LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 23/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Letter to the Ephesians 05/03-13: “But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be associated with them. For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on May 22-23/19
Israel slams UN for consorting with Hezbollah
Tension Inside Lebanese Cabinet on Eve of Final Budget Reading
Lebanon Paid $650 Million Maturing Eurobond on Monday with Central Bank Help
Lebanese Cabinet to Hold 'Final' Budget Session Friday after 'New Ideas' Raised
Hariri Holds 'Facilitative' Meeting Ahead of Last Round of Budget Discussions
Berri Hails 'Victory' in Border Demarcation Talks
Khalil: State Budget Finalized and I'm Satisfied
Beirut Airport to Get New Baggage Inspection System, Search Points
Civil Servants Suspend Nationwide Strike
Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel Questions Silence over Incomplete Financial Audit
Four Lebanese Students Die in California Car Crash
Interview with the leader of the Guardians of the Cedars Party, Mr. Etienne Sacre, also known by his nom-de-guerre

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 22-23/19
US Researcher: Trump Doesn't Need Congress Permission to Counter Iran's Threats
Tension Inside Lebanese Cabinet on Eve of Final Budget Reading
PA, US Administration Clash over Economic Workshop
Algeria: Youth Refuse Constitutional Solution, Clash With Security Forces
400 US Congressmen Urge Trump to Stay in Syria
UN Envoy Salame Warns of Bloody Civil War in Libya
Damascus Harasses Ex-foes in Reconciliation Areas
Air Raids Kill 12 Civilians in Syria's Idlib: Monitor
Top Democrat Says Trump Conduct 'Could be Impeachable'
U.S. Suspects Syria in New Chemical Attack, Threatens Reprisal
Western Nations Urge Swift Sudan Accord to Install Civil Rule
May's Last Attempt to Salvage Brexit Deal at Risk
Libyan Strongman Haftar Tells Macron No Ceasefire for Now
U.S. Calls for Dismantling U.N. Palestinian Refugee Agency

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 22-23/19
Interview with the leader of the Guardians of the Cedars Party, Mr. Etienne Sacre, also known by his nom-de-guerre/Elias Bejjani,/LCCC/September 02/2003
Our Problem with Iran is its Regime/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/May 22/2019
Turkey: Erdogan Describes Armenian Genocide as 'Reasonable Relocation'/Uzay Bulut/Wednesday, 22 May, 2019/
Russian Plans for This Week's European Union Elections/Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/May 22/2019
Time for action on Muslim Brotherhood’s European activities/Nathalie Goulet and Ghanem Nuseibeh/Arab News/May 21/2019
Conflict is the business Iran has chosen/Sir John Jenkins/Arab News/May 21/2019
Time for action on Muslim Brotherhood’s European activities/Nathalie Goulet and Ghanem Nuseibeh/Arab News/May 21/2019
Analysis/Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Is Coming. Israel Is Already Being Handed the Bill/Meirav Arlosoroff /Haaretz/May 22/2019
Iranian Regime Mouthpiece 'Kayhan' Announces A War To Bring Down Saudi Regime And Reduce Saudi Oil Exports To Zero; States: America Has No Desire, Or No Capability, To Support Saudi Arabia And The UAE/MEMRI/May 22/2019
Leaked John Kerry audio: White House wanted ISIS to rise in Syria/South Front reports/May 22/2019

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on May 22-23/19
Israel slams UN for consorting with Hezbollah
"We are shocked and disappointed by this meeting with a designated terror organization’s leader." After United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis met with Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem of Hezbollah, Israel officials condemned the meeting. "We are shocked and disappointed by this meeting with a designated terror organization’s leader, threatening Israel, Lebanon and the whole region," Israel’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted. "One doesn’t need to read the Naim Qassem book, courtesy of #Hezbollah terrorists, in order to understand this !!"
Israel's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Danny Danon also shared his displeasure on twitter. "The role of #UN representatives is to promote a stable and secure region and not to meet with the leaders of a terrorist organization and to glorify incitement against the State of Israel," Danon tweeted Wednesday morning.
The role of #UN representatives is to promote a stable and secure region and not to meet with the leaders of a terrorist organization and to glorify incitement against the State of Israel. Kubis wrote on twitter about the meeting on Monday night, describing the meeting as "open and substantive discussion."
Grateful for an open and substantive discussion on a broad range of topics with Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem of Hizbullah. On top I received a copy of his book - a necessary reading. Kubis also mentioned the Hezbollah leader gave him a book, Hizbullah (Hezbollah): The Story from Within, which Qassem wrote. The IDF retorted to Kubis' interest in the book by saying, "Do you know what else appears to be necessary reading? @UN Resolution 1701."UN Resolution 1701 was an attempt at solving the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.
Israel along with the US and the Arab league recognize Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Tension Inside Lebanese Cabinet on Eve of Final Budget Reading
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 22 May, 2019/The Lebanese government will make Wednesday a final reading of the 2019 draft budget before approving it and referring it to parliament amid political tension among political parties represented in the cabinet. “The government is called upon to resolve the existing polarization inside and outside the cabinet,” the Mustaqbal Movement warned in a statement following its weekly meeting on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil will hold a press conference to discuss the budget. “A final reading of the state budget will be held tomorrow (Wednesday) at noon at the Grand Serail,” State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mahmoud Qmati said on Tuesday. For his part, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, said: “I am pleased with the results. Today we complete the discussions, and I do not want to talk about the upcoming phase.”However, a dispute has emerged between Free Patriotic Movement ministers and others, mainly Hassan Khalil, in light of long discussions on the draft budget, which took 17 cabinet sessions. "For me and for the Finance Ministry, the draft budget is over. The final fees approved will not have any material impact on this budget and there is no need for further talks and for further delays,” Khalil said before attending Tuesday’s cabinet session, which was chaired by Hariri. However, FPM leader Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil did not share the Finance Minister’s views. “The draft budget will be over when it is over. There is no deadline,” he said. Discussions on the budget have taken place amid protests by public and private sector employees on austerity measures aimed at limiting state expenditures for 2019. Mustaqbal Movement said the bloc is satisfied with the results of the cabinet discussions, “especially in terms of announcing the measures and policies aimed at reducing the budget deficit and ending waste in various ministries, and the importance of assigning the army and security forces to control the illegal crossings and prevent smuggling."Observers expect tension among lawmakers during discussions of the draft budget in Parliament.

Lebanon Paid $650 Million Maturing Eurobond on Monday with Central Bank Help
Reuters/May 22/2019/A $650 million Lebanese eurobond was repaid successfully with sources familiar with the matter saying the central bank provided funding to the finance ministry to meet the payment. The redemption on Monday is important as market concern had been growing about an impasse over Lebanon’s budget acting as an obstacle to the country raising new debt. The dollar-denominated debt, which expired on Monday, had been Lebanon’s latest debt maturity, ahead of a $1.5 billion issue due in November. Lebanon had been expected to service the May debt via a government financing manoeuvre involving the central bank. An informed source said the government paid its eurobond in the same way as the $500 million tranche in April, with the central bank providing the needed dollar currency to the finance ministry, the original issuer of the debt.
A second source said the funding was in the form of a bridge loan to help pay local banks, the main holders of the debt. Lebanon’s net foreign assets, which stood at $37.3 billion on May 15, have fallen from $42.9 billion a year earlier. Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said on Tuesday there was no need for more delays or talks over the 2019 draft budget, although the foreign minister signalled the debate may continue. The cabinet says the budget will reduce the deficit to 7.6% of GDP from last year’s 11.2%. Lebanon has one of the world’s heaviest public debt burdens at 150% of GDP.Lebanon’s main expenses are a bloated public sector, interest payments on public debt and transfers to the loss-making power generator, for which a reform plan was approved in April. The state is riddled with corruption and waste.

Lebanese Cabinet to Hold 'Final' Budget Session Friday after 'New Ideas' Raised
Naharnet/May 22/2019/The Cabinet on Wednesday failed anew to finalize the 2019 state budget and will hold another session on Friday to continue the discussions. “Everyone agreed that Friday's session will be the last,” Sport and Youth Minister Mohammed Fneish told reporters after the session. TV networks said the session witnessed "heated discussions over what some ministers described as time waste in discussing and approving the state budget." LBCI TV said Prime Minister Saad Hariri ended the session “after finding difficulty in reaching an agreement on the budget.”“He is expected to hold consultations before Friday's session in an attempt to secure consensus,” LBCI added. Information Minister Jamal al-Jarrah said new proposals were raised during the session, prompting Hariri to give the ministers a 48-hour timeframe to study them. The TV network said Bassil maintained his insistence on his stance despite attempts to persuade him to soften it, which “dismayed Hariri.”MTV meanwhile said Bassil wants to cut the budgets of some ministries, including the social affairs ministry. A ministerial meeting was held ahead of Wednesday's session in a bid to overcome obstacles and pacify the rhetoric among some parties. The Grand Serail meeting brought together Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil and ministers from the Lebanese Forces, the Progressive Socialist Party and Hizbullah. Bassil had said during Tuesday's session that the FPM was "not satisfied with the result." “This is worse than what we were expecting and a 7.6% reduction in deficit is not sufficient,” he added. The Cabinet has held around 17 sessions to finalize the budget and several parties have accused Bassil of hindering the discussions with side proposals. Lebanon has vowed to slash public spending to unlock $11 billion worth of aid pledged by international donors during an April 2018 conference in Paris.Last month, Hariri vowed to introduce "the most austere budget in Lebanon's history" to combat the country's bulging fiscal deficit, sparking fears among public sector employees that their salaries may be cut. Lebanon is one of the world's most indebted countries, with public debt estimated at 141 percent of GDP in 2018, according to credit ratings agency Moody's.

Hariri Holds 'Facilitative' Meeting Ahead of Last Round of Budget Discussions
Kataeb.org/May 22/2019/Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday chaired a meeting including several ministers to "alleviate tensions" ahead of what is supposed to be the last Cabinet session aimed at discussing the 2019 draft budget.
“I am not sure why we have been called for a ministerial meeting after 17 government sessions to discuss the draft budget,” Public Works Minister Youssef Fenianos told reporters before going into the session. "The budget has been finalized, and I don't know why this meeting is being held,” Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil also said ahead of the meeting. Industry Minister Wael Abu Faour described the meeting as a "facilitative" one to ensure the endorsement of the draft budget, assuring that the public servants' salaries will not be cut to reduce the budget deficit to 7%.
The meeting, held at the Grand Serail, was attended by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, Industry Minister Wael Abu Faour, Labor Minister Kamil Abu Sleiman, Public Works Minister Youssef Fenianos and Youth and Sports Minister Mohammad Fneish.

Berri Hails 'Victory' in Border Demarcation Talks
Naharnet/May 22/2019/Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday described the outcome of the U.S.-mediated talks over the demarcation of the southern territorial and maritime borders as a “victory for the Lebanese stance.”“He is optimistic and he considers what has happened so far as a victory for the official and popular Lebanese stance in terms of preserving sovereignty regarding the territorial and maritime resources,” MP Ali Bazzi said about Berri's stance following the weekly Ain el-Tineh meeting. A top U.S. envoy has said Israel agreed to discuss disputed land and sea borders with Lebanon, which is eying hydrocarbon exploration off its coast, according to two Lebanese officials. Last year, Lebanon signed its first contract to drill for oil and gas in its waters, including for a block disputed by Israel, with which it has fought several wars. The U.S. State Department's acting assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs,  David Satterfield, held a meeting in Beirut on Monday on his second visit in a week. Satterfield "told officials Israel had agreed to hold negotiations to draw up the maritime border" with Lebanon, an official source who attended the meeting told AFP. Israel also agreed to discuss the territorial frontier between the two countries, including several disputed areas, the source said. A delegation from each side would take part in talks at the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, UNIFIL, but the latter would not be a party to the talks, he added. Another source familiar with the plan said negotiations would begin soon. "There has been positive progress overall, and the issue is down to the last details before the start of the negotiations," they said. Israel and Lebanon are still technically at war, although the last Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000 after two decades of occupation. A consortium composed of energy giants Total, ENI and Novatek was awarded two of Lebanon's 10 exploration blocks last year. It is set to start drilling in block 4 in December, and later in the disputed block 9. Last year, Total said it was aware of the border dispute in less than eight percent of block 9 and said it would drill away from that area. On April 5, Lebanon invited international consortia to bid for five more blocks, which include two also adjacent to Israel's waters.

Khalil: State Budget Finalized and I'm Satisfied
Naharnet/May 22/2019/Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil has announced that the draft 2019 state budget has been finalized and that he is “satisfied” with the result. “The discussions of the budget have ended and no real amendment has been introduced. Wednesday we'll be before a new scene and what's important is to accompany it with governmental action and I'm satisfied,” he told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Wednesday. Khalil had warned that any attempt to add articles to the budget would push him to walk out of Cabinet and “hold everyone responsible.”“I have finished and the Finance Ministry has finalized the budget. What you are doing has nothing to do with the budget, whose numbers have been finalized, reflecting a very encouraging outcome and a decrease in deficit that meets the needed target,” the minister added. Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil had said during Tuesday's session that the FPM was "not satisfied with the result." “This is worse than what we were expecting and a 7.6% reduction in deficit is not sufficient,” he added. The Cabinet has held around 17 sessions to finalize the budget and several parties have accused Bassil of hindering the discussions with side proposals. Lebanon has vowed to slash public spending to unlock $11 billion worth of aid pledged by international donors during an April 2018 conference in Paris. Last month, Hariri vowed to introduce "the most austere budget in Lebanon's history" to combat the country's bulging fiscal deficit, sparking fears among public sector employees that their salaries may be cut. Lebanon is one of the world's most indebted countries, with public debt estimated at 141 percent of GDP in 2018, according to credit ratings agency Moody's.

Beirut Airport to Get New Baggage Inspection System, Search Points
Naharnet/May 22/2019/Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan announced Wednesday that the Internal Security Forces will introduce a new system for “inspecting travelers' baggage in a faster and more secure way” at the Rafik Hariri International Airport.The system will be installed after the end of the expansion works. “New search points will be added to accommodate a larger number of travelers and facilitate their flow,” al-Hassan added. “As for General Security, the expansion works will allow increasing the checkpoints from 22 to 34 for departures and from 32 to 46 for arrivals, which will decrease congestion in a significant way. The use of advanced passport checking systems will boost the effectiveness and speed of inspection, which will save travelers' time,” the minister went on to say.

Civil Servants Suspend Nationwide Strike
Kataeb.org/May 22/2019/Public sector employees on Wednesday suspended their strike pending the final version of the 2019 state budget set to be approved by the government, warning that all options remain on the cards should the endorsed blueprint turns out to be detrimental. Civil servants had been staging a nationwide strike since last week to warn the government against cutting their salaries or reducing their end-of-service benefits as part of its 2019 austerity budget.The Cabinet is set to hold a final reading of the draft budget today. The League of Public Administration Employees warned that it would “return to striking if necessary”, according to a statement carried by the National News Agency.

Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel Questions Silence over Incomplete Financial Audit
Kataeb.org/May 22/2019/Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel on Tuesday questioned the disregard for the constitutional provision according to which the 2019 state budget should not be approved without finalizing the audit of previous years' spending.
The Article 87 of the Constitution stipulates that a budget cannot be promulgated unless the the state's financial accounts are audited. "We are awaiting the government to endorse and refer the final version of the budget to the Parliament so that we could evaluate and analyze it," Gemayel wrote on Twitter."What is the reason behind the total absence of any mention regarding the audit of previous years which must be approved before passing the budget and that represents the key tool to monitor, enforce accountability and uncover the sources of squandering and corruption?"

Four Lebanese Students Die in California Car Crash
Naharnet/May 22/2019/Four Lebanese students from the southern town of Yaroun have been killed in a car crash in the U.S. state of California, Lebanon's National News Agency said. It identified the four as Hussein Saleh, Hussein Saab, Hussein Ghasham and Hussein Ayyoub. The agency said their car crashed into a giant pole as they were returning home after having a Suhoor pre-dawn Ramadan meal.

Interview with the leader of the Guardians of the Cedars Party, Mr. Etienne Sacre, also known by his nom-de-guerre
of Abu-Arz. The interview was conducted By: Elias Bejjani, LCCC Chairman (Lebanese Canadian Coordinating Council), on September 02, 2003
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/75086/%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a3%d8%b1%d8%b4%d9%8a%d9%81%d9%86%d8%a7-%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%a8%d9%84%d8%a9-%d9%85%d8%b9-%d8%b1%d8%a6%d9%8a%d8%b3-%d8%ad%d8%b2%d8%a8-%d8%ad%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d8%b1/
LCCC: It is our pleasure here at the LCCC to have the opportunity to have this in-depth and comprehensive conversation with you, through which we hope to convey your ideas and views as leader of the Guardians of the Cedars Party to the Lebanese people in occupied Lebanon and in all the countries of the Diaspora. And let me begin by asking you to describe Abu-Arz the man to our readers: Where were you born, your education, family status, and the reasons behind your involvement in political action, hobbies, etc.
ABU-ARZ: I do not like to talk about myself, so I will only say that I was born in Ayn Ebel in 1937. I completed my school education in 1957, and briefly joined the General Security Agency, moving between several posts along the border, the last of which was in the Bekaa Valley where I was commissioned to track members of the Syrian National Party in the aftermath of their failed coup d’Etat in early 1961. I was then transferred to the Presidential Palace where I was tasked with a special mission toward the end of the term of President Fouad Chehab and early into the term of President Sulayman Frangieh. It was at that time that I saw firsthand the worsening of the political climate in Lebanon, even at the highest levels. I then resigned and began working in the private sector, starting an insurance company in 1972. But the mounting clashes between the Lebanese Army and the Palestinian organizations led me to make a compromise between my professional and patriotic activities, and I worked with Mr. Saïd Akel to launch a political party called the “Lebanese Renewal Party” that included several leading figures from among all confessions and regions of Lebanon.
At the same time, and when the conspiracy to neutralize the Army and eventually dismantle it began, I started buying weapons and ammunitions on the black market and mobilizing and training young people in private camps, until the conflagration of April 13, 1975 that began the war. We then went into the battle under the name of Guardians of the Cedars, alongside the Phalangists, the Liberals, the Tanzim, and others, taking fighting positions in Ashrafieh, Sin el Fil, and downtown Beirut. We then expanded and grew until we were present in fixed positions in all villages and towns of the Eastern sector, as well as a number of villages and towns that had fallen under the Palestinian-Syrian occupation in the Western sector, the South, the Bekaa, and the North. After the crushing victory we achieved in Tel Al-Zaatar, Nabaa, and Jisr El-Basha, young people came to us from all over the place and we began graduating new volunteers and distributing weapons and equipment, as well as literature and books describing our ideas in accordance with our famous slogan: The word has espoused the gun, and the Guardians of the Cedars were born.  
LCCC: Who are the Guardians of the Cedars? And what are their objectives?
ABU-ARZ: The Guardians of the Cedars (GOC) were born as an idea in the early 1970s with the founding of the Lebanese Renewal Party as I mentioned earlier. It was later formally created as a party with the start of the events of April 13, 1975. Its beliefs are inspired from the ideas of Mr. Saïd Akel whom we consider our spiritual father. I was the one to establish the party, organize its cadres, define its principles, write down its ideology, and lead it in all the political and combat battlefields with a group of young people of the first hour. In 1976, I participated in the establishment of the Lebanese Forces with Sheikh Bachir Gemayel, Danny Chamoun, and Dr. Fouad Chemali, and we offered the GOC headquarters building as headquarters for the Lebanese Forces for several months until the latter was transferred to the office of Sheikh Bachir in Ahsrafieh, and later to the Qarantina building.
As to the objectives of the GOC, I summarize them as a belief in God, people, and Lebanon, and this ideological trinity is based on three fundamental universal tenets: Love, knowledge, and freedom. Politically we are a secular movement that believes in Lebanese nationhood over at least 10,452 Km2, comprising a single 7,000-years old Lebanese nation that has existed uninterrupted in its human and cultural dimensions, and whose great cultural heritage has contributed to the rise and dissemination of world civilization, beginning with Greek civilization, through Roman civilization and on to Western civilization. For the sake of accuracy, we hold that the culture of the West traces its roots to the Lebanese-Phoenician civilization, and not to Greek civilization as is commonly believed today. This is a major historical fallacy that ought to be corrected once Lebanon recovers its political health and returns into the hands of its own educated people and is no longer held by the scum who run it today.
One of the objectives of the Party is to evict all foreigners and parasites that are present on its soil, beginning with the Palestinian refugees and the Syrian invaders and others. We have to limit to 5% of the population the proportion of foreigners that Lebanon may contain at any one time, and then only if the interests of the country dictate it. We have to establish a secular state that has nothing to do with sectarian religious quotas and apportioning. We have to implement mandatory free education (from kindergarten) through specialization, and establish scientific research centers to attract and keep the Lebanese brain power that is scattered in the Diaspora across the globe. We want to build a professional army that believes in God and in Lebanon, and that is strong and capable to deter anyone with ambitions no matter how powerful they may be. We need to organize the Lebanese Diaspora so it becomes effective in international venues and forums and can protect the interests and cause of Lebanon in the decision-making capitals of the world. We must provide for free medical care for all the Lebanese in addition to providing a safe and secure retirement for the elderly. We must adopt the Lebanese language as the official language of Lebanon, withdraw Lebanon’s membership from the Arab League, and return to Lebanon its true unadulterated identity. Finally, we seek to ratify a peace treaty with Lebanon’s neighbors, including Israel and contiguous Arab countries, on the basis of mutual interests and the principle of equality.
We strive for a political system that is a free liberal presidential democracy in compliance with the Articles of the 1926 Constitution, and we must throw away the Taef system since it is a bastard child of two non-Lebanese parents.
LCCC: How does Abu-Arz see the present situation in Lebanon, and what is his relationship with the regime in place since 1990?
ABU-ARZ: The present situation in Lebanon is the worst in its modern history. The destruction is ongoing at the political, financial, economic, social, and security levels. Add to that the pervasive corruption that has metastasized like a cancer throughout the body and institutions of the State, and the empty treasury and the deficit that has reached close to US$34 Billion. As to the infrastructure, it is rotten exactly like the State, and the provision of social services, such as electricity, water delivery, telephone, roads, and others is nil. The living standard is atrocious, unemployment is at its highest and taxes keep on climbing. The emigration of young people has become akin to the bleeding of a dying country, and Lebanese lands are being sold wholesale to Arab nationals, while Syrian workers fill up the country and compete the Lebanese out of their livelihood. Terrorist and fundamentalist organizations have become little states of their own within the Lebanese State under the sponsorship of the Syrian occupation and its supervision. And so on and so forth, and we do not exaggerate by saying that the Taef regime is a political gang that has perfected treason, vileness, banditry, and the selling out of one’s country to the level of a profession.
As to my relationship with this regime, it is similar to that of the great avenger waiting for D-day to pounce on this gang and hold it accountable for its great crimes against the nation. We hope that the hour has drawn close, because the Lebanese people can no longer put up with oppression, humiliation, poverty and hunger. 
LCCC: Do you consider Lebanon today a sovereign, free, and independent country?
And if not, what are the reasons?
ABU-ARZ: There is no need for this question as everyone, even the Syrian agents, know that Lebanon has become a free-for-all forsaken country with no freedoms or democracy whatsoever. The law of the jungle is the rule and the principal reason is the Syrian occupation that has succeeded over the years in Syrianizing Lebanon and converting it into a police “desert-like” state that is as bleak and depressing as the Syrian regime and the other “desert-like” Arab regimes. It succeeded, as part of this program, in installing the scum of Lebanese politicians in the decision-making positions.  
LCCC: Your organization says that the Syrian threat against Lebanon is greater than the Israeli threat. What are, in your opinion, the ambitions of Syria in Lebanon, and how do you explain the slogan of one people in two states?
ABU-ARZ: The Syrian threat to Lebanon, and the ambitions of Syria over it, are as long and old as history itself, and for this reason Syria has refused to recognize the existence of Lebanon and continues to consider it one of its provinces. Indeed, the weakness of Lebanon originates in the strength of Syria, and the strength of Lebanon finds its roots in the weaknesses of Syria, although the reverse is not true, and that is a historical constant. Whereas Israel, contrary to all that is said and propagated by Syria’s agents, has no ambitions in Lebanon, the proof being that Israel withdrew in 2000 to the demarcation “blue” line that was certified by the United Nations. If Israel had any ambitions in Lebanon, it would have stayed in it like it has stayed in the Golan.
As to the slogan of one people in two states, it is an absolute and complete fallacy, because the Lebanese people in their distinct heritage, traditions, and geography are the complete opposite of the Syrian people. 
LCCC: Much has been said about the Shebaa Farms after the Israeli withdrawal in 2000, whereas Hezbollah uses the occupation (of the Farms) by Israel as an excuse to continue what it calls its “resistance”. What is the truth on this subject, now and in the past?
ABU-ARZ: The Shebaa Farms issue is a Syrian lie concocted and marketed by the regime in Damascus to link its conflict with Israel, via a group of Lebanese agents, and to link the Syrian and the Lebanese tracks (in the peace process), and to resolve the dispute over the Golan at Lebanon’s expense.
LCCC: Many still wonder about the reasons for Israel’s withdrawal in 2000 and the manner it was carried out without any coordination with the South Lebanese Army and according to an agreement with Hezbollah, Iran, and Syria under international supervision and the involvement of the European envoy Terje Larsen. How does Abu-Arz understand this event, he who has called for establishing relations with Israel and an alliance with it?
ABU-ARZ: Israel withdrew from South Lebanon in 2000 for two primary reasons. First, Israel has no political ambitions in Lebanese territory and waters, which was mentioned earlier. Second, the enormous popular pressure inside Israel in which the Israeli people demanded its government to withdraw its army from Lebanon. In addition, the false promises made by Hafez Assad to Israel through the US administration that he intends to establish a peace treaty with it if it withdraws from Lebanon, and there is a background to his lying, namely first that he wanted revenge for the resounding defeat he was dealt in 1982, and second that he now wanted to monopolize of Lebanon all for himself, and that is exactly what happened.
I think Israel committed a monumental mistake in the shameful way in which it withdrew, for it should have acted to maintain and strengthen the South Lebanon Army instead of forcing it to withdraw with it and dismantling it in this dishonorable manner. I also think that it is now paying a heavy price for this fatal mistake through the Palestinian Intifada that erupted precisely on the heels of this withdrawal. It has dragged Israel into a dangerous war of attrition and strengthened the so-called Hezbollah by making a hero out of it to the point that Hezbollah is now a daily threat to its stability.
LCCC: Everyone knows that your organization sees in Hezbollah not a resistance movement but rather an Iranian-Syrian terrorist group. Could you give our readers a clear perspective on this fundamentalist party?
ABU-ARZ: The so-called Hezbollah group is a dangerous movement for the future of Lebanon, especially its social wing which has allowed it to infiltrate and spread inside Lebanese society, and disseminate its ideology of establishing an Islamic Republic on the long run…The war that Hezbollah fought in the South is in my opinion a futile war, because the real occupation was not there. The real occupation was, and is, in Beirut, the Mountain, the Bekaa, and the North. I regret to say that the thousands of young men who perished in the South are victims and not martyrs. 
LCCC: Does Abu-Arz believe that the “Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act”, which at this time enjoys a vast majority in the US House of Representatives and Senate is Lebanon’s anchor of salvation from the Syrian occupation?
ABU-ARZ: The Syria Accountability Act is one of many means we employ in our political and diplomatic war against the Syrian occupation, through the enormous potential of the Lebanese Diaspora all over the world, and in this case, the United States of America in particular. It is regretful, however, that the American administration from the 1960s and till today remains under the influence of Saudi Arabia, in spite of the events of September 11, and this constitutes a significant obstacle to a change in the hostile US foreign policy toward Lebanon, which in turn prolongs the Syrian occupation. Keep in mind that the conspiracy to eliminate Lebanon as a national entity is a Saudi-designed conspiracy, executed by the Syrians under the sponsorship of the United States. Saudi Arabia is the mastermind of the conspiracy, and Syria is its executioner.
LCCC: The Lebanese judiciary, the judiciary of the Taef regime, has issued an unjust sentence against you. Could you shed some light on the background to this sentence and the objectives behind it?
ABU-ARZ: It is only normal that court sentences be issued against me because I rejected the Syrian occupation since its beginning in 1976, when all the Lebanese parties agreed to it and especially the Lebanese Front. I declared then a disobedience movement against that occupation and I moved my senior staff and my militiamen to the mountains of Aqura. I continued resisting and opposing the Syrian occupation until 1990 when I moved to the Jezzine district after the fall of the Eastern Sector to continue the struggle against the Syrian occupation and its fundamentalist and terrorist offspring…As to the court sentences, they are issued against me from Damascus by way of the Lebanese judiciary that has become a political tool in the hands of Syria that manipulates it at will against its enemies. I consider these sentences badges of honor on my chest.
LCCC: What are the activities that the Guardians of the Cedars carry out these days in the effort to liberate Lebanon from the Syrian occupation?
ABU-ARZ: After our withdrawal from the South in May of 2000, our activities became limited to the political and diplomatic arenas, always aimed at the liberation of Lebanon from the Syrian hegemony and its local agents, this bunch of political dwarfs who not only provide cover for the occupation and defend it, but who have sold Lebanon with its people and institutions to Syria. They then transformed Lebanon into a free-for-all orgy of looting, embezzlement, fraud, cronyism, and illegitimate wealth acquisition, and into a farm that is inherited from fathers to sons, and to a pitiful mockery of a State whom freedom has abandoned and that is ruled by a camouflaged dictatorship, after it eviscerated and emptied democracy of any substance.
LCCC: An English language book was recently published about you under the title "The Conscience of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Etienne Sakr (Abu-Arz)”. Would you please summarize its contents, tell us about the author, and how one can obtain a copy?
ABU-ARZ: The author of “The Conscience of Lebanon” is Dr. Nisan, a professor of political science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an expert in Middle East politics and Lebanon. The publisher is Frank Cass, which is one of the most important publishing houses in England. One can obtain a copy at this time through the Internet on the web site of the publisher at HYPERLINK http://www.frankcass.com www.frankcass.com and later on in libraries throughout the world. The book is a narrative of the life of Abu-Arz and a history of his struggle from the 1960s and until 2000, with all the major stations and prominent positions he took along the way. There are also a few chapters on the history of Lebanon and its internal conflicts and political structure.
LCCC: In your organization, you speak at length about the Lebanese nation and the distinctiveness of Lebanon. Could you please explain your concept of this national identity with a focus on your rejection of an Arab national identity?
ABU-ARZ: We base ourselves on history and geopolitical science to assert that Lebanon has been Lebanese from ancient times and no external qualifiers should be appended to its name. All those attributes that were attached to it since the Ottoman occupation, through the French occupation, and ending with the Syrian-Arab occupation are fallacious attributes that have no basis in fact. We state that the Lebanese people in all its communities and classes constitute a single self-standing distinct nation that has no connection to the so-called Arab nation, and that the latter is itself a fiction that has no basis in history or geography. This fictional so-called Arab nation or Arab world is a plethora of incompatible and discordant nations and ethnicities that never did, and cannot today, make up one single nation. It is for these reasons that all attempts by any two Arab countries at unification ended up in disastrous failures ever since the days of Abdel Nasser in 1958 and to this day.
And if the Syrian and Lebanese were one people, as the liars tell us, their peoples would have united by themselves spontaneously without the need for all these armies, tanks, rockets, and bloody battles that have raged between them and us, and without all the blood that was shed across the regions of Lebanon. And so we unambiguously assert that Arabism is one huge lie, and Lebanon has nothing to do with it, especially after the so-called Arabs took turns to destroy it, directly and indirectly, and each in their own way.
As to the distinction between Syria and Lebanon, it is simply flagrant. It is sufficient to take a look at the two mountain chains, the Eastern chain and the Western chain, that stretch from the far north to the deep south without interruption to realize the extent of the natural geographic separation between the two countries. Add to that the fact that Lebanon is a mountainous cluster whereas Syria is a vast flat desert, and there lies the huge difference between the mountain and the desert. There is no exaggeration in saying that the war of Syria on Lebanon is a historic war that stems from the hatred that the desert has for the mountain.
LCCC: How do you describe your relations with each of His Beatitude Patriarch Sfeir, General Aoun, President Amin Gemayel, Chairman Carlos Edde, the Lebanese Forces, and the Qornet-Shehwan Gathering?
ABU-ARZ: The only measure of my relations with people is the Lebanese cause with all that it is sacred in it, and to the extent that people are closer to it they will be closer to me, and to the extent that they are removed from it, they will be distant from me. In fact, I do not care much for my personal relations with people. I care much more for my relations with them at the patriotic level. I also do not want to fall into the trap of a personal contest with anyone or engage anyone in endless arguments that will distance me from the cause and distract me from it. All that I will say is that most of those who say they are the opposition are far from authentic opposition. Some of them have gray and ambiguous positions, and I hate wavering and ambiguity, while others have soft and compromising positions and I hate those too especially when they call themselves “moderate”. Moderation when it comes to the truth is utter and blatant heresy. You are either with it or against it, and there is no room for middle ground. I hate those who stand in the middle ground, and I prefer to be on the side of St. Paul when he urged us to be "either hot or cold. Because if you are lukewarm … I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-17)
And here I ask : How can you be in the opposition and support the Syrian occupation at the same time, or worse, be neutral? How can you be in the opposition and support the Taef Agreement and its Syrian offsprings ? And how can you be in the opposition and participate in elections sponsored and organized by the Taef regime and, behind it, the Syrian occupation ?
In all modesty, I say that the political path taken to this day by the Guardians of the Cedars has not changed since 1975, and will not change in the future. We represent the true opposition that accepts no compromise. In other words, we said in 1976 that we are against the Syrian occupation in all its facets and forms. We reject the phrase "Syrian presence" that is used by most opposition figures, and we reject the widely used phrase "redeployment with establishing excellent relations with Syria", since this linkage indicates evasiveness and hand-kissing, and I despise evasiveness especially when it relates to the highest interests of Lebanon. There is also much double-speak and sitting on the fence, and I think this type of politics has contributed enormously to bringing the country to its present predicament. I always prefer to rely on what Christ said, "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No' be 'No' ; for anything beyond this comes from the evil one" (Matthew, 5:37). I also believe that the forces of evil have seized control of political life in Lebanon because everyone now says half truths, adopts half-way positions, and agrees to half measures, and this is something I truly despise.
For this reason, we decided since 1990 not to recognize the Taef regime and not to work with it – period – because it is an extension of the Syrian occupation. We refused to participate in the dummy elections of 1992, 1996, and 2000, neither by voting nor by fielding candidates. We refused to recognize the outcomes of these elections, namely the Taef ministers and members of parliament and all the other institutions that were spwaned by it. We continue to recognize the legitimacy of General Aoun as the interim prime minister of the Lebanese government according to the Lebanese constitution. And when some "moderates" accuse us of extremism, we tell them: "If taking an absolute position on the side of the truth and proclaiming it is an act of extremism, then we are very proud to be extremists…And if sitting on the fence next to the truth and mumbling it only by hint and insinuation means moderation, then we are proud to be non-moderates." And to close this subject, this condition of "political castration" that is the norm in Lebanon these days is a symptom of a disease. It must be terminated so that things straighten out.  
LCCC: How do you see the future of Lebanon? What Lebanon would you envision?
ABU-ARZ: Lebanon is a holy land from ancient times, with no less than the Bible testifying to that by praising it dozens of times. Lebanon is the land of saints since they started appearing on its soil alongside the existing political scum – which by itself is a unique phenomenon in these dark days – and the Church has been beatifying them one after the other. Moreover, the forces of good remain abundant in Lebanon in spite of all the surrounding political prostitution. There is an enormous reservoir of effective vital forces that remain mobile inside Lebanon and in the Disapora and they believe in the cause and its sanctity. The blood of those who gave their lives and whose voices cry out from the graves, and the sacrifices of the handicapped and the honorable fighters that were offered on the altar of Lebanon, all of them will not be in vain. Lebanon has resisted death for the past three decades, it did not die, and it won't die as its enemies wished. Truth and rights never die so long as there is someone defending them. From all these standpoints we say that Lebanon will come out alive from its ashes exactly like the Phoenix, and will fly high again bearing the standard of its historic mission as a disseminator of peace, love, and knowledge to the far-flung corners of the world. It is only a matter of time, and not only will we bide our time and refuse to acquiesce to evil, but we will continue to carry the cross until the very end. For the road to Gogotha has to come to an end and the hour of resurrection has to be near. 
LCCC: In conclusion, would you like to make some final comments? And do you have a message to the Lebanese Diaspora?
ABU-ARZ: I do not like the words "Diaspora" and "emigrants"" and I do not use these terms. I prefer the term "World-wide Lebanese Presence" or the "Lebanese World" as we refer to it in our terminology, because it is a distinct entity given its sheer number of 15 million people, the preeminence of the Lebanese communities in those countries where they settled and the positions of power they have achieved, and the diverse civilizational contributions that those Lebanese helped disseminate in all fields, especially in scientific research…
To those Lebanese I say: Unite because division has taken us down to the abyss of death with which Lebanon is struggling today. Learn from the mistakes of the past and do not repeat the same mistake. Carefully choose your leadership and hold them accountable if they fail. Expose evil and do not compromise with it. Continue the struggle without despair, fatigue, or complaint. Believe in the cause because it is sacred. And believe in Lebanon because it is the home of God on earth.
I'll see you all in Beirut.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 22-23/19
US Researcher: Trump Doesn't Need Congress Permission to Counter Iran's Threats
Washington- Atef Abdullatif/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 22 May, 2019/Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that the US President Donald Trump has full executive authority that allows him to respond to any Iranian threat to the US or its interests in the Middle East, without the need for Congress permission. Dubowitz told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper Tuesday that launching attacks or strikes against Tehran or its proxies will be within Trump's reach and won’t require prior permission of the Congress, stressing that he is not speaking about open military conflict. He noted that the US won’t stand handcuffed when it comes to the country’s national security, adding that if the Iranian regime attacks the US forces or interests in the Middle East, it will be met with great force. Dubowitz, however, rules out the possibility that Iran might be as fatuous to commit such acts, saying it is less likely that the region is heading towards a war, despite expectations. Dubowitz, who is in charge of the Iranian issue and nuclear nonproliferation weapons in the Middle East, said that Iran is concerned by Washington’s policy exerting pressure on it, adding that the Tehran is aware that Trump, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton share one goal; to deter its activities. Commenting on Iran's refusal to return to the negotiating table, the US researcher said that throughout the past two years former Secretary of State John Kerry and others at Obama's administration told the regime to downplay Trump’s significance as he will serve as president for one term only. They also told them that the sanctions imposed by the US administration would not work, because they would be unilateral, not by multiple states. Dubowitz, however, affirmed that the sanctions were working and affecting the Iranian economyThe researcher continued that the regime is currently under huge pressure and Iranians will eventually realize that they do not have time to wait, because they may end up with the re-election of Trump for a second term.

Tension Inside Lebanese Cabinet on Eve of Final Budget Reading
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 22 May, 2019/The Lebanese government will make Wednesday a final reading of the 2019 draft budget before approving it and referring it to parliament amid political tension among political parties represented in the cabinet. “The government is called upon to resolve the existing polarization inside and outside the cabinet,” the Mustaqbal Movement warned in a statement following its weekly meeting on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil will hold a press conference to discuss the budget. “A final reading of the state budget will be held tomorrow (Wednesday) at noon at the Grand Serail,” State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mahmoud Qmati said on Tuesday. For his part, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, said: “I am pleased with the results. Today we complete the discussions, and I do not want to talk about the upcoming phase.” However, a dispute has emerged between Free Patriotic Movement ministers and others, mainly Hassan Khalil, in light of long discussions on the draft budget, which took 17 cabinet sessions. "For me and for the Finance Ministry, the draft budget is over. The final fees approved will not have any material impact on this budget and there is no need for further talks and for further delays,” Khalil said before attending Tuesday’s cabinet session, which was chaired by Hariri. However, FPM leader Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil did not share the Finance Minister’s views. “The draft budget will be over when it is over. There is no deadline,” he said. Discussions on the budget have taken place amid protests by public and private sector employees on austerity measures aimed at limiting state expenditures for 2019. Mustaqbal Movement said the bloc is satisfied with the results of the cabinet discussions, “especially in terms of announcing the measures and policies aimed at reducing the budget deficit and ending waste in various ministries, and the importance of assigning the army and security forces to control the illegal crossings and prevent smuggling."Observers expect tension among lawmakers during discussions of the draft budget in Parliament.

PA, US Administration Clash over Economic Workshop
Ramallah - Kifah Zboun/Wednesday, 22 May, 2019/US Peace Envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt slammed Tuesday the Palestinian Authority (PA) after Palestinian officials announced they would not participate in the economic workshop in Bahrain. Dubbed the “Peace to Prosperity” workshop, the gathering will take place on June 25-26 in Manama, during which the administration of US President Donald Trump will unveil the first part of the Deal of the Century, a proposal to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “It’s difficult to understand why the Palestinian Authority would reject a workshop designed to discuss a vision with the potential to radically transform lives and put people on a path toward a brighter future,” said Greenblatt. “History will judge the Palestinian Authority harshly for passing up any opportunity that could give the Palestinians something so very different, and something so very positive, compared to what they have today.”His comments came in response to PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh’s announcement on Monday that Palestinians and their leaders were not seeking an improvement of living conditions “under the occupation.”Shtayyeh along with other Palestinian officials said the PA would not participate in the Manama conference for not being consulted. PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat responded to Greenblatt's comments by wondering why he has expressed surprise at the Palestinian position. “The political aspect of the US deal was implemented by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moving the US embassy, dropping the refugee case and the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, closing the PLO's headquarters in Washington and the US consulate in Jerusalem, not to mention cutting aid and considering settlement a legitimate act and approving the annexation of large parts of the West Bank,” he said. “After all these moves, they come now to strike the deal in order to determine the price to be paid to Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Resurrection,” Erekat stressed, noting that Palestinians will certainly refuse to attend the workshop. Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa reiterated his country's support for “an independent [Palestinian] state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”He said the conference comes as part of Bahrain’s efforts to help Palestinians boost their resources in order to “fulfill their legitimate aspirations.”

Algeria: Youth Refuse Constitutional Solution, Clash With Security Forces
Algiers- Boualam Ghimrasah/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 22 May, 2019/Thousands of university students have taken to the street against the corruption-plagued politics in Algeria, refusing to yield to the army chief’s demand for popular backing of presidential polls slated for July 4 to elect a successor to ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. In parallel, Algeria’s judiciary decided to try former prime ministers facing corruption charges to the Supreme Court. Public streets in Algiers witnessed continued authority on civilian violence as dissent grew against ex-regime stalwarts remaining in power. Despite Bouteflika’s step down from power, demonstrators have continued to rally in Algiers and across the country, demanding that transitional bodies be set up ahead of any election. They also want the departure of figures close to Bouteflika including interim president Abdelkader Bensalah and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui. The army, a key powerbroker, has insisted the July 4 poll must go ahead and any change to the constitution would be up to a future president. Hundreds of students from colleges, institutes and high schools gathered in the streets to protest against what they perceived as an attempt for the revival of the Bouteflika regime. Contrary to the weekly protests, Tuesday’s march came after a speech given by the country's de facto ruler, Army Chief Gaid Salah, in which he attacked “conspirators and those seeking to block all possible solutions and drown the country in a political impasse." Emphasizing "the need to accelerate the establishment of an independent body to organize and oversee the elections," Salah said holding the poll would "stop those who are trying to prolong this crisis."Security forces broke up a student sit-in outside the government’s headquarters in Algiers, leading to limited clashes. No injuries have been reported. The capital also saw thousands of students and faculty members stage demonstrations near the University of Algiers, where they chanted slogans against Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui and his caretaker government.

400 US Congressmen Urge Trump to Stay in Syria
Tel Aviv - London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 22 May, 2019/A group of nearly 400 US congressmen called on President Donald Trump to demonstrate leadership in resolving the prolonged conflict in Syria, asserting that the only choice is to advance policies that can stop the growing threats to US interests, Israel, and regional security and stability. The congressmen signed Monday a letter sent to Trump saying that at a time of grave insecurity in the Middle East, “we are deeply concerned about the role that terrorist and extremist groups and US adversaries continue to play, particularly in Syria.”The letter read: “As some of our closest allies in the region are being threatened, American leadership and support are as crucial as ever.”They recommended several specific steps to advance regional security priorities, including assisting “our ally, Israel, in defending itself in the face of growing threats, including on its northern border.”The congressmen also called on Trump to increase pressure on Iran and Russia with respect to activities in Syria. “Working with our allies and partners, we urge you to maintain and increase pressure on Iran and Russia to constrain their destabilizing activities.”In February, Trump agreed to leave 400 US troops in Syria, after initially deciding to pull all 2,000 immediately. Meanwhile, the Golan Regional Council revealed that a delegation of US officials will attend a ceremony next month with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lay the cornerstone for a new town in the Golan Heights named after Trump. A Council official announced that June 12 was set the date for the new community’s cornerstone-laying to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of the ceasefire that ended the Six Day War, during which the Golan Heights, Sinai, the West Bank, and Gaza were occupied. Backed by the government's funding and full coordination, settlers plan for a huge ceremony that will involve a large group of wealthy Jews who have been invited to come and invest in the new settlement. Last month, Netanyahu said his new government would name the town after Trump in honor of the US president’s decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the northern territory. Netanyahu announced the location of the new settlement near Kela Alon, established since 1991. It will be allocated a large area under the control of the Israeli army in the Golan, on land owned by Syrian farmers who were displaced in the war and destroyed after the occupation.

UN Envoy Salame Warns of Bloody Civil War in Libya
New York- Ali Barada/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 22 May, 2019/UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame warned that Libya is on the verge of a long-lasting and bloody civil war that could divide the country and imperil the security of its neighbors and the wider Mediterranean region.
"Libya is on the verge of descending into a civil war which could lead to the permanent division of the country," he said.“The consequences and the risks of the conflict are already painfully clear, especially for the Libyan people: over 460 dead, 29 of them civilians. Over 2400 injured, the majority of them civilians. Over 75,000 people forced from their homes, all of them civilians. Over half of the displaced are women and children,” he added. “While the conditions for migrants and refugees in Libya were already dire prior to the conflict, these conditions have now gone from bad to worse. Nearly 3,400 refugees and migrants are trapped in detention centers exposed to, or in close proximity to, the fighting,” Salame continued. Salame added: “The attack on Tripoli also imperiled the potential of the talks which had been held on 27 February in Abu Dhabi between Prime Minister Serraj and General Haftar, the sixth of its kind between them. At those talks, there had been the real opportunity to replace the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, dissolve the parallel government in Beida and create an inclusive, unified the national government, which would have shepherded the country through the election process to the end of the Transitional Period. “The understandings reached in Abu Dhabi had placed the military under civilian control, a key demand of the vast majority of Libyans and many in the international community. “The violence on the outskirts of Tripoli is just the start of a long and bloody war on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, imperiling the security of Libya’s immediate neighbors and the wider Mediterranean region. The security vacuum created by the withdrawal of many of General Haftar’s troops from the south, coupled with the focus of the western forces on the defense of the capital, is already being exploited by ISIS and Al-Qaeda,” he noted. Furthermore, Salame urged all parties to hand over those sought by the ICC, saying: “There are numerous reports of extremists, persons under international sanctions, and individuals wanted by the International Criminal Court appearing on the battlefield on all sides. All parties must publicly disassociate themselves from such elements without delay and refer to the ICC those for whom arrest warrants have been issued. I recommend that the Council support the formation of a Commission of Inquiry to determine who have taken up arms and support the establishment of mechanisms to ensure the exclusion of unwanted elements.” To conclude, Salame said: “Without a robust enforcement mechanism, the arms embargo into Libya will become a cynical joke. Some nations are fueling this bloody conflict; the United Nations should put an end to it."

Damascus Harasses Ex-foes in Reconciliation Areas
Beirut - Geneva - London- Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 22 May, 2019/Syrian intelligence branches are arbitrarily detaining, disappearing, and harassing people in areas retaken from anti-government groups, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
The abuse is taking place even when the government has signed reconciliation agreements with the people involved, it added. Human Rights Watch has documented 11 cases of arbitrary detention and disappearance in Daraa, Eastern Ghouta, and southern Damascus. The government retook these areas from anti-government groups between February and August 2018. It reported that local organizations have documented at least 500 arrests in these areas since August. “Active combat has ended in much of Syria, but nothing has changed in the way intelligence branches trample rights of perceived opponents of Assad’s rule,” said Lama Fakih, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Lack of due process, arbitrary arrests, and harassment, even in so-called reconciled areas, speak louder than empty government promises of return, reform, and reconciliation,” she stressed. In all cases, the people targeted – former armed and political opposition leaders, media activists, aid workers, defectors, and family members of activists and former anti-government fighters – had signed reconciliation agreements with the government. The organization called on the Syrian government to immediately release all arbitrarily held detainees, or if there are valid grounds for holding them, make those clear. It also urged Russia to use its influence with its ally Syria to stop arbitrary detention and harassment. Moscow has played a prominent role in concluding reconciliation agreements between the government and opposition factions in several areas, restoring regime control on such areas starting from the city of Aleppo at the end of 2016. Russian military police are deployed in several areas in Daraa and Eastern Ghouta. People have been arrested in their homes and offices, at checkpoints and in the streets, HRW quoted relatives and witnesses as saying.
Relatives and friends of detained people said they were released only after their families paid a bribe and, in some of the cases, asked high level members of the reconciliation committees or Russian military police to intervene.“Those who tell you there is stability or security in the south are lying,” a humanitarian worker from Daraa told the organization. “There are still assassinations and arbitrary detentions, and the residents continue to suffer persecution.”Eight international and Syrian human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and HRW, called on the international community a week ago to pressure all parties of the conflict in Syria to reveal the fate of tens of thousands of enforced and arbitrarily detained people. The cases of detainees and missing persons are among the most complicated in the Syrian conflict, which since its outbreak in 2011, has left more than 370,000 people dead. The Human Right Watch’s report was given a boost by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which issued a third report on the violations of security services. The report provides an overview of the impact of armed conflict and violence on civilians, with attention to gender-related concerns, as well as a number of current and possible future International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and human rights concerns that may arise in relation to it.

 Air Raids Kill 12 Civilians in Syria's Idlib: Monitor
Damascus- Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 22 May, 2019/Airstrikes by Damascus or its ally Moscow killed 12 civilians in a market in Syria's Idlib province, a monitor said Wednesday, as fierce fighting raged for the oppsition-held northwestern region. Another 18 people were wounded when the warplanes hit the town of Maarat al-Numan around midnight (2100 GMT) on Tuesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The market was crowded with people out and about after breaking the daytime fast observed by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. The strikes came as heavy clashes raged in the north of neighboring Hama province after the opposition launched a counterattack on Tuesday against pro-government forces in the town of Kafr Nabuda. Fresh fighting on Wednesday took the death toll to 52 -- 29 troops and militia and 23 extremists, the Observatory said.
Naji al-Mustafa, a spokesman for armed factions, says the fighters regained control of Kfar Nabuda on Wednesday in an overnight counteroffensive, driving regime forces from areas they captured earlier this month. Regime forces had seized Kfar Nabuda on May 8, cutting into rebel-held territory. The clashes erupted on April 30, wrecking a cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey last September and raising fears of a wider regime offensive. The last major rebel-held area in Syria, in the northwestern Idlib province and parts of neighboring Hama, is home to some 3 million people. An extremist alliance led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, controls a large part of Idlib province as well as adjacent slivers of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia provinces. Russia and rebel ally Turkey inked the buffer zone deal in September to avert a regime offensive on the region which threatened humanitarian disaster for its three million residents. Bashar al-Assad's regime has renewed its bombardment of the region since HTS took control in January. Russia too has stepped up its airstrikes in recent weeks as Turkey proved unable to secure implementation of the truce deal. The Observatory says more than 180 civilians have been killed in the flare-up since April 30, and the United Nations has said tens of thousands have fled their homes.

Top Democrat Says Trump Conduct 'Could be Impeachable'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 22/2019/The top Democrat in the U.S. Congress charged Wednesday that President Donald Trump could have committed an "impeachable" offense by ignoring congressional subpoenas, likening it to the "cover-up" that brought down former president Richard Nixon. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had earlier provoked an angry denial from Trump after accusing him of engaging in a cover-up of the probe into his alleged collusion with Russia, and alleged attempts to obstruct the investigation. "This is why I think the president was so steamed off this morning," she said at a Democratic event in Washington. "Because the fact is in plain sight in the public domain: this president is obstructing justice and he's engaged in a cover-up. "And that could be an impeachable offense," she said to applause.

U.S. Suspects Syria in New Chemical Attack, Threatens Reprisal
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 22/2019/The United States has said it suspects that Syrian government forces have carried out a fresh chemical attack, threatening reprisals. The State Department said it was assessing indications that the regime used chemical weapons on Sunday during its offensive in Idlib, the most significant remaining holdout in Syria of jihadist rebels. "We are still gathering information on this incident, but we repeat our warning that if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons, the United States and our allies will respond quickly and appropriately," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. She also denounced Russia, the key ally of Damascus, for what she called a "disinformation campaign" as it tries to blame other parties for chemical attacks. "The Assad regime's culpability in horrific chemical weapons attacks is undeniable," Ortagus said. Russia and Turkey, the key ally of the rebels, in September reached an agreement that nominally protects Idlib amid fears for the safety of some three million people who live in or have fled into the northwestern area. But Syria's former al-Qaida affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has seized a large part of the province and adjoining areas, triggering a regime offensive that includes strikes by Syrian and Russian airplanes. Ortagus said that the offensive has "destroyed known health facilities, schools, residences and internally displaced person camps.""The regime's attacks against the communities of northwest Syria must end," she said. "The United States reiterates its warning, first issued by President (Donald) Trump in September 2018, that an attack against the Idlib de-escalation zone would be a reckless escalation that threatens to destabilize the region," she said. The warning came despite a trip to Russia last week by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said that the rival powers had found ways to work together on Syria.

Western Nations Urge Swift Sudan Accord to Install Civil Rule
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 22/2019/The United States, Britain and Norway called for a swift agreement between Sudanese protesters and generals on installing civilian rule, saying it would be harder for them to work with any other new authority. Talks between protest leaders and army generals who seized power after ousting longtime leader Omar al-Bashir last month have stopped since late Monday following disagreement about who should lead a new ruling body -- a civilian or a soldier. The Western troika, which has previously been involved in mediation in Sudanese conflicts, said the country "urgently needs an agreement" to end the period of uncertainty, according to a joint statement released late Tuesday. "Any outcome that does not result in the formation of a government that is civilian-led, placing primary authority for governing with civilians, will not respond to the clearly expressed will of the Sudanese people for a transition to civilian rule," it said. "This will complicate international engagement, and make it harder for our countries to work with the new authorities and support Sudan's economic development," added the statement, which was posted on the Facebook page of the U.S. embassy in Khartoum. Washington has consistently called for civilian rule in Sudan since Bashir was ousted by the army on April 11 after months of nationwide protests against his iron-fisted regime of 30 years. It has also suspended talks with Khartoum for removing Sudan from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, a key factor which for decades has made foreign businesses wary of investing in the northeast African country. Sudanese protest leaders are now preparing plans to call for a general strike to build pressure on the generals to cede power. The ruling military council has been pushing for its chairman General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to head the new sovereign body but protest leaders want a civilian. The new ruling body when finalised is expected to install a transitional civilian government for three years after which the first post-Bashir election would be held.

May's Last Attempt to Salvage Brexit Deal at Risk
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 22/2019/British Prime Minister Theresa May's final bid to salvage her EU divorce deal appeared doomed on Wednesday as pro-Brexit Conservatives and opposition MPs rejected her attempts at a compromise to end months of deadlock. The beleaguered leader is set to face a torrid session at Prime Minister's Questions in parliament on the eve of European elections that Britain had not even expected to take part in three years after the Brexit referendum. The poll could see the vote of the two main parties decimated. May vowed Tuesday to give lawmakers a vote on holding a public referendum on Brexit if they approve her unpopular withdrawal agreement in a series of votes starting in early June. She also dangled a package of other sweeteners to the deal aimed at opposition Labour MPs, in a bid to break trenchant opposition which has seen parliament reject her plan three times this year. May has said she will leave office shortly after the measures she outlined are voted on -- no matter the outcome. "I recognize the genuine and sincere strength of feeling across the house on this important issue," May said. However, MPs from across the political spectrum reacted furiously to the prime minister's latest offer, with Conservative Brexiteers crying betrayal and Labor lawmakers saying she had not compromised enough. In a sign of the scale of the backlash, Environment Secretary Michael Gove hinted that the vote in the week of June 3 may not go ahead after all. "We will reflect over the course of the next few days on how people look at the proposition," he told BBC radio.
'A question of democracy'
May's offer comes as Britain votes in EU elections Thursday with the two main parties trailing behind the Brexit Party and the pro-EU Liberal Democrats, according to polls. The latest YouGov survey showed eurosceptic populist Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party claiming 37 percent of votes, with Labour in third on 19 percent and the Tories lagging in fifth place with just seven percent. "If we win big on Thursday, we will kill off any prospect of parliament forcing a second referendum upon us because they know they would lose!" Farage told supporters at a final rally Tuesday.
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable, whose party is set to come second in the polls, told a party gathering on Tuesday that a vote for his party was "a vote to stop Brexit". The pro-EU party's outright rejection of Brexit appears to be resonating with Remain voters who would normally back Labor or the Conservatives.
'Last chance'
May pitched her "new Brexit deal" as MPs' "last chance" to end political gridlock that has already delayed Britain's departure from the bloc past its original March deadline and prompted public anger. The government is aiming for the law to be approved by the time parliament's summer recess begins on July 20, which would let the country leave at the end of that month -- as long as lawmakers reject a second referendum. Otherwise the process could be delayed until October 31 -- the deadline set by the EU -- or even later if its leaders grant Britain another postponement. May on Tuesday set out a series of incentives for MPs to vote for her deal. Some were in line with demands from Labour, but fell short of their full demands put forward during weeks of cross-party talks which ended in deadlock last week. "The prime minister needs to today accept that what she announced yesterday is not going to work and pull the vote," the party's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said Wednesday.
'Must do better'
May's proposals threaten to further repel euroskeptics in her own Conservative Party. Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, the favourite to replace her as leader, said on Twitter he would not support the new package, having backed it last time it was put to parliament. "We can and must do better -- and deliver what the people voted for," he said, rejecting the idea of any customs union or second referendum. Analysts and British newspapers gave May little-to-no chance of winning on this occasion, with the eurosceptic Daily Telegraph calling her move: "Desperate, deluded, doomed."

Libyan Strongman Haftar Tells Macron No Ceasefire for Now
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 22/2019/Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, who is leading a military offensive against the U.N.-recognized government in Tripoli, rejected a ceasefire requested by French President Emmanuel Macron during talks in Paris, an Elysee official said Wednesday. Haftar said the conditions for halting hostilities "were not met," while acknowledging that a "political dialogue" is needed to end the standoff with his rival, Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, the official said on condition of anonymity.

U.S. Calls for Dismantling U.N. Palestinian Refugee Agency
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 22/2019/The United States called Wednesday for dismantling the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, weeks before unveiling the economic aspects of its long-awaited Middle East peace plan.Addressing the U.N. Security Council, U.S. adviser Jason Greenblatt said UNRWA was a "bandaid" and that it was time to hand over services assured by the U.N. agency to countries hosting the Palestinian refugees and NGOs. "The UNRWA model has failed the Palestinian people," Greenblatt told the council. Last year, President Donald Trump's administration cut all funding to UNRWA, arguing that it was flawed as Washington pressed ahead with work on proposals for an Israeli-Palestinian solution. Greenblatt, who along with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is drafting the peace proposals, said it was time to "start a conversation about planning the transition of UNRWA services to host governments, or to other international or local non-governmental organizations, as appropriate."Founded in 1949, UNRWA provides education and health services to some five million Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The United States will hold a conference in Bahrain next month focused on the economic aspects of the peace plan that Greenblatt said has the "potential to unlock a prosperous future for the Palestinians.""It would be a mistake for the Palestinians not to join us. They have nothing to lose and much to gain if they do join us. But it is, of course, their choice," he added.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 22-23/19
Our Problem with Iran is its Regime
إياد أبو شقرا: مشكلتنا مع إيران نظامُها ومشكلة غيرنا قدراتُها النووية
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/May 22/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/75041/%D8%A5%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%88-%D8%B4%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D9%85%D8%B4%D9%83%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%A7-%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A5%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8F%D9%87%D8%A7/
I have to admit that I am not a fan of US President Donald Trump; nor am I someone who likes the views of the ‘Neo-Cons’ from whom Trump has inherited many policies, as well as many personalities, such as John Bolton, the President’s National Security Advisor.
On the other hand, I am fully convinced by the famous quote “even a broken clock is right twice a day". Indeed, in politics, no politician can always be right while his opponent is always wrong. Thus, I believe that there can be no half measures with regard to Iran and the dangers its current leadership pose to the Arab world; and more specifically, the Gulf States, not to mention the suffering of the great patient Iranian people.
The current leadership in Tehran understands nothing but the language of force, and totally disregards peaceful civilized coexistence.
In my humble opinion, it is here, where former US president Barack Obama committed a fatal mistake; and Trump would commit a similar mistake if he fails to understand that for Arabs and Iranians that the nuclear agreement (JCPOA) has never been one of physics, but rather of politics.
The issue has nothing to do with percentages of uranium enrichment, quantity of stored nuclear fuel, number of working reactors and ready-to-use nuclear warheads, or means of delivery. It is precisely with a theocratic mafia-based militaristic regime that is aggressive inside Iran, and expansionist against its neighbors.
Of course, the international community has every right to stand against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, although there are no less than nine countries that possess these weapons, including the UN Security Council’s five permanent members, plus India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. In addition to these states, there are also countries that process and rely on nuclear power, but have not turned their expertise to military use, led by Germany, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Spain and Sweden.
Therefore, theoretically – at least – there is no problem if certain countries acquire nuclear capability, provided they respect international peace, care about the welfare of their people, and refrain from threatening their neighbors and boasting about ‘controlling’ their capitals!
The fact that tension is rising today in the Middle East, following Washington’s escalation against the Tehran regime, is both logical and understandable; more so, given the strategic oil-related importance to the Gulf region.
Also logical and understandable is the way the Iranian leadership has raised the tempo by resorting to the two techniques it has mastered for years: the first is military escalation on the ground; and the second is the diplomatic and propaganda distortion it spreads throughout the world’s capitals and media outlets in America and Europe.
Militarily, the Tehran regime – which has increasing fallen under the sway of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) militia since the ‘Iran Iraq War’ (1980 and 1988) – has realized that it was futile to ‘export the revolution’ through direct confrontations. So, the alternative for this project of hegemony was to ‘plant’ IRGC-branch militias in every non-Iranian area that may be a useful fertile ground; and, so these militias would fight for the Iranian hegemony project spilling the locals’ blood.
Furthermore, after adopting the logic of ‘attack is the best form of defense’, many regime spokesmen said, on several occasions, that it was better for Iran to fight its wars in the city streets of neighboring Arab states than being forced to fight then in the streets of Tehran, Esfahan, Tabriz and other Iranian cities!
This is exactly what has happened. The former leading conservative politician Ali Reza Zakani, went even further, a few years ago, boasting that “three Arab capitals have today ended up in the hands of Iran and belong to the Iranian revolution”. He then noted that Sanaa has now become the fourth Arab capital that is on its way to joining the Iranian revolution.
In the same vein, General Hussein Salami boasted that “Iran was about to reach new levels of power… our confrontation with the West to the Mediterranean; which means changing regional equation, whereby our power is increasing while our enemies’ are decreasing”. He then added that Western governments were ‘pleading’ with Iran to join them in fighting ISIS.
Such talk leaves no doubt on Iran’s intentions. Then, looking at how the situation has unfolded in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and even Lebanon, it becomes clear that Washington’s gamble on a ‘change of behavior’ from the Iranian leadership and the IRGC command – which run Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis, Gaza’s Islamic Jihad and their ilk – has spectacularly failed.
Still, what is noteworthy, is that Washington’s Middle Eastern affairs planners, refuse to link the support accorded to Benjamin Netanyahu and full adoption of his extremist and expansionist plans have been the greatest help to Tehran as it attempts to justify its own plans. I say ‘noteworthy’, not ‘strange’ or ‘surprising’ because what we are facing is obvious.
Tehran’s extremism benefits Tel Aviv, and vice versa. Thus, both sides are now carving out what remains of the Arab Middle East, and encouraging the ‘third regional power’ Turkey to enter the arena and claim what it regards its own under the excuse of defending the Sunnis.
No one desires war in our region, which is already in deep trouble. Moreover, any wise individual knows that the only people who are going to pay the cost of war are the people of the region.
However, what can be done to stop Tehran’s ongoing wars against our Arab states, in fact, inside these states?
What is the solution with a regime that is hell-bent on conquering the region, and spreading its ideology and extremism in the name of what it claims to be the real Islam?
What will become of us if extremism and counter-extremism were allowed to dominate our region, undermine its culture and resources, and destroy the future of our youth?
This is our fatal nuclear problem!

Turkey: Erdogan Describes Armenian Genocide as 'Reasonable Relocation'
أوزاي بولوت/كايتستون: أردوغان يصف الإبادة الجماعية للأرمن بأنها عملية اعادة تموضع سكاني معقولة
Uzay Bulut/Wednesday, 22 May, 2019/
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/75108/%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AA-%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%8A%D8%B5%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%A8/
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14211/turkey-erdogan-armenian-genocide
"What Erdogan refers to as 'relocation' was actually the genocidal deportation of civilian populations --mainly women, children and the elderly -- to the very interior of Asia Minor. These populations were not simply relocated to another place, contrary to what the Turkish state claims. They were sent to concentration and extermination camps or remote places in the interior to be slaughtered or to die from exposure, exhaustion, hunger or epidemics -- either on the way to, or at the place of, their destinations." — Vasileios Meichanetsidis, an Athens-based genocide scholar and editor of the 2012 book, The Genocide of the Ottoman Greeks, in an interview with Gatestone Institute.
At a symposium in Ankara on April 24 -- the 104th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated his distortion and denial of the 1915 mass murder of Christians at the hands of Ottoman Turks. "The relocation of the Armenian gangs and their supporters who massacred the Muslim people, including women and children, in eastern Anatolia, was the most reasonable action that could be taken in such a period," Erdogan said. This quote was then posted on the official "Turkish Presidency" Twitter page.
"Erdogan's statement was factually flawed, deceptive and insulting," Vicken Babkenian, an independent researcher for the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, told Gatestone in a recent interview.
Babkenian, a descendant of genocide survivors on both sides of his family, explained: "The Ottoman Turkish government's wide-scale and systematic destruction of its indigenous Armenian population in 1915-23 is well documented, and was one of the foremost examples of that crime which led the Polish-Jewish jurist Raphael Lemkin to coin the word 'genocide' in 1944. Erdogan's tweet -- on the most solemn day of remembrance of the Armenian Genocide -- was clearly meant to appease the ultra-nationalist element in Turkey at the expense of historic truth.
"I don't believe that there is another head of government in the world today who has expressed such unremorseful rhetoric about his nation's well-documented extermination of its indigenous populations. It is genocide denial at its worst. Erdogan's message can be interpreted as follows: Turkey is unremorseful about what happened to the Armenians in 1915. They deserved what they got, and we have no intention of reckoning with our past or pursuing a policy of transitional justice."
Vasileios Meichanetsidis, an Athens-based genocide scholar and editor of the 2012 book, The Genocide of the Ottoman Greeks, also criticized Erdogan's false portrayal of the Turks' mass murder of Christians. He told Gatestone:
"What Erdogan refers to as 'relocation' was actually the genocidal deportation of civilian populations -- mainly women, children and the elderly -- to the very interior of Asia Minor. These populations were not simply relocated to another place, contrary to what the Turkish state claims. They were sent to concentration and extermination camps or remote places in the interior to be slaughtered or to die from exposure, exhaustion, hunger or epidemics -- either on the way to, or at the place of, their destinations.
"These 'relocations' resulted in the partial or total destruction of numerous Greek Orthodox communities that had lived in Anatolia for nearly 3.000 years.
"The continuous Turkish state policy of genocide denial shows how susceptible Turkey still is to committing yet another genocide, but also how important and necessary it is for the international community to recognize the genocide as a means of preventing its recurrence by a denialist and aggressive state perpetrator."
Anahit Khosroeva, an Assyrian genocide scholar and lecturer at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences based in Armenia, told Gatestone:
"What Erdogan falsely calls the 'relocation' was for us -- the descendants of the survivors of the Armenian and Assyrian genocides – depatriation. Indigenous Armenians and Assyrians got annihilated in their own ancient homeland.
"The assertion [by Erdogan and other genocide deniers] that Turkish archives are open is also far from reality – particularly from the point of view of access to materials on the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides by impartial scholars. The archives are open, but only for the researchers working for Turkish state interests.
"No matter what Turkey says, the Armenian Genocide as a crime against humanity has been recognized and condemned by 27 countries across the world."
This has not prevented Erdogan and his supporters from simultaneously denying the genocide and being proud of it. This is the propaganda mechanism that has turned the victims into perpetrators, and has shaped Turkey's official historiography since the establishment of the Republic in 1923. Turkish school books still teach that the "treacherous" Greeks, Armenians and Assyrians forced the Ottoman Turks to act in self-defense.
Meanwhile, on the day that Erdogan made the speech in which he held the genocide victims responsible for their own plight, Turkish police prevented the Human Rights Association (IHD) from holding a scheduled commemoration ceremony in Istanbul.
The IHD therefore held the ceremony at its office. At the ceremony, IHD co-chair Eren Keskin said:
"We are again living under the power of unlawfulness. We are again getting through a period of grave human rights violations. The cursed legacy is continuing in new forms.
"Today is April 24th - the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. But the reaction to commemorating the genocide is strong. Even declaring a day of commemoration is not tolerated."
Genocide scholar Vasileios Meichanetsidis concluded that for Turkey to be a truly democratic country, it must acknowledge its past crimes. He told Gatestone:
"Turkey will not be able to free itself from its murderous past and the stain on its genesis as a state, unless it recognizes the genocide of the native Christian peoples of the Ottoman Empire, thus allowing the descendants of the victims the resilience needed to overcome their generational sufferings, resulting from the indescribable physical and emotional sufferings of their ancestors.
"The recognition could also free the Turkish people from guilt and shame, thus marking the beginning of a new process of reconciliation between Turkey and the descendants of the genocide victims, as well as between Turkey and its neighbors, especially Greece, Armenia and Cyprus."
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Russian Plans for This Week's European Union Elections
Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/May 22/2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14253/russia-eu-elections
Russian President Valdimir Putin is actively cultivating a network of contacts in EU member states with the aim of building a pro-Russian bloc in the next EU parliament, one that will be active in calling for the sanctions to be lifted.
Concerns about Russian influence have also been raised in France, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands and Germany, while questions remain as to whether Moscow tried to interfere in Britain's 2016 referendum on leaving the EU.
Elsewhere Moscow has worked hard to forge closer relations with Hungary and Bulgaria, two former Soviet satellites that appear to prefer maintaining good links with Russia over their support for the EU.
As part of his effort to broaden his ties with pro-Russian states, Mr Putin is now focusing on the Czech Republic, where the Kremlin is actively engaged with the country's pro-Russian president, Miloš Zeman, as well as Andrej Babiš, the controversial prime minister.... Certainly, from Moscow's perspective, adding the Czech Republic to the burgeoning list of EU states and political parties with pro-Russian sympathies can only strengthen its efforts to undermine the EU's efforts to maintain a united front against Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is now focusing on the Czech Republic, where the Kremlin is actively engaged with the country's pro-Russian president, Miloš Zeman, as well as Andrej Babiš, the controversial prime minister. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with President of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman, in Moscow on November 21, 2017.
No one is working harder to achieve a successful outcome from this week's European Union elections than Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Even though there is little prospect of Russia ever wanting to join the family of EU nations, that has not stopped Mr Putin from intensifying his efforts to expand his influence over those countries that are members of the European trade bloc.
Consequently, at a time when Moscow is desperate to have the sanctions lifted that have been imposed in response to various Russian acts of provocation, such as last year's Salisbury poisoning, Mr Putin is investing much time and energy to ensure that a strong pro-Russian lobby is elected to the new EU parliament following Thursday's Europe-wide ballot.
The EU, together with the US, has been at the forefront of the international campaign to hold Moscow to account for its role in the Salisbury attack in March 2018, when a team of Russian GRU intelligence officers have been accused of attempting to murder former Russian Sergei Skripal with Novichok nerve agent. The attack resulted in the strengthening of the sanctions originally imposed against Moscow in the wake of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, as well as its interference in eastern Ukraine.
Despite Moscow's protestations to the contrary, the sanctions have had an adverse impact on the Russian economy, which has contracted by around 3 per cent, prompting Mr Putin to search for ways to ease the impact the sanctions are having on Russia's economic fortunes.
To this end he is actively cultivating a network of contacts in EU member states with the aim of building a pro-Russian bloc in the next EU parliament, one that will be active in calling for the sanctions to be lifted.
The recent political upheavals in Austria, where a minister from the far-right FPO party has been forced to resign this week over his alleged involvement in a Russian-linked corruption scandal, is perhaps the best example of the growing links between prominent European politicians and Moscow.
Concerns about Russian influence have also been raised in France, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands and Germany, while questions remain as to whether Moscow tried to interfere in Britain's 2016 referendum on leaving the EU.
Elsewhere Moscow has worked hard to forge closer relations with Hungary and Bulgaria, two former Soviet satellites that appear to prefer maintaining good links with Russia over their support for the EU.
The extent of Hungary's preference for Moscow over the EU was demonstrated in the wake of the Salisbury attack when Budapest only agreed to expel a single Russian diplomat, while Bulgaria, another ally of the Kremlin, expelled none.
Slovakia, one of the EU's more recent recruits, also declined to support Brussels' request for member states to demonstrate diplomatic solidarity against Moscow.
As part of his effort to broaden his ties with pro-Russian states, Mr Putin is now focusing on the Czech Republic, where the Kremlin is actively engaged with the country's pro-Russian president, Miloš Zeman, as well as Andrej Babiš, the controversial prime minister.
Mr Zeman, who won re-election to serve a second term last January, is known for his pro-Russian sentiments and his profound Euroscepticism, especially over the EU's handling of the recent migrant crisis.
Mr Babis, whose premiership has been dogged by allegations of fraud, is regarded as a close ally of Mr Zeman, who has been described as "the most influential Kremlin ally in central Europe" because of his avowed support for Russia's military intervention in Syria, as well as endorsing Russian interference in eastern Ukraine.
Mr Babis is increasingly seen as a controversial figure in his home country, especially in the wake of a strange incident at the end of last year when his son claimed he was abducted by a Russian business associate of the Czech prime minister while on holiday in Crimea.
Mr Babis has rigorously refuted the claims, and insisted his son was "mentally ill". The affair nevertheless prompted six Czech opposition parties to demand the prime minister's resignation. Mr Babis has also had to rebut allegations that he worked as an informer for communist Czechoslovakia's secret police, the StB, a Cold War ally of the KGB -- claims that have led to suggestions that he retains close relations with Moscow.
Certainly, from Moscow's perspective, adding the Czech Republic to the burgeoning list of EU states and political parties with pro-Russian sympathies can only strengthen its efforts to undermine the EU's efforts to maintain a united front against Russia.
*Con Coughlin is the Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor of London's Daily Telegraph.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Time for action on Muslim Brotherhood’s European activities
Nathalie Goulet and Ghanem Nuseibeh/Arab News/May 21/2019
Fighting the Muslim Brotherhood should be at the top of the agenda of the next Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in Makkah on May 30. When the Brotherhood cannot come in through the door, they go through the window — currently via the window of your computers and smartphones.
The European Council for Fatwa and Research recently launched what it called a “Euro Fatwa App” out of Dublin. Its main audience was Britain and it was heavily promoted by mosques in the UK that are affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The head of the organization behind the app was a certain Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, a Qatar-based Egyptian cleric considered to be the spiritual head of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qaradawi was banned from entering the UK in 2008 and is also banned from entering France, the US, the UAE and Ireland, amongst other countries, because of his extremist views. What the app aimed to do was exploit technology and infiltrate the homes of ordinary Muslims in Britain. He may have been banned from physically entering the UK, but Al-Qaradawi’s app was to become a vehicle for his extremist preaching. It was based in Dublin, possibly as a test by his organization on British-European cooperation amidst the Brexit negotiations.
The app included many extremist and anti-Semitic views. It aimed to not only incite anti-Semitism, but also to isolate Muslim communities from mainstream European life.
Lawmakers in both the UK and Europe, including French senator Nathalie Goulet — co-author of this column — were made aware of the app. And, after Google was alerted to its existence by the Sunday Times, the company acted promptly and banned the app from its store. It was a victory for common sense and an example of how Britain needs to work closely with Europe in combating extremism.
The app was one example of the dangers that all of Europe faces, whether the UK is inside or outside the EU. The most potent and dangerous organization that operates across Europe with apparent immunity is the Muslim Brotherhood. The app was an example of one of the tools it uses, but it has many others at its disposal, including charities, madrasas and businesses.
The British government’s 2015 review of the Muslim Brotherhood concluded that “aspects of Muslim Brotherhood ideology and tactics, in this country and overseas, are contrary to our values and have been contrary to our national interests and our national security.” In 2017, the Manchester Arena terrorist attack took place, with the bomber, Salman Abedi, reportedly being at least partly radicalized at a Muslim Brotherhood-run mosque.
Governments need to support the anti-extremism fight that ordinary, moderate Muslims are involved with daily.
Extremists adapt rapidly to changing circumstances and they are quick adopters of technology. The time has come for a serious review of the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood inside Europe. European countries, including Britain, need to look internally at the threat. This should not be connected to the activities of the extremist group outside of Europe. Informal inter-European cooperation on the app was an example of how effective collaboration can be.
It is time European governments took the issue of the Muslim Brotherhood seriously. Europeans deserve to know what this group is doing on the continent. Governments need to support the anti-extremism fight that ordinary, moderate Muslims are involved with daily. I hope they act before it is too late.
Even though he is banned from the country, is sought by Interpol and is financed and hosted by Qatar, Al-Qaradawi is still trying to spread his ideology in France. On Saturday, a tax-deductible charitable dinner in aid of Mauritania’s Markaz Takwin Al-Ulama (Center for the Training of Islamic Scholars) is due to take place in Saint-Denis, near Paris. It has been preceded by a tour of 12 conferences and fundraisers. This institute, which is close to the Muslim Brotherhood, was closed by the Mauritanian authorities last year because it taught radical Islam.
At the Saint-Denis event, a video conference will be provided by the group’s leader, Sheikh Mohammed Ould Dedew, who is known for preaching radical, anti-Semitic thinking and for teaching men how to beat their wives and children. Meanwhile, the floor will be taken by Dr. Mahfoud Ould Ibrahim, who is also known for extremism. How can we explain that this type of event, which is potentially dangerous for Europe’s security, is being allowed? It will provide clear support for a prohibited, Muslim Brotherhood-aligned group in Mauritania.
We are acting against our interests by allowing such an event. Mauritania is a member of the G5 Sahel that France supports with its troops.
A year on from the #NoMoneyForTerror conference in Paris, we can now see that money still flies from the suburbs of the French capital to Mauritania under the cover of Zakat. One can imagine the colossal amount of money that can be raised in Europe during the holy month of Ramadan, and that is why we need to follow the example of the UAE and Saudi Arabia in terms of good practices when collecting Zakat. We need to trace the money and prohibit cash from being used to support the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliated organizations.
We in France cannot send soldiers to secure West Africa from religious extremism and terrorism and, at the same time, allow people connected to the Brotherhood to fundraise within our borders. This attitude is totally schizophrenic.
It is also why we need to launch a crusade against the Euro Fatwa App and its like, both in Europe and in the many Muslims countries that are fighting against terrorism.
The question of the app must be discussed at the upcoming GCC summit.
No more words, we need action.
**Nathalie Goulet is a member of the Senate of France, representing the Orne department (Normandy). Twitter: @senateur61. Ghanem Nuseibeh is chairman of Muslims Against Anti-Semitism. Twitter: @gnuseibeh

Conflict is the business Iran has chosen
السير جون جنكينز/ أراب نيوز: خلق ودخول الصراعات هما العمل الذي اختارته إيران
Sir John Jenkins/Arab News/May 21/2019
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My very first diplomatic posting to the Middle East was to the UAE in 1983. It was at the height of the Iran-Iraq War, which — after the retaking of Khorramshahr by Iranian forces the previous year — was about to become a bloody stalemate, characterized by human wave attacks, missile and artillery strikes on urban areas, poison gas and trench warfare in the Al-Faw Peninsula and the wetlands of the Shatt Al-Arab, the mining of international waterways in the Gulf, and direct attacks on oil platforms and shipping.
The Iranians had laid mines with various purposes in mind. They had earlier sought to hit Iraqi oil exports by targeting Iraqi tankers. When these were reflagged and put under US protection, the costs of direct action increased dramatically. Mines were a cheap way to achieve the same end. They also had the effect of increasing insurance premiums, thereby, they hoped, increasing the pressure on Western states to bring an end to the conflict on Iranian terms. In those days you could see lines of tankers moored a few miles off Fujairah, waiting to enter the Strait of Hormuz, load and get out as quickly as possible
This policy backfired spectacularly. On April 14, 1988, a US naval vessel struck a mine in the Gulf. The mine was quickly and conclusively identified as Iranian. That led to a US operation that destroyed Iranian military positions on two refitted oil platforms in the lower Gulf and effectively sank or disabled the entire Iranian navy. In the early morning of July 3, the USS Vincennes, on hyper-alert for Iranian retaliation, mistakenly shot down a civilian airliner that had just taken off from Bandar Abbas, with the awful loss of 290 lives. I was on duty in the Foreign Office that night and remember vividly the agonizing process as the truth of what had happened emerged over a few hours. A few months later, Ruhollah Khomeini “drank the cup of poison” and agreed to end the war.
I write all this by way of preliminaries, because some people seem to forget their history. Many people still want to suggest that the latest attacks on four oil tankers off Fujairah are unlikely to have been Iranian-sponsored, that there’s no proof of anything and, in any case, it would be better not to know or to say because that way lies war between a trigger-happy US and an embattled Iran. They sometimes add that the multiple drone strikes subsequently launched by the Houthis on Saudi oil facilities had nothing to do with the maritime attacks and, in any case, the Houthis don’t take orders from Iran.
It’s hard to know where to start with all this. First of all, it is true that no one has come forward with clear evidence of what exactly happened off Fujairah. But reports suggest that the attacks were sophisticated, involving drones carrying some sort of explosive package designed to detonate at or just below the waterline of the ships that were targeted. But the details are a little less important than the motive. And the motive — just like 35 years ago — must have been to send a message to Gulf oil exporters and oil shippers. As in the 1980s, only the Iranians have such a motive. If they or someone acting on their behalf aren’t responsible, then who is? Daesh or Al-Qaeda? Assuming they had the presence and the capacity, what on earth would they gain? They are preoccupied elsewhere and always claim responsibility for their acts. So who else? The tooth fairy maybe?
Military strikes alone won’t solve this, as we are seeing in southern Syria, where Iran’s forward creep continues
Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, the Houthis gleefully announced that they had carried out the drone attacks in Saudi Arabia. Suggesting quite reasonably that there is a connection between these and the attacks off Fujairah is not the same as claiming that the Houthis are Iranian puppets. No one serious believes that, any more than they believe that Hezbollah, Badr, Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq or Kata’ib Hezbollah are simply puppets. They all have their own interests and have occasionally pursued these against Iranian wishes, but they also share fundamental beliefs, loyalties, interests and goals. And we know perfectly well (not least because they have all acknowledged this publicly and the UN and others have documented it extensively) that the Iranians support each of them in different ways, politically, morally, socially, religiously and with supplies of money, weapons and training.
Some people will then say: That’s all very well, but we must not look as if we are jumping to conclusions, even if they are well founded, because that simply plays into the hands of US President Donald Trump and his warmongering officials. This is bizarre. Some of it comes out of a deep-seated belief — including in Europe — that Trump is simply the manifestation of a broader problem, that the US is an overweening imperial power that needs to be curbed.
Yet, if you look at what Trump has actually done in the Middle East and North Africa as president, it looks very similar in its essence to what Obama did: Seek to reduce exposure, don’t start any new wars, reduce troop numbers, avoid new commitments and encourage the regional powers to take responsibility for their own security. Regardless of the temporary reinforcement of US naval forces in the Gulf and speculation about troop movements, Trump has made it quite clear in his public statements that he is not seeking conflict and is willing to talk to Iran.
The details that have emerged about the intelligence on which the US has based its changed security posture in the last few weeks suggest that its concern about hostile Iranian intentions toward those US forces and other assets still based and active in the region are entirely justified. And again the Iranians and their allies have form — as anyone who remembers the following will know: Their sponsoring of violent insurgencies in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in the 1980s; the murderous attacks on the US Marine barracks and the US Embassy in Beirut in 1983 and 1984 respectively; the Kuwait bombings of 1983 and the attempted assassination of the emir of Kuwait in 1985; the attack on Khobar Towers in 1996; the vicious attacks by Iranian-backed militias on US and UK troops in Iraq from 2003 onwards; the murder of Rafik Hariri in 2005; the thwarted 2011 plot to bomb a crowded restaurant in Washington in order to kill Adel Al-Jubeir; the recent assassination attempts in Europe and so on and so on.
Whatever you think about the competence and cohesion of this US administration, this is not about the US. It’s about Iran. Some people claim that its leaders lash out because they feel threatened, as if they’re just an innocent child on the school playground being bullied by the bigger boys. That gets it precisely the wrong way round. To paraphrase the gangster Hyman Roth in “The Godfather,” this is the business they have chosen.
I don’t actually think war is imminent. Nor — if oil prices and insurance rates are anything to go by — do the markets. The US posture, for all the reinforcements sent in the last couple of weeks, remains essentially defensive. Even the think-tankers seem to have calmed down a bit. But the problem of what to do about Iran, which continues to weave its webs of influence across the whole northern tier of the Arab world and down into Yemen, remains. The more it expands its influence and engages in grey-zone conflict — claiming to be protecting the Shiites of the region, persuading others to do its dirty work, and embarking on deniable attacks, whether physical or cyber — the more anger will mount and the more others will seek equivalent ways of defending themselves.
Whatever you think about the competence and cohesion of this US administration, this is not about the US. It’s about Iran
Nobody wants war, probably not even Iran. It is under enough economic pressure as it is. Ordinary Iranians are complaining, and Europe, China, India or Russia will not be able to compensate for the losses it will suffer under renewed sanctions. But it has used the last 30 years to build capacity and resilience and wants to preserve the political gains it made from the unwillingness of the Obama administration to challenge its growing hegemony. It is therefore probably more prepared than anyone else to take the region as close to war without war as possible. It is teetering on the edge with Israel. And the rocket attack on the old Green Zone in Baghdad over the weekend — whoever was responsible — was highly provocative. It will eventually misjudge. That will be a disaster.
The strategic problem is Iran’s gradual incorporation of Iraq and Syria, along with an increasingly Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon, into a Greater Levantine Co-Prosperity and Armed Resistance Zone through the colonization of the political and security systems of these states and now, increasingly, their banking, energy, import and construction sectors. Military strikes alone won’t solve this, as we are seeing in southern Syria, where Iran’s forward creep continues in spite of repeated Israeli strikes. That means hitting Iran where it hurts — economically and financially. This, after all, was a major factor in Iran’s decision to take the nuclear negotiations more seriously after 2012. The Trump administration is clearly trying to repair some of the damage the previous administration did by relaxing this pressure prematurely and pretending it had a robust policy in Iran and Syria when it didn’t. Europe, if it wants to be relevant, should help, rather than complaining about how unfair it all is.
In the end, the real remedy would require Iran to agree to be bound by a new and credible security regime. The usual suggestions of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe-type arrangement for the Gulf won’t work: Iran would simply use anything at a regional level to drive out the US and bully its neighbors. But there is another way. That would be for the UN secretary-general to invoke operative paragraph 8 of UN Security Council resolution 598 — the resolution that marked the end of the Iran-Iraq War — which called upon him to examine measures to enhance the security and stability of the region in consultation with Iran, Iraq and other states and, by implication, with the involvement of the Security Council. That wasn’t done at the time. But, if Iran now starts to feel enough sustained pain to want a proper deal, then it could offer a way out of this maze. This all depends, of course, on Iran being willing to act as a normal member of the community of nations, rather than as a perpetually dissatisfied disruptor. Ultimately, it’s an Iranian choice. And if it opts for continued proxy conflicts, something will eventually give.
**Sir John Jenkins is an Associate at Policy Exchange. Until December 2017, he was Corresponding Director (Middle East) at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), based in Manama, Bahrain, and was a Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. He was the British ambassador to Saudi Arabia until January 2015

Time for action on Muslim Brotherhood’s European activities
نتالي غولت وغانم نسيبة: لقد حان الوقت للعمل الجاد لوضع حد لممارسات جماعة الإخوان المسلمين في أوروبا
Nathalie Goulet and Ghanem Nuseibeh/Arab News/May 21/2019
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Fighting the Muslim Brotherhood should be at the top of the agenda of the next Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in Makkah on May 30. When the Brotherhood cannot come in through the door, they go through the window — currently via the window of your computers and smartphones.
The European Council for Fatwa and Research recently launched what it called a “Euro Fatwa App” out of Dublin. Its main audience was Britain and it was heavily promoted by mosques in the UK that are affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The head of the organization behind the app was a certain Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, a Qatar-based Egyptian cleric considered to be the spiritual head of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qaradawi was banned from entering the UK in 2008 and is also banned from entering France, the US, the UAE and Ireland, amongst other countries, because of his extremist views. What the app aimed to do was exploit technology and infiltrate the homes of ordinary Muslims in Britain. He may have been banned from physically entering the UK, but Al-Qaradawi’s app was to become a vehicle for his extremist preaching. It was based in Dublin, possibly as a test by his organization on British-European cooperation amidst the Brexit negotiations.
The app included many extremist and anti-Semitic views. It aimed to not only incite anti-Semitism, but also to isolate Muslim communities from mainstream European life.
Lawmakers in both the UK and Europe, including French senator Nathalie Goulet — co-author of this column — were made aware of the app. And, after Google was alerted to its existence by the Sunday Times, the company acted promptly and banned the app from its store. It was a victory for common sense and an example of how Britain needs to work closely with Europe in combating extremism.
The app was one example of the dangers that all of Europe faces, whether the UK is inside or outside the EU. The most potent and dangerous organization that operates across Europe with apparent immunity is the Muslim Brotherhood. The app was an example of one of the tools it uses, but it has many others at its disposal, including charities, madrasas and businesses.
The British government’s 2015 review of the Muslim Brotherhood concluded that “aspects of Muslim Brotherhood ideology and tactics, in this country and overseas, are contrary to our values and have been contrary to our national interests and our national security.” In 2017, the Manchester Arena terrorist attack took place, with the bomber, Salman Abedi, reportedly being at least partly radicalized at a Muslim Brotherhood-run mosque.
Governments need to support the anti-extremism fight that ordinary, moderate Muslims are involved with daily.
Extremists adapt rapidly to changing circumstances and they are quick adopters of technology. The time has come for a serious review of the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood inside Europe. European countries, including Britain, need to look internally at the threat. This should not be connected to the activities of the extremist group outside of Europe. Informal inter-European cooperation on the app was an example of how effective collaboration can be.
It is time European governments took the issue of the Muslim Brotherhood seriously. Europeans deserve to know what this group is doing on the continent. Governments need to support the anti-extremism fight that ordinary, moderate Muslims are involved with daily. I hope they act before it is too late.
Even though he is banned from the country, is sought by Interpol and is financed and hosted by Qatar, Al-Qaradawi is still trying to spread his ideology in France. On Saturday, a tax-deductible charitable dinner in aid of Mauritania’s Markaz Takwin Al-Ulama (Center for the Training of Islamic Scholars) is due to take place in Saint-Denis, near Paris. It has been preceded by a tour of 12 conferences and fundraisers. This institute, which is close to the Muslim Brotherhood, was closed by the Mauritanian authorities last year because it taught radical Islam.
At the Saint-Denis event, a video conference will be provided by the group’s leader, Sheikh Mohammed Ould Dedew, who is known for preaching radical, anti-Semitic thinking and for teaching men how to beat their wives and children. Meanwhile, the floor will be taken by Dr. Mahfoud Ould Ibrahim, who is also known for extremism. How can we explain that this type of event, which is potentially dangerous for Europe’s security, is being allowed? It will provide clear support for a prohibited, Muslim Brotherhood-aligned group in Mauritania.
We are acting against our interests by allowing such an event. Mauritania is a member of the G5 Sahel that France supports with its troops.
A year on from the #NoMoneyForTerror conference in Paris, we can now see that money still flies from the suburbs of the French capital to Mauritania under the cover of Zakat. One can imagine the colossal amount of money that can be raised in Europe during the holy month of Ramadan, and that is why we need to follow the example of the UAE and Saudi Arabia in terms of good practices when collecting Zakat. We need to trace the money and prohibit cash from being used to support the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliated organizations.
We in France cannot send soldiers to secure West Africa from religious extremism and terrorism and, at the same time, allow people connected to the Brotherhood to fundraise within our borders. This attitude is totally schizophrenic.
It is also why we need to launch a crusade against the Euro Fatwa App and its like, both in Europe and in the many Muslims countries that are fighting against terrorism.
The question of the app must be discussed at the upcoming GCC summit.
No more words, we need action.
**Nathalie Goulet is a member of the Senate of France, representing the Orne department (Normandy). Twitter: @senateur61. Ghanem Nuseibeh is chairman of Muslims Against Anti-Semitism. Twitter: @gnuseibeh

Analysis/Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Is Coming. Israel Is Already Being Handed the Bill
ميراف أرلوسوروف/هآرتس: صفقة القرن التي يسوّق لها ترامب قادمة وإسرائيل تسلمت تفاصيلها
Meirav Arlosoroff /Haaretz/May 22/2019
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Netanyahu is likely to sacrifice Israel’s interests in industries like potato chips or milk and not risk its security interests, including the high-tech sector
U.S. President Donald Trump will soon present the economic portion of his “deal of the century,” his attempt to bring peace to the Middle East. The details haven’t yet been published, but Israel is already being handed the bill. According to all the forecasts, the agricultural trade agreement between the United States and Israel will undergo changes that will exact a heavy price from Israeli farmers growing things including apples, pears and almonds, the dairy industry, as well as food manufacturers including wineries and major companies such as Osem and Elite.
In Israel, a fight is raging over the price that farmers and food manufacturers will pay. The effects could be far-reaching, including the collapse of Israel’s dairy sector, as the country finds itself flooded with cheap American cheeses, wine and potato chips. No one in the Israeli government rules out the possible economic effects.
In many ways, this was predictable. Israel has essentially been violating its agricultural trade agreement with the United States since it was signed in 1985. Some might say that this isn’t intentional but rather a remnant of old agricultural policy. The United States used to protect its agricultural products with tariffs, as many countries did, but over time it switched over to direct subsidies to farmers. Israel, however, is stuck with the more antiquated policy of tariffs and industrial planning – a government-imposed cartel in the egg sector, for instance.
Thus Israel’s agricultural exports to the United States – slim though they may be – are exempt from import duties, while U.S. exports to Israel are blocked by thousands of different duties – and thus very little takes place.
Since 1985, and mainly since 2008, when the agreement expired, the Americans have been gently pushing to make the deal slightly more balanced. Israel has rejected these gestures, and not so gently. Thanks to the warm relations between the two countries, the Americans have kept quiet. But now one of Trump’s main platforms is that the United States must stop being on the losing end of trade deals, and he’s demanding that America’s trading partners offer equal conditions for American exporters. The most famous target is China of course, but Israel is also in the crosshairs.
The result is that the Trump administration has handed Israel a tough list, and people familiar with the Economy and Industry Ministry’s talks with U.S. officials say the Israeli market simply can’t handle some of the items. The Americans are demanding that Israel cancel all import duties and quotas for agricultural goods. If this happens, entire industries in Israel’s agricultural sector could be wiped out. Israeli companies that process food are also likely to take a serious blow.
No one is afraid of American vegetable exports. Despite the incredible size difference between the United States and Israel, the latter is very competitive when it comes to vegetables. The problem involves several kinds of fruits with relatively long shelf lives, fruits where America has a significant competitive advantage. The three products most likely to be at risk are apples, pears and almonds.
America’s best-selling apple, the Pink Lady, is grown around the world, while competition over Pink Ladies in Israel is limited. For most of the year, these blushing beauties sell for 10 to 15 shekels ($4.17) a kilo. American growers could send this price plummeting in a moment with their massive production volume. American farmers could also swamp Israel’s market with corn – American corn is much better than the Israeli variant – but given that Israel’s corn industry is pretty small, it’s less of a worry.
Another major reason for worry relates to products that can be easily imported, namely processed food, particularly cheese, wine and items such as frozen vegetables and potato chips. Currently, all that Israel imports is Pringles because this chip is made from potato flour and not actual potatoes, so it’s not subject to import duties. Israel’s potato chip manufacturers have been protected by the duty on importing potatoes, but the Americans are demanding a change.
The American demands touch on 40 industries that particularly interest the U.S. government. U.S. negotiators have apparently hinted that they’re willing to be flexible – to forgo some of these 40 items and accept that the changes will occur over years. But the list of American demands is longer, more demanding and We all know that one phone call from U.S. Vice President Mike Pence to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and we’ll have no choice but to give in,” said a source familiar with the talks. “We’re preparing a compromise so that it doesn’t come to that.”
Theoretically, Israel could say no. In practice, given the Americans’ insistence, that’s not an option. If a trade war begins, the United States could hit Israel with sanctions on high-tech exports. Israel couldn’t handle that. It’s unlikely that Washington would level sanctions on Israel; Pence’s phone call to Netanyahu would obviate the need.
In the meantime, Israel’s Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry is investigating which Israeli industries would be hurt most by free trade with the United States, and is begging for their lives. One of Israel’s most delicate sectors is the dairy industry, currently protected by a government-enabled cartel that makes Israeli dairy products among the world’s most expensive. While the United States is unlikely to start exporting raw milk to Israel, massive quantities of cheap American cheese are definitely an option. In this case, while Trump may be the trigger, Israel’s dairy industry is years overdue for a change.
Netanyahu, for his part, is likely to sacrifice Israel’s interests in potato chips or milk and not risk Israel’s security interests. Ultimately, that’s understandable.

Iranian Regime Mouthpiece 'Kayhan' Announces A War To Bring Down Saudi Regime And Reduce Saudi Oil Exports To Zero; States: America Has No Desire, Or No Capability, To Support Saudi Arabia And The UAE
MEMRI/May 22/2019
In its May 22, 2019 editorial, by Sa'dollah Zarei, the Iranian regime mouthpiece Kayhan called for destroying the Saudi regime, terming it a "cancerous growth." Kayhan praised the Iran-backed Shi'ite Houthi Ansar Allah militia's May 14, 2019 drone attack on the Saudi oil pipeline at Yanbu port. Without explicitly claiming that Iran was responsible for the May 12 attack on the oil tankers at the UAE port of Fujairah, the newspaper clarified that the message conveyed by this attack was harm to the U.S., which it said was responsible for security at the port and for the export of oil from it. The newspaper underlined that Iran had learned, from the U.S.'s failure to respond to the attacks on Saudi Arabia and on the UAE, that the U.S. has no desire, or no capability, to support these two countries, and that Iran can therefore continue to instruct the Houthis to escalate and expand its attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia.
Kayhan warned that the Houthis intend to extend their attacks in Saudi Arabia to 300 sensitive sites and military installations in the country, using suicide bomb-drones, with the aim of reducing Saudi oil exports to zero – as Iranian officials recently promised would happen (see MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 1452, How Will Iran Prevent The Export Of Oil From The Persian Gulf To World Markets? May 6, 2019, and MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 8062, Editors Of Iranian IRGC-Affiliated Newspapers: Iran Is Behind Fujairah And Yanbu Attacks; Possibility Of Additional Attacks In Red Sea, Golan Heights, May 14, 2019).
The regime mouthpiece also warned of future operations by the Iran-backed Houthi militia, saying that it was capable of launching an attack on the Saudi capital Riyadh with the aim of bringing down the Saudi regime that, Kayhan claimed, funds the U.S. military policy that aims to take control of the region.
The following are the main points of the editorial:
"...The Yemenis [i.e. the Houthis] have announced an attack on sensitive Saudi points deep in Saudi Arabia, [and this] is a new, serious agenda. They say publicly that they intend to expand the [attacks they carried out] from [the two so far] on the two Saudi ports that are 800 and 850 kilometers [respectively] from Yemen's northern border, to [attacks on] no fewer than 300 military and other vital targets in Saudi Arabia.
"In this situation, two points should be noted. First, the Yemeni drones – that fly at low altitude and at the same time trace a long path without being identified and without running out of fuel on this long route – remind Saudi Arabia that the Yemenis have attained a new opportunity and that they are indeed capable of reducing Saudi oil exports to zero.
"In effect, the drones, that can carry missiles and also conserve fuel [so they can complete their mission], and are capable of firing accurately at two Saudi oil [pumping] stations in two ports on the northern Red Sea, have become a nightmare for the leaders of America, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. This was noted by the UAE foreign minister, who said that [these capabilities] are a dangerous development in the Yemen war and more generally in the conflicts in the region...
"The second [point] is that Ansar Allah's [i.e. the Houthis'] attack drones that struck [the oil pumping stations in] Dawadmi and Qatif [sic, in Saudi Arabia, on May 14] can launch a war against Riyadh, because the distance between the two cities is no greater than 230 and 390 kilometers, and the drone campaigns of the Ninth of Ramadan [i.e. May 14, 2019] can operate [also] against Riyadh in the near future...
"The destructive lightning strike on Fujairah port reminded this state's [i.e. the UAE's] top officials, and America, which is responsible for defending this port, and its partner the UAE that exports oil from the port, of the great dangers of continuing the Yemen war ...
"The [Ansar Allah] operations in south Yemen and against the southern districts of Saudi Arabia are considered a strategic development. These operations have shown that Ansar Allah entered into a round of attacks following defensive operations aimed at destroying the Saudi aerial and ground attacks in northern Yemen. Besides that, these operations attest to the failure of the Saudi coalition's military operations in Yemen, and also show that Ansar Allah has the upper hand in this war...
"The passivity of America and of its military apparatus [in response] to the [May] operations at Fujairah and in northwest Saudi Arabia attest to the fact that America cannot defend these two countries [Saudi Arabia and the UAE] and their policy, or that it does not want to continue supporting [them] futilely. In any event, the conditions for continuing this activity will become more complicated for the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
"Now is the chance to nullify the fantastical statement by [U.S. President] Donald Trump that 'it is because of our support that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are standing on their feet.' Everyone must know that America's support cannot guarantee the life of illegitimate and aggressive regimes.
"Now is the time for the relentless attacks [by Ansar Allah], aimed at uprooting the evil Saudi regime from the arena, to continue. Most important is that the financial resource of America's military and controlling policy in the region [i.e. Saudi Arabia] be destroyed.
"Today, this is not only Iran's request; it is a request that has the support of all the nations of the region and most of their governments, whether openly or in secret.
"The Saudi operations over the recent years show that [this country] is the source of producing takfiri terrorists, and a source of securing funds for the Western terrorists. This is why Saudi Arabia is today the most hated [entity] in the region, both religiously and politically, after the Zionist regime.
"Saudi Arabia cannot be fixed because of its tafkiri ideology and its strong dependence on America. Therefore, there must be surgery in our Islamic region to remove this cancerous growth [Saudi Arabia] from it."[1]
1] Kayhan (Iran), May 22, 2019.more inflexible than ever. Trump’s uncompromising stance is being felt.

Leaked John Kerry audio: White House wanted ISIS to rise in Syria
South Front reports/May 22/2019
On Wednesday, Wikileaks released new evidence of US President-elect Donald Trump’s assertion that Barack Obama was the founder of ISIS – a leaked audio of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s meeting with members of the Syrian opposition at the Dutch Mission of the UN on September 22. The audio also is an evidence of the fact that mainstream media colluded with the Obama’s administration in order to push the narrative for regime change in Syria, hiding the truth about arming and funding ISIS by the US, as it exposed a 35 minute conversation that was omitted by CNN.
Kerry admits that the primary goal of the Obama’s administration in Syria was regime change and the removal of Syrian President Bahar al-Assad, as well as that Washington didn’t calculate that Assad would turn to Russia for help.
In order to achieve this goal, the White House allowed the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group to rise. The Obama’s administration hoped that growing power of the IS in Syria would force Assad to search for a diplomatic solution on US terms, forcing him to cede power. In its turn, in order to achieve these two goals, Washington intentionally armed members of the terrorist group and even attacked a Syrian government military convoy, trying to stop a strategic attack on the IS, killing 80 Syrian soldiers.
“And we know that this was growing, we were watching, we saw that DAESH [the IS] was growing in strength, and we thought Assad was threatened,” Kerry said during the meeting.
“(We) thought, however,” he continued to say, “We could probably manage that Assad might then negotiate, but instead of negotiating he got Putin to support him.”
“I lost the argument for use of force in Syria,” Kerry concluded.
According to Wikileaks, “the audio gives a glimpse into what goes on outside official meetings. Note that it represents the US narrative and not necessarily the entire true narrative.”
Earlier the audio was published by the New York Timesand CNN, however, the both outlets chose only some its part, reporting on certain aspects, and omitted the most damning comments made by Kerry. In fact, they tried to hide the statements that would allow public to understand what has actually taken place in Syria. The full audio has never been published by the New York Times; the outlet released only selected snippets.