English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese
Related, Global News & Editorials
For
May 18/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.may18.20.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
The Miracle Of Reviving Lazarus From the Grave
John 11/01-16: “Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of
Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume
and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters
sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’But when Jesus heard
it, he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory,
so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’Accordingly, though Jesus
loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was
ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he
said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’The disciples said to him,
‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there
again?’Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk
during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But
those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’After saying
this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there
to awaken him.’The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he
will be all right.’Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they
thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly,
‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may
believe. But let us go to him.’Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his
fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 17-18/2020
Lebanon Confirms 9 New Virus Cases amid Alarming Tests in Akkar
Hasan: We Have Built Health and National Immunity against Virus
Hariri Hospital: 10 new positive cases including 9 repeated tests, 17 cases out
150 examinations of foreign workers
Seventeen coronavirus cases recorded in Akkar’s Al-Kaytaa
Rahi presides over Sunday Mass service in Bkirki
Beirut’s Metropolitan Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Elias Aoude presiding over
Sunday Mass at St. George’s Cathedral: The Orthodox are excluded from serving
their nation and rejected
Diab appeals to Lebanese citizens to adopt self-monitoring, assume
responsibility: The world trusts us and our capabilities, cites our experience
as a model for major countries
Lebanese Army: Israeli enemy forces shoot at a shepherd, wounding and arresting
him
Tenenti to NNA: UNIFIL has opened an investigation into the shooting of the
shepherd
Abdel Samad: We are making amendments to the media regulation project in line
with advancement
Majzoub: I suggest canceling the high school exams
Darwish: Judiciary must repudiate political dependency
Jumblatt apologizes after breaking lockdown rules
Fahmi Issues Memo Detailing Reopening Rules
Bassil: President Won't Fall, Others Wrongly Betting that We're Weak
Israel Shoots, Nabs Shepherd in Kfarshouba Outskirts
IMF-Lebanon Talks Fettered by Disputes With Central Bank
Lebanese Authorities to Crack down on Violators of Maritime Property
Pragmatic whispers between Washington and Tehran?/Raghida Dergham/May 17/2020
Will the dollar shortage lead to medicinal shortage?/Perla Kantarjian/Annahar/May
17/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
May 17-18/2020
Canada's Statement on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and
Biphobia
Israel’s 35th government is sworn into office
Holy Jewish site of Esther and Mordechai set ablaze in Iran - reports
Iran media: Israel 'cancerous' and a 'virus' after burning of Esther tomb
Rami Makhlouf Rejects Syria Regime Demand to Step Down From Mobile Operator
Moscow Seeks Serious Reforms in Syria, Criticizes Regime’s Intransigence
EU to Try to Head Off Israel Annexations
Palestinian Authority Declares Full Lockdown on Eid al-Fitr
ISIS Strikes ‘Baghdad Belt’
Germany Kicks Off as Europe Eases Curbs but Virus Marches On
Chinese Ambassador to Israel Found Dead at Home
Italy to Reopen Borders for EU Tourists in Early June
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on May 17-18/2020
Lockdown Critics May Have Some Valid Points/Joe Nocera/Bloomberg/May
17/2020
The Arab System Between Citizenship and Failure of State!/Zuhair Al-Harthi/Asharq
Al Awsat/May 17/2020
Coronavirus: China's Disappeared Heroes and the Silence of the West/Giulio
Meotti/Gatestone Institute/May 17/2020
US needs help restricting Iran’s influence in Syria/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab
News/May 17, 2020
Tensions rise as new Iraqi PM confronts Iran’s proxies/Baria Alamuddin/Arab
News/May 17, 2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published on May 17-18/2020
Lebanon Confirms 9 New Virus Cases amid Alarming Tests in Akkar
Naharnet/May 17/2020
Lebanon on Sunday confirmed nine new COVID-19 coronavirus cases, which raises
the country's tally to 911, the Health Ministry said. It said five of the nine
cases were recorded among the residents and the other four among repatriated
expats. It added that 17 tests will be repeated for confirmation as the National
News Agency said the 17 suspected cases were recorded in the Akkar town of
Jdeidet al-Qaytaa after 124 tests were made. “This issue has created a state of
general health mobilization in the governorate and at the Health Ministry,” NNA
added. The head of the epidemiological surveillance department at the ministry,
Dr. Nada Ghosn, will arrive in the afternoon at the Halba government hospital to
assess things on the ground, the agency said.
Hasan: We Have Built Health and National Immunity against Virus
Naharnet/May 17/2020
Health Minister Hamad Hasan announced Sunday that Lebanon has built “health and
national immunity” against the coronavirus pandemic. “We cannot move from
lockdown to normal life except through a transitional period, which we are
currently going through,” Hasan said during an inspection visit to the state-run
hospital in Rashaya. He noted that over the recent period, the country “gained
time, upped the readiness of state-run hospitals and built health and national
immunity against the virus at the highest levels.”“We have allowed the use of
rapid tests in campaigns across the various regions,” he added. “If we acquire
gradual immunity against the coronavirus, that will be good, and what's needed
at the moment is to abide by general mobilization and make gradual steps ahead
of restoring normalcy,” Hasan went on to say.
Hariri Hospital: 10 new positive cases including 9 repeated
tests, 17 cases out 150 examinations of foreign workers
NNA/May 17/2020
In its daily report on the latest developments of the novel Coronavirus, the
Rafic Hariri University Hospital announced on Sunday, that out of 219 laboratory
tests conducted today, ten new Covid-19 cases have been detected, including nine
repeated tests, while the remaining tests came out negative.
“The hospital received a survey of examinations carried out by the Ministry of
Health of 150 foreign workers who were in close contact, whereby 17 tested
positive,” the report added. It also indicated that the total number of
laboratory-confirmed cases infected with the virus that are currently present in
the Hospital's isolation area has reached 27 cases, noting that it has admitted
27 cases suspected to be infected with the virus who were transferred from other
hospitals. Meanwhile, the hospital report stated that four infected cases have
recovered today after their PCR examination tests turned out negative in both
times, thus bringing the total number of full recoveries to 177 cases. “All
those infected with the virus are receiving the necessary care in the isolation
unit, and their condition is stable," the hospital report added. It also
indicated that more information on the number of infected cases on all Lebanese
territories can be found in the daily report issued by the Ministry of Public
Health. In conclusion, the Hospital reminded that "the Corona Virus Contact
Center for emergency response and knowledge of test results, operates 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week including public holidays, and can be reached through the
number 01-820830 or through the WhatsApp contact service 76-979610."
Seventeen coronavirus cases recorded in Akkar’s Al-Kaytaa
NNA /May 17/2020
Seventeen coronavirus cases out of 124 tests have been recorded in Akkar’s
Jdeidet El-Kaytaa after the patients' PCR examination tests turned out positive,
the crisis cell of the Municipality of Jdeidet El-Kaytaa said in a statement on
Sunday.
The Municipality urged people to remain watchful and vigilant and stay at home.
Rahi presides over Sunday Mass service in Bkirki
NNA/May 17/2020
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rahi, presided over Sunday Mass
service in Bkirki this morning. In his sermon, Rahi urged the Lebanese to invest
their lands in agriculture, as well as in other sectors. "Agriculture has become
a basic necessity today because of the increase in unemployment, poverty, food
prices, and the decrease in incomes accompanied by a decrease in purchasing
power," Rahi said. He declared that "the church puts its lands and capabilities
at the disposal of society for investment in agriculture and food security,
especially since Lebanon depends on importing 70% of its food needs."In this
context, the Patriarch called on the Lebanese state to support the agricultural
sector as a cornerstone of the national economy, protect it from external
speculation, and export its surplus. Finally, Rahi criticized the practices of
some judges and asked: "Where are these eccentric practices coming from:
accusing and arresting at the same time without hearing the accused? Creating
files with an arrest warrant? Is our system transformed from a democratic system
that guarantees civil and legal rights to a police and dictatorship one?
Beirut’s Metropolitan Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Elias
Aoude presiding over Sunday Mass at St. George’s Cathedral: The Orthodox are
excluded from serving their nation and rejected
NNA/May 17/2020
Beirut’s Metropolitan Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Elias Aoude, presided over
Sunday Mass service at St. George’s Cathedral in Central Beirut this morning,
during which he affirmed that the Greek Orthodox Sect has always called for
justice and equality, respect for the constitution and the application of laws,
as well as the adoption of accountability, reward and punishment, and a
transparent mechanism in state appointments. “However, instead of taking
advantage of the energies of our children and treating them like other people of
this country, they have been ignored over the days…Perhaps, because they do not
raise their voices or resort to methods that do not resemble them. Silence
appears to be weak in the time of empty squawking, and civilized behavior is
considered a regression,” the Archbishop said in his sermon. “Justice is not to
distinguish between one citizen and another, and one sect and another,” he
added. “Our children have the right to play their national role in all fields.
Civilized behavior is part of our values, but our Church, headed by His
Beatitude John X, up to its officials and people, expresses unanimous rejection
of these practices against its children and the injustice and prejudice that
follows them,” Aoude emphasized. “Until citizens of this country unite as one
people, with one vision, do not exclude anyone from responsibilities, and adopt
a single standard in appointments that applies to everyone,” urged the
Archbishop.“Let your vision of the state be clear and transparent, centered on
correcting the situation, fighting corruption, tackling the economy’s collapse,
the lira’s collapse, the waste problems, water and electricity, and creating job
opportunities that allow citizens to escape poverty, hunger and despair. Let
your aim be to unite the Lebanese people around this vision and push them all to
support you instead of rejecting them and provoking their anger and resentment,”
Aoude corroborated, addressing the state’s authorities.
Diab appeals to Lebanese citizens to adopt self-monitoring,
assume responsibility: The world trusts us and our capabilities, cites our
experience as a model for major countries
NNA/May 17/2020
In his delivered speech this evening following the ministerial committee’s
meeting to follow-up on the Corona virus developments, Prime Minister Hassan
Diab announced that "the country will be partially reopened" starting tomorrow,
based on the five-stage plan, and that the Minister of Interior and
Municipalities will announce the details later today. “I call on the Lebanese
people to observe self-monitoring, take responsibility and not risk their lives,
those of their families and those of their compatriots,” he said. “Lebanon has
managed to remain at the stage of containing the virus spread since the
beginning of the pandemic, and our goal is to remain at this stage,” Diab
underscored. “We are going through a dangerous and very sensitive period, since
the coronavirus crisis will last a very long time and could possibly threaten
the lives of our loved ones. Furthermore, the second wave could be worse than
the peak of the first wave,” cautioned the Prime Minister.“We realize that
continuing the lockdown has serious economic and social repercussions. We are
trying, as much as we can, to minimize these repercussions,” he went on.
“Consequently, I announce today the reopening of the country as of tomorrow,
based on the five-stage plan. This will require additional collective sacrifices
and commitment, while quarantining neighbourhoods and regions with high
infection rates,” stated Diab, urging all Lebanese to deal with the country’s
reopening very carefully, and to partner with the government in assuming
responsibility and protecting society from collapse. “I am confident that we
will manage to protect our people and our country, despite major and heavy
concerns. The world trusts us and our capabilities, and talks about the
achievement we have made so far in the face of the Coronavirus. The world is
citing our experience as a model to follow by bigger countries,” he proudly
asserted.
In his detailed address, the Prime Minister said:
“Dear fellow Lebanese,
I know very well that you all want to return to normal life, to engage in
business as usual, to visit one another as before, to resume the academic year,
to celebrate social occasions and to hold tight family and friends whom you have
missed.
Coronavirus epidemic has disrupted our day-to-day life, our business and our
social relationships. One cannot easily believe that a virus which cannot be
seen with the naked eye controls today’s world. But this is the truth. Yes. An
invisible virus is imposing a different rhythm onto people's lives around the
globe.
This looks more like science fiction stories and movies ... but it is a fact.
Since February 21, less than three months ago, we have been overwhelmed by
anxiety: How can we preserve the lives of the Lebanese without incurring losses
in all aspects of life? Since our priority is to protect people’s lives, we have
chosen to jump past all calculations.
The lives of our fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters, our children,
our families and our loved ones are way more precious than education, economics
and trade...
Our humanity has triumphed over materialism. This is how the Lebanese have
always been, and in this way they overcame crucial dangers in the past.
Leading a meaningful life and loving life are features that characterize us as
Lebanese people. This is true. However, our love for the hustle and bustle of
life cannot be at the expense of our own life and of that of persons we love.
We have succeeded in the face of a danger with minimal losses A week ago, we
were about to get in trouble due to the lack of commitment in some places.
Unfortunately, some are risking their lives and are taking lightly the lives of
others.
When we launched the plan to reopen the country on April 24, I warned against
the dangers of ending the lockdown and its disastrous consequences for our
country, for fear of a second wave of the Coronavirus epidemic.
We have repeatedly warned against the possibility of losing what we have
successfully achieved in terms of containing the spread of Covid-19 if we do not
abide by prevention measures, and of having to move from a lockdown to another.
The risks of lifting the lockdown can take us back to the early stages of the
epidemic.
Late last week, we started noticing an increase in the number of infected people
and the appearance of new multi-pronged clusters in various parts of the
country. Over a period of ten days, the number of new internal cases has
increased almost five times, compared to ten previous days. The daily average
infection rate has also increased compared to the levels found before the re
–opening. Accordingly, we have decided to impose a full 4-day lockdown.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health teams were conducting intensive testing in
addition to tracking and isolating all cases.
Lebanon has managed to remain at the stage of containing the virus spread since
the beginning of the pandemic, and our goal is to remain at this stage, though
many countries have moved from the stage of inability to contain the pandemic to
the mitigation stage, due to their inability to control the epidemic outbreak
and the high number of infections. Nevertheless, they are still very careful and
vigilant in lifting the lockdown.
Today we are still concerned about the high number of infections for several
reasons, including:
-First, we have managed to overcome the first peak after tiring and painstaking
work during two months of social isolation;
-Second, the economic and financial situation has been exacerbated by the
lockdown.
All this leads to the lax implementation of the measures required, such as
social distancing and prevention, whereas it is necessary to remain cautious in
order to triumph over the epidemic. Besides, the third repatriation phase has
started. After evaluating the second phase, we have adopted more stringent
measures to reduce the proportion of inbound positive cases from expatriates by
imposing a PCR test in some countries, strengthening the internal follow - up of
returnees and repeating the PCR test fourteen days after their return.
We are going through a dangerous and very sensitive period, since coronavirus
crisis will last a very long time and could possibly threaten the lives of our
loved ones. Furthermore, the second wave could be worse than the peak of the
first wave.
We realize that continuing the lockdown has serious economic and social
repercussions. We are trying, as much as we can, to minimize these
repercussions.
Consequently, I announce today the reopening of the country as of tomorrow,
based on the five-stage plan. This will require additional collective sacrifices
and commitment, while quarantining neighbourhoods and regions with high
infection rates.
We have to remain vigilant, maintain social distancing and follow prevention and
protection guidelines in order to safeguard our society and preserve our
sacrifices.
I urge all Lebanese to deal with the reopening of the country very carefully, to
partner with us in assuming responsibility and to accompany the State in
protecting the society from collapse. We do not want this stage to turn into a
nightmare, and we will not accept that all Lebanese pay the price for some
irresponsible and indifferent behaviours.
I call on Lebanese people to observe self-monitoring, take responsibility and
not risk their lives, those of their families and those of their compatriots.
This commitment will inevitably lead to triumph over the virus, and thus to the
continuation of the following stages of the reopening plan.
Do not underestimate the risk, so that we do not all regret it when regrets will
then serve no purpose. Tomorrow we will partially re-open the country, and His
Excellency the Minister of Interior and Municipalities will announce the details
today. His Excellency the Minister of Education will also announce the measures
related to the academic year.
Let us all cooperate, and let everyone be a partner in protecting the country:
military and security services, municipalities, owners of commercial
enterprises, and citizens ... Let us all take responsibility for ourselves and
successfully move to the third stage.
I am confident that we will manage to protect our people and our country,
despite major and heavy concerns. The world trusts us and our capabilities, and
talks about the achievement we have made so far in the face of the Coronavirus.
The world is citing our experience as a model to follow by bigger countries, as
the Washington Post did in its article today: “When it comes to coronavirus
response, superpowers may need to study smaller nations, such as the Lebanese
State.”
May God help us all, for the sake of Lebanon and its people.
Long Live Lebanon!”
{Premiership Press Office}
Lebanese Army: Israeli enemy forces shoot at a shepherd,
wounding and arresting him
NNA/May 17/2020
In an issued statement by the Lebanese Army Command - Orientation Directorate
this evening, it indicated that the Israeli enemy forces opened fire at Mohammad
Noureddine Abdel-Azim, of Syrian nationality, as he was grazing his cattle
nearby the Rwaysat al-Alam site in Kfarshuba hilltops at 15:00 hours today. The
shepherd was wounded and arrested by the Israeli enemy forces and taken inside
occupied Palestine, the statement added.
The incident is being pursued in coordination with the United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon, the statement concluded.
Tenenti to NNA: UNIFIL has opened an investigation into the
shooting of the shepherd
NNA/May 17/2020
UNIFIL Spokesperson Andrea Tenenti announced, in a statement to the National
News Agency on Sunday, that the international peacekeeping forces have opened an
investigation into the shooting of a shepherd in the vicinity of Kfarshuba, and
headed to the area to determine the circumstances and location of the incident,
including the Blue Line. Tenenti indicated that the UNIFIL soldiers in the area
heard the shooting, affirming that the UNIFIL Head of Mission and
Commander-in-Chief, Major General Stefano Del Cole, "started his contacts with
the parties and urged them to exercise restraint," stressing that "the situation
in the region is now calm." "The Israeli army informed UNIFIL today that a
person - who was stated to have crossed the Blue Line in the vicinity of
Kfarshuba - came under fire from the Israeli forces stationed in the area. The
Israeli army took this person to hospital for treatment,” Tenenti said.
He added that according to the Lebanese local authorities, this person is a
shepherd of Syrian origin. “Immediately, the Head of the UNIFIL Mission and its
Commander-in-Chief, Major General Stefano Del Cole, began contacting the parties
and urged them to exercise restraint,” Tenenti confirmed, adding that the UNIFIL
soldiers in the area heard the shooting. Tenenti reiterated that UNIFIL has
opened an investigation into the incident, assuring that the situation in the
region is now tranquil.
Abdel Samad: We are making amendments to the media
regulation project in line with advancement
NNA/May 17/2020
Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, affirmed during an
interview with LBC TV Channel this morning, that efforts are currently pinned on
making amendments to the media regulation project law.
“We are in the context of developing amendments that are in line with this
advancement, but pursuant to the principle of transparency, because we consider
that any rule requires partnership and we cannot adopt any decision
individually, especially if the issue is related to the media and media outlets,
and to people who will use this law and join under its framework; hence, it is
necessary that they have an opinion on this topic," Abdel Samad asserted.
"We consider that, on one hand we have a strategic plan for public media that we
propose to the cabinet and later to the parliamentary committees, and this plan
should be an integral part of the media law that should include the media in
general; and at the same time, we have the opinions of the people who will use
this law. Therefore, it is necessary to take their opinion into account, namely
the media outlets, electronic website owners, legal media professionals,
specialists and experts in this field,” the Minister corroborated.
She referred to the continuity of governments’ work and efforts, whereby every
minister in every mandate has a fingerprint in the media. “Any effort we make is
not from scratch, but is an accumulation of previous efforts, and former
Minister Melhem Riachi had a very significant role and many projects that were
pioneering and distinct with regards to the public media, the Information
Ministry and the Media Law…We have reached the stage of the Administration and
Justice, whereby the law proposal is now with the Administration and Justice
Committee, and of course the opinion of the former ministers of information have
been taken in consideration, and views have been included in the law proposal,
so as not to erase previous efforts but rather build on them,” Abdel Samad
emphasized.
On the media plan and law, the Information Minister said: "From the very first
day, we have supported the free media and the need to avoid domesticating or
imposing any censorship on it, because we consider that the word of the
journalist should be as free as his opinion, and this matter is enshrined in the
constitution. This freedom should be responsible and respect the opinion of the
other, without doing him any harm or to the state and its status, and there
should be no false news or news that leads to incitement or intimidation or harm
to national or social security.”
She added: “The data must be accurate and the information must be correct. With
social media, the citizen no longer distinguishes between the media and the
blogger, which sometimes does injustice to the media.”
“We are against the idea of imprisonment for any media person, but if they wish
in this proposal of law to keep these provisions, said provisions must be placed
within very narrow controls,” she underlined, stressing that an expressed word
or opinion must not lead to jail.
“We must search within the framework of preserving and strengthening this
sector, and maintaining a free opinion and free word, since for long we have
been the platform for a liberal media, and we must preserve our distinction in
this field, especially with the presence of many individuals and outlets
expressing their opinion. This word, which should not lead to imprisonment, can
no longer be suppressed," the Minister maintained.
She also stressed that "there should be no political guardianship of the media,
but rather the media must be free and addressing the public, conveying the needs
of society without any restrictions by the state."
Additionally, Abdel Samad highlighted "the necessity of having a unified
platform for the integrated public media, that is, radio, television and news
agency, and the country's private websites and social media accounts, and
rendering media outlets within one institution, provided that it has a
communication role with the government, through the Minister of State for
Communication with a zero budget.”
She noted herein that “the basis of his work [State Minister for Communication]
shall be to communicate with the public and the government, as well as its
official spokesperson, based on a rectification by the Prime Minister in
accordance with Article 64 of the Constitution.”
Abdel Samad moved on to indicated that she “separates between her role as
Information Minister when comes to the media, and her role when speaking in the
name of the government and reading out its decisions, authorized by Prime
Minister Hassan Diab according to the Constitution and Article 64.”
“Populism is not our goal in the cabinet, but rather to deliver a message
outside the Council of Ministers, and if I have any objection or stance, I voice
it within the institution to which I belong…When the decision is made, it
becomes binding to the entire government, and therefore I cannot say that I do
not want to abide by said decision. It is possible, of course, that I give my
personal opinion or the opinion of my ministry on a specific issue, but I do not
deviate from the decision that was taken either by consensus or unanimously,”
Abdel Samad explained.
Over appointments in the National Media Council, the Minister deemed that
changing the Council is a necessity, adding “We are about to fundamentally
change the structure, and cooperation exists to speed up, endorse and issue the
necessary laws.” As for appointments in Tele-Liban, Abdel Samad stated that she
will not breach the sectarian balance in the TV Station, while pointing to the
urgent need to appoint a board of directors. She hoped that after approving the
amendments put forward at the level of the law and the restructuring of the
Ministry, a new national council and a new management for the Lebanese
Television Station will see the light.
Majzoub: I suggest canceling the high school exams
NNA/May 17/2020
Higher Education Minister, Tarek Al-Majzoub, announced, in a statement from the
Governmental Serail on Sunday, that he has proposed "canceling the 2020 round of
high school exams in all branches, based on specific regulations and completing
the school year.""All students are promoted to the higher grade according to
regulations, and for universities we will present a special mechanism for
distance education," Majzoub said. He also announced the postponement of the
re-opening of schools and specialized centers for people with special needs
until a date to be determined by the Education Ministry.
"Preserving people's lives is a priority, and we will make up for what we lost
during the upcoming academic year," confirmed Majzoub.
Darwish: Judiciary must repudiate political dependency
NNA /May 17/2020
“We count on the judicial body, which we previously called upon to stay clear of
political dependency, and to reflect the formula of impartiality and credibility
that it represents. Today we emphasize, once again, the need to separate the
judiciary and achieve its independence, especially with the opening of files of
corruption and transgressions that have gone too far," tweeted MP Ali Darwish on
Sunday.
Jumblatt apologizes after breaking lockdown rules
NNA/May 17/2020
Progressive Socialist Party Chief, Walid Jumblatt, appologized, via his Twitter
account, to the Lebanese for violating lockdown rules put in place to curb the
spread of COVID-19. "Today I violated the lockdown orders. I went from Mukhtara
to Beirut, where I felt very embarrassed when I saw a security forces'
checkpoint in Khalde area, who were very polite," Jumblatt said. "I apologize
for this behavior in these difficult times, where national mobilization must be
respected to contain the epidemic and the security forces are doing their best
in this regard," he added.
Fahmi Issues Memo Detailing Reopening Rules
Naharnet/May 17/2020
Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi on Sunday issued a memo detailing the rules
that will followed as the country reopens its economy on Monday following a
four-day shutdown over an uptick in coronavirus cases. According to the memo,
the night curfew will begin at 7pm and vehicles whose license plates end in an
odd digit will be allowed to operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while
those whose plates end in an even digit (including zero) will be allowed to move
on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It was not immediately clear whether any
vehicles will be allowed to operate on Sundays. Most private sector businesses
and professions will meanwhile be allowed to operate until 6pm or 7pm while the
public sector will operate in a 50% capacity. And while restaurants and cafes
will be allowed to operate in a 50% capacity and without the possibility of
serving shisha, all educational institutions, sport clubs and courts, gyms,
beaches, seaside corniches, public parks, malls, cinemas, gambling halls,
nightclubs and pubs will remain closed.
Bassil: President Won't Fall, Others Wrongly
Betting that We're Weak
Naharnet/May 17/2020
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Sunday snapped back at the FPM's
critics, especially Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh, and stressed that
President Michel Aoun “will not fall.”“The president will not fall, unless he
wants to resign, but certainly it is not General Aoun who would do so,” Bassil
said at a press conference. Apparently referring to Franjieh's latest scathing
attack on Aoun and the FPM, Bassil said: “We are not in a personal feud with
anyone. We're concerned with addressing people's issues and we care about
causes, not individuals.”“We are ready for any accord step to immunize
salvation, unless the other rejects it because they are wrongly betting that we
are weak,” he added. “Some political parties attack us in public and send us
emissaries secretly. We publicly tell them: you attack us verbally whenever you
feel that your interests are threatened should the truth come out. Our problem
with you is not personal but have to do with the politics and system you have
set up. It bankrupted the country and you don't want to abandon it,” Bassil went
on to say. Referring to Franjieh's latest claim that there are no gas or oil
reserves in Lebanon, Bassil said: “Some politicians' statement, regardless of
their spite, might be linked to leaks or requests.”“We're against the policy of
making banks lose all their assets, because people would lose their deposits
this way. He noted that global oil giants Novateck, ENI and Total did not come
to Lebanon “for the sake of the FPM.” “They would not have paid over $100
million in investments for our sake if they don't have chances to reap promising
revenues,” he pointed out. He added: “We have comprehensive proposals, we
suggest solutions to Lebanon's crisis on daily basis and we're not seeking
sabotage as others.”In another jab at Franjieh in connection with the row over
the counterfeit fuel scandal Bassil said “corruption drained the state's
institutions and finances as well as people's deposits, so how can we remain
silent or refrain from confronting it?”“I'm not talking to start a political
problem with anyone, but what can I do if they considered themselves to be
concerned?” he said. As for the country's economic and financial crises, Bassil
urged the government to “rein in inflation, limit people's losses, impose a
unified exchange rate on money changers, jail those manipulating the black
market and pay compensations, albeit partial, to employees incurring losses from
the new price.”“We are a country of freedoms and it is based on a free economic
system. The same as the freedoms of belief, thought, expression and movement, it
is unacceptable to harm the freedom of economy,” Bassil added. As for Lebanon's
chronic electricity problem, Bassil said the only solution is to have 24/24
power supply. “If the electricity plan does not get launched this year, the
Lebanese will be plunged into darkness, because there won't be sufficient
electricity subsidization in the coming budgets,” he warned.
Israel Shoots, Nabs Shepherd in Kfarshouba Outskirts
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/May 17/2020
An Israeli patrol on Sunday shot and wounded Syrian shepherd Mohammed Noureddine
Abdul Azim in the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Kfarshouba before
abducting him into Israel, Lebanon's National News Agency reported. The Israeli
army meanwhile confirmed that “troops spotted a suspect who crossed the Blue
Line from Lebanon into Israeli territory," referring to the U.N.-demarcated
border line. "The suspect was injured from (army) fire and is being evacuated to
a hospital for medical treatment in Israel," it said. It added that the incident
occurred after the man crossed from Lebanon into the occupied Shebaa Farms.
Israel says the enclave is part of the Golan Heights, which it captured from
Syria in 1967 and later annexed. The U.S. is the only country to have recognized
Israel's annexation of the Golan. Lebanon and Syria say Shebaa Farms belong to
Lebanon, while the United Nations says the area is part of Syria and that
Damascus and Israel should negotiate its final status. The Lebanese-Israeli
frontier has seen tensions rise in recent weeks between Israel and Hizbullah. In
April, an Israeli drone fired on a truck carrying Hizbullah fighters in Syria
near the border with Lebanon. No one was hurt. Two days later, Israel accused
Hizbullah of "provocative" acts, including attempts to breach the border. Israel
and Hizbullah fought a 34-day war in 2006 to a stalemate. Earlier this month the
Lebanese military detained five Sudanese citizens who had crossed into Israel.
IMF-Lebanon Talks Fettered by Disputes With Central Bank
Beirut- Ali Zeineddine/Asharq Al Awsat/May 17/2020
The first round of talks between experts from the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and Lebanese officials has unveiled that the public dispute between Prime
Minister Hassan Diab and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh left a bad
impression on the international organization, according to observers and
businessmen. The IMF has never witnessed similar divergences between the
executive and monetary authorities throughout its cooperation with many
countries. “There are Lebanese qualitative gaps that would negatively affect
talks with the qualified international team,” observers said. Those gaps emanate
from the dispute between Diab’s government and Salameh over a government reform
plan, proposed two weeks ago to save the country from its grave financial and
economic crisis. During current talks with the IMF, Lebanon seeks $10 billion in
loans, in addition to rapid aid of $900 million dollars, according to what
Lebanese Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni told Asharq Al-Awsat this week. The
newspaper learned that IMF officials have expanded the specter of their contacts
to include current and former Lebanese officials in crucial sectors such as the
monetary authority, the banking sector, and some independent experts. The IMF
officials are particularly inquiring about the liberalization of the Lebanese
lira exchange rate, in addition to the proposed mechanisms for the restructuring
of the Central bank and the banking apparatus. The financial institution is also
testing the State’s seriousness in confronting smuggling via illegal crossings.
Observers noticed that the Lebanese team, headed by Wazni, was not equally
convinced of the government’s economic plan. Salameh announced he would not
personally attend talks with the IMF, but delegated a team to represent him.
Meanwhile, the Banking Association strongly rejected the government’s plan and
said it was currently preparing an alternative, which it would send later to the
IMF. The observers also noticed a downsized representation of the banking sector
during talks with the IMF. They said the government’s attempts to contain the
sector were materialized with recent official statements uncovering plans to
decrease the number of commercial banks to around half. Chairman of the Banking
Control Commission of Lebanon (BCCL) Samir Hammoud, (whose legal term ended
weeks ago) told Asharq Al-Awsat that Lebanon should have a national
comprehensive vision to solve the current crisis, including a clear approach on
the financial, economic, and banking situation. “This plan should not seek to
cut down from depositors’ accounts, but to work on the continuity of financing
the debilitated economy,” Hammoud said.
Lebanese Authorities to Crack down on Violators of Maritime Property
Beirut – Paula Astih/Asharq Al Awsat/May 17/2020
Lebanon launched last week an operation to tackle violations of maritime
properties, which are expected to bring millions of dollars to the state’s
treasury.
Security forces began summoning violators, while all illegal properties would be
shut within a week after the end of the four-day total lockdown imposed over the
coronavirus outbreak. The move came upon an order by State Prosecutor Ghassan
Oueidat to stop all maritime properties, whose owners did not pay taxes arising
from the settlement of their status, and all those who failed to meet the legal
conditions for the settlement. Invested public maritime areas from the north to
the south are estimated at around 5 million square meters, including more than
2.5 million unlicensed square meters. The General Directorate of Transport
estimates that if licensed and unlicensed entities pay the required taxes and
fees, the annual revenues would reach LBP28 billion (about $18 million based on
the official exchange rate). The file of property violations began during the
1975-90 civil war. The period witnessed the largest systematic misappropriation
that affected the maritime property in particular. As a result of this chaos,
the shore area receded with the end of the war from about 220 km to no more than
40 km. In the 1990s, the Directorate of Geographical Affairs at the Ministry of
Works prepared the Marine Violations Project, which listed the names of
violators, the types of violations and their uses. The list showed that those
involved in the file included citizens, politicians, diplomats, ministries,
mosques, churches and political parties.
Pragmatic whispers between Washington and Tehran?
Raghida Dergham/May 17/2020
Last week, an optimistic reading emerged of the US-Iranian dynamic holding that
it is heading in the direction of de-escalation and accords based on subtle
hints in the Gulf and Iraqi arenas. But perhaps this is closer to being wishful
thinking, because what is happening does not suggest a rapprochement, according
to sources connected to both sides. Early next week, most likely on Monday, two
important meetings will be held. The first will convene high-level
decision-makers in Washington to discuss the Iranian question from a number of
angles, including the option of carrying out pre-emptive military strikes to
prevent Tehran from carrying out attacks Washington believes the Iranians are
planning. The second meeting, according to sources, will convene high-level IRGC
commanders, including the successors of Quds Force commander Qassim Soleimani.
Interestingly, the meeting will reportedly focus on Lebanon and Hezbollah’s
domination over its political and economic future, and tackle the situation in
Iraq, another vital arena for the Iranian regime. Lebanon and Iraq are absolute
priorities for Tehran, which wants the two countries to remain in the Iranian
orbit at any cost and by any means. In short, the coming weeks will not bring a
breakthrough in US-Iranian relations, rather the opposite, with looming
escalations, although we do not know whether that would take the form of
pre-emption or retaliation.
Iraq was the source of the emerging optimism after Mustafa al-Kadhimi was chosen
by a parliamentary majority to become the next prime minister, with regional,
American, European, and Russian blessing. Some have cited certain changes in the
Iraqi scene, including the removal of a giant portrait of Qassim Soleimani near
the airport where he was assassinated, as evidence of a relaxed Iranian grip on
Iraq, or as an implicit signal of de-escalation from Iran to the US.
In a phone call with Mr Kadhimi, President Donald Trump said Iraq was important
to regional and international stability, and said the US stood ready to provide
economic aid to Baghdad. In turn, Mr Kadhimi said Iraq was keen to have the best
possible relations with the US.
The implicitly agreed denouement in Iraq – if that is what really happened and
not a development that took place without Iran’s consent – does not mean that a
radical shift has taken place in Iran’s policy in Iraq or vis-à-vis the US
presence there, because the Iranian regime would never give up Iraq to the US.
According to sources close to Iran, the view of the Iranian leadership is that
this new government will be a transitional one, a “temporary solution”. In the
meantime, Iraq remains vulnerable to destabilization and will remain a fragile
arena, so long that the US-Iranian conflict has not been settled whether in the
direction of accords or in the direction of one side defeating the other in
Iraq.
But Lebanon is a different matter. In the Iranian calculus, Lebanon is a liquid
asset, as long as Hezbollah dominates it. The Iranian regime is therefore not
willing to back down in Lebanon, and is ready for any measures to guarantee its
continued hold over this country, through its Hezbollah surrogate.
This does not mean that Lebanon is more important to Iran than Iraq. However,
Lebanon is less complicated for Iran, even though it shares a border with
Israel. There is a known margin of agreements, red lines, security zones, and
buffer strips manned by the UNIFIL between Hezbollah and Israel. Moreover, there
is now another buffer zone guaranteed by Russia between Israel and Iran in the
Golan Heights, with the implicit consent of the regime in Damascus.
The US positions on Lebanon are not entirely clear. What is clear however is
that Lebanon is a secondary concern for Washington, seen only through the prism
of fighting Hezbollah. Recently, the terror designation of the Lebanese group
has expanded into more European countries, with US high-level sources insisting
such approach is effective alongside sanctions on Hezbollah and its allies,
cracking down on its global operations and networks, and pressure on European
countries to refrain from providing economic aid to Lebanon as long as its
government continues to fail to adopt radical reforms that include ending
Hezbollah’s domination over the airport, ports, and border crossings with Syria.
The complacency of Lebanon’s leaders, parties, and financial and banking
institutions vis-à-vis corruption and nepotism even as Beirut appeals to the
world for aid has prompted the UK former minister of state for the Middle East
Alistair Burt to say to the Lebanese: “Sort out the corruption and get your
economy sorted and stop running to other people… the solutions have got to be in
the hands of those who are governing in Lebanon those who aspire to govern and
ultimately the issue of Hezbollah can't be ducked and that's got to be tackled.”
Mr Burt spoke at the second e-policy circle of the Beirut Institute, alongside
Arab League former secretary general Amr Moussa, Russian Middle East expert
Vitaly Naumkin, and Admiral Robert Harward, former deputy commander of the US
CENTCOM and current chairman of Lockheed Martin. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DmS0go4uBk&feature=youtu.be
)
Mr Naumkin said the political and economic situation was bad but that Iran must
not be the one to blamed, or demonized. For his part, Mr Harward was more
explicit, saying: “It's a recurring. We've seen this play before we've seen this
play over and over. We can’t help them more than they can help themselves”.
Mr Mousa, speaking on whether there was truly a breakthrough in US-Iranian
relations, said: “Until now I don't see any serious indication that the
situation between US and Iran will change but the potential is there…Therefore
let us not exclude the possibility of a certain change in the heated relations
between the two countries to lessen that a little bit”.
Mr Naumkin agreed, but said: “I don't think that there are serious signs of the
escalation but I think that the risks of serious confrontation or just the war
or some military plant its exaggerated I think that everybody is quite
pragmatic”, given the coronavirus pandemic and the drop in oil prices.
Whispers about pragmatism are seemingly coming out of some corridors in
Washington too – because of the desire to avert a confrontation – and from
Tehran as part of a process of reconfiguration ahead of the US presidential
election but also as a result of the fateful domestic difficulties in Iran.
Some have noted Iran and Hezbollah’s silence vis-à-vis the Israeli brazen
determination to annex the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, saying it signals a
willingness to allow the Deal of the Century to pass. But if so, then in return
for what? This is a deeper and more important question that may be at the heart
of escalation and de-escalation in US-Iranian relations.
Reports suggesting the US move to withdraw patriot missiles from Saudi Arabia
signals a new US assessment that does not consider Iran to be a major threat is
inaccurate, and has been dismissed this week by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,
who denied the move means reducing US support for Saudi Arabia or is part of US
pressure on Riyadh in relation to oil prices.
Yet the UN chief Antonio Guterres’s report to the Security Council on the
implementation of Resolution 1559 concerning Lebanon has interesting
implications, given the timing and the tone, despite not carrying anything new.
He said: “I continue to urge the government and the armed forces of Lebanon to
take all measures necessary to prohibit Hezbollah and other armed groups from
acquiring weapons and building paramilitary capacity outside the authority of
the State,” in violation of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1701 (2006).
Next week’s meeting on Lebanon in Tehran will shed further light on the fate of
this small country. And the meeting in Washington will shed further light on
whether the climate with Iran is one of confrontation, or one that could carry
some implicit preparations for a pragmatic truce.
Will the dollar shortage lead to medicinal shortage?
Perla Kantarjian/Annahar/May 17/2020
Nevertheless, with the increase in the value of US Dollars and the simultaneous
efforts of the Ministry of Health to regulate and cut down the prices of drugs,
volumes of medicines are becoming non-profitable for distributors to import.
BEIRUT: With a pharmaceutical market dominated by imports, Lebanon’s crucial
healthcare contributors are suffering from the repercussions of the US Dollar
shortage and the increasingly deteriorating economic outlook.
The local pharmaceutical ecosystem consists of more than 100 importing and
distributing companies, 11 manufacturing industries, and more than 3000
registered pharmacies.
In 2019, “Products of the chemical or allied industries” ranked second in
Lebanon’s top imports, with pharmaceutical products comprising the lion’s share,
according to a research on Lebanon’s trade activity by Blom Invest Bank.
However, with the rising price of dollars and the crash of the Lebanese Lira,
importers of pharmaceutical products are struggling to make do, the
chain-reaction of which is the intensification of the challenges the pharma
sector is overall facing.
“The problem comprises not only the drugs’ importation and market availability,
but also the fluctuation in the payments to the distributors, and the profit
margins of the pharmacies coping with the reduced purchasing capacity of their
patients,” said Doctor Anita Salemeh, a pharmacist in the Achrafieh area.
“Prices of medicinal products are changing in an undesigned way, irrespective of
the profit margins of pharmacists,” Salemeh told Annahar, adding that at the end
of the day, pharmacists are finding themselves torn between their medical
ethics, and their basic living rights. “As pharmacists, we prioritize ethics
over anything else,” she said. “However, it is also our right to make a living
out of our work.”
Adding to Salemeh’s perspective is Jad Sakr, Pharm D, who, in his pharmacy in
the Antelias area, has limited the purchase of expensive products such as
parapharmaceuticals, focusing on “good, lower-priced products to fit with the
current demand.”
The dollar crisis and its accompanying stagflation has negatively impacted the
cost of living of all Lebanese citizens, including pharmacists, who have been
“working at high speed in difficult conditions,” but with revenues remaining at
the level of 1515 lbp while their supermarket bills are drastically increasing,
Sakr said. “We understand the Ministry of Health’s efforts to reduce the medical
bill of the Lebanese citizens,” he explained, “However, the heavy weight related
to the cost of these specific medicinal products on the cash flow of the
distributors and pharmacists might decrease the appetite to supply these very
products.”
For Sakr, the main concern is to avoid shortages and maintain the supply of
medicines at the level expected by his patients, since “the profession of
pharmacy requires a lifetime devotion to the service of others.”
Nevertheless, with the increase in the value of US Dollars and the simultaneous
efforts of the Ministry of Health to regulate and cut down the prices of drugs,
volumes of medicines are becoming non-profitable for distributors to import.
According to a source in pharmaceutical imports, the central bank is covering,
“at a very slow rate,” 85% of the supplier invoice that gets transferred
outside, leaving the distributor to pay for the remaining 15% with fresh money
obtained from the black market at the exchange rate of 3,750 lbp.
“For the past two weeks, we have been on the hunt for US Dollars since we have
shipments from abroad on hold, awaiting the payment we are struggling to
acquire,” the source told Annahar.
“At this rate, a shortage in the supply of a great many imported drugs is
imminent,” he warned, unless the central bank announces a mechanism for pharma
distributors to purchase dollars at a stabilized rate for the 15% fresh money
that they need to complete their operations.
According to Doctor Pascal Jarjour, pharmacist and UK Researcher, patients are
blaming pharmacists for the intense fluctuation in various pharmaceuticals’
prices, unaware that it is the Ministry of Health that decides the prices.
“Despite working in distressing circumstances, our profit margins are
decreasing,” Jarjour told Annahar. “If things carry on in this manner, less
medications will be imported and distributed to pharmacies, leading to the
shortage of essential drugs, and ultimately the inevitable bankruptcy and
closure of numerous local pharmacies.”“Patients are at the heart of what we do,”
Jarjour said, “But pharmacists also need to be acknowledged as heroes fighting
an everyday battle to keep their profession running.”
As Salemeh told Annahar, “The Ministry of Health must establish a logical plan
with updated regulations in order to protect the rights of all concerned sides,”
especially the pharmacists who are “on the front lines.”
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
May 17-18/2020
Canada's Statement on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and
Biphobia
May 17, 2020 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the
Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and
International Trade, and the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of International
Development, today issued the following statement:
“On this International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, Canada
stands with members of the LGBTQ2 communities, at home and abroad, to reaffirm
their fundamental right to be treated equally, and with dignity and respect. No
one should be subjected to discrimination or violence based on sexual
orientation, or gender identity or expression.
“In addition to our work at home to advance LGBTQ2 rights, Canada continues to
be a global leader in defending these rights by making them a central pillar of
its foreign policy and through multilateral organizations, such as the Equal
Rights Coalition – the first intergovernmental coalition promoting LGBTQ2
rights, globally.
“Canada also seeks inclusive and gender-responsive provisions in its free trade
agreements so that they benefit all Canadians, including LGBTQ2 people. For the
first time in a trade agreement, the labour chapter of the Canada-United
States-Mexico Agreement includes a provision clarifying that the enforceable
obligation related to discrimination in the workplace includes discrimination on
the basis of gender, gender identity and sexual orientation.
“Canada also promotes the advancement of human rights and the improvement of
socio-economic outcomes for LGBTQ2 people around the world. In line with
Canada’s first-ever Feminist International Assistance Policy, our efforts are
based on the specific and real life experiences and needs of local LGBTQ2
communities.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate effect on LGBTQ2 people, and
we must ensure that such vulnerable and marginalized communities are not
attacked and discriminated against under the cover of public health. We condemn
the hate speech directed towards them in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Today, and every day, we must stand up strongly for the rights of LGBTQ2 people
in Canada and around the world, and speak out against intolerance and
discrimination wherever it may occur.”
Israel’s 35th government is sworn into office
DebkaFile/May 17/2020
Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday, May 17, took the oath as prime minister of his 5th
government and future alternative PM, while his partner Benny Gantz was sworn in
in the reverse order, ready to take over the premiership on Nov. 17, 2021. Gantz
also officiates as defense minister. Israel finally has a government, its
largest ever (37 ministers and 17 deputy ministers), after more than a year
and-a-half of a caretaker administration and three inconclusive elections. It is
a national unity emergency government based on a power-sharing accord negotiated
between the two leaders of opposite political blocs. It was confirmed by a
Knesset vote of 73 to 46. Netanyahu and Gantz opened the Knesset swearing-in
ceremony with speeches that emphasized the commonalty they achieved for building
a national unity government to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Both stressed that the three inconclusive elections had demonstrated the
people’s wish for unity to resolve the long political impasse. Defending the
mammoth 36-member cabinet of Israel’s 35th government, Netanyahu noted that a
fourth election would have cost the taxpayer NIS 2bn (app.$500), whereas the new
government would spend NIS85m per year. He added that putting together the
Likud’s list of ministers was extremely complicated and called for serious
compromises. But time is pressing, he said: “No one knows if the current pause
in infection is temporary or not. Therefore, the government’s first task will be
to establish a coronavirus task cabinet to prepare for another wave of the
pandemic. Both – PM Netanyahu and Benny Gantz who succeeds him on Nov. 17, 2021
– dwelt on the urgent need to pass a state budget to provide jobs, restore
growth and address the hardships of small and large businesses and the
self-employed who had lost everything in the two-month-lockdown. Gantz did not
comment on Netanyahu’s emphasis on achieving sovereignty for such Biblical sites
such as “Shilo, Bethel, Hebron” and others. “This is a historical mission which
will be achieved together,” the Likud leader vowed, maintaining. that it would
not distance peace but bring it closer. “Despite our highest possible regard for
our close ties with the US and admiration for our friend President Donald
Trump,” Netanyahu said: “We must never forget that we must rely on ourselves,
for our security, the cornerstone of which are the IDF and security forces. He
reiterated his unshaken determination to deny Iran a permanent presence in Syria
and its acquisition of a nuclear weapon. His partner, Gantz, touched on
potentially controversial issues. One was the need, he voiced, to “remodel the
pattern of Israel’s Defense Forces recruitment,” so as to represent all parts of
the population. This will be a sore point with the ultra-religious coalition
partners who object to compulsory conscription of yeshiva seminarists. He also
promised to ensure proper respect for public officials, including those in the
Justice Ministry (whom Netanyahu has criticized). However, he also pledged to
uphold Israel as a Jewish democracy, and quoted the Likud founder, the late
Menachem Begin, who said, upon joining Levi Eshkol in the first unity government
with Labor in 1967: “This ends the animosity [dividing] us and brings healing
for the ills of the people. We will make every effort to ensure that every one
of us feels at home.”Both speeches were strongly heckled from a chamber that was
thinly occupied by masked lawmakers in keeping with coronavirus guidelines.
Before the swearing in ceremony, opposition leader Yair Lapid took the podium
followed by speakers of the factions, who were allotted 10 minutes each.
Holy Jewish site of Esther and Mordechai set ablaze in Iran
- reports
Jerusalem Post/May 17/2020
'Disturbing reports from Iran that the tomb of Esther & Mordechai, a holy Jewish
site, was set afire overnight,' ADL National Director Jonathan Greenblatt
tweeted.
BERLIN - National Director of Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Jonathan Greenblatt
announced Friday on Twitter that the tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Iran was
torched.
"Disturbing reports from Iran that the tomb of Esther & Mordechai, a holy Jewish
site, was set afire overnight. We hope that the authorities bring the
perpetrators of this antisemitic act to justice & commit to protecting the holy
sites of all religious minorities in Iran,” Greenblatt tweeted.
The Jerusalem Post is seeking to obtain the reports cited by Greenblatt in his
tweet. Greenblatt has termed Iran's regime the top state-sponsor of antisemitism
and Holocaust denial. Prior to the arson of the tomb, one Twitter user named
Mohammad Mahdi Akhyar threatened to destroy the holy site on May 14 in response
to a tweet by the Israel's Foreign Affairs' Farsi Twitter page. It is unclear if
the arson is connected to Israel's Independence Day. US Envoy to Monitor and
Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr strongly condemned the attack on the Tomb of
Esther and Mordechai and said "Iran's regime is the world's chief state sponsor
of antisemitism."He called on the Islamic Republic to "stop incitement" and
"protect its Jewish community" and its other minorities. The Iranian American
Jewish Federation of New York and Los Angeles, and the members of the Iranian
Jewish community in the United States said in a statement that they "are shocked
and truly saddened by the news of fire in the ancient and official Iranian
Heritage Site, the Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamedan."The statement
continued that "We hereby ask the responsible members of the government of
Islamic Republic of Iran to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice
for this barbaric act of insult to this holy site and take steps to protect
other sites of religious and historic significance."Arthur Stark, Chairman,
William Daroff, CEO, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Vice Chair of the Conference of
Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, issued a joint statement on
the incident. "This abhorrent and unconscionable act represents not only a
blatantly antisemitic assault on Jews and Judaism, but an assault on all people
of faith. It must be unequivocally condemned by the international community. The
government of Iran must act to prevent further attacks and bring to justice
those responsible," the statement said. "As Chair of Muslims Against Anti
Semitism, I unequivocally condemn such barbaric acts by the Tehran regime. The
international community must immediately move to investigate & hold the regime
responsible for any damage that may happen to the site of the Tzadikkim,"
prominent human rights activist, Ghanem Nuseibeh, tweeted.
The Post reported in February that the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom condemned the Iranian regime for its reported threats to raze
the tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan.
Karmel Melamed, an Iranian-American expert on the Jewish community in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, tweeted: "My sources who have contacts with Iran's
Jewish community have confirmed that there was an 'attempt' to burn the
synagogue at the Tomb. Some smoke damage but the fire was minimal. No arrests of
suspects have been made yet by Ayatollah regime." The Iranian regime-controlled
The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Saturday that a suspect
sought to enter the tomb. Radio Farda, the US government-funded news outlet that
reports on Iran, wrote that IRNA "confirmed that there had been an attempt to
break into the tomb of Esther and Mordechai, a holy Jewish site in Hamedan, but
removed the report from its website two hours after its publication." IRNA said
the perpetrator tried to enter the building through an adjacent bank but was not
successful, wrote Radio Farda, adding that IRNA claimed that the shrine did not
suffer damages and that the suspect's faced was captured on CCTV video. IRNA
said the police are searching for the perpetrator. The Voice of America
reporter Michael Lipin tweeted: "BREAKING: An eyewitness in #Iran's Hamadan city
told @VOAIran/@VOANews he saw several fire trucks going to the Tomb of Esther
and Mordechai after an apparent arson attack on Jewish holy site Thursday night,
but authorities didn't allow people to get close." “USCIRF is troubled by
reported threats to the tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan, Iran, and
emphasizes the Iranian government's responsibility to protect religious sites,”
tweeted the US agency.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an
independent, bipartisan, federal government entity that monitors, analyzes and
reports on threats to religious freedom. The Alliance for Rights of All
Minorities (ARAM) in Iran tweeted on Sunday that, “according to covering
reports, members of the Iranian Basij attempted to raid the historic [tomb of
Esther and Mordechai] site yesterday in an act of revenge against the
[Israeli-Palestinian] peace plan by US President Donald Trump.”ARAM noted that
“Iranian authorities are threatening to destroy the historic tomb of Ester and
Mordechai in Hamadan and convert the site to a consular office for Palestine."
The Post could not confirm the “covering reports” cited by ARAM. Esther and
Mordechai “were biblical Jewish heroes who saved their people from a massacre in
a story known as Purim. Their burial site has been a significant Jewish landmark
for Jews and history buffs around the world,” wrote ARAM. The Iranian Christians
News Agency (Mohabat) reported in early February that the Basij issued threats
to the tomb. “The Council for the Exploration of Student Mobilization of Hamadan
Universities said in a statement to the United States, Israel and the Arab
countries in the region that they will turn the tomb into a Palestinian
Consulate if any action is taken.”ARAM promotes equal rights for women and
religious and ethnic minorities in Iran, as well as the Iranian LGBT community.
Iran media: Israel 'cancerous' and a 'virus' after burning
of Esther tomb
Jerusalem Post/May 17/2020
The regime's media has now adopted so many conspiracies about Israel and Jews
that it doesn’t know which one to believe. Iranian media slammed Israel on “Quds
(Jerusalem) Day,” calling the Jewish state a “cancerous gland” and Zionism a
“virus,” a clear attempt to link Israel to the pandemic and also to use historic
antisemitic tropes against the Jewish state. The article was found on Fars News
as part of a piece claiming that there was a conspiracy afoot after the
attempted burning of the tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Iran. The article
claimed that the burning of the tomb was “fake news” and that it was part of a
“Saudi international media plot with Voice of America and the Zionist media.”
Iran’s regime media has now adopted so many conspiracies about Israel and Jews
that it doesn’t know which one to believe. It now argues that the “Zionists” are
working with the Saudis to control “international media.”Ayatollah Khamenei
tweeted on Saturday night that the “Zionism regime has proven it doesn’t abide
by any treaty.” He then accused Israel of brutality, “trampling on moral norms”
and of massacring women and children. He called Israel a “rapid, predatory dog.”
This is a way to dehumanize Israel, as part of the regime’s attempt to try to
portray Israel as both a dog and a virus. This has parallels with historic
antisemitism where Jews were accused of being vermin-like and accused of
spreading disease. Iran has long pretended it is a tolerant regime and Jews are
able to live in Iran, while the regime's narrative portrayed other countries in
the region as antisemitic. But the language Iran’s regime uses to discuss Israel
is language that has clear meanings to the people expected to read it in the
original.
For Iran’s “Quds Day,” a day the regime reserves every year to distract from its
own failures by pretending to take up the Palestinian cause, the ayatollah
slammed Israel for oppressing Palestinians and said Iran would “fight against
the Zionist regime” and continue its “resistance.”
Iran’s obsession with Israel corrupts every element of the regime. Its sports
councils seek to prevent Iranian athletes from participating in matches with
Israelis. A new article at Tasnim media looks at a review of a plan to deal with
the “hostile actions of the Zionist regime” via sport and to confront the “evil
nature of the Zionist regime in sports.” But it appears that Iran was on the
verge of letting a law lapse that prevents its athletes from competing with
Israelis. Iran’s regime propagandists complained on Quds Day that the world
media didn’t give them enough attention, claiming Arabic, Hebrew and Western
media had marginalized their special day. In asserting that the media ignored
them, Iranian media also took credit for the Covid1948 hashtag, meant to connect
the virus with the 1948 war, which one commentator said shows how Israel would
not survive another 25 years.
Rami Makhlouf Rejects Syria Regime Demand to Step Down From
Mobile Operator
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 17 May, 2020
Syrian tycoon Rami Makhlouf said on Sunday that authorities had set a deadline
for him to resign from top mobile operator Syriatel or they would revoke its
license but that he would not step down. In a video, the third he has issued
bringing into the open a rift with his cousin Syrian President Bashar al Assad,
Makhlouf said the collapse of Syriatel, a main revenue earner for the
government, would deal a "catastrophic" blow to the economy. Makhlouf was part
of the president´s inner circle and has played a big role in financing Assad's
war effort, Western officials have said, citing his business empire which
includes telecoms, real estate, construction, and oil trading. "If you don't
comply ... the license will be revoked and they said you have until Sunday to
either comply or the company will be taken and its assets seized," Makhlouf
said. It was not clear when the video was taken and if he meant this Sunday or
next.
"You are, by this, destroying the economy of Syria," Makhlouf added. This month
he accused security forces of arresting his employees in an "inhumane way" in an
unprecedented attack from within the system by one of the country's most
influential figures.
Moscow Seeks Serious Reforms in Syria, Criticizes Regime’s Intransigence
Moscow - Raed Jaber/Asharq Al Awsat/May 17/2020
Russian circles said Moscow has been “adjusting its positions towards President
Bashar Assad,” amid media campaigns showing the growing divide between Syria and
Russia. The sources accused the head of the Syrian regime of intransigence by
rejecting reforms and turning to more rapprochement with Iran. In the absence of
an official position from Moscow to explain the nature of relations between the
two sides, the Russian state-owned Novosti news agency published interviews with
prominent figures known for their pro-Assad positions.
The figures downplayed some opposition statements that could reveal a change in
the position of Moscow towards Damascus or a possibility that Russia could
abandon Assad. The coordinator of the friendship group of the state Duma for
relations with Parliament, Dmitry Sablin, said Assad has the support of the
majority of Syrians and would win the next elections if he runs for another
presidential term. Sablin reiterated that “here is no alternative to Assad.” In
an article written in the Russian paper Svobodnaya Pressa, Zauer Karayev, an
expert on Syria, wrote that Assad is trying to benefit from gaps in
Iranian-Russian relations by distancing himself from Moscow. “This means that it
would be more difficult for Russia to push Assad towards the required reforms,”
he said. Experts of the Russian Council on international Affairs Kirill Semenov
and Anton Lavrov Mardasov also wrote this week an article on Russian-Syrian
relations entitled “Syria without Assad,” published by the Carnegie Moscow
Center. The two writers discussed the latest Russian media campaigns against the
Syrian regime by touching on both its economic and political dimensions. The
article said the media campaigns were important in uncovering the size of Syrian
regime corruption and Assad’s fewer chances to win the next elections amid an
expected collapse due to the dire economic situation. Semenov and Mardasov said
Russia aims to push the Syrian regime towards political and economic reforms.
The writers added that Moscow was preparing a scenario to remove all figures who
obstruct reforms or change in Syria.
EU to Try to Head Off Israel Annexations
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 17 May, 2020
EU countries are planning to issue Israel with a warning not to annex parts of
the occupied West Bank, to try to head off a diplomatic clash. The bloc is
alarmed by the incoming Israeli unity government's plans to annex Jewish
settlements in the West Bank, which it says would violate international law and
harm the chances of peace with the Palestinians. But there is no agreement among
EU countries over what punitive action to take should Israel press ahead with
the move, which has the support of US President Donald Trump. In an interview
with AFP, Luxembourg's veteran Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said he had
discussed a declaration with his EU counterparts during video talks on Friday.
"A very large number of countries on Friday supported a draft text that we drew
up with my Irish counterpart Simon Coveney in which we warn against an
annexation that would be a violation of international law," Asselborn told AFP.
He said Austria and Hungary had refused to sign the declaration, so it could not
be issued in the name of all 27 EU states. "But the fact that a very large
number of countries support this line is a success," he said. The Israeli unity
government formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former rival
Benny Gantz is due to be sworn in on Sunday, and the plan is for the statement
to be issued after that, on Monday. "We are not talking about sanctions. We're
talking about prevention. This text is not aggressive," Asselborn said. The
four-point statement welcomes the new government and recalls the EU's close ties
with Israel, but warns annexation would violate international law. "The European
Union wants to cooperate with neighboring states and countries in the region and
reiterates its support for a negotiated two-state solution for a viable peace
perspective between Israelis and Palestinians," Asselborn said.
"There is no alternative to this solution. No-one has presented another viable
solution," Asselborn said. The EU has criticized Trump's Middle East peace plan,
unveiled in January, which gave Israel the green light to annex key parts of the
West Bank. "If we don't succeed in convincing Israel to give up its project, the
hardest part will be ahead of us," warned Asselborn. After Friday's talks the
EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he would make a concerted
diplomatic push to try to steer Israel away from annexations. But he admitted
there were deep divisions among the EU states, as some like Asselborn push for a
tough line and others argue for dialogue. A European official insisted that
options for punitive measures were in place: freezing bilateral agreements,
suspending scientific cooperation, cancelling trade preferences and recalling
ambassadors. But adopting such measures would require unanimity among the 27 EU
countries.
Palestinian Authority Declares Full Lockdown on Eid al-Fitr
Ramallah- Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 17 May, 2020
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ashtiyeh has declared that the lockdown
throughout the West Bank will be renewed during the upcoming Muslim religious
holiday of Eid al-Fitr despite the slowdown in coronavirus cases. He said in a
press conference that movement will be banned in all cities, towns, and villages
for four days throughout the holiday starting from May 22 night. Ashtiyeh told
reporters that the government will consider easing the lockdown measures after
the holiday depending on the situation of the coronavirus pandemic.Meanwhile,
businesses of all sectors are allowed to continue working as usual until the eve
of the holiday. Around 33,000 Palestinian workers are expected to return from
Israel into the West Bank for the holiday. Precautionary measures taken by the
PA earlier overlooked laborers, causing a sharp rise in infections. In this
context, no new coronavirus cases were reported for the ninth day in a row
except for Jerusalem. A total of 12 cases recovered in Ramallah and suburbs of
Jerusalem, according to Health Minister Mai al-Kaileh. The total number of
coronavirus cases in Palestine has reached 554, and 107 out of them are active
cases distributed as follows: 61 in Jerusalem, 40 in West Bank northern
provinces, and 6 cases in Gaza Strip southern provinces. The number of
recoveries increased to 443, which is 80 percent of overall cases. A tally of
2,597 cases was home quarantined, raising the total to 18,971.
ISIS Strikes ‘Baghdad Belt’
Baghdad/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 17 May, 2020
ISIS has continued to launch nighttime attacks in western and northern Iraq,
reaching the Tarmiyah region which belongs to what is called the Baghdad belt.
The terror group branded the attacks as “Ramadan invasions,” named after Islam’s
holy month of Ramadan.In a rare show of force, the first of its kind in months,
ISIS militants infiltrated a Tarmiyah village, located north of Baghdad, and
kidnapped and slayed one of the security personnel positioned there. This
coincided with a series of operations launched by ISIS on Saturday in the Diyala
and Salahuddin governorates and Samarra city. Published footage showed ISIS
slaying four members of the same family in Samarra. On Friday night, ISIS
targeted a security checkpoint in northeastern Baghdad, causing casualties,
according to security sources. Details about the casualties were not released.
Meanwhile in northern Diyala, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said a
terrorist attack caused one death and 10 injuries. The Iraqi army and the local
Diyala Police, in eastern Iraq, launched a military operation south of Buhriz
district to pursue ISIS operatives. “The Diyala Operations Command, represented
by the Iraqi Army's Fifth Infantry Division and the Diyala police, will conduct
search operations in the southern Buhriz regions, implement arrest warrants for
the wanted, and prosecute the remnants of the (ISIS) terrorist cells, as well as
enhance security and stability there,” a security statement said.Member of the
parliamentary Security and Defense Committee MP Bader al-Ziyadi confirmed that,
in the next few days, an expansive security operation to counter ISIS will be
launched. “There are steps that will be taken to eradicate these (ISIS) outposts
and their sleeping cells from our regions,” Ziyadi asserted. "Planned operations
in the areas where terrorist groups emerged are awaiting the announcement of the
zero hour for their launch, after all procedures for them have been completed,”
Ziyadi noted, adding that army air power will participate in crushing the
terrorist organization. The MP also warned that those involved in harboring ISIS
militants will be held accountable.
Germany Kicks Off as Europe Eases Curbs but Virus Marches On
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 17/2020
German football champions Bayern Munich were set to play their first match in
more than two months on Sunday as coronavirus restrictions ease in parts of
Europe, but the devastating pandemic remains on the march elsewhere with deaths
soaring in Brazil.
With the worldwide death toll topping 311,000 and the global economy reeling
from the vast damage caused by lockdowns, the reopenings in some of the
hardest-hit countries such as Italy provided much-needed relief. But the number
of COVID-19 fatalities soared past 15,000 in Brazil with 230,000 infections,
making it the country with the fourth-highest number of cases, a grim reminder
of the scale of the crisis. And in the United States -- the worst-hit country --
former President Barack Obama launched a scathing attack on the way the crisis
has been handled, saying a lot of American leaders "aren't even pretending to be
in charge". In Germany, where authorities have started a gradual easing of
restrictions, reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich were set to play Union
Berlin in the capital Sunday night, a day after the league resumed play in
empty, echoing stadiums.
Already attracting a record TV audience, the Bundesliga restart is under intense
scrutiny as a test case, with top sports competitions trying to find ways to
resume play without increasing the risk of spreading the virus, which has
infected 4.6 million people globally.
The first big-purse golf tournament in months also wrapped up Sunday, with the
normally overlooked Korean LPGA Championship winning new interest to women's
golf.
"The moment I had always dreamed of finally has come true," said the tearful
20-year-old winner Park Hyun-kyung, who was congratulated by her mask-wearing
peers with elbow-bumps. One question that has arisen during the pandemic is
whether masks are an effective weapon against the virus, with little research on
the subject leading several countries to backflip on their official advice. A
team of leading experts in Hong Kong said Sunday that research conducted on
hamsters found that non-contact transmission of the virus could be reduced by
more than 60 percent when masks are used.
'Calculated risk'
There have been positive signs in a slowly reopening Europe, with Spain
reporting its number of new deaths dropped to 87 on Sunday -- the first time the
number has fallen below 100 in two months. But despite the optimism in some
European countries, the rising infection and fatality numbers in other parts of
the world offered reminders of the threat posed by the deadly disease. The
number of infections in Latin America passed half a million on Sunday, as Chile
locked down its capital Santiago following a sharp rise in cases.
Despite the surging numbers in Brazil, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is
keen to end lockdowns, which he claims have unnecessarily damaged the economy.
"Unemployment, hunger and misery will be the future of those who support the
tyranny of total isolation," Bolsonaro tweeted. In Russia, which has the world's
second highest number of infections, the top health official claimed Sunday the
country had "halted the growth" of the virus, just a day after reporting its
deadliest day. There were happier scenes in Europe, with excited swimmers diving
into the waters off newly reopened beaches in France, Greece and Italy, while
Britons enjoyed the sun in parks after lockdown measures eased. Italy, for a
long stretch the world's worst-hit country, announced that European Union
tourists would be allowed to visit from June 3, and a 14-day mandatory
quarantine would be scrapped.
"We're facing a calculated risk in the knowledge that the contagion curve may
rise again," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said. With the threat of a second
wave of infections and with no vaccine available, authorities in many countries
have asked people not to throng public spaces as they are made accessible again.
'Not even pretending to be in charge'
And a stark warning came on Sunday from one of the top medical experts in China,
where the disease first emerged late last year but has largely been brought
under control after more than 4,600 deaths. "The majority of... Chinese at the
moment are still susceptible... because (of) a lack of immunity," Zhong Nanshan,
the Chinese government's senior medical advisor, told CNN. "We are facing (a)
big challenge, it's not better than the foreign countries I think at the
moment."But with people growing weary of confinement and suffering immense
economic pain, pressure is growing on governments to ease lockdowns despite the
threat of a second wave. With more than 88,000 deaths and 1.47 million confirmed
coronavirus cases, the U.S. is the worst-hit country on the planet, and
President Donald Trump is keen to restart the world's biggest economy despite
experts warning against moving too quickly. Former president Barack Obama on
Saturday took a swipe at the response to the pandemic, telling graduates at a
virtual college commencement ceremony that many leaders today "aren't even
pretending to be in charge" -- a remark widely regarded as a rare rebuke of his
successor. "Doing what feels good, what's convenient, what's easy –- that's how
little kids think," he later told high school students. Someone whose handling
of the pandemic has been more praised is New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda
Ardern -- however even she is not exempt from coronavirus measures.
She was denied entry to a cafe over the weekend as it had reached its customer
limit. "I have to take responsibility for this, I didn't get organised and book
anywhere," her fiancee Clarke Gayford tweeted.
Chinese Ambassador to Israel Found Dead at Home
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 17/2020
China's ambassador to Israel, Du Wei, was found dead at his residence on the
outskirts of Tel Aviv on Sunday, police said. The 57-year-old envoy, who had
arrived in Israel in mid-February, was found dead in his home in Herzliya, north
of the city, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. Police units were at the scene
"as part of the regular procedure... (but) there is no investigation into his
death," Rosenfeld told AFP. Du's wife and son were not with him in Israel. The
Chinese foreign ministry said it would only comment when it had "solid"
information. Du had previously served as ambassador to Ukraine, according to his
biography on the embassy's website. The Haaretz daily said initial reports said
staff had found Du dead in his bed and that there were no signs of violence. It
quoted Israel's emergency medical service Magen David Adom as saying the cause
of death appeared to be a cardiac incident. A spokesman for the medical service
would not provide any official information. Du had undergone a 14-day home
quarantine on arrival in Israel because of the new coronavirus outbreak,
according to an interview with local media in May. On April 2, Israel Hayom, the
top-circulation Hebrew newspaper, published an editorial by Du on the theme that
"Collaboration is the Cure for the Virus".China and Israel, a strong US ally,
have boosted cooperation in the high-tech and other sectors, leading Washington
to urge Israel to limit Chinese investment in its strategic sectors. Chinese
embassy spokesman Wang Yongjun in a recent Jerusalem Post commentary rejected
the claim and called Sino-Israeli cooperation a "win-win" situation.
Italy to Reopen Borders for EU Tourists in Early June
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 17/2020
Italy will reopen to European tourists from early June and scrap a 14-day
mandatory quarantine period, the government said, as it quickened the exit from
the coronavirus lockdown. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also said on Saturday
that gyms and cinemas would soon be able to welcome the public again, as the
government seeks to restart economic activity while treading cautiously amid the
lingering, though waning, coronavirus. "We're facing a calculated risk in
the knowledge that the contagion curve may rise again," Conte said during a
televised address. "We have to accept it otherwise we will never be able to
start up again."Conte enforced an economically crippling shutdown in early March
to counter a pandemic that has so far killed nearly 32,000 people in Italy. The
shutdown halted all holidaymaking in a country heavily dependent on the tourism
industry. Although Italy never formally closed its borders and has allowed
people to cross back and forth for work or health reasons, it banned movement
for tourism and imposed a two-week isolation period for new arrivals. In March,
the European Union banned foreign nationals from entering its Schengen zone, an
open border zone comprising 22 of 27 member states, with exceptions for medical
workers and essential travel. But on Wednesday, the EU set out plans for a
phased restart of summer travel, urging member states to reopen its internal
borders, while recommending that external borders remain shut for most travel
until at least the middle of June.
Beginning on June 3, visitors within the Schengen zone will be allowed to enter
Italy with no obligation to self-isolate. Italians will also be able to move
between regions, though local authorities can limit travel if infections spike.
Movements to and from abroad can be limited by regional decree "in relation to
specific states and territories, in accordance with the principles of adequacy
and proportionality to the epidemiological risk", the government said in a
statement. The latest decree is also a boon to Italy's agricultural
sector, which relies on roughly 350,000 seasonal workers from abroad. Farming
lobby group Coldiretti said farms were already preparing to organize some
150,000 workers from places including Romania, Poland and Bulgaria.
Cannot await vaccine
The peak of Italy's contagion passed at the end of March but with experts
warning a second wave cannot be ruled out, Conte had been reluctant to lift the
lockdown quickly. In his address, Conte said the country should ideally await a
vaccine before opening up for business again, "but we can't afford it, we would
end up with a strongly damaged economic and social structure."His approach in
recent weeks frustrated many of Italy's regions, with some already allowing
businesses to reopen before the restrictions were lifted. Restaurants, bars and
hairdressers are being allowed to reopen on Monday, two weeks earlier than
initially planned. Shops will also open and Italians will finally be able to see
friends, as long as they live within their same region. Church services will
begin again but the faithful will have to follow social distancing rules and
holy water fonts will be empty. Mosques will also reopen. Gyms, pools and sports
centers will be able to open up again on May 25, Conte said on Saturday,
provided they respect security protocols. Theaters and cinemas will be allowed
to reopen on June 15, he said. Gatherings of large groups remain banned.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on May 17-18/2020
Lockdown Critics May Have Some Valid Points
Joe Nocera/Bloomberg/May 17/2020
Three months after the first case of Covid-19 was diagnosed in the US, has the
time come to start paying more attention to the critics?
No, not the MAGA types foolishly protesting they have a constitutional right to
endanger themselves and others by ignoring social-distancing rules. And not the
“it’s-just-the-flu” crowd, either.
I’m referring to people like John Ioannidis, the Stanford University School of
Medicine scientist who argued early on that the coronavirus was far less deadly
than the models were predicting. Or the Swedish epidemiologist John Giesecke,
who says that protecting the elderly and frail — and allowing the rest of
society to go about its business — makes far more sense than lockdowns, whose
efficacy, he believes, remains unproved.
I don’t agree with every claim the critics make. Some go so far as to dismiss
the value of social distancing, the importance of which has become pretty clear
since the coronavirus was first identified. But I believe it’s always worth
listening to smart people with ideas that go against the grain.
As the online publication UnHerd put it recently, “The debate about lockdown is
not a contest between good and evil.” In that spirit, I would like to offer four
contrarian arguments that, at the very least, ought to be taken more seriously.
We’re still acting as if the original models were correct. In mid-March, a team
at Imperial College in London estimated that 500,000 British citizens and 2.2
million Americans would die from an uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus. That
estimate caused the governments of both Boris Johnson and Donald Trump to begin
stressing self-isolation measures, according to the New York Times. In the US,
state after state shut down their economies while a mad scramble took place to
create hospital space for Covid-19 patients.
Since then, the major models have been revised downward significantly. According
to data compiled by the Reich Lab at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst,
models now estimate 67,000 to 120,000 Covid-19 deaths in the US. Yet strict
measures like lockdowns, which were put in place based on the original modeling,
remain in place, while hospitals around the country, many of which are largely
empty, continued to be reserved for nonexistent Covid-19 patients.
New York is not the rest of the country. There is no question that New York
State has borne the brunt of the crisis. The Times reports that one out of every
three Americans who has died from Covid-19 has been a New Yorker — 17,000 in
all. New York City is one of the few places in the country — along with Detroit
and New Orleans — where the hospital system has been stretched to capacity.
New York is the densest city in the country, and density is a crucial factor in
spreading the virus. Yet cities and states that are far less dense have imposed
the same restrictions as New York State
Focus on the elderly. “Every piece of evidence we have suggests that the virus
is mild for most people but can be devastating for those who are frail and
vulnerable,” Ioannidis told me. That primarily means people with significant
underlying conditions and the elderly.
The Kaiser Family Foundation calculates that at least 10,000 of the 50,000
Covid-19 deaths in the US have been nursing-home residents. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that fully 80 percent of
coronavirus deaths have been people 65 or older.
It’s been said that lockdown critics are willing to sacrifice the elderly to
more quickly develop herd immunity and defeat the virus. But the ones I’ve
spoken to say just the opposite: that what the states need to do is put money
and effort towards protecting the elderly and vulnerable — and keeping them as
far away from the virus as possible. That may be a tall order given the way
society depends on facilities to care for the elderly. But it’s not impossible.
How much damage are we overlooking in our single-minded focus on the coronavirus?
When you get right down to it, this is the big question. The enormous damage
being done to the economy because of the lockdowns is a given. Let’s consider
some of the other problems that have emerged.
For instance, the New York Post posted an article by Daniel G. Murphy, an
emergency room doctor in the Bronx. He wrote that since the coronavirus struck,
people without Covid-19 were avoiding the emergency room. He added:
A large share of those staying home surely have emergency medical and surgical
conditions not related to the novel coronavirus. The growing numbers dying at
home during this crisis must include fatal myocardial infarctions, asthma
exacerbations, bacterial infections and strokes.
How many people with cancer are not being diagnosed? How many operations are
being put on hold — to the long-term detriment of the patient? For that matter,
how many hospitals are teetering on the brink financially because patients who
need to be in the hospital are staying home?
Here’s another question: Has the lockdown increased incidents of domestic
violence? The answer, plainly, is yes; in New York, for instance, domestic
violence so far in April is up 30% compared with incidents in the month a year
ago. (New York responded by setting up a domestic violence hotline.) What does
it mean for at-risk kids, some of whom view school as their “safe space,” now
that they don’t have a school to go to now?
Indeed, there may be no bigger ancillary consequence than the closing of
schools. It affects everyone. Children aren’t learning the way they should.
Parents are struggling to juggle working from home with keeping their kids
productively occupied. Other parents, whose jobs require them to be out of the
house, have to scramble to find someone who can help out. Teachers are feeling
even more stress, trying to impart lessons to kids who may not know how to use a
computer — all while taking care of their own kids. And of course, even with
online learning, interrupting school can only exacerbate the equality gap.
When I suggested in a tweet that government officials should make testing
teachers a priority so that schools could reopen, I received plenty of positive
responses. But others said that reopening schools could endanger the teachers
because children can be asymptomatic carriers. “Are you insane?” one person
wrote.
In fact, Denmark has already reopened its schools after calculating that doing
so would lead to minimal new infections. The Lancet published an article that
concluded that “school closures alone would prevent only 2% to 4% of deaths,
much less than other social interventions.”
We know that children are largely unaffected by the virus; even if they’re
infected, they are usually asymptomatic. We also know that people younger than
50 are far less likely to become gravely ill from Covid-19. Given how critical
it is to get kids back to school, why couldn’t school systems institute a policy
whereby teachers older than 50 could remain at home while younger teachers and
the children could head back to the classroom? The teachers could remain
socially distant from the students, and certain close-contact games, like
basketball, could be banned temporarily during recess.
Would there be some risk in taking this approach? Yes. But life is full of risks
that we try to mitigate while acknowledging that we can’t eliminate them
entirely. Driving a car involves risk. Useful products that contain suspected
carcinogens carry a small danger. Bypass surgery is risky. The point is that
these are all risks we take willingly knowing that they will cause some people
to die. We accept that consequence.
At bottom, that is what the critics are saying about the coronavirus. If only 50
people have died from Covid-19 in your state, isn’t reopening the economy worth
the risk? If 80% of Covid-19 deaths are elderly, isn’t it worth the risk to
return kids to school? With the expected number of deaths so much lower than
originally expected, shouldn’t we take the risk that this virus isn’t going to
be the second coming of the 1918 flu?
So far, the US has been unwilling to accept much risk in dealing with the
coronavirus. Do we know enough now to change that calculus? The critics say yes
— and they may well be right.
The Arab System Between Citizenship and Failure of State!
Zuhair Al-Harthi/Asharq Al Awsat/May 17/2020
After colonial powers withdrew from several Arab states, systems that were
called nationalist at the time rose to power and raised powerful slogans
describing their devotion to land, dignity, freedom, and autonomy, only to
swiftly become repressive, terrorizing their own people as they failed to fill
the post-independence political void. They were also financially and
administratively corrupt, and since their culture was militaristic, they
entrenched tyranny and dictatorship. There were indeed cultural and social
transformations, but these were a manifestation of mutilated liberalism, and its
byproducts were more similar to spaces contaminated by racism, corruption,
sectarianism and sectarian discrimination.
The value of citizenship was not paid attention to; rather, civil conflicts and
wars, thuggish and chauvinistic behavior, isolation, backwardness and ignorance
became headlines. They certainly got rid of colonialism at the time, but they
became dependent on it in different and more severe configurations and forms.
It was natural that the concepts of the age of “enlightenment” would transit
from France to Egypt and the Arab world, but it was not reflected in the
political scene, as evidenced by the disregard of the political systems of the
time for the values that had emerged during this period, as the Arab countries
were colonized with the complicity of some Arabs under the big hoax that they
wanted to spread these values.
However, they tyrannized, reaping its fruits, looting its money and violating
the dignity of its people. The enigma is that these political forces, symbols,
and voices took advantage of the citizenship card to confront colonialism, and
after independence was achieved they threw citizenship against the wall and did
not care to establish a state of law and institutions. This absence reinforced
the system’s authoritarianism at the expense of the peoples’ rights and dignity.
Many peoples suffered immensely and were weakened and debilitated, which made
them susceptible to isolation and silence, proving that these military systems
had indeed succeeded in turning the Arab mind off, hindering the Arabs’
Enlightenment and suspending their growth. They soon became prisoners of
partisan, factional, and sectarian slogans, unconsciously turning into servants
for these slogans.
Historically this regression continued until the Arab system that existed before
1967 started to fracture. Throughout most of the second half of the 21st
century, this system started to collapse over several stages, and the system in
the region became dysfunctional and some countries collapsed. Twenty percent of
Arab countries lived bitter experiences, while some of them were classified as
failed states for a lack of a citizenship program such as Sudan, Syria, Libya,
Iraq, and Yemen, while unofficial forces rose, such as ISIS, Hezbollah, and the
Houthi Movement, which clearly reveals the internal fragility of these countries
and their lack of a framework that would organize their relations and contain
their struggles and crises.
In light of wars, partisan and ideological conflicts, it is normal for there to
be division as the idea of citizenship has not yet been established. An
important question remained raised about the ability of Arab societies to break
away from their crises to become modern societies. They cannot do so as long as
political elites are weak, political and cultural awareness is lacking,
ideological and tribal affiliations still dominate social identity, and an
organized social base is still absent. Thinker Hisham Jaait sees that conceiving
of this transformation necessarily requires the preparation of suitable
conditions for religious reform, industrial and technological modernization, and
intellectual and social enlightenment.
Revolutions, coups, transformations, and peaceful elections and ballot boxes
have all taken place and the Arab problematic, along with crises, struggles, and
disputes, have all remained. This opens the door for a question about what
political system is best fit to fulfill human ambitions? Monarchies have proven
that they are more effective and successful and are closer to the people by
being able to deal with events and overcome crises and hardship while many
republican systems failed to do so.
Professor of Sociology, Halim Barakat, was accurate and perhaps correct when
describing the nature of Arab societies as half “regressive and dependent” as a
result of the global capitalist system, poverty, the rising levels of in
inequality between classes, and tribal, sectarian, racial, regional and local
affiliations, and the dominion of the authoritarian state. Barakat pointed out
that the nature of Arab society is “traditional and patriarchal, and leans
toward authoritarianism at several levels”.
Arab society views it as a “transitory phase between modernism and heritage”.
However, in its cultural aspect, it is “expressive and spontaneous, however
laden with repression and taboos”. Social relations in the Arab society are
characterized by the personal and by overpowering the notion of collective over
the individual. Arabs bear the reason behind their failures. Conspiracy theories
and blaming others no longer resonates with people. Beginning a political and
economic reform process in the Arab world is not a luxury but the only way out.
It is a necessity because many of the current political modes are no longer fit
for the current stage, especially that the world is going through a transition
phase before solving the coronavirus crisis that has made things more
complicated.
There is a substantial difference between an objective critique and
self-flagellation. There is no complete escape from colonial discourse and the
features of the failed state toward independence and international competition
without Arabs carrying out a critical revision of their circumstances. This
revision needs to be grounded in political realism, free enlightened thought,
and a political will for reform.
Coronavirus: China's Disappeared Heroes and the Silence of
the West
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/May 17/2020
These intrepid dissidents showed how fragile, vacuous and dangerous is the
edifice of the Chinese regime.
The Chinese Communist Party "is the biggest and most serious virus of all... It
is time to recognize the threat the Chinese Communist Party poses to all
humanity. The CCP represses and manipulates information to strengthen its hold
on power." — Chen Guangcheng, blind Chinese dissident, now a refugee in the US.
Asianews.it, April 27, 2020.
Today...if we know something about China we owe it to China's vanished heroes.
We have, horribly, chosen to abandon them. Very few in the very free West call
out the Chinese authorities and ask these great men and women to be released.
The Australian University of Queensland, with close links to China is actually
trying to take disciplinary action, including possible expulsion, against a
student, Drew Pavlou, known for his criticism of Beijing. We are playing
Beijing's game of repression of dissent.
Bloomberg News is said to censor articles that might anger China and expose Xi's
personal wealth. And the European Union just softened criticism of China in a
report on disinformation about the pandemic... It looks as though free thought
is more valued among China's daring dissidents than in many corners of the West.
To paraphrase Leon Trotsky: You may not be interested in China, but China is
interested in you.
Dr. Li Wenliang, who died from coronavirus on February 7, had been reprimanded
by the Chinese government, with seven other doctors, for warning of the outbreak
in December. He was accused of "spreading false rumors" and "disrupting social
order" and, for his brave efforts, was detained and interrogated. Pictured: A
vigil to mourn Wenliang on February 7 in Hong Kong. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty
Images)
Three Chinese internet activists have disappeared and are believed to have been
detained by police. They have reportedly been charged with preserving articles
that were removed by China's online censors. Chen Mei, Cai Wei and Cai's
girlfriend went missing on April 19.
A few days earlier, Beijing police formally arrested retired professor Chen
Zhaozhi for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" in a speech about the
pandemic. The former Beijing University of Science and Technology professor had
posted comments online, including that "Wuhan pneumonia is not a Chinese virus
but Chinese Communist Party virus". In addition, Wang Quanzhang, a Chinese human
rights lawyer, who ended his prison sentence after more than four years for
"subversion against the state", immediately after leaving the penitentiary, was
placed in "quarantine", meaning under arrest.
These are just the latest Chinese dissidents who were concerned about the virus
that began in Wuhan, the ground zero of the Covid-19 pandemic, who have
vanished. They were evidently "disappeared" because they were searching for, and
telling the truth about, what happened, as well as the Chinese regime's attempt
to bury it.
Frances Eve, deputy director of research at the Hong Kong-based watchdog group,
Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said:
"Everyone who has disappeared is at very high risk of torture – most likely to
try to force them to confess that their activities were criminal or harmful to
society. Then, as we've seen in previous cases, people who have been disappeared
will be brought out and forced to confess on Chinese state television".
A Chinese citizen journalist, Li Zehua, recently reappeared after having
vanished two months previous, while investigating the Wuhan coronavirus
cover-up. The Chinese regime made him tame and silenced him. In contrast to the
tone of his reporting from Wuhan, Zehua's new video shows him heaping praise on
the regime that detained him:
"Throughout the whole process, police officers acted civil and legally, making
sure that I was resting and eating well, they really cared for me, I had three
meals a day, felt safe with guards, and got to watch the news every day."
His video shows the tragic consequence of China's repression.
In his pre-arrest reports from Wuhan, Zehua had a far more aggressive tone
against the authorities:
"I don't want to remain silent, or shut my eyes and ears. It's not that I can't
have a nice life, with a wife and kids. I can. I'm doing this because I hope
more young people can, like me, stand up."
These Chinese journalists know that the price will be terrible. Beijing just
sentenced a journalist, Chen Jieren, to a 15-year prison term for "vilifying the
Chinese Communist Party" after state media released his "confession". China, the
world's largest prison for journalists, has been accused of now having entered a
"total censorship era".
The "patient zero" of this Chinese repression was Dr. Li Wenliang, an
ophthalmologist, who was the whistleblower for Covid-19, and who died,
purportedly of the virus, at the age of 34. First, was detained by police in
Wuhan for "spreading false rumors" and, for telling the truth, forced to sign a
document that he had "told untruthful information online." Hours after state
media reported Dr. Li's death," noted Physicians for Human Rights, "official
censors scrubbed the Chinese Internet of any mention of his passing without
explanation."
Another doctor from Wuhan, Ai Fen, head of the emergency room at Wuhan Central
Hospital, was apparently also one of the whistleblowers, who had "sounded the
alarm" about the virus on December 30, 2019. Ai Fen was "disappeared" after
criticizing the censorship concerning the epidemic. "If I had known what was to
happen, I would not have cared about the reprimand. I would have fucking talked
about it to whoever, where ever I could", she said. She has not been seen or
heard from since early April.
Chen Qiushi, a citizen journalist who reported from Wuhan, has also been missing
since February. "I'm scared, I have the virus in front of me and behind me
China's law enforcement", Chen said in a video dated January 30. "But I will
keep my spirits up, as long as I'm alive and in this city I will continue my
reports. I'm not afraid of dying. Why should I be afraid of you, Communist
Party?"
A Wuhan clothing salesman, Fang Bin, apparently committed the crime of counting
"too many" body bags. "This is too many, so many dead", Bin said in a 40-minute
video about the virus outbreak. He then disappeared as well. Bin filmed bodies
piling up at a crematorium. Two months later, the world discovered that China
had lied about the number of victims in Wuhan. Bin was right and Beijing had to
raise its coronavirus official death toll in Wuhan by 50 percent.
A university student in Shandong, Zhang Wenbin, called on President Xi to step
down. "When I look at the courage with which Hong Kong and Taiwan stand up to
the Communist Party, I want my own voice to be heard", he said. "I call on you
all to look upon the true colors of the Communist Party, and stand together to
bring down this wall". Then Zhang Wenbin disappeared.
A property tycoon in Beijing, Ren Zhiqiang, also disappeared after writing an
essay in which he described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "clown," and
suggested that the Communist Party's attack on freedom of speech had exacerbated
the epidemic.
Wang Fang, a native of Wuhan, who won China's prestigious Lu Xun Literary Prize,
faces harassment and death threats after publishing a diary in the West about
what happened in her native city. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith", Fang wrote, quoting the Bible. She explained
that today's China reminds her of the Cultural Revolution, when Mao Zedong
imposed fanaticism and obedience in the country and when dissidents were
humiliated in public, killed by mobs or forced to commit suicide on streets.
A Chinese law professor at Tsinghua University, Professor Xu Zhangrun, was also
placed under investigation after publishing an essay that railed against
repression under President Xi. "I don't know what they'll do next," Professor Xu
said. "I've been mentally preparing for this for a long time. At the worst, I
could end up in prison". He also published a long essay in which he denounced Xi
Jinping and the Communist Party. "The coronavirus epidemic has revealed the
rotten core of Chinese governance", Professor Xu wrote. He added that the
Chinese system now "values the mediocre, the dilatory and the timid" and that
the mess caused by officials in Wuhan who covered up early signs of the virus
"has infected every province and the rot goes right up to Beijing".
Friends say that since those remarks were published, Professor Xu's social
account was suspended, his name scrubbed from Weibo, a Chinese blogging
platform, and that now only articles from official websites show up on the
country's largest search engine, Baidu.
A prominent Chinese legal activist, Xu Zhiyong, who urged Xi Jinping to resign
-- "You're just not smart enough," he said -- was also arrested.
A pro-democracy activist, Ren Ziyuan, was sent to administrative detention for
criticizing the government's management of the epidemic, Freedom House reported.
Additionally, Tan Zuoren, an online activist and former political prisoner, has
received multiple visits by police and had his account on the WeChat social
media platform frozen. Former professor Guo Quan , after publishing articles
about the outbreak, was also arrested for "inciting subversion of state power".
These intrepid dissidents showed how fragile, vacuous and dangerous is the
edifice of the Chinese regime. The Chinese Communist Party "is the biggest and
most serious virus of all", said the blind activist and dissident Chen
Guangcheng, now a refugee in the US. "It is time", he said, "to recognize the
threat the Chinese Communist Party poses to all humanity. The CCP represses and
manipulates information to strengthen its hold on power, regardless of the toll
on human lives". Also apparently regardless of the number of victims in the
world.
An open letter from parliamentarians, academics, advocates and policy leaders
states:
"As an international group of public figures, security policy analysts and China
watchers, we stand in solidarity with courageous and conscientious Chinese
citizens including Xu Zhangrun, Ai Fen, Li Wenliang, Ren Zhiqiang, Chen Qiushi,
Fang Bin, Li Zehua, Xu Zhiyong, and Zhang Wenbin, just to name a few of the real
heroes and martyrs who risk their life and liberty for a free and open China".
The letter was signed by, among others, Judith Abitan, Executive Director of the
Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights; Lord Alton of the British House of
Lords; the French historian Jean-Pierre Cabestan of the Hong Kong Baptist
University; Irwin Cotler, Emeritus Professor of Law at McGill University and
former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada; and Giulio Terzi di
Sant'Agata, Italy's former minister of Foreign Affairs.
While many in the West thought that the Soviet Union was a heaven, it only took
a handful of heroes beyond the Iron Curtain to let us know about the gulags, the
secret police, the hunger, the repression -- in short, they showed us that the
heaven was a hell. These heroes included, the Czech writer Václav Havel, the
nuclear scientist Andrei Sakharov and the author Alexander Solzhenitsyn in the
Soviet Union; and the physicist Robert Havemann in East Germany, to name just a
few. They paid with arrest, exile, prison and even their lives, such as Czech
philosopher Jan Patočka, who died after being interrogated.
Today, similarly, if we know something about China, we owe it to China's
vanished heroes. We have, horribly, chosen to abandon them. Very few in the very
free West call out the Chinese authorities and ask these great men and women to
be released. For its acquiescence, the West will pay dearly.
The University of Queensland, Australia, which has close links to China, is
actually trying to take disciplinary action, including the possible expulsion,
against a student, Drew Pavlou, for his criticism of Beijing. Are we already
playing Beijing's game of repressing dissent?
Bloomberg News is said to censor articles that might anger China and expose Xi's
personal wealth. And the European Union recently softened criticism of China in
a report on disinformation about the pandemic. The EU's High Representative for
Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, admitted that China had "pressured" Brussels.
"We're almost extinct," said Liu Hu, a journalist detained for nearly a year
after investigating corrupt politicians. "No one is left to reveal the truth".
It looks as though free thought is more valued among China's daring dissidents
than in many corners of the West.
To paraphrase Leon Trotsky: You may not be interested in China, but China is
interested in you.
*Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and
author.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
US needs help restricting Iran’s influence in Syria
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/May 17, 2020
US sanctions on Iran and the Trump administration’s maximum pressure policy are
forcing Tehran to tactically shift its policy toward its staunchest ally, Syria.
The Iranian regime has reined in some of its forces in the Arab state and
reduced its financial assistance to the Syrian government. As James Jeffrey, the
US special envoy for Syria and the fight against Daesh, pointed out last week:
“We have seen the Iranians pulling in some of their outlying activities and such
in Syria... in terms of the huge success of the Trump administration’s sanctions
policies against Iran. It’s having a real effect in Syria.”
Since President Donald Trump in 2018 pulled the US out of the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, and
adopted the maximum pressure policy, Iran’s oil exports have been steadily
falling. Before the US began taking a tougher stance toward the ruling clerics,
Iran was exporting more than 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd). Its exports have
since dropped to about 200,000 bpd — a decline of more than 85 percent.
As the flow of funds to the Iranian government is cut off, the Iranian leaders’
efforts to fund and sponsor the Syrian regime and various militia groups are
impacted. Even a Syrian state-controlled newspaper has admitted that Iran has
reduced its financial assistance to Damascus. Al-Watan made the surprising
revelation when it reported that Iran halted its credit line to the Syrian
government in 2018. It added that the Tehran regime was having difficulty
shipping oil to Syria, creating a fuel shortage. Iran has also been forced to
cut funds to its militias in Syria and it has not been able to pay some of the
militants’ salaries. One fighter in Syria last year told the New York Times:
“The golden days are gone and will never return. Iran doesn’t have enough money
to give us.”
Other factors that have forced Iran to reduce its presence in Syria are the
coronavirus disease pandemic and the global plunge in oil prices. These factors
will most likely cause Iran’s economy to shrink further, forcing the regime to
cut defense spending. Even before the pandemic, in October last year, the
International Monetary Fund adjusted its forecast for Iran’s economy, stating
that it was expected to shrink by 9.5 percent in 2019, rather than the 6 percent
it had previously predicted.
As the flow of funds is cut off, the Iranian leaders’ efforts to fund and
sponsor the Syrian regime and various militia groups are impacted.
Tehran has also been forced to shift its focus from Syria to domestic issues as
it is facing a significant budget deficit and is running out of options to
generate revenue amid the US maximum pressure policy, the pandemic, and the
falling oil price. As Iran’s state-run daily Kayhan acknowledged in February:
“The persistence of the recession will not only lead to further declines in
income and livelihoods, but also a large portion of the government’s tax revenue
projected in the 2020-2021 budget will not be reached, exacerbating the previous
deficit.”
In addition, the US position toward Tehran has most likely emboldened and
empowered Israel to further target Iran’s bases in Syria, putting significant
pressure on the regime. And the US Caesar Act, which is due to come into effect
on June 17, will further worsen Iran’s situation, as it will impose additional
sanctions on any states and private companies that assist the Syrian regime.
But it is important to point out that the Iranian regime’s decision to rein in
its forces in Syria and cut funds to its militias there does not represent a
fundamental shift in Iran’s Syria policy. In other words, the regime’s shift is
tactical, not strategic. The four-decade history of the theocratic establishment
shows that, whenever its economy recovers, it will return to its modus operandi
of boosting its support for and arming and financing militia groups and the
Syrian regime.
For the US policy on Iran to be more effective and have long-lasting effects on
Tehran’s Syria policy, the EU must also commit itself to meaningful joint action
with its transatlantic partner to put a stop to Iran’s rogue behavior and
destabilizing influence in Syria. And, while US policy toward the Iranian regime
is heading in the right direction, Washington must also closely cooperate with
the Gulf states. A united front — and joint sanctions — would send a clear
message and engender an economic stranglehold that would force the Iranian
government to concentrate on its domestic agenda, rather than its influence in
Syria.
In conclusion, America’s maximum pressure policy is pushing Iran in the right
direction, but other countries ought to adopt this informed policy in order to
further restrict the Tehran regime.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading
expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the
International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Tensions rise as new Iraqi PM confronts Iran’s proxies
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/May 17, 2020
Tharallah (God’s Revenge) emerged in 2003 as a notorious Basra-based,
Tehran-funded death squad, hunting down and gruesomely murdering Sunnis,
Baathists, and anyone Iranian agents paid them to kill. British soldiers in
December 2003 raided a Tharallah torture chamber. It has regained nationwide
notoriety in recent days after opening fire on protesters outside its
headquarters.
Several hundred demonstrators have been gunned down by paramilitary elements
since mass protests erupted in the fall of 2019. Militias are accustomed to
routinely getting away with murder. However, in a break with precedent,
Tharallah’s headquarters were subsequently raided by security forces and their
leader, Yousif Al-Musawi, arrested.
The fact that a raid against the headquarters of an Iran-backed militia was one
of the first moves taken by new Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi could be
interpreted as a significant gesture of intent. Al-Kadhimi declared that “those
who spill Iraqi blood will not rest.” He also liberated large numbers of Iraqis
detained during the protests.
But let’s keep matters in perspective: Some other smaller “rogue” militias, such
as the Abu-Al-Fadl Al-Abbas Brigade, have, over the past couple of years, had
their offices closed down and leaders arrested — accused of the same criminal
activities that larger militant factions from Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi engage in with
impunity. The principal militias arguably profit from the squashing of their
smaller rivals, offering exclusive control over neighborhood territories for
extorting businesses, terrorizing locals and running narcotics, prostitution and
oil-smuggling rackets.
Al-Kadhimi was previously the director of national intelligence, known for his
cozy ties with the US. He holds British citizenship and was formerly a
journalist and human rights activist. The prime minister has won praise for his
speed in putting a Cabinet together and the technocratic flavor of his
appointments. Observers were reassured by the appointment of experienced figures
like Finance Minister Ali Allawi and Gen. Abdel-Wahab Al-Saadi as head of the
counterterrorism service.
However, Iran-aligned elements accuse him of green-lighting the US attack that
killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani and paramilitary overlord
Abu-Mahdi Al-Muhandis in January. Al-Muhandis’ Kata’ib Hezbollah militia
described Al-Kadhimi’s nomination as tantamount to a “war against Iraqis,”
suggesting that the prime minister should be “behind bars.” Lebanese
Hezbollah-affiliated cleric Ali Kourani, meanwhile, accused Al-Kadhimi of
plotting with the US to disband Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi. Other Hashd elements are
temporarily giving him the benefit of the doubt. Militia leader Qais Al-Khazali
previously accused Al-Kadhimi of killing Soleimani and spying for the Americans,
but then emerged with conditions under which he would accept his candidacy —
including (of course) steadfast support for the Hashd.
There are fears that militias are again resorting to assassinations and violence
to confront all challengers.
In a catastrophic economic climate, Al-Kadhimi is faced with the unenviable task
of slashing salaries, laying off employees, cutting subsidies and imposing
taxes. According to one source: “Iraq is like a racing car that has been
neglected and repeatedly wrecked. Al-Kadhimi is not the racing car driver. He’s
the tow truck driver.” The Hashd’s readiness to allow Al-Kadhimi’s appointment
may be premised on the awareness that nobody could navigate Iraq through the
coming tumultuous year and emerge without their reputation destroyed.
Iraqi oil revenues plunged from $7.1 billion in April 2019 to $1.4 billion in
April 2020 and are set to fall further given OPEC’s production cuts. The
government requires about $4 billion per month just to pay state employees. Two
full months of oil income would be required to cover the $2.16 billion annual
budget of Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi.
The budgetary cake may have shrunk from lavish chocolate gateau to a plain
cupcake, but paramilitary warlords would rather burn down heaven and earth than
see their portions reduced. As one regional expert told me: “Because the pie is
getting smaller, their appetite is getting bigger.” The same source speculated
as to whether Al-Kadhimi’s control over the budget could allow him to gradually
“suffocate” the Hashd through squeezing their resources. Iraq’s UN envoy
affirmed that the government’s priority was “restricting weapons to state hands”
and consolidating Iraqi sovereignty. We’ll see what happens.
In Iraq and Lebanon, the Hashd and Hezbollah will fight tooth and nail to ensure
they aren’t impacted by budget cuts; including corrupt revenue sources and their
foot soldiers on the state payroll. In this fraught political environment, there
are fears that militias are again resorting to assassinations and violence to
confront all challengers. Following the deaths or disappearances of a string of
figures associated with the protest movement, lawyer and activist Daoud
Al-Hamdani was assassinated in Diyala in recent days.
One pledge Al-Kadhimi may deliver on is preparing the ground for early
elections, as promised to protesters — offering a glimmer of hope for Iraq. In
2018, the Iran-aligned paramilitary Fatah list won a dismal 48 out of 329 seats,
but was able to play a dominant role amid a deeply fractured parliament. Recent
protests throughout Shiite regions focused anger against these militias, which
frequently responded with deadly force, making it almost a certainty that fewer
Shiite voters would now cast ballots for pro-Iran sectarian elements. Fresh
elections could, therefore, benefit moderate Shiite factions and liberal
cross-sectarian forces — if these entities get their act together.
Just like Hezbollah, the Hashd has displayed immense skill in infiltrating and
corrupting every level of every governing department. Disentangling and
dismantling the Hashd octopus will take years — brigade by brigade — perhaps
starting with smaller criminal entities like Tharallah, but ultimately moving on
to the bigger beasts. There couldn’t be a better time to start than now, when
the state coffers physically can’t afford to pay these parasites, which are
preying upon the Iraqi body politic.
Al-Kadhimi’s tenure represents a window of opportunity for the Arab world and
the West to re-engage with Iraq and empower moderate elements that could squeeze
out the sectarian, Iran-allied factions in forthcoming elections.
Only Iraqis can win their country back. The protesters’ demands must be
translated into a governing agenda that guarantees that Iraq’s vast wealth isn’t
squandered on paramilitancy and advancing its Iranian neighbor’s hostile
regional ambitions. Starving and desperate citizens require leaders who inspire
genuine hope and can recultivate national pride — irrespective of tribe,
ethnicity or sect — by putting Iraqi identity first.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.