announced an open-ended strike in protest at the government’s possible plans to reduce their salaries and benefits as part of austerity measures to cut the budget deficit. The syndicate declared the strike will prolong “until political authorities draw back their unjust decisions,” they announced. Stressing that benefits and salaries of BDL employees “must not be touched,” they added saying “we will not waiver our rights and plan to escalate measures to the fullest extent.”However they said the decision “has nothing to do with the governor of BDL,” noting that “Governor Riad Salameh does not support the strike.”During its series of budget session to discuss an austere 2019 state budget, the Cabinet on Friday discussed several articles including ones related to reduction in salaries for BDL employees.

Bassil: Political Subordination Prevents Preservation of Lebanon Economy
Naharnet/May 04/19/Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil kicked a visit to the district of Jbeil on Saturday and said during a meeting with industrialists that Lebanon is unable to protect its economy because of “political subordination to the outside.”“What prevents us from protecting our economy and products is political subordination to the outside, this needs to be liberalized through an economic policy,” he said. He said Lebanon was heading towards a solution for the economic crisis because it is afraid of an economic collapse. Lebanon “is facing an exceptional opportunity for economic reform in the country because of the difficult situation and the fear that exists," said Bassil. “Because we are afraid of financial and economic collapse, we are heading towards a solution," he added. The Minister said that one of the conditions of the Free Patriotic Movement to approve the budget is a political commitment to some of the steps required to address the imbalance in the trade balance. “Political commitment to specific steps to address the imbalance in the trade balance is one of the conditions to approve a budget,” he said.

Voice of Lebanon: Turning Just Questions into Muzzling Sword Will Not Go Unnoticed
Kataeb.org/Saturday 04th May 2019/Voice of Lebanon radio station on Saturday stood behind its presenter Nawal Lichaa Abboud who has been referred to the Publications Court based on a lawsuit filed by the Lebanese University President Fouad Ayyoub over an episode she had hosted to discuss the conditions of the state-run academic establishment. “Once again, Voice of Lebanon finds itself in the struggle arena, defending the freedom of expression and opinion," read a statement issued by the radio station. “Dr. Ayoub did a good job by resorting to the judiciary so that it would judge who's keen to respect the other's opinion and the one holding firm to a unilateral point of view." The statement stressed that the questions asked by the host during her contested episode serve as a small sample of the numerous inquiries shrouding the Lebanese University and its presidency.
"Turning just and justified questions into a sword to silence the voice of truth will not go unnoticed," the statement stressed. “Voice of Lebanon only fulfilled its job by putting forward the people’s concerns," it affirmed. “No one will untie the bond between Voice of Lebanon and freedom."

Rizk Condemns Campaign Against Journalists
Kataeb.org/Saturday 04th May 2019/As Lebanon's journalists and media figures are being targeted by a suppression campaign whose latest victims are Voice of Lebanon radio host Nawal Lichaa Abboud and Kataeb website writer Sonia Rizk, the latter wondered if the journalist nowadays becomes immediately subject to prosecution just by relaying somebody else's positions. Rizk was summoned before the ISF's Cybercrimes Unit over an article she had written, and posted on the Kataeb.org website, about the corrupt behavior of a minister's adviser. “My case has been referred to the Public Prosecution. What wrongdoing did I commit in simply conveying my source’s statement and information? Does the messenger have to be punished?” she said in a report aired on Voice of Lebanon radio station.

Another Week of Strikes Looms Ahead in Lebanon
Kataeb.org/Saturday 04th May 2019/Another week of nationwide strikes is looming ahead as major state institutions are set to carry on their protest action to condemn the government's alleged plan to cut the salaries of public servants as part of its 2019 austerity budget. Head of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers, Bechara Asmar, warned that the situation in the country is turning sour, stressing on the workers’ unity in facing the government's plan. Moreover, the syndicate of Banque du Liban employees declared an open-ended strike to denounce the campaign targeting the Central Bank and protest attempts to reduce their salaries and benefits. In a statement issued on Saturday, the Central Bank employees affirmed that they won’t back down on the strike, and threatened escalation should the government fail to pay heed to their demands. The syndicate noted that the Central Bank's budget is independent from that of the state, thus assuring that it does not affect neither the state nor its budget. “We are heading towards extreme escalation; the Central Bank's employees should remain untouched,” the statement noted. “The current austere budget harms civil servants, knowing that there are other ways to reduce squandering and state deficit."“We are coordinating with the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers so that the strike would be taken to an all-inclusive, large scale,” the statement added. “Governor of the Central Bank does not support our strike, but told us that the law grants us the right to stop working until our demands are met,” it explained. The Central Bank employees affirmed that they will not keep mum about any salary cut even if it will apply to the entire country, saying that they have been the first to adopt austerity in the public sector. "For instance, the advance payment we used to obtain along with the end-of-service pensions was annulled more than 10 years ago, and our salary bonuses have been curtailed from 8% to 3% ," they explained. Likewise, the National Social Security Fund employees announced that they will carry on with their open strike, urging all their colleagues across the country to joi the protest set to be staged on Monday outside the NSSF's head office in Beirut's Wata Al-Msaytbeh. During this week, employees at Electricite du Liban, the National Social Security Fund, the Regie Tobacco company, Ogero, the Litani River Authority, water authorities across the country, the Beirut Port and other public administrations stopped working to pressure that their demands be met.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on May 04-05/19
Dozens of Rockets Fired at Israel from Gaza, Israel Responds
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 04/19/Gaza militants on Saturday fired a barrage of dozens of rockets at Israel, which responded with strikes that killed a Palestinian, officials said, as a fragile ceasefire again faltered. Israel said around 90 rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave and its air defences intercepted dozens of them. The army said it had targeted two rocket launchers in Gaza with an air strike in response and its tanks had hit a number of military posts used by Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the territory. A Gazan security source said that a series of Israeli strikes hit at least three separate areas of the Gaza Strip and that three "resistance fighters" were wounded. The Gazan health ministry reported one person killed and several wounded. No casualties had been reported on the Israeli side.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was planning to hold consultations with security chiefs, a spokesman said.
Visit to Cairo
The escalation follows the most violent clashes along the Gaza border in weeks on Friday. Four Palestinians, including two Hamas militants, were killed after two Israeli soldiers were wounded in a shooting during weekly protests on the border. Israel and Palestinian militants in the blockaded Gaza Strip have fought three wars since 2008 and fears remain of a fourth. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas brokered by Egypt and the United Nations had led to relative calm around Israel's April 9 general election. But on Tuesday, Israel reduced the offshore fishing limit it imposes for vessels operating out of Gaza after a rocket was fired from the territory by Palestinian militants. The rocket fell into the Mediterranean. The Israeli army blamed its launch on Hamas ally Islamic Jihad. On Thursday, Israel said its aircraft struck a Hamas military compound after balloons carrying firebombs and explosives were launched across the border. Palestinians in Gaza have frequently fitted balloons with firebombs in a bid to damage Israeli property and have in the past succeeded in setting fire to large areas of farmland. Following the air strike, the Israeli military said two rockets were launched from Gaza toward Israel, setting off sirens in parts of the south. With the ceasefire at risk, a Hamas delegation led by its Gaza head Yahya Sinwar left the enclave for Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials on the truce. The ceasefire has seen Israel allow Qatar provide millions of dollars in aid to Gaza to pay salaries and to finance fuel purchases to ease a severe electricity shortage. Palestinians have participated in regular demonstrations and clashes along the Gaza border for more than a year, calling on Israel to ease its crippling blockade of the enclave. At least 270 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the protests began in March 2018, the majority along the border. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in that period. Israel accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to carry out attacks and says its actions are necessary to defend the border and stop infiltrations. The results of a UN investigation released at the end of February found that Israel may have committed crimes against humanity in responding to the border protests, as snipers "intentionally" shot civilians including children, journalists and the disabled. Israel rejected the report "outright" but Hamas called for Israel to be held accountable.

US Seeks to Force Iran to Stop Enriching Uranium
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 May, 2019/The United States acted on Friday to force Iran to stop producing low-enriched uranium and expanding its only nuclear power plant even as it granted waivers allowing some countries to conduct civilian nuclear cooperation with the country. In line with the 2015 nuclear deal, which was negotiated under former president Barack Obama and still enjoys strong support among European powers, Iran was limited to keeping 300 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 3.67 percent -- far below the level needed to build nuclear weapons. As part of the agreement, Iran was to sell any enriched uranium above that threshold on international markets in return for natural uranium, with Russia a key player. But in Friday's policy change, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would start to impose sanctions on anyone involved in the trade of natural for enriched uranium -- as well as in the storage of Iranian heavy water that was in excess of limits. "The Trump administration continues to hold the Iranian regime accountable for activities that threaten the region's stability and harm the Iranian people. This includes denying Iran any pathway to a nuclear weapon," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said. At the same time, Pompeo renewed waivers of US sanctions allowing Russia, China and European countries to pursue cooperation programs designed to prevent Iran from reactivating a defunct nuclear weapons program. Facilities in the waiver extensions include the Bushehr nuclear power plant, the Fordow enrichment facility, the Arak nuclear complex and the Tehran Research Reactor, the State Department said. But, it said, the renewable waivers would be granted only for 90 days, a shorter period than the previous 180 days. The moves are part of the Trump administration's efforts to impose international political and economic isolation on Tehran that began with the US withdrawal in May 2018 from the nuclear deal. It was the third punitive action taken against Iran in as many weeks. Last week, it said it would grant no more sanctions waivers for countries buying Iranian oil, accelerating its plan to push Iran's oil exports to zero. The Trump administration also took the unprecedented step of designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization.

U.S. Tightens Nuclear Restrictions on Iran
Kataeb.org/Saturday 04th May 2019/The United States announced on Friday that it will tighten restrictions on Iran's nuclear program as part of the administration’s "unprecedented maximum pressure campaign" to address the full range of Tehran's activities."The Trump administration continues to hold the Iranian regime accountable for activities that threaten the region’s stability and harm the Iranian people. This includes denying Iran any pathway to a nuclear weapon," read a statement issued by the State Department. "Starting May 4, assistance to expand Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant beyond the existing reactor unit could be sanctionable," it announced. "In addition, activities to transfer enriched uranium out of Iran in exchange for natural uranium could be sanctionable." The U.S. State Department stressed that Iran must stop all proliferation-sensitive activities, including uranium enrichment, affirming that Washington will not accept actions that support the continuation of such enrichment. "We will also no longer permit the storage for Iran of heavy water it has produced in excess of current limits; any such heavy water must no longer be available to Iran in any fashion." The statement pointed out that Secretary Mike Pompeo took steps to permit the continuation of projects that help restrict Iran’s ability to reconstitute its past nuclear weapons program. "Our policy preserves oversight of Iran’s civil nuclear program, reduces proliferation risks, constrains Iran’s ability to shorten its breakout time to a nuclear weapon, and prevents the regime from reconstituting sites for proliferation-sensitive purposes.""We reserve the right to revoke or modify our policy covering these nonproliferation activities at any time if Iran violates its nuclear obligations or commitments or we conclude that such projects no longer provide value in constraining Iranian nuclear activities," the statement said. "The United States will continue to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime, and remains committed to denying Iran any pathway to a nuclear weapon," it concluded.

Iran President's Brother Sentenced to Prison for Corruption
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 May, 2019/Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s brother was sentenced to an unspecified term in prison for corruption, reported the semi-official ISNA news agency on Saturday. Hossein Fereidoun, a close confidante of the president, will be able to appeal the verdict. The financial misconduct charges date back to 2016, and were brought by hardliners who dominate the country's judiciary. Rouhani changed his surname decades ago. Fereidoun's trial began in February, and he's been free on bail since spending a night in prison in 2017. He had played a role as part of the team that negotiated Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers.Iran has in the past jailed allies of former presidents for similar charges.

Iran's Rouhani Urges Unity in Face of U.S. 'War on Hope'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 04/19/Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday called for the country to "resist and unite" against US pressure in what he called a "war on hope" waged against the Islamic republic. It is almost a year since President Donald Trump reimposed crippling US sanctions after exiting a landmark nuclear agreement between major powers and Iran. "America will only let go of this game when it realises it cannot achieve anything. We have no way but to resist and unite," Rouhani said in a televised speech. Iran's economy has been battered since sanctions returned. Inflation has shot up, its currency has plummeted and imports are now vastly more expensive. Upping the ante, the White House announced last week it would end oil purchase waivers granted to Iran's main customers -- including China, India and Turkey -- cutting Iran's access to its main source of foreign currency revenue. "Our war today is the war on hope. They want to break our hope, and we have to break their hope" of defeating Iran, said Rouhani. "They want to cut our foreign currency supply ... they seek to sow discord in the country. They want us to be divided, to stand against each other," he added. Rouhani has vowed that Iran will continue to supply oil to its major customers despite the unilateral measures adopted by the United States.

National Iranian Oil Company to Open Office in Iraq
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 May, 2019/The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will open an office in Iraq, the semi-official Fars News Agency said on Saturday. The new office “will facilitate cooperation in the oil industry and the transfer of engineering and technical services” to Iraq, it said. The announcement comes as Iran faces US sanctions on its oil exports. Earlier, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran must counter the sanctions by continuing to export its oil as well as boosting non-oil exports. His comments, carried live on Iranian TV, came a day after Washington acted to force Iran to stop producing low-enriched uranium and expanding its only nuclear power plant, intensifying a campaign aimed at halting its ballistic missile program and curbing its regional power. “America is trying to decrease our foreign reserves ... So we have to increase our hard currency income and cut our currency expenditures,” Rouhani said. “Last year, we had we non-oil exports of $43 billion. We should increase production and raise our (non-oil) exports and resist America’s plots against the sale of our oil.” Friday’s move, which Rouhani made no direct reference to, was the third punitive US action taken against Iran in as many weeks. Last week, it said it would stop waivers for countries buying Iranian oil, in an attempt to push Iran’s oil exports to zero. The United States also blacklisted Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.Efforts by the Trump administration to impose political and economic isolation on Tehran began with last year’s US withdrawal from the nuclear deal it and other world powers negotiated with Iran in 2015.

8 LNA Fighters Killed in Attack in Southern Libya
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 May, 2019/Eight fighters from Libyan National Army (LNA) were killed Saturday in an attack on their training camp in the southern city of Sebha, announced head of the local municipality Hamed al-Khaiyali.
A source from the LNA accused the ISIS terrorist group and Chadian opposition fighters of being behind the attack. The LNA, commanded by Khalifa Haftar, had launched last month an operation against Tripoli to liberate it from terrorist gangs and militias loyal to the Government of National Accord.Haftar’s forces have been marching steadily on the capital, with the LNA bringing in reinforcements in recent days.

UAE Refutes Qatar’s Accusations of Racial Discrimination
Geneva - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 May, 2019/The United Arab Emirates on Friday strongly refuted the racial discrimination allegations made by Qatar to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva. “Qatar’s complaints have no legal basis,” a statement by the UAE declared. “Doha’s complaint before the Committee is part of a malicious Qatari campaign based on falsehoods and aimed at distracting attention from the dire consequences of Qatar’s state-sponsored terrorism,” the statement added, according to the WAM news agency. UAE further outlined in its statement the measures taken to facilitate the entry of Qatari nationals to the country in spite of Doha’s destructive policies and promotion of extremism in the region. “When it severed its relations with Qatar in 2017, the UAE took a series of measures in compliance with international law and in response to Doha’s refusal to honor its international obligations. These measures were not meant to target the people of Qatar."The statement read: “The UAE has instituted a requirement for all Qatari citizens overseas to obtain prior permission for entry into the UAE. Qatari citizens already resident in the UAE need not apply for permission to continue residence in the UAE. However, all Qatari citizens resident in the UAE are encouraged to obtain prior permission for re-entry into UAE territory. All applications for entry clearance may be made for free online or through a telephone hotline.”Abdullah Hamdan al-Naqbi, Director of the International Law Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and UAE representative before the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, said that the complaint should not have been lodged with the panel in the first place as it had no connection to any form of racial discrimination.  He said that it was yet another Qatari attempt to politicize the committee. Naqbi continued: “The UAE measures regarding Qatari citizens are compliant with international law and cannot be classified under any forms of racial segregation combated by the Committee whose mandate is to fight all forms of distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin. Accordingly, the UAE can never be accused of violating the agreement in any way." The statement drew the Committee’s attention to the fact that Qatar is simultaneously filing a similar complaint with the International Court of Justice, urging it to consider Doha’s two complaints as an abuse of the complaint system.

Documents Reveal Israel's Nuclear Deceit of the US
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 May, 2019 /Two researchers, an American and an Israeli, published Friday documents that illuminate for the first time the full scope of the confrontation between US President John F. Kennedy and Israeli Prime Ministers David Ben-Gurion and Levi Eshkol at the beginning of the 1960s over Israel’s nuclear program. The two researchers are: Avner Cohen, a professor of nonproliferation studies, and William Burr, a senior analyst at the National Security Archive, George Washington University. In recent days, they published a collection of nearly 50 classified documents that include the entire exchange of messages between the leaders of the two countries, archiving the visits of US inspectors to the Israeli Dimona reactor in 1964. A former high-level science adviser Prof. Yuval Ne’eman, told the researchers 25 years ago that Israelis in the know saw the situation as a real crisis and Eshkol (Ben-Gurion’s successor) and his associates saw Kennedy as presenting Israel with a real ultimatum.Ne’eman said: “There was even one senior Israeli official. The former Israel Air Force commander Maj. Gen. (res.) Dan Tolkowsky, who seriously entertained the fear that Kennedy might send US airborne troops to Dimona.”In the fall of 1960, the outgoing Eisenhower administration first became aware of the Dimona reactor that Israel and France had begun building in secret in 1958. The CIA issued a Special National Intelligence Estimate (SNIE) that determined that “plutonium production for weapons is at least one major purpose of this effort.”Furthermore, the estimate predicted that if the Arab world believed that Israel was acquiring a nuclear-weapons capability, it would cause “consternation,” and the US and France would be blamed for their presumed support of the project.
Outgoing Secretary of State Christian Herter told Kennedy that the Dimona reactor would be able to produce 90 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium in two years, urging him to press hard for inspections of Dimona. Dimona's management team explained before the US inspectors that the aim of the project was to gain experience in building and operating nuclear reactors that could be used in the future for peaceful power generation. The team was “satisfied that nothing was concealed from them and that the reactor is of the scope and peaceful character previously described.”Ben-Gurion presented to Kennedy during a meeting in New York, on May 31, 1961, a consistent justification with what the Dimona management team had told the American scientists: The nuclear project was peaceful in nature; it was about energy and development. However, Ben-Gurion added: “For the time being, the only purposes are for peace. … But we will see what will happen in the Middle East. It does not depend on us.” The meeting with Ben-Gurion helped to clear the air for some time, but it did not remove lingering American doubts and suspicions about Israel’s nuclear intentions. The Americans began trying to arrange a second visit to Dimona and after frequent requests over several months, that such visit finally took place for no more than 45 minutes on September 26, 1962. A senior CIA official was quoted as saying: “There were certain inconsistencies between the first and second inspection reports.” Kent Sherman, director of the Office of National Estimates, warned that “Israel’s policy toward its neighbors would become more rather than less tough… it would … seek to exploit the psychological advantages of its nuclear capability to intimidate the Arabs and to prevent them from making trouble on the frontiers.”

At Least 7 Policemen Killed in Taliban Attack in Western Afghanistan
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 4 May, 2019/At least seven policemen were killed in an overnight Taliban attack against security checkpoints in Afghanistan’s western Badghis province, official said Saturday. Mohammad Naser Nazari, a provincial councilman, said that three other security forces were wounded during the attack in Qadis district. The Taliban did not comment on the attack. The Afghan defense ministry said Saturday that two separate airstrikes conducted Friday night by coalition forces in coordination with Afghan forces killed at least 43 militants from the ISIS group in eastern Kunar province. The statement said the airstrikes targeted ISIS in Chapara district and killed several Pakistani and Uzbek nationals. Both the Taliban and ISIS are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially in Kunar and neighboring Nangarhar provinces, which border Pakistan. The United States has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led mission, known as Resolute Support, that is training and assisting Afghan security forces in their battle against Taliban fighters and extremist groups such as ISIS and al Qaeda. US special peace envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born US diplomat, entered a sixth round of talks with the Taliban in Qatar this week in a bid to end America’s longest war. The envoy should stop calling on Taliban militants to lay down their arms and tell the United States to end the use of force instead, the Taliban said on Friday. “In our opening session, I underscored to the Talibs that the Afghan people, who are their brothers & sisters, want this war to end,” Khalilzad said in a tweet. “It is time to put down arms, stop the violence, & embrace peace.”Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a series of sharp tweets in response. “@US4AfghanPeace (Khalilzad’s twitter handle) should forget about the idea of us putting down our arms,” he said. “Instead of such fantasies, he should drive the idea home (to the US) about ending the use of force and incurring further human and financial losses for the decaying Kabul administration.”After five rounds of talks, Khalilzad reported some progress towards an accord on withdrawing US troops and on how the Taliban would prevent extremists from using Afghanistan to launch attacks. The Taliban insist that talks cannot move ahead until foreign forces leave.

Damascus Accuses Kurd-Led Alliance of 'Treason'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 04/19/The Syrian government has accused Kurdish leaders of "treason" for organising a conference with allied Arab tribes to plot out the political future of territory under their alliance's control. The Kurds and their Arab allies control a vast swathe of the north and northeast that makes up around a third of Syrian territory, much of which they captured in the long and costly campaign against the Islamic State group. Buoyed by its recapture of most of the rest of Syria, Damascus is now demanding that alliance-held areas too return to central government control. Weakened by the decision of its main ally Washington to withdraw most of its troops following the defeat of the last vestige of IS's "caliphate" in March, the Kurdish-led alliance has opened talks with Damascus. But its leaders are determined not to accept the negotiated surrender of a "reconciliation agreement" like those imposed by Damascus on various rebel groups, and on Friday convened a conference of Arab tribes to seek their support. The state SANA news agency quoted a foreign ministry source as accusing organisers of the conference in the alliance-held but mainly Arab town of Ain Issa of "treason". It claimed that the meeting in a town "held by armed militia dependent on the United States and some European countries" had ended in "failure" as a result of a "boycott by most of the tribes". "Such gatherings are clear embodiments of the treason of their organisers, whatever their political, ethnic or racial allegiances," the source added. In his address to Friday's conference, the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Kobani, said that Damascus would need to recognise the authority of the Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria as well as the "special status" of the alliance and its role in defending the region against IS.
He said there could be no going back to the situation before the civil war erupted in 2011 when the Kurds were denied any official recognition as a minority that accounts for some 15 percent of the population. "It is not possible to reach a democratic and pluralistic Syria without full recognition of the rights of Syria's Kurds," he said. The SDF has been cornered into seeking an accommodation with Damascus by two-pronged pressure from the looming US troop withdrawal and a longstanding threat by Turkey to send troops across the border to end the experiment in self-rule by Kurdish forces it regards as "terrorists".

Venezuela's Guaido Makes New Bid to Rally Military Support
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 04/19/Opposition leader Juan Guaido will make a fresh bid on Saturday to rally Venezuela's armed forces behind him with protests at military bases in the crisis-hit country. The protest call by Guaido -- the head of the National Assembly legislature, who is recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries -- comes just days after he urged the military to rise up against the socialist president, Nicolas Maduro. "Peacefully, civically... we are going to deliver a simple document, a proclamation to the Armed Forces to listen to the Venezuelan call, that a rapid transition is possible to produce free elections," Guaido told a press conference in Caracas. A small group of military personnel heeded Guaido's call to rise up on Tuesday, but the effort petered out, triggering two days of protests against the government in which four people were killed and several hundred injured.
Venezuela's military leadership has since reiterated its support for the government, and Maduro is standing his ground. The country's attorney general Tarek William Saab said Friday that 18 arrest warrants had been issued for "civilian and military conspirators" following the failed uprising, with lieutenant colonels among the uniformed personnel being sought. Tensions in Venezuela have soared since Guaido, the 35-year-old head of the National Assembly, invoked the constitution to declare himself acting president on January 23, claiming Maduro's re-election last year was illegitimate. The standoff has drawn in major world powers, with the US throwing its support behind Guaido and Russia and China backing Maduro. The United States has imposed tough sanctions and Trump has refused to take the threat of military action off the table, in an intensifying campaign to drive Maduro out. But President Donald Trump adopted a strikingly conciliatory tone after a more than hour-long conversation with Vladimir Putin on the Venezuela crisis, describing the Friday talks with his Russian counterpart as "very positive."
'People are starving'
"He is not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela other than he'd like to see something positive happen for Venezuela," Trump said of Putin. "And I feel the same way. We want to get some humanitarian aid. Right now people are starving." Venezuela has suffered five years of recession marked by shortages of basic necessities as well as failing public services, including water, electricity and transport. Trump's tone came in stark contrast to that of his top advisors, in particular Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who charged this week that Maduro had been poised to flee to Cuba, but was talked out of it by the Russians.
US-Russian tensions have spiked over the months-long standoff in Venezuela, and the Kremlin's assessment of the Trump-Putin call differed substantially from that coming from the White House. "Interference in internal affairs, attempts to change the leadership in Caracas through force, undermine the prospects for a peaceful settlement of the conflict," said a Russian statement. "Vladimir Putin stated that only the Venezuelan people have the right to decide the future of their country," it added. The United States is insisting Maduro's days are numbered, but experts say its options for breaking the stalemate are limited, and that Washington may have overestimated the opposition leader's strength.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 04-05/19
Terror, Racism and Eugenicists
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 04/2019
I recall a famous quote by the Tony Benn, the former British Leftist Labor minister which is: “The Marxist analysis has got nothing to do with what happened in Stalin's Russia: it's like blaming Jesus Christ for the Inquisition in Spain”.
Indeed, it is inappropriate to directly link an idea, ideology or a value system whose followers tolerate opposition and accept coexistence with those who disagree with him or her, with individuals or groups -from any religion, ideology or race – resorting to imposition, suppression or elimination against opponents.
In the last few days we witnessed a heinous massacre in Sri Lanka. Within a short time, we learned that behind what happened were the same groups that have strived to force Islam and Muslims everywhere in “Zero option” war against the whole world. Furthermore, as if launching this “war” against Christian civilians in the West was not enough, these groups have now turned against the Buddhists and Hindus in south Asia.
Sure enough, by targeting Buddhist civilians, the absurd and dubious crimes are not going to lessen the suffering of the innocent Rohingya Muslims. And through killing innocent Hindus, they are not going to weaken Hindu extremists, like India Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is fighting crucial “marathon” elections; in fact, the opposite is true.Moreover, we have seen how the absurd crimes – falsely committed under the banners of religion – have increased the popular support for extreme Christian racists throughout Europe and the Americas, and recently, Australia and New Zealand. In Europe, voters are expected to vote soon in the European parliamentary elections amid high expectations that racist and populist right would make big gains throughout the continent.
This phenomenon, indeed, is not limited to Europe, which is now the first destination to would-be refugees and immigrants from Asia and Africa, as anti-immigrants and anti-Muslims right has been riding high in the Americas too.
Given the above, the one thing that must not be forgotten is that the biggest and earliest damage done by the self-claimed “Islamist’” extremism took place in the Arab and Muslim countries. In these countries the extremists, be they Sunnis or Shiites, have slaughtering, burning, and murdering Muslims in indiscriminate explosions.
“Islamist” extremism has directly contributed to the destruction these countries’ institutions, ruined their economies, denigrated their sovereignty, displaced their populations, and driven out their best brains and skills.
Thus, what we are at is actually a mass suicidal war; one in which Islam, as a religion, a civilization, an identity, a people, is being thrown into unequal and unwinnable confrontation against the world and human civilization.
Anyway, those who are still capable of analyzing world affairs must try to monitor the social and political developments that are affecting our world.
Early last year, the British The Independent newspaper published a noteworthy article entitled, “Support for eugenics never really went away, but this is how it's becoming mainstream again” by Dr. Louise Raw. In this article Raw mentioned meetings taking place in one of London top universities and organized by groups that are interested in “improving” the human race; and went on to detail the main philosophical, political and cultural currents that developed ideas and beliefs serving that goal.
Raw explained that the idea of “improving” the human race was not new but goes back to the days of Plato (381 BC) who considered the desirability of “selective breeding” for the ruling elite; then added that in the 18th century “English curate Thomas Malthus’s work contradicted the contemporary view that human societies were naturally improving. Instead, he argued that better living conditions lead inexorably to population growth and scarcity of resources. Malthus became extremely influential and was read by Charles Darwin”. Darwin’s research on evolution and inherited traits, as Raw said “would form the basis for the work of his cousin Frances Galton, who would coin the word ‘eugenics’ (from the Greek word ‘eugenes’ which means ‘well-born’) in 1883. While Darwin praised Galton’s earlier work, at least to him, he was always dubious about crude attempts to apply his scientific findings to the real world. This, unfortunately, was precisely Galton’s aim”.
With Galton, who visited the Middle East, had a thoroughly racist attitude. He went much further than Darwin’s usage of words like “savages” and “favored races” to establish a fully-fledged school in elucidating racial discrimination and inherited specificities. As Raw put “Galton’s work leads to appalling and inevitable conclusions: that a more brutal solution is required to resolve the ‘problem’ of non-white races, and that disabled or less physically strong working-class people are of no use to society, and deserve to starve”.
Hence, going the history of the Eugenicists, one must not be surprised how theories of “pure race” and “superior nation” or the impossibility of bridging the gap between “advanced” and “backward” peoples. This means that neither Adolf Hitler nor Josef Mengele invented or developed anything. Even, before them racist exclusionist practices known to humanity were the rule rather than the exception. Perhaps, naivety and tragedies of wars were the prime promoters of utopian slogans like “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” and “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Such slogans have made really believe that we can build a civilized world at peace with itself.
Well, leaving Galton now and going back to Malthus, we are confronted by two stark realities, one economic, the other technological. These two realities do not encourage us to expect any end to racism, selfishness and fight for survival any time soon. We can all see that the mainstays of capitalism that preach unrestricted “free market”, “globalization” and “free movement of goods and services” are shaking and all but collapsing. Astonishing technological advances are speedily killing off long regarded givens, jobs and practices, and revolutionizing the people’s lifestyles, means of communication, interests, as well as redefining their needs and remedies. Today we live in a rapidly changing world. It is changing much faster than our expectations, and even our perceptions.
We live a time of redefining identities, along with interests, friends and enemies. The Independent’s above-mentioned article was, thus, absolutely right to say that discrimination, based on race and color, has returned to the political “mainstream”, after being temporarily concealed under a films cover.
We are really living the era of the “clash of civilizations”, and there are those not only cannot wait for the clash to happen, but are keen to justify it.

The Spanish Election Is a Triumph of Logic
Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg View/May 04/2019
The recent Spanish election was keenly watched by people seeking confirmation for theories about the direction of European democracy. The inconclusive outcome made sure no one was wrong — but it also showed that, broadly, the old left-right political paradigm is still alive and each flank still can win on its traditional strengths. In one European election after another, political fragmentation has made countries difficult to govern with increasingly difficult coalitions required, and Spain was a prime example of this trend. Center-left political forces were struggling everywhere, and Spain’s Socialists, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, were incapable of winning a majority despite the huge negative ratings dragging down their historical rival, the center-right Popular Party. The far-right populist resurgence continued, and even in Spain, where anti-immigration sentiment is weaker than almost anywhere in Europe, a far-right party, Vox, was doing surprisingly well in the polls.
Well, all of this held true. Though the Socialists dramatically increased their representation in parliament, going to 123 seats from 85 in 2016, they only won 28.7 percent of the vote. The fragmentation means Sanchez will find it hard to cobble together a majority government. Even for a minority one, he may need the cooperation of the Catalan separatists who caused the early election in the first place by refusing to back Sanchez’s budget proposal. And Vox got into parliament, the first time such a hard-core rightist force has done so since the last ally of Francisco Franco lost his parliament seat in 1982. Sanchez may be determined to move Franco’s remains from their lavish mausoleum near Madrid, but the dictator’s spirit will be kept alive (with some modern restrictions imposed) by the 24 Vox members in the 350-seat lower chamber of parliament.
On the other hand, if one wanted to argue that establishment parties can successfully fight off nationalist populists if they take a principled stand on the issues and pick charismatic leaders, the Socialists’ performance would allow that, too. Sanchez, telegenic and a persuasive campaigner, took a risk in calling the election when the combined right-wing forces polled better than the left and emerged a clear winner, in part thanks to the Spanish electoral laws that reward the front-runner with extra parliament seats. Vox only won 10.2 percent of the vote, less than comparable parties have been getting in other western European countries. A nonpartisan look at the outcome, however, would suggest somewhat different conclusions. Spain — like most other European countries — has roughly similar numbers of right-wing and left-wing voters. About 11.2 million Spaniards supported the Socialists and their likely coalition partners, left-wing populist force Podemos; slightly fewer than 11.2 million voted for PP, the liberal Ciudadanos (or Citizens) party and Vox, which would have formed a coalition had they gained a combined majority. In 2016, when the turnout was lower, 9.5 million backed the Socialists and Podemos and 11 million voted for PP and Citizens.
The fracturing of traditional two-party systems doesn’t mean the left-right divide has been erased. It merely means voters on each flank have a broader menu of more precisely targeted options. The right-wing vote in Spain is now more evenly split between liberals, conservatives and nationalist populists than it used to be when PP was the umbrella party for all three persuasions. And Sanchez’s win has, to a large extent, come at the expense of Podemos, which lost 15 mandates. Apart from the prime minister’s charisma and campaigning skill, both that redistribution and the higher turnout gains are likely explained by the Sanchez government’s generosity: It has increased the minimum wage by 22 percent. So the traditionalist leftist method of buying votes with social spending still seems to work. Now, Sanchez will seek to cement his victory by more handouts — pension and benefit hikes and increased spending on science and education. Europe’s current political fragmentation is only a problem where the established parties are squeamish about teaming up with populists on their flank and seek to exclude them from governing coalitions. In Germany, for example, the creepy nationalism of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party rules it out as a partner for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, and the Communist heritage of Die Linke, the far-left party, makes it hard for the Social Democrats to team up with them on the national level. The result is an uneasy grand coalition of the center-right and the center-left.
In Spain, the traditional parties appear to have no qualms about forging alliances with other forces on their flanks. Sanchez will seek partners that help set Spain on a more socialist course after years of austerity and de-escalate tensions in secessionist Catalonia, to the relief of both Catalans and international investors.

Palestinian Leaders and Inconvenient Truths
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/May 04/2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14167/palestinians-inconvenient-truths
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas understood that he had made a grave error in calling out his Arab brothers for their tightfistedness. This was a massive mistake because his Arab brothers do not tolerate any form of criticism. For them, Abbas should only be criticizing Israel and the US.
This is the old Palestinian blame game: always make Israel or the U.S. appear responsible for the suffering you inflict on your own people.
Like most Palestinians, Abbas is well aware that the Arab states are no longer willing to serve as a cash machine for ingrates. Under the current circumstances, the Palestinians are more likely to succeed in cajoling money from duped Western donors than from their loving brothers. From the Palestinian leaders' point of view, however, this is an inconvenient truth best hidden from their people.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is well aware that the Arab states are no longer willing to serve as a cash machine for ingrates. Under the current circumstances, the Palestinians are more likely to succeed in cajoling money from duped Western donors than from their loving brothers.
The Arab states continue to lie to the Palestinians. At the last meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, the Arabs "affirmed their commitment to support the budget of the state of Palestine by activating the resolution of the Arab summit in Tunisia to provide a $100 million safety net [to the Palestinians] each month."
The Arab foreign ministers announced their decision after listening to a speech by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who complained that his government was facing a financial crisis because of Israeli and US measures.
Abbas was referring to Israel's decision to deduct payments made by the Palestinian Authority (PA) government to families of security prisoners and "martyrs" from tax revenues that Israel collects each month on behalf of the Palestinians.
Earlier this year, the Israeli government announced it is deducting hundreds of millions of shekels from the tax funds it collects on behalf of the Palestinians because of the PA's policy of paying salaries to terrorists and their families. The decision was in accordance with an Israeli law passed in July 2018. Under the law, the payments made by the PA government would automatically be frozen by the Israeli government, in accordance with the Paris Protocol, an agreement signed between Israel and the PLO in 1994 that allows Israel to collect and transfer to the PA government the import taxes on goods that were intended for the Palestinians.
The law also requires the Israeli Defense Ministry to provide the cabinet with data on the amount the PA pays terrorists and their families. Israel's Finance Ministry will then withhold that amount from the tax funds it transfers.
Abbas was also referring to the steep cuts in US financial aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the PA government.
Abbas went to the Arab League meeting in Cairo with the seeming hope that the Arab countries would help him overcome the severe financial crisis his government has been facing in the past few months. He was apparently hoping that the Arab countries would implement the decision of the Arab summit held in Tunisia in late March to provide financial aid to the Palestinians.
As it turns out, however, both the Arab summit in Tunisia and the Arab League meeting in Cairo have given the Palestinians nothing but empty promises and meaningless statements of support and solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
Earlier this week, Abbas revealed during a meeting of his cabinet in the West Bank city of Ramallah that despite the pledges of financial support from the Arab states, the Palestinians still have not received any funds. He further disclosed that he had asked the Arab countries for a loan -- a request which he said has also been ignored by the Arab states.
"We asked our Arab brothers to provide us with a financial safety net," Abbas said, referring to his speech at the Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo.
"But we're not pinning high hopes on them. God willing, something will happen. We asked for $100 million each month. We told them to consider it a debt, which we will pay you back. However, we haven't received an answer even regarding the debt request."
At this point in his speech, Abbas became aware that his remarks were being broadcast live on Palestine TV. It was at that moment that he stopped speaking about the failure of the Arab states to fulfill their promises to the Palestinians. What happened was that Abbas realized that his criticism of the Arab states was likely to enrage the Arab heads of state.
Abbas understood that he had made a grave error in calling out his Arab brothers for their tightfistedness. This was a massive mistake because his Arab brothers do not tolerate any form of criticism. For them, Abbas should only be criticizing Israel and the US. Sure enough, to avoid a crisis with the Arab countries, Abbas's official news agency, Wafa, deleted from its report about his speech the critical remarks he had made about the Arab states.
The Palestinian news agency evidently does not want Palestinians to know that their Arab brothers are refusing to help them financially. It appears, instead, to want the Palestinians to believe that Israel and the US are solely responsible for the financial crisis facing the Palestinian Authority government. In fact, this is how the Palestinian propaganda machine has long been functioning. This is the old Palestinian blame game: always make Israel or the U.S. appear responsible for the suffering you inflict on your own people.
The Arab betrayal of the Palestinians is not new. Instead of supporting their Palestinian brothers, the Arab states have been cutting aid to them. According to one report, Arab financial aid to the Palestinians has dramatically dropped in the past two decades. Another report revealed that donations from the Arab world to the Palestinians has been slashed over the past few years by 50%. A mere quarter of the PA's 2017 budget of approximately $3.7 billion has come from Arab states, the report said.
The Palestinians are right to believe that the Arab world no longer cares about them and their problems. The Arab countries have their own problems, particularly financial ones. Most Arab countries seem sick of the Palestinians and see them as ungrateful, particularly after the PLO's support for Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait – one of several wealthy Arab countries that funded the Palestinians to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in the 70s and 80s.
The PLO's support for Saddam Hussein was a wake-up call for Kuwait and many Arab countries, who are now telling the Palestinians: "Here's some tough love: you spit in our faces, we cut off your allowance."
Like most Palestinians, Abbas is well aware that the Arab states are no longer willing to serve as a cash machine for ingrates. Under the current circumstances, the Palestinians are more likely to succeed in cajoling money from duped Western donors than from their loving brothers. From the Palestinian leaders' point of view, however, this is an inconvenient truth best hidden from their people.
*Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 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.

From Venezuela to Lebanon, the US faces a world of tough decisions
Raghida Dergham/The National/May 04/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/74491/%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%BA%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B9-%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%84%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8/
In the folds of growing global disquiet lies the strained relationship between Washington and Moscow
The hardline policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration on Venezuela and Iran are becoming clearer, with the White House now openly talking about military force as an option.
The coming days may thus see a shift in US attitudes and measures against the two countries, unless peaceful transition takes place in Caracas, and Tehran decides that its interests require co-operation, rather than escalation in response to Washington’s oil embargo.
Another tough stance emerging from Washington relates to the potential designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terror group.
Already, this has antagonised Turkey and could lead President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to engage in further grandstanding, for example by supporting his friend in Caracas, President Nicolas Maduro.
Mr Maduro, whose regime has managed to impoverish what was once the region’s richest nation also counts among his friends Bashar Al Assad, the Iranian regime and the leaders of Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba.
The Colombian president Ivan Duque has called on Venezuela’s armed forces to join the opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is backed by most South American governments, as well as the US and other major western nations. Calling the army to back the civilian movement led by Mr Guaido is practical, because moving from authoritarianism to civil rule now seems impossible without it.
This has been the case in Algeria, and in Libya, where a military settlement seems a prerequisite, as well as Sudan, where there is now a valuable opportunity to achieve an accord between civilians and military.
In the folds of all these developments, especially as it relates to Venezuela, lies the strained relationship between Washington and Moscow, as the two powers exchange accusations and warnings.
Inside the US, meanwhile, the presidential campaigns have started in earnest, amid deep divisions and structural weakness in the Democratic Party. In this febrile climate, there has been a lot of posturing about foreign policy issues, including Venezuela, the Muslim Brotherhood and Yemen, which former vice president Joe Biden has used to attack Mr Trump.
In truth, Mr Biden himself backed the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power and supported its hijacking of the Arab uprisings, not to mention having called for the partition of Iraq.
According to informed sources, US-Iranian escalation could come to a head this week. Mr Trump intends to announce strict measures against countries that violate the US oil embargo on Iran by continuing to purchase Iranian crude after the expiry of sanctions waivers.
According to informed sources, US-Iranian escalation could come to a head this week
According to sources, he will also issue a stern warning to Tehran not to take any retaliatory measures, especially in the Strait of Hormuz or against Saudi and other Arab Gulf oil exports. The same sources say that there is a strong Iranian inclination to retaliate against US oil restrictions, with preparations being made to hit pipelines that feed into Saudi refineries.
Despite these gloomy predictions, there remain two views on what is about to happen. One is that Tehran will never escalate, because it is aware that Mr Trump will not hesitate to take military action against it. The other, however, is that Mr Trump’s measures will lead to the collapse of the Iranian regime, so the hardliners will not hesitate to act.
In the past, Washington extended security cover to Lebanon, making it clear that the failure of this small country was a red line. According to officials, the US has run out of patience. Now, they say, there is a real chance the US may end its security guarantees if the Lebanese do not stand up to Hezbollah and stop it from putting Iranian interests ahead of those of Lebanon itself.
Meanwhile, some circles in New York and Washington are raising questions about the prospects of Mr Trump opening the door to military action in Iran and Venezuela. The US is divided here too. Democrats are automatically opposed to everything that Mr Trump decides, and they will be placing their bets on popular opposition to any military involvement.
On Venezuela, the Trump administration has a coherent policy. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, Special Envoy Elliott Abrams, and Vice President Mike Pence all agree on being robust, even if that requires military intervention for a limited transitional period, in order to secure civilian rule with the help of the country’s armed forces.
Mr Pompeo and Mr Bolton have both accused Moscow of meddling in Venezuela. They say that the Kremlin is resisting transition in Caracas and has convinced Mr Maduro not to leave for Cuba. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said that Washington’s interference in Venezuelan affairs violates international law and that such “aggressive moves” will have serious ramifications. Mr Pompeo has said that his boss prefers peaceful transition but that he was “clear and firm” that military action remains an option.
At present, it seems that peaceful transition is unlikely, unless the Venezuelan military overthrows Mr Maduro, or Mr Maduro’s friends abandon him and convince him to step down. However, it is the Kremlin that matters most here. If Russian President Vladimir Putin decides that Venezuela is an asset – given its strategic location and vast oil reserves – worth risking relations with Washington for, then the crisis is set to escalate.
To some extent, it seems that the solution is in the hands of the Venezuelan military, which can side with the people against Mr Maduro and back Mr Guaido as an interim president.
Some have accused the Trump administration of supporting military takeovers around the world, including in Algeria, Libya, and Sudan. But the Obama administration supported Islamist takeovers, based on the Turkish model, and backed the Muslim Brotherhood, despite its rejection of the separation of powers and its quest to impose its will on the constitution and state. If the choice is between this and temporary military rule, it would seem that temporary military rule is the lesser evil.

Analysis/Who You Calling a Terrorist: Trump’s Conundrum With the Muslim Brotherhood
تسفي باريل/هآرتس:من هو الذي تسميه إرهابياً ولغز ترامب وجماعة الإخوان المسلمين
Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/May 04/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/74494/%D8%AA%D8%B3%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%87%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B3-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D9%8A-%D8%AA%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%87-%D8%A5%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%A8/
When political considerations meet reality, the technical definitions of a terrorist group get pushed aside. The U.S. calls Hezbollah terrorists but still sells missiles to Lebanon, while Israel transfers Qatari money to Hamas.
Waiting on U.S. President Donald Trump’s desk is a request from his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. A similar request was presented two years ago by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan concerning Fethullah Gulen’s Hizmet movement. Trump is taking Sissi’s request seriously and has asked his national security adviser, John Bolton, to start the process for approval, while Turkey has already been told that no, the evidence on Gulen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania, and his movement isn’t enough to prove terror.
How much do the lists rely on evidence and how much are they products of political and diplomatic considerations? This can be learned from Trump’s positions on his two counterparts’ requests – and from the differences between the American list and the EU list. The American roster includes 68 organizations and movements. The most recent addition was Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, which was added on in the middle of last month.
The European list includes only 21 organizations, or parts of organizations. For example, all of Hezbollah, both its political and military wings, are on the U.S. list, while the European Union – except for Britain – treats Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist group but the political wing, which includes three Lebanese cabinet ministers, as a legitimate organization. Brussels views it as “part of Lebanon’s political framework.”
This difference, in the case of Lebanon for example, can be important when Beirut seeks loans from European banks or cooperation agreements with EU member states. While Hezobllah’s participation in the government doesn’t damage Lebanon’s ability to conduct normal diplomatic relations with European countries, in similar cases the United States might put up obstacles or even freeze military aid to Beirut.
At least that’s the way it looks on paper. But in April the United States sent Lebanon six drones worth some $11 million, and in February it equipped the Lebanese army with laser-guided missiles worth about $18 million. This aid was justified by Washington’s desire to help Lebanon fight terrorism and Iranian influence. This is the same Lebanon with its Hezbollah cabinet members.
Tricky Turkey
The Turkish paradox is even more convoluted. Turkey defines the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK, as a terrorist organization, as do both the United States and the European Union. But Turkey has expanded this definition to also include the Kurdish military units operating in Syria. Ankara is demanding that the EU and United States adopt this definition, saying these militias are allies of the PKK and take orders from it.
The problem is that the Kurdish defense units were the most important force in the war against the Islamic State in Syria; a great part of the victory against the group belongs to them. The United States provided these units with air support, training, weapons, ammunition and funds – and views these militias as important allies who deserve protection.
One of the worst sticking points between Ankara and Washington lies in this gap between the Turkish and American definitions. This disagreement naturally has a direct effect on Washington’s willingness to agree to Turkey’s request to recognize Gulen’s movement as a terrorist organization – and its refusal to extradite him to Turkey. If the United States decides to put this movement on its terrorism list, it will have to extradite Gulen and others, block the group’s funding and freeze its assets.
But the chances of this happening are slim, partly because of Turkey’s decision to buy S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia, in defiance of Washington’s staunch position on the matter.
It’s unclear if Trump would have agreed to the Turkish demands if the S-400 deal wasn’t in the way, but surely the tensions between the two countries haven’t encouraged the White House to help Erdogan in his fight against Gulen.
This is the EU’s position too. The EU rejected Turkey’s request to include Hizmet on its terrorism list and doesn’t see Erdogan’s war on the movement as a fight against terror, but as the persecution of a political rival in which “terrorism” is being used to stifle freedom of expression, conduct mass arrests on suspicion of membership in the movement, and strike a mortal blow to human rights.
Turkey, which is running a slander campaign against European countries and has called their leaders “supporters of terrorism” because of their refusal to take the Turkish line on Gulen's movement, has rejected a request from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to name the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. The Brotherhood enjoys freedom of action in Turkey, which sees itself as a patron along with Qatar and other Muslim countries. Turkey’s support for the Brothers may be the main reason for the wide rift between Egypt and Turkey, and between Sissi and Erdogan.
If the Trump administration and Congress – whose approval is necessary – put the Muslim Brotherhood on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations, they could create more friction with Turkey. Trump will have to consider what’s more important to him: to placate Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – which all consider the Brotherhood a terror group – or reconcile with Turkey and reject Sissi’s request. Trump’s decision will be based on strategic considerations, not the intelligence community’s assessments.
The pesky Revolutionary Guards
Political considerations are what is dictating the EU’s position on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. It seems the EU could use the American justifications to include the Guards on its blacklist. There’s no shortage of proof of the Guards’ involvement in terrorist attacks, including in Europe. The EU’s definition of terrorism is broad enough to include the entire Guards organization.
But a deep dispute exists between most European countries and the Trump administration over Washington’s leaving of the Iranian nuclear deal. Most EU nations see the agreement as the height of diplomatic success and proof that it’s possible to negotiate with Iran and produce sustainable results. But the United States sees the agreement as the surrender of the Western powers to Iranian intimidation and a serious threat to “world peace,” especially to Israel.
As a result, some European countries still implement – with no great success – the alternative mechanism for bypassing the American sanctions on Iran: Trying to encourage Iran to negotiate over additional issues such as its missile program and support for Hezbollah. This strategy doesn’t let the EU include the Revolutionary Guards on its list of terror groups because officially the Guards are an arm of government, for which no precedent exists for being declared a terrorist organization.
Estimates are that the American decision will affect some 11 million Iranians, of whom over 300,000 are serving in the Guards and the Basij volunteer militia. Hundreds of thousands more work in plants and businesses owned by the Guards.
But beyond the formal aspect, the chance of preserving the nuclear deal and encouraging negotiations with Iran could evaporate if the EU joins the United States in its declaration. The American decision to add the Guards to the terror list had plenty of opponents in the State Department and Pentagon, who feared an Iranian response against American forces in the Persian Gulf and Iraq.
Some even attributed the decision to the many steps Trump has taken to strengthen Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu such as recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. They also mention a wish by Trump to throw a bone to the Saudis, who have been scorched in Congress over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the unending civil war in Yemen. In any case, people in the U.S. administration are having a hard time explaining the timing of Trump’s decision; Iran has been in the sights of the war on terror for decades.
“Declaring an organization or movement a terrorist organization is largely a political statement whose practical meaning is limited,” a European diplomat told Haaretz. “Most of the organizations on these lists don’t manage their accounts in banks in Europe or the United States. And anyway, activists linked to these organizations who live in Europe and the United States are under surveillance or have been warned about continued cooperation with these groups.”
As he put it, “American law states that a terrorist organization can only be a foreign organization that’s not American, while the American organizations and movements that incite to terrorism on a racial or religious basis enjoy legal protection – and in some cases a blind eye from the president.”
Israel can provide evidence to support the diplomat’s view in its handling of Hamas. The definition of Hamas as a terrorist group hasn’t prevented Israel from approving the transfer of Qatari aid in return for calm and the ramping down of the protest marches at the Gaza border fence. This is the same Qatar that supports the Muslim Brotherhood, doesn’t recognize the legitimacy of Sissi, is the enemy of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and is an ally of Turkey and Iran.
Will Trump label Qatar a state that supports terrorism because of its support for Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood if he puts them on the terrorism list? Don’t hold your breath. The United States has its biggest military base in the Middle East in Qatar. Trump’s war on terror will have to find a way to maneuver around these dilemmas.